Originally posted by: Mac
I just saw where Outpost now has the R50 at $69.99 each. Are these worth the additional $30 per speaker and increased shipping. My end cost was $111 for the R30's shipped. The R50's shipped would be about $197 delivered...net $86+ extra. Are they sometimes offered at a lower price?
The R50s were offered at $50 each last September, I think. Since then, they went on sale for $79.99 each in January, and I bought two of them. I actually got them for $197 delivered, because Outpost's delivery was cheaper if I ordered each speaker separately than when I tried to order both of them together (I think it was about $15 cheaper). I love the speakers. I don't have the R30s to compare the two, so I'm really not sure if they're worth the extra cost or not. I think the main difference is that the R50s have two woofers and the R30s only have one. I'm currently running mine without a subwoofer, so the extra woofer really helps with the bass.
For those who were looking for an inexpensive center channel that is timbre-matched, you should look at the CSi25 on Ebay. They typically go for around $100, and they are a perfect timbre match for the R series. Fry's has them on sale every couple of months, but Outpost.com only has them on sale about once a year, so I wouldn't suggest waiting for that.