LSi9 speakers

[adiodato]

I recently purchased the LSi9 book shelf speakers to complement my home theatre surround system. I have an Onkyo trx80 receiver that I just recently purchased. I have to say I'm somewhat disappointed in the speakers performance. For the amount of money I spent the midrange is surprisingly absent. The speakers have nothing functionaly wrong with them but again they are less than impressive. My subwoofer functions fine, but any guitar or midrange frequencies sound weak. Has anyone else experienced this.

[polkatese]

most likely it is not your LSi9 performance is in question. There have been numerous discussions on the LSis performance, matching with the right amps, etc. Please do a search on this subject and you would see. Good luck! and welcome to the forum.

[adiodato]

should I sell back the LSi9s in favor of a lower end speaker from polk because my 100w onkyo receiver may not be up to the challenge of powering the bookshelf speakers?
Should I not buy the LSi9 center channel for my system to match the current bookshelfs. The sound is underpowered. The woofer works fine but the midrange from the LSi9s is less then impressive. I wish the add on the website for Polk indicated that the LSi9 series were exclusive for super HI-FI amplifiers and not receivers. :(

[polkatese]

Is this the spec of your receiver?

TX-NR801
Power Specifications
Power Output* (8 ohm, 20 Hz-20 kHz, FTC) -
Front L/R 100 W/Ch
Center 100 W
Surround L/R 100 W/Ch
Surround Back 100 W/Ch (L/R)
Dynamic Power** -

3 ohm (Front) 250 W/Ch
4 ohm (Front) 210 W/Ch
8 ohm (Front) 130 W/Ch

Amplifier Design

Identical Full-Bandwidth Channels 7

Reduced NFB (Negative Feedback) Design

WRAT (Wide Range Amplifier Technology)

Non-Scaling Configuration

DACs 192 kHz/24-Bit x 6 / 96 kHz/24-Bit x 2

High Current Low Impedance Drive

All Discrete Output Stage Amplifiers

Optimum Gain Volume Circuitry Linear

Digital Upsampling

If so, it looks like you should be fine with driving LSi9 impedance (4 ohms). Have you calibrated your system using SPL Meter?
If you felt the midrange is grossly inadequate, try to calibrate the settings, perhaps the bass setting is too hot that it overwhelmed the midrange and made it appears to sound muddy.

There are several receivers that can clearly make LSi9 shines: Rotel RSX 1055/1065, B&K 307/507, so it's a matter of matching it with *high current* amplification...

[adiodato]

I really appreciate the time you have taken in response to my question. The receiver you asked about is indeed mine. I feel much better. My question is ( I am not very well versed in all things audio), what is an SPL meter? Your description of the muddy midrange and overdomineering bass is exactly what I am experiencing.:)

[Ceruleance]

SPL stands for Sound Pressure Level, which is basically just the scientific term for volume. an SPL meter will measure the volume of the sound in the unit of decibels.

[polkatese]

SPL stands for Sound Pressure Level, attached is the link on what it does and how to use it:

http://www.tnt-audio.com/clinica/spl-meter_e.html

Also,
please go through page 43-45 (speaker setup) of your manual in setting up your speakers level, distance, size, etc and also set your bass and treble at 0 (flat) to begin with and adjust as needed later on. Since I don't know the rest of your setup, it would be hard for me to get into specific, but sounded like it's matter of setup and tweak to make your 9 shines. Also, don't forget to set your impedance to 4 ohms in Hardware setup/speaker impedance (page 41).

Good luck, have fun, and please report back on how you are progressing...

[adiodato]

Actually I went home and checked and my receiver model is the TX-SR800, does this change anything?:confused:

[polkatese]

it shouldn't, the spec is almost identical. The spec above is for the newer model of yours.

[PolkThug]

adiodato,

Also, the bass/treble settings come flat (0's) from the factory on the Onkyo's. I think I set mine at bass +2, treble +10.

[F1nut]

PT,

If you have to tweak the settings from flat, something is not right and I don't think it's the speakers. When one climbs higher up the audio chain, tone/balance controls aren't even offered.