Home > Consumer Reviews > Polk Audio Monitor Series CS1 Center Channel Speaker (Single, Cherry)

This center channel is a bit bigger than I had thought it would be because I just imagined a size with the picture they provide, which provided no basis for me in guesstimating the size. Regardless, this thing sounds amazing and is a great deal! Highly recommended.

The reason I give this speaker 4 stars is because of the poor specifications in the instructions manual.

When I ordered the CS1 I wasn't sure about its power rarting or impedance. To my surprise, the manual does not mention POWER and only states "compatible" with 8 ohm systems. Well, after sending my amplifier to the "protected stage" (it turned itself off) a couple of times, I decided to verify the impedance and it happens to be a 4 ohm speaker.

Surprised by the result I decided to measure every speaker in my home to find out that all of them were 8 ohm except for my front speakers...again Polk Audio R50s.

I don't understand why Polk Audio does not clearly specify Power and Impedance after all that is what one should look at when buying a speaker.

The speakers sound and look great, but if not careful you can blow your amp.

I decided to keep the CS1 and for that I matched the impedance using a transformer. I works fine and it has not given any more problems, but it was definitely not compatible with my 8 ohm "only" center channel.

I did not catch the R50s right away because my front channels will take 4-8 ohm speakers.

A matching transformer makes the speaker look like an 8 ohm load to the amp. If you have the same problem, do not try to use a resistor connected in series because it will consume about half the power, for example, with a 100 watt center channel, about 50 watts would go to the resistor. You would need a big resistor that can handle that power and that will probably get very hot. Do not use a 4 ohm resistor in series, get a matching transformer instead.

I hope this will help...

First off I must rate JR Computers & Electronics;
5 stars there. Ordered this unit on a Wednesday & it arrived via UPS Friday, same week. It was in original factory carton unopened, packed inside a second larger box with still more packing material, safe and sound! I've ordered other items from JR and as always, for an online purchase I barely had time to blink.
Now about the product;
Nice looking wood finish, with the face in silver. (w/o the black grill) Very solid and heavy construction. Certainly does not feel or look cheap. Being a noob to the home theater scene, and by no means an audiophile the price made me nervous because I was assuming that it couldn't be as nice as it is for the price. The sound is just as impressive, sounds great in my low budget setup. Frequency response is good per the specs on both ends, (high and low) and it has a good midrange for voices.

I purchased these last December, 2007 from Amazon and after all these months I have been completely satisfied with the Polk Audio brand. The center channel has made my 7.1 in-ceiling speaker setup a complete joy to listen too. I am using these speakers with my Onkyo TX-SR705 7.1 receiver and it just all sounds great for playing movies, music cds, and console games.

This was my setup for the home theater and my wife and I are completely happy with the sound, look, and would purchase Polk Audio again.

Front: RC80i
Surround: RC60i
Back Surround: RC60i
Center: CS1
Sub: PSW505

I bought this to pair with my polk audio monitor 40 speakers. the sound is amazing for this price and highly recommended.