Stunning, wide frequency range from 40-27khz ! Up to 250watts! Power enough to thrill the whole family. Instantly heard its superiority to others used previously: Details! New sounds never heard before, higher & lower pitch in voices, musical instruments, movie sounds. Whispers, cars, doors, planes, engines, footsteps...everything becomes audible. Overall, the feeling is: Richer, thoroughness, whole spectrum, completeness. Respectable, serious, classy looks. Brain & Brawn.

None, except it is very heavy, 575mm wide 190 high, The weight reveals its substance & quality. Alert to all: There are 4 terminals at rear for bi-wiring. If you neglect bi-wiring the sound will be poor. Bi-amp = even better. Is this why 1-2 reviewers wrote badly? Or they had glitches or a faulty unit? Anyway - a mystery to me.

I watch movies much more than listen to music, and for that it is very good, matches up well with my RTi70 mains perfectly. Dialog is clear and it carries effects across the front stage seamlessly with the mains. Like many speakers, it should be broken in for several hours before you evaluate it. It was a little stiff at first.

Takes more power to drive it, but then it has bigger drivers than my previous centers. Don't hook it up to a wimpy receiver. Aesthetics are just so-so I leave the grille cover off

Does it all quite well. It is of course a perfect match for my Polk RTi70 main speakers and the 500fx surrounds. The aesthetics are not the greatest and you need a nice wide flat top on a RPTV to put it on. Takes more power to drive it than my previous centers, but I wanted beefier 6.5" drivers at the center since so much movie audio comes from the center. I'm happy enough with it to keep it for a few years.

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NHT Supercenter Phase Technology

good enough for movies but is worthless with music..(but a central is made for movies so...)

looks cheap a little too big

I think that it's a good speaker for the price (I wouldn't have paid 500 hundred for it!)

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Athena

mid-range clarity, bi-amp capability, cabinet veneer

Boxy design

I recently found the center channel of my home theater system to be lagging behind of the rest of the system. As everyone knows, the center channel is the heart of a home theater. Based on some research, and advice given by other reviewers on this and other sites, I decided to purchase a Polk CSI40 center channel speaker. I must say that all of the praises were well founded. The sound clarity and top end performance put my previous center channel speaker to shame. The two 61/2 inch drivers and single tweeter allow for more than enough range to handle all center channel duties, wether listening to music, or watching movies. It handled the best and worst I could put it through. The enclosure is a bit unwieldy for TV top mounting, and it is quite boxy looking. All aesthetics aside, It was worth every penny.

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Bose, JBL

none

everything

after reading countless reviews , i thought the csi40 is the center chennel i need , since my main front speakers are polk i,ve been told is best to have a match speakers , so i got the csi40 , 1st of all i got an open box didn't sound the way i was expecting it , so took it back , got new one never been used , still same thing ,i don't if just me or that speaker sucks , it's for sure not worth $ 300 to upgrade , so i'll keep looking for center channel till i find what i'm looking for .

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audio acoustics

Very good midranges.

Clarity not good enough. Cheap look (compared to Polk CS400i).

This speaker has very good midrange performance but is weak in highs, compared to the centers in the same price range such as Mission M5C and PSB Image 8C, and its clarity is not as good as Mission M5C and PSB Image 8C as well. I picked Polk CSi40 as the rear center channel for my system although I was going to purchase a Mission M5C at the very beginning, just because of Polk’s better dynamic performance in mid and low frequency ranges. I would try PSB Image 9C if I had not bought this one. My current system: Receiver: Yamaha RX-V2200, Fronts: Mission M53, Front Center: Polk CS400i, Rears: Sony SS-C250AV, Rear Center: Polk CSi40.

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Polk CS400i, Mission 77c1 & M5C, PSB Image 8C.

Looks good.

Flat muffled sound. Lack of high and low frequency range.

This center channel has the best results by many people but I was not able to make that confirmation. I was sold a speaker out of the box that had already been returned by someone else. Perhaps it had a defect. The output midrange was fairly linear but the mid frequencies seemed muffled. It lacked clarity in all ranges. The low and high frequencies were limited. I am told a center channel should only play the voice range. I say it should play what the music source and the center channel decoder tells it to play. For a $300 speaker I want more range. It also took more power to drive it. I have a $15 JVC speaker that out performed it using an audio oscillator and a frequency and level meter. The $15 speaker matched it in a variety of music selections. I was disenchanted with my experience.

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I then got a JBL S-Center II for $250 which was an obvious improvement but still not worth the $250. In the interim I'm using a KLH 970A for my center speaker. It will only handle 40 watts but it is a

Excellent clarity and voice reproduction.

A little heavy, but hey, you're paying for the quality.

Wow..this center channel is worth every penny. The sounds produced are excellent and life-like. I was looking at a center channel that could play movies and music and this center channel outperforms most others. It produces perfect mids, highs, and lows, so that each voice is movies is repicated beautifully. I had the Bose AM10 before and even though that was a very nice system, the center channel was not distinct. I prefer this center channel much more. But it...you won't be disappointed. My system: RTi70's as the main CSi40 center channel FXi30's as the rears Velodyne CHT10 sub Harman Kardon AVR325 This system rocks..

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Bose Paradigm

Full, rich sound. Defining.

none identified

Polk took their time on this unit and did it right. The quality is apparent right out of the box. It is Heavy! Hook it up and you immediately hear crisp preciseness one needs in a center channel.

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Polk CS400

Great looks and value. It can't be beat for the price. Will hold its own against higher end cc's.

Anti-difraction grille slightly see through.

I sell high end audio products for a living. I was looking at center channels that are almost twice the price and I decided to settle on this one and I have no regrets. Voices are not chesty, or tinny. Has suprisingly good bass for a center, great highs, sufficient midrange.

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Infinity IL25 Infinity IL36 Polk CS400i