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These are great music speakers, and IMO great music speakers make great home theater speakers. The 685's might have had an edge in vocal reproduction, but at 2x the cost. I listened to Bose 201/301, B&W 685/686, and various Polk Audio models. The CS26's, driven with 130W/Ch, can keep up with the sub.
The B&W 685's were definitely better, but at about 4x the cost. Replaced my 30 yr old Polk Audio Model 10's with these. You will be surprised by the sound for the $ with these. I wall mounted the CS26's, and freed up significant floor space vs. Excellent, crystal clear highs and midrange vocals, and stereo imaging.
A big plus for me is the classic styling.I have 4 CS26's with a CS225 center, driven by an Onkyo SR806 receiver and a 15" 750 watt Velodyne sub. my old Polks, with a significant improvement in sound quality. Nothing could touch these guys for the price Amazon had at the time ($112 each). I can feel like I'm at a concert, be it rock, country, jazz, classical, with this equipment. Off axis dispersion is very, very good.
The bass is good for a speaker this size, but they should be accompanied by a sub for serious music play or home theater. As long as you have a good sub, you don't need big speakers to make big sound. Bigger isn't always better.
I have started from RM6750. I mainly checked Polk Audio and auditioned at Fry's.- Tsi 100: not bad- Tsi 200: sound was muddy- RTi A1: good crisp, but not brightOne day, I found BA CS26B and auditioned. But I returned within one week because of noise from subwoofer. So I have decided to buy individual speakers, instead of package. Wow, It's great.Clear, bright, rich. I completely satisfied.I checked local Fry's, but Amazon has good deal.Don't hesitate to buy this.
I had been looking for bookshelf speakers for the corners of my bedroom above my closets, on and off, for several months. I was looking for nothing worse than 60Hz on the low end of the frequency response, which is still adequate bass for me. The frequency response seems very flat with no emphasis on any part of the spectrum. And, yes, MP3s are not an audiophile format at all, but it is just a system for my bedroom. To make a long story short, I really ended up narrowing the choice down to Polk and Boston Acoustics, namely the RTi4 and CS26, respectively. Reviews for both speakers were very good, so this was the main sonic differentiator, to me.
I took a good look at Boston Acoustics, Polk, Infinity, Bose, Energy, Klipsch, and JBL. The RTi4s could be found for $180 per pair. The RTi4, a great speaker, had been around awhile and was being replaced by the RTiA model line. Now, I had to decide on which speakers to buy. On bass reproduction 10Hz is certainly an audible difference.
I was on the web for many hours reading user reviews and audiophile publication reviews. But there are certainly more skilled critics out there. My iPod touch will be the main source for these speakers, almost exclusively. I do have Mark Levinson electronics in my listening room, so I do feel I have a good ear for sound. The clincher was that the CS26 sold for as high as $150 each out on the web, but Amazon had them for $71 each. The one stipulation I had was that the maximum height was 12 1/4 inches or it would not fit above my closet moldings.The big challenge with bookshelf speakers is always bass reproduction, due to the small drivers that are used to fit into the cabinets. I even get a respectable image from my bed, which sits across from the closets. From what I could decipher from my research was that the two were comparable in size and sound and both Polk and BA have consistently turned out good products.
To start, I consider myself an audiophile, but not a fanatic. So, I was getting what I thought would be better sound for less money. The decision was made and I ordered the CS26 right away.They came quickly and I connected them up. However, the sound from the speakers has been quite appealing. The one key differentiator was that the CS26 went down close to 50Hz, whereas the RTi4 is closer to 60Hz. I never thought I would be able to get the sound I am getting out of a $142 pair of small bookshelf speakers ($300 list price, of course), but I am. Over the holidays I was ready to run the speaker wires in the attic to those corners and did so. I highly recommend the CS26s to anyone looking for a pair of bookshelf speakers.
The CS26s were pretty new model line from BA. This is very likely due to the driver being one inch bigger on the CS26. And, as I had hoped, the bass response was actually better than I had expected and solid. And, as usual, Amazon's service is second to none.
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