• 01-18-2006, 09:54 AM
    John D
    Center and Surround speaker choice question
    Just a quick question about which center & surround speakers would do a better job.

    Sony CN305 (center)/SR 305 (surround). Freq range of around 85-20KHz. The center has two 12cm (4 3/4") drivers and a 2.5cm (1") tweeter, while the surrounds only have single 12cm drivers.

    Polk Audio RM6005 satellite system. Freq range of around 150Hz-22KHz. The center has two 3" drivers and a 1/2" tweeter, while surrounds (and main speakers for that matter) each have the 3" driver and 1/2" tweeter.

    Any input would be appreciated.
  • 01-18-2006, 12:04 PM
    zepman1
    Can't really tell much of anything just by reading some frequency response specs. You really have to just listen to them and see what you prefer.

    Number one, you really need to find a center channel that best matches your front speakers. What do you have in front? That would be the most important factor, really.

    Now, if you are going to just compare the Sony to the Polk and not listen to them, here are my thoughts. A 3" driver like on the Polks center channel is very small and unlikely to produce sufficient midbass required of it (hence the 150 hz response). If you are using a sub, maybe that is OK. I prefer however to have the sub crossover set quite low if possible and avoid using the sub to reproduce anything above 80 hz or so.

    On the other hand the Polk is a much better "name" than Sony in terms of speakers, and I would expect them to sound better. I would be especially troubled by the fact that the Sony surrounds are a 1-way design.
  • 01-18-2006, 12:30 PM
    John D
    Thanks for the reply. I already have both speakers and can interchange them at any time. I originally had the Sony CN305/SR305 set for my center and surrounds for a few years. They were cheap (I din't think so at the time, but they are a cheap speaker) and they done the job.

    Now I have part of the Polk RM6005 set up in the front (center and mains). The surrounds on my Mach Ones were rotted, so I picked up the 6005 set at Future Shop for half price. I left my sony's where they were because they had a larger driver and I figured they would be better.

    Now, I am under the impression that using a single driver for the full frequency range that the speaker can handle is not very good and that it may be better to use the 2-way Polks than the 1-way Sony's. I know that neither are probably very good, but that is all I have to work with until I decided to get something else.
  • 01-18-2006, 12:38 PM
    zepman1
    Polk makes some nice speakers, so I wouldn't go so far as to say they are junk. I'm not sure about your specific model...

    Anyhow, just go with whatever sounds best then. As far as the center channel goes, I would use whatever sounds best in conjunction with your mains. I would probably use the Polks as surrounds instead of the Sony's since they are a better all around speaker (generally) and have 2 drivers instead of one.
  • 01-19-2006, 04:44 AM
    John D
    Thanks for the advice
    Thanks zepman for the advice. I actually swapped out the Sony's last night. At least now my set is matched! I'll listen to these for a while to see if they are any better.

    It will be difficult to give any speaker a good test because we usually have to keep the volume down in the night (when most of the movies are watched). Our 1 year old wakes up pretty easily, so I have to find a happy medium between the GF & me enjoying a movie, or the three of us watching the movie!