Lsi9 owners, tell me your impressions..

[steveinaz]

Got Lsi9's? What do you think of them?

[polkatese]

Steve,
what do you want to know?

For two channels, it is very good, with the exception that, if you compare it to LSi15, you will notice the low to be lacking the oomph, but tighter. My preference is the 15, since with sub, 9 performed as good as it can be (especially for HT).

[LuSh]

The LSi9's are a fine speaker.

The Pro's. Airy mid and high frequencies that allow a very laid back presentation. Overall the speaker is warm, and will help smooth out weaker recorded material. They still maintain detail without sounding overly harsh like some british speakers. I use them for 2 channel only. The overall lack of sibliance, and compression is like taking a hot bath everytime you turn them on.

Build quality is first rate. They weigh in at over 30lbs.

The Con's. They require rock solid stands, once factoring this price into the equation floorstanding speakers are now real compeitiion. I use the Sanus Ultimate Foundation stands, they are very rigid, but the price now puts these speakers in the same line as Totem Hawk's, PSB stratus Silvers and Paradigm Reference 60's.


Polk has done little or nothing to get these speakers in true audiophile outlets. Most demos will be done with inferiour equipment. Guess work will always have to be done with these speakers. Worse you will never be able to upgrade other parts using these speakers on showroom floors, because they aren't in dealers showrooms with other equipment like Arcam, Rotel, Bryston, Classe', SimAudio, BlueCircle, Nad, Parasound, or Creek. So you'll never be able to listen to a new CD player and use your own speakers as a reference point. This onto itself has made me sometimes want to sell the speakers and rid myself of the Polk product. I can never go to any of my favorite dealers and listen to them. along side the new amp or CDP I might purchase.


The Intagibles. These speakers are detailed enough that they need better food up the chain. A $300 CD player really won't do them justice, nor will a receiver. I'd suggest for two channel, a nice intergrated by Creek, Rotel, Bryston. Something on the cooler side. The CD player could be a Rotel 1070 or even a more upscale Creek CD53 mkII. The speakers will only be the best value part in your system if you give it food, often that food will cost as much or more then the Speakers. If you spend $1k on the LSi9's spending another 1k on CDP and 1K on amp is not unreasonable. In fact I'd suggest it. It will pay dividends.

[steveinaz]

Thanks bud. Here's the stuff that will be used with the Lsi9's:

Parasound HCA-1500A amp (205watts @ 8 ohms, 315watts @ 4 ohms)
Musical Fidelity A3CR pre
CEC CD-3300 Cd Player
SVS 25-31 PC Plus sub

[ken brydson]

Originally posted by steveinaz
Thanks bud. Here's the stuff that will be used with the Lsi9's:

Parasound HCA-1500A amp (205watts @ 8 ohms, 315watts @ 4 ohms)
Musical Fidelity A3CR pre
CEC CD-3300 Cd Player
SVS 25-31 PC Plus sub

Yeah, I think ya got it covered :D
Love that PC+. Mine is amazing me

[Airplay355]

the only time i have seen lsi9 speakers was in a small local dealer and he was powering them with NAD, so idk what you are talking about guess work ALWAYS needing to be done, even at the larger stores like tweeter they have retailers like B&K which is fine for powering the lsi series.

[Zero]

Lush made quite an excellent synopsis of the speakers, leaving me with little more to add.

You have some good equipment as is, and should suit the LSi-9's just fine. Despite their 88db efficiency range, and 4 ohm load, they fairly easy to push if you have balls behind them.

You will also find their sound to be quite different from your former Athena towers. It may take some time to become adjusted to its very flat presentation. I must also stress the importance of speaker break-in with the 9's. These speakers are what made me a believer in the phenominon. They were horrible out of the box, but after a few weeks worth of play, they opened up beautifully. Give it time and patience.

[steveinaz]

I'm really looking forward to the "Polk Punchiness" that I have always loved about Polk speakers. From what I've read, it's exactly as I remember...While the Athena's are very "listenable" speakers, its because they are so laid back, maybe too laid back.

[LuSh]

Airplay. Polk has done a horrid job with the LSi speakers and gettin them into higher end distribution networks. Period. Not my fault.

I've never heard of a place running NAD with em, even NAD is still very entry level.

Steve, the LSi's are more laid back then the Athena's, they are not punchy at all. Not at ALL.

