3.1 to 5.1 - Polk Rti system build and upgrade advice

[Derwin]

I've pulled together a pretty respectable 3.1 system on a budget by collecting together old models and B-stock items. I am getting ready to make the jump from 3.1 to 5.1, and I'd love to hear this boards thoughts on what to get for my surrounds.

My approach has been to cobble together a respectable beginners system and eventually upgrade components as I go and build a more audiophile setup over the years. Avr and LCR have been mid-quality, and I splurged on the sub (mostly thanks to an insane credit card reward bonus of $300 off a purchase over $500... I thought it was a typo, but I didn't ask too many questions).


My LCR are Polk RTI8s and a CSI5 via Polk's eBay store (highly recommended route for low cost semi decent gear, btw). AVR is Yamahha vxr 475 and sub is svs sb2000.

Long term, I'd love to land some RAAL ascends up front for my LCR (Serria-2 or towers plus the center), but that will need the boss's (wife's) approval, and is probably 3-5 years out before I can get her to agree to that kind of a splurge. AVR will be upgraded near the time we make that purchase. By that time, I may have changed my mind on exactly which LCR but it will be of comparable quality (or so I hope).

In the mean time, my system needs 2 more speakers to close out my initial 5.1 build. My two initial thoughts are to either get the matching polks (fxi a4 or Rti 4) or to get the the acsend 200s now, that will ultimately match (closely enough) my master-plan 5.1.

A few thoughts I am considering:

-- Would the RTI-matched set sound more cohesive, and enough so that considering a competing product just isn't worthwhile?

-- Would the sound quality of the Ascends be worth the mismatched timbre?

-- Has anyone heard both the RTI4s and Ascend 200s that could speak to the differences in sound quality?

--Is the top-line acsend stuff so much better than the 200s that it is silly to worry about matching them?

-- Should I be considering anything else in this price range?


My listening habits are 50/50 HT and music. Neither are at bombastic volume levels, and quality sound is important to me.

I'd love to hear folks' thoughts. Thanks in advance!!

 

[GeneC]

I would hold off on the Ascends for now. 3-5 years is more then enough time to change your mind. I'd look for a good used pair of Monitor 30's or even OWM3's, something in-expensive to use for surrounds until the time comes to make the move to something better.

I had RTi's a few years ago. 8's, 6's, 4's and a CSi6. Thought they were a bit too bright for me. I even swapped the tweeter and top "Power Port" to try and tame them. The lower tweeter height actually made a noticable difference.

 

[XEagleDriver]

Disclaimer: I am a very happy Ascend Sierra 1 owner (with Sierra 2s on my wish list).

With that stated, I would advise getting Ascend 200s for the following reasons:
1) You get to listen to a Sierra product at a relatively low cost
- I would suggest connecting the 200s up front for a test drive; I believe you will be suitably impressed.
2) You can return the 200s, if they are not your cup of tea.
3) They will integrate very well as a surround speaker ICW the Sierra 2's when your wife eventually caves and approves the upgrade .

Cheers,
XEagleDriver