[Paganana]

Hi All,
I've been searching this and other forums to decide on a pair of speakers but I just really need help in deciding what to get. I've pretty much made up my mind as far as getting Polk LSi-series speakers, and I do not want to spend more on very high-end speakers. I have a 2-channel system, and I use it only for music.

My question is whether to get the LSi9 (which would be best with a subwoofer but I'm not sure if I can have powered sub with my amp) or LSi15 (probably better if it is my best/only option for getting more/lower bass). I have an Onkyo A-9555 amp and am happy with it except it does not have a subwoofer preout for a powered subwoofer. It is 200 W x 2 at 4 ohms and I think it should be fine for LSi series but at 4 ohms I can only add one speaker pair (two pairs at 8 ohms, but LSi series are 4 ohms). I've read that it may be better to have nice bookshelf speakers and separate subwoofer, rather than have "full range" speakers with the subwoofer included in the main speakers, as it is in the LSi15. So, LSi9 plus powered woofer may be best but again I'm not sure if a powered sub is compatible with my amp (which I'm not upgrading). Yet another option is LSi25 which includes powered subwoofer (not separate) but I'm not sure how that works, and if it would require the preout subwoofer jack that I don't have. I'm thinking, if not, it may be a third and possibly best option, other than expense. However, no one on these forums seems to have the A-9555/LSi25 combo and so I'm also concerned whether my amp could power these (and even the LSi15) adequately, even if according to specs, it should be fine. Sorry if my questions seem clueless but I did try to find answers before asking. Thanks for any suggestions.

 

[DeusEx]

I actually own the Lsi15s - a important thing to consider is your room space. The A-9555 should be more-or-less good enough for the LSis (they'd definitely take more power if thrown at them). A great place to get specific answers is the Polk forum itself (Club Polk), as I haven't played around with the 9s.

FWIW, I have a friend who owns Wilson WATTs, along with the 15s and the 9s, and he says that the LSis make him feel like he overspent for the WATTs...

 

[Paganana]

Thanks DeusEx. That's a good idea, to try the Polk forum. I did visit it and it's a nice place. Probably many of the same people visit these two forums so it feels like double-posting, but I'll do that if I don't find answers here. Oddly enough, this "headphone" forum site seems to have the most expertise on a wide range of topics and probably has more visitors, so I thought I'd try here first.

The speakers are for my living room. I have a somewhat "open" floor plan and the living room space is not well walled from other areas, but it's not huge, I'd say "average" size. It means I can't really follow any simple formulas for speaker placement. Almost no furniture (so I can dance around) and the speakers would be facing a large empty wall, so that may "shrink" the space. High ceilings and not much windows which is good. I'm more worried about disturbing neighbors, the only downside of powerful speakers. I like to listen to music at all hours and I'm not sure if powerful speakers sound good when played somewhat softly.

 

[DeusEx]

Actually, I think more people double-post at AVSForum, rather than Polk (from what I've seen)...Club Polk is actually as popular (if not more so) that the subforum here, and there are actual LSi owners there.

Do you have rough measurements? Describers like "average" or "not huge" are pretty vague.

 

[Paganana]

The living room is ~16 feet in its shortest direction, and the speakers would be facing a wall about that distance away. However, because of the openness, even in that direction it is open to some of the rest of the house to the left and past that wall, and there is a large "doorway" sort of adjacent to the speaker location, leading to the kitchen behind it. So, while ~16 feet is the shortest distance, the space is bigger than what that measurement would suggest. It is hard to explain without drawing the floor plan.

Okay, I'll post on the Polk forum. You are right, it has very frequent posts, and I just assumed that because it was a more narrow interest, there would be less visitors. Thanks!

 

[DeusEx]

See you there. True, it 's kind of hard to imagine without a pic =0...gl. Seems like the 15s are the way to go, if 16ft is the shortest dimension...