[steveinaz]

This is strange...
Stereophiles' Guide to Home Theater and Soundstage both raved about the "visceral punchiness" of the Lsi9, and I immediately thought of past polks that I had, which displayed this same character in the low/mid bass. Not the deepest reaching bass, but a very addictive slam.

What equipment are you running?

[VR3]

ALL Polk speakers have that 'kick'.

From the SDA, to the RT, to the LSi.

They all have EXTRODINARY bass for what they are. (Except, it seems where the bass matters most, they falter).

The RT35i freakin fills up the entire room with bass, this is no exageration at all.

I have heard the LSi inwall (the big one, similar to the LSi9). It had amazing amounts of bass, with a decent soundstage. It wasnt up to par with what they could do, considering they didnt use Polks enclosure for inwalls, they were on an Onkyo amp, and POS cd player with POS wiring.

Lush - Polk, RT and LSi are both going to be in Tweeter, very soon.

[LuSh]

The Polk Audio LSi to me never had any slam, but were a warm speaker with a very sweet high. In comparison the PSB and Paradigm's I compared them with excelled at mid bass and had more "punch". The LSi's to my ears had more inner detail, but it was deeper in the soundstage with a warm resolution.

I'm trying to replace my CD player but at present. I use my LSi speakers with a SimAudio i-5080 Intergrated Amp.
http://www.simaudio.com/mooni5080.htm

my source is currently a NAD 541i CDP connected with Cardas Twinlink interconnects. My GutWire Basic Clef power cable is on the way. The speakers rest on Sanus Ultimate Foundation stands.

For me, the LSi's have overall dynamics but nothing special for their price point, in fact that is probably one of their overall weakness in comparison to other speakers, dynamics and slam. Their strength is detail, warm resolution and soundstage.

Vr3MxStyler2k3 -- You strenghten my arguement. Tweeters is a horrible lowfi outlet for two channel audio. Not a knock on them as a company, it's just not what they do, true audiophile 2 channel. Or even multichannel for that matter.

[VR3]

Lush,
I agree - yet disagree. It will all depend on where the LSi series go. One room......has an awesome 2 channel setup.....

the other, is a upscale Circuit City...with receivers and poor placement

I feel Tweeter is a great move for Polk, it opens them up to a whole other ball game. This could put Polk in a higher stance, IMO.

[Early B.]

Can't wait til they get to Tweeter. I live in a major metropolitan area and I've looked all over town for the Lsi's, but ain't seen them yet.

[LuSh]

What's this awesome 2 channel room you speak of?

[VR3]

Down here they have a rather nice demo room with the ML, and other high end speakers, amps, preamps, etc are placed.....

atleast here we do.

[Zero]

Not to derail this thread but I do feel obligated to respond.

Steve,

The LSi will still have punch, although it will not be the same type of "punch" you get from the Rti series. Its sound is classically Polk though. :)

Lush,

I would seriously look into getting this little Toshiba unit from Best Buy. If you can at some point put to rest the idea of having to spend 1g on an exotic, name-brand unit, you may like what you hear.

On the topic of NAD- it is all about matching. If you find the right speakers to accompany it, the resulting sound is anything BUT entry level.

Tweeter, Low-Fi? Ok, they clearly arent the best, but I would say they are far from low-fi. LSi, B&K, Martin Logan, Sonus Faber, Low fi? Surely you jest...

[mantis]

steveinaz
Do you own the Lsi9's??If not and you want a pair I have a killer deal on a Pair in Ebony I bought From Madmax some time ago.There in brand new condition and I would like to see them in a good home.

Dan

[steveinaz]

Mantis-
I saw your deal, outstanding no doubt, but I want cherry, and have to wait until I get my Athena's sold. I'll be seriously looking to buy the Lsi9 in about 6 months or so. I can't believe no one has grabbed your Lsi's yet...

[Ceruleance]

Lsi9's have yet to completely win me over. They produce vocals and single instruments very well, with great imaging, but whenever a detailed passage comes up I fell like they are lacking something, Didnt sound good with rock music, or with loud passages in orchestral music. May be a placement issue, may need a subwoofer to help it out, i'll let you know if I find anything good.

[LuSh]

Ceruleance

I'd be interested in what other gear you are using with the LSi speakers.

ATCvenom: Yes I'd consider tweeters low-fi, their selection's in source and amplification would support this idea. I agree its about mating a speaker with an amp, but NAD is a large fish in an otherwise small pond, once you move above this price point you can see how much more there is out there, not only in build quality but in terms of sound.

