LSI15 Questions

grimmace19

Alright folks, looks like I might have a chance to get a set of LSI 15's along with an LSIC for under $1000. First off, do you think this is a good deal if the speakers are in great shape? I think in the past ive seen the 15's refurbished on ebay for about 1200 but that doesn't include the center channel. Also, as I want to pounce on this good deal it will take time to get a different and better receiver. Will my current yamaha 565 drive these for the time being? I know that more power is better BUT without a huge amount of funding will this work for a while?

I know I might be getting in over my head with these for a while but the deal seems almost too good to pass on. Will these be good for home theatre as well as music?

Any input is greatly appreciated.

nooshinjohn

I would say the Yammi will be tested to it's limits by the LSi's... A grand seems to be an average deal at best for the speakers you are looking at on the used market, but if they are perfect and no shipping is involved, you may be ok there. There are very few receivers out there that can match up well with the LSi's but among them would be the higher end Denon, Pioneer, Rotel, Sunfire and I would geuss that the Yamaha RX-z and RX-v line 1900 and up may do ok. At least look for something that allows for pre-out to a better amp.

http://cgi.ebay.com/YAMAHA-rx-v3900-HOME-RECEIVER-980w-HDMI-7-1-ch-HI-DEF-/130403746596?cmd=ViewItem&pt=Receivers_Tuners&hash=item1e5cab4324

grimmace19

A grand is an average deal even when it includes the center?

hockeyboy

That's about fair value for the LSi's. At 90 WPC that Yamaha won't get it done. I drove my LSI's with my Marantz for a while and we could watch movies but the sound was pretty mediocre- had to keep it at low listening as well.

hockeyboy

grimmace19 wrote: »

A grand is an average deal even when it includes the center?

Look on audiogon.com and you can see two sets of 15's without a center for sale. One is $645 the other is $700.

grimmace19

Update: the guy will take $800 for all three speakers. Going off the audiogon prices above this seems pretty fair if they are in great shape. However, this is still a tough choice... I live in an apartment and don't turn my stuff up very high so knowing that will they work with the 90wpc yamaha until I can afford a new receiver and amp?

acmf74

grimmace19 wrote: »

Update: the guy will take $800 for all three speakers. Going off the audiogon prices above this seems pretty fair if they are in great shape. However, this is still a tough choice... I live in an apartment and don't turn my stuff up very high so knowing that will they work with the 90wpc yamaha until I can afford a new receiver and amp?

The Yamaha wont do those speakers justice. I would say you could use it for a bit but be careful on volume. The AVR may cut out and cause damage to itself and or the speakers.

nooshinjohn

grimmace19 wrote: »

Update: the guy will take $800 for all three speakers. Going off the audiogon prices above this seems pretty fair if they are in great shape. However, this is still a tough choice... I live in an apartment and don't turn my stuff up very high so knowing that will they work with the 90wpc yamaha until I can afford a new receiver and amp?

The Yammi is perhaps closer to 35/50 WPC and not 90 as advertized. Go EASY with it and understand you are only getting about 1/10th of the full potential from your speakers and expect nothing more unless you have a fire extinguisher close at hand.

BlueFox

Go for it. They will be a big step up. Of course more power will help, but do not let that stop you.

I currently use 4 LSi15s for HT, and I did have an LSiC in the past, but I upgraded to a PSB center. Initially I used an AVR for all 5 LSi speakers, but did go to an amp after a couple of years.

grimmace19

Alright, I get the input about the power and all however, I have turned up my 70's, 50's and small back speakers to volumes I can't even stand without having the receiver clip or any distortion from the speakers. Knowing that, I don't think I would have much of an issue with running the LSI's for a bit especially because the 50's on the sides wouldn't be hooked up anymore.

Any more input?

texas ed

The $800 if a fair price.You do see the Lsi's peddled on Audiogon for alot cheaper than Ebay.There is money on that board and they look at a Lsi as entry level,therefore good prices can be had there for sure.Get those and upgade your amp to have quality low volume listening enjoyment...E

cheddar

grimmace19 wrote: »

Alright, I get the input about the power and all however, I have turned up my 70's, 50's and small back speakers to volumes I can't even stand without having the receiver clip or any distortion from the speakers. Knowing that, I don't think I would have much of an issue with running the LSI's for a bit especially because the 50's on the sides wouldn't be hooked up anymore.