 

[minimus]

Don't know if you have pulled the trigger, but I had Polk LSi9's for a few years and thought they were crappy speakers. They have their fans on Club Polk, etc. and a good Soundstage review, and that's why I bought them. But I thought they sounded like crap, much worse than some 10-year old Infinity speakers that cost about $300. When I went to demo some better speakers at an acquaintance's house and he asked what current speakers I was using, his reply was "my condolences". I ended up trying to sell the Polks on Audiogon -- there was zero interest. I finally gave them away to someone locally.

With that in mind, I would highly recommend pouring over the used speakers for sale on Audiogon. Right now, there is a pair of Sehring 500 monitors for sale for $900 that would blow away any Polk LSi. If you want a more run-of-the mill brand, pick up a pair of used Epos or Dynaudio monitors. If you don't like the way they sound, at least you know that they can be sold on Audiogon.

 

[skyline889]

I use to own the LSi9s as well and can attest to the fact that they aren't very good. If you pick them up used for under $500 then I'd say they perform decently but at full price, they're an absolute rip-off. Poor imaging and seperation, rolled off highs, and a bloated bottom end drove me to sell them almost instantly...and this is coming from an HD650 lover. I've auditioned the LSi15s and they didn't fare much better, again if you can find them used for cheap they're decent, but at full price, there are much better options available. IMO the LSi series is typical Polk in that the line is easy to listen to for the average user. They don't excel at anything in particular but they don't stare back at you with huge glaring faults in any particular area either.

I'd highly suggest auditioning them before you pull the trigger as you will lose a lot of money if it comes time to sell.

 

[minimus]

Quote:

Originally Posted by skyline889 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I use to own the LSi9s as well and can attest to the fact that they aren't very good. If you pick them up used for under $500 then I'd say they perform decently but at full price, they're an absolute rip-off. Poor imaging and seperation, rolled off highs, and a bloated bottom end drove me to sell them almost instantly...and this is coming from an HD650 lover. I'd highly suggest auditioning them before you pull the trigger as you will lose a lot of money if it comes time to sell.

I totally agree with your assessment. I would probably go further and say they aren't even worth $500 used, since I got no offers from anyone at any price when I tried to sell my pair used about a year ago. Bottom line is that it is critical to buy used and focus on brands/models that seem to have a following among actual users, as this is a better sign of true quality than a professional review and of potential demand should one want or need to sell a pair of speakers at some point down the road.

 

[skyline889]

IIRC, after shipping and fees I lost somewhere between $500-600 when I sold them. That's quite a bit considering the MSRP and their age at the time.

 

[Alai]

FWIR, the LSi series need a bit of XO modding for the separation and imagery to be more solid. Apparently, however, once that is done, they are some of the best speakers around, especially at those used prices.

 

[Paganana]

Thanks for the advice. Not yet purchased, but I've decided on LSi15. I'm hesitant to buy used since I have no idea if the speakers had been abused, and I'm guessing it is difficult and a pain to ship something so big and heavy with care. Maybe that's why you had trouble selling them? Also, I'd consider used if I had speakers all over the place, but this will be my one and only special set, for a two-channel system.

I'm looking for "permanent" speakers, not temporaries that I will upgrade, so I'm not concerned abut resale value. However, there are very few LSi's listed on eBay, so owners aren't anxious to get rid of them. Most of the listings are from dealers, at full price for new ones, and the very very few users selling their speakers are getting bids. There is only a single LSi9 pair being sold by a user, it has several bidders, the price is at $325 (reserve not met) with several days to go, so they do not seem unsellable. The LSi series have been around for a long time, so I'd expect more listed by users/owners, if they were trying to dump them and upgrade. Plus if they were truly bad, Polk would have updated the series by now rather than keeping them going for years. Maybe it's just a matter of taste. My impression is that Polk is a decent company that takes pride in producing a quality product, and they also seem to have good customer support from what I've read, so I'm still very much leaning towards them. But of course I'm grateful for opinions.