[DarqueKnight]

I once owned two pairs of LSi9's. One pair was in my office rig and one pair was in my HT rig. I liked them a lot. Then I sold them.:)

[spyderman]

Ceruleance,

You hit the nail on the head. I a/b'd them with the 7's and found the 7's to be much more appealing when it came to detail. They sounded much cleaner than the 9's.

A Crutchfield rep I know owns the 7's, and prefers them to the 9's.

A true killer setup would be the 15's and 7's.

[Zero]

The LSi-9's seem to be the bastard-children of the LSi line up. Hilarious.

Lush,

I cannot convince you otherwise, so I will just respect your opinion and mildly disagree with it. I have experienced way too much gear that completely slaps "price factor" in the face.

[Ceruleance]

Originally posted by LuSh
Ceruleance

I'd be interested in what other gear you are using with the LSi speakers.

Parasound P/LD-1500
Parasound HCA-3500 (500 wpc)

Bi-wired shotgun style with original monster cable
Canare star quad with neutrik XLR's pre-amp to amp
Monster cable IC400 MkII source to pre.

sources vary, mostly middle of the line CD or DVD players, onkyo, panasonic, toshiba, etc.


I could use a better source, but the point is my RT55i's handled the types of music I mentioned above much better than the 9's now do on the same equipment. I haven't given up on them yet, though

[AsSiMiLaTeD]

Tweeter..LowFi???

OK I understand they're not the best, but geez....

The one out here carries lots of good stuff...

So if Tweeter is LowFi...how would you classify Best Buy and Circuit City??? They're clearly not in the same league as Tweeter...

I'd call Tweeter a store that carries better than average equipment...they've got some good stuff. Do they carry The 150K German Tiebreaks...no, but they've got some decent gear.

[LuSh]

Ceruleance
Sorry to hear about your luck with the LSi combo and parasound.

As for tweeters. It is very mid to low fi. I'd never recommend anybody buy an Audio system at Best Buy or circuit city, they don't sell products that appeal to people who care what music sounds like. I guess it really boils down to what people would consider hi fi, and when it comes to amps, sources, Tweeter's doesn't really have anything that is trying to strive to sound good in two channel audio. It's more feature based, with useless numbers on distortion, and wattage. And home theatre based, which is again, trying to accomplish something different then what most audiophiles crave for. Good stereo presentation.

The types of stores that try and fullfill the audiophiles needs or desires usually carry products that try and accomplish this, from brands that aren't designed in Japan. These stores will usually carry NAD or Rotel, or perhaps Arcam as a good starting point to Hi-Fi and allow you to go up the chain closing in on true Hi fidelity. The top end doesn't always have to be a Linn CD12 Sondek, or Wilson Bench speakers. It might be Bryston, Classe' or Krell. What these stores have in common though is the ability to let you listen to products from makers that care what music sounds like. That is the prime and sometimes only mission of true hi-fi manufactures.

[PolkWannabie]

Originally posted by Polkmaniac
how would you classify Best Buy and Circuit City???

Non-Fi

[shack]

Originally posted by LuSh
Tweeter's doesn't really have anything that is trying to strive to sound good in two channel audio.

Originally posted by ATCVenom
Tweeter, Low-Fi? Ok, they clearly arent the best, but I would say they are far from low-fi. LSi, B&K, Martin Logan, Sonus Faber, Low fi? Surely you jest...

Add to the mix REL, Vienna Acoustics (I know...the line is going away - but they were definitely geared to 2 channel) and even Boston Acoustics. I think all of the Mfgs. above would be considered at least very good Mid-FI in the world of 2 channel audio. They have (like most every other manufacturer) moved into the realm of HT out of necessity to survive...but they have not abondoned 2 channel IMO. I think Tweeter IS geared to HT. They have to be to survive.

Lo-FI...Mid-FI...Hi-FI...whatever. I could certainly build a 2 channel rig out of Tweeter's brands that I would be proud to own, use and show to anyone!

[Early B.]

I don't care how you classify stores that sell AV gear. Just like many of the folks on this forum, I got my Polks from Circuit City. Great speakers, great prices.

I got my 70's for $400/pair. If my Polks were at Tweeter or any other audio store, they probably would have been listed for nearly twice what I paid for them, and I wouldn't have bought them, and I wouldn't be on this forum listening and learning from all of you.

God bless Circuit City.