Quote:

Originally Posted by minimus /img/forum/go_quote.gif Don't know if you have pulled the trigger, but I had Polk LSi9's for a few years and thought they were crappy speakers. They have their fans on Club Polk, etc. and a good Soundstage review, and that's why I bought them. But I thought they sounded like crap, much worse than some 10-year old Infinity speakers that cost about $300. When I went to demo some better speakers at an acquaintance's house and he asked what current speakers I was using, his reply was "my condolences". I ended up trying to sell the Polks on Audiogon -- there was zero interest. I finally gave them away to someone locally. With that in mind, I would highly recommend pouring over the used speakers for sale on Audiogon. Right now, there is a pair of Sehring 500 monitors for sale for $900 that would blow away any Polk LSi. If you want a more run-of-the mill brand, pick up a pair of used Epos or Dynaudio monitors. If you don't like the way they sound, at least you know that they can be sold on Audiogon.

 

[skyline889]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paganana /img/forum/go_quote.gif Thanks for the advice. Not yet purchased, but I've decided on LSi15. I'm hesitant to buy used since I have no idea if the speakers had been abused, and I'm guessing it is difficult and a pain to ship something so big and heavy with care. Maybe that's why you had trouble selling them? Also, I'd consider used if I had speakers all over the place, but this will be my one and only special set, for a two-channel system. I'm looking for "permanent" speakers, not temporaries that I will upgrade, so I'm not concerned abut resale value. However, there are very few LSi's listed on eBay, so owners aren't anxious to get rid of them. Most of the listings are from dealers, at full price for new ones, and the very very few users selling their speakers are getting bids. There is only a single LSi9 pair being sold by a user, it has several bidders, the price is at $325 (reserve not met) with several days to go, so they do not seem unsellable. The LSi series have been around for a long time, so I'd expect more listed by users/owners, if they were trying to dump them and upgrade. Plus if they were truly bad, Polk would have updated the series by now rather than keeping them going for years. Maybe it's just a matter of taste. My impression is that Polk is a decent company that takes pride in producing a quality product, and they also seem to have good customer support from what I've read, so I'm still very much leaning towards them. But of course I'm grateful for opinions.

That's what I thought too when I bought them. I had even planned on pairing ithem with a Krell KAV-300i and a KAV-300CD as my "final set-up" speakers, as I had read so many good things about them online. I ignored a lot of people who tried to suggest other options when I asked around and when I got them, I ended up being more satisfied with a $300 pair of Klipsch Reference bookshelves; which were enough to keep me happy for three years before I bought my B&Ws.

Any mainstream company will have a loyal fan base that will tell you one thing, but nothing beats hearing the product for yourself. I learned this the hard way. Even if you think you'll love them (As I did) I'd recommend going in to at least audition the LSi9s as they'll give you a rough idea of what to expect from the LSi15s. As for sale price, look through the completed auctions for the LSi15 and the LSi9 to see how much the average going price is.

 

[denonfan]

I have a pair of LSi9 powered by a Denon PMA-2000IVR integrated amp. I love the setup.

The LSi9's love power, a receiver is just not going to cut it. I think even that Onkyo integrated amp is not going to cut it with the LSi9's. That Onkyo amp is a class D amp, as such it does not have that great bass control. That was the reason why I paired the LSi9's with that Denon integrated amp, that amp weighs in at over 50lbs.

My previous speakers included NHT 1.5's, NHT SB3's and Infinity Kappa towers.

 

[skyline889]

Quote:

Originally Posted by denonfan /img/forum/go_quote.gif I have a pair of LSi9 powered by a Denon PMA-2000IVR integrated amp. I love the setup. The LSi9's love power, a receiver is just not going to cut it. I think even that Onkyo integrated amp is not going to cut it with the LSi9's. That Onkyo amp is a class D amp, as such it does not have that great bass control. That was the reason why I paired the LSi9's with that Denon integrated amp, that amp weighs in at over 50lbs. My previous speakers included NHT 1.5's, NHT SB3's and Infinity Kappa towers.

That's funny, I have the exact same amplifier and my experience was vastly different. This is why I find auditioning so important. Everyone's taste is different.