Any more input?

Sounds like you've got your mind already set on driving it with the AVR. This is a 4-ohm power hungry speaker. You can drive it with an AVR. Just don't think that taking the 50s off gives you a lot of headroom to work with when driving them to higher volumes. Most power goes to the front 3 speakers, very little to surrounds. Distortion happens when an amp loses control of the signal it's trying to amplify. Sometimes the amp will shut down before harm is done. Sometimes, it keeps on going frying your speaker's tweeters.

So if you think you can be happy with less than stellar sound at mid to low volumes until you upgrade, then sure, use your avr.

I drove a full LSi surround system, including 15s, with a Denon 3803. But I never pushed the system to see what it could do until I got seperate amplification. If you think you can put up with waiting, not getting everything out of the speakers, and being careful with the volume, then go for it.

Zitro

Honestly, driving them with the yammie temporarily should be just fine, so long as you watch your volume level. It's only temporary, so as long as you do upgrade to something that will better manage the LSi's high power demand, I don't see why you should pass up on a good deal now. Yes, they can be had cheap online, but shipping will be pretty pricey on these. Go check out this guys offering, and if they are in perfect condition I say $800 for all 3 is pretty good. Just know you will need to upgrade that amp if you plan on getting the most of of the LSi's and not damaging anything.

For the record, all NAD AVR's are rated for 4 ohm speakers and will have no problem driving your LSi's if you want to go that route when upgrading. My 50wpc NAD powers my LSi7's like a champ; doesn't even get hot.

grimmace19

Thanks for the input from everyone. Still very undecided on these. I really want to try them out but I also don't want to have so much money tied up in speakers. Always a tough choice to buy new stuff before selling the old stuff first...

acmf74

grimmace19 wrote: »

Thanks for the input from everyone. Still very undecided on these. I really want to try them out but I also don't want to have so much money tied up in speakers. Always a tough choice to buy new stuff before selling the old stuff first...

i had buyers remorse until I got them into my home...:cool:

McLoki

LSi15 and LSiC for a grand is an average - decent used price. Both for $800 is a good deal.

If your yamaha has pre-outs, I would jump on them. Not that you have to get an amp right away, but if your AVR has pre-outs, you at least have the option of getting an older 2 channel amp for a couple hundred if there is an issue. (then you would continue to run the center and rear channels from your AVR)

If they don't work out, at $800 you will not lose much, if anything, if you decide to sell them later.

Michael

dorokusai

Yes x 3. Sure it's not ideal and I'd suggest a more reliable, stable power source but you should be just fine. If you keep it within the moderate levels suggested above, you should be ok. The Yamaha is not rated for 4ohm loads.

Jetmaker737

Do it! You can then spend the next few months planning your processor and amp purchases. Once you get them you'll be blown away. The journey continues...

jimmydep

Sounds like a good deal, I'd go for it. I ran my 15's with a 90wpc receiver for a short time, keeping an eye on the volume knob.......I was amazed at how much better the LSI's sounded with 400watts powering them.

grimmace19

So, I still have the itch for these and they are still available. With that being said and the advice I've been given, if I went with these and used the Yamaha for a short time, do I need to do anything different with these 4 ohm speakers from my 8ohm receiver? Also, keeping in mind an upgrade down the road to atleast an onkyo 80* would that be a reasonable choice to start with until I could afford an external amp? Do all 8 ohm receivers power 4 ohm speakers?

nooshinjohn

No.... just get them and keep them on a short leash until you get them properly powered.

grimmace19

Sorry to keep topping this guys but I think I'm going to pull the trigger. The fiance is being almost overly supportive of my decision to get these. So, with that I will be getting a new receiver almost immediately. I'm leaning towards an Onkyo 805 used just to save on the money side of things and then getting an amp down the road. At 105 watts per channel will this run these well enough? Otherwise, what suggestions do you guys have for a used receiver to safely run these on under 500 dollars that does TrueHD and has at least 2 HDMI inputs.

nooshinjohn

Just grab the speakers already and worry about power later! If the wife-to-be is cool with it now, she won't be afterwards. Grab everything while you can.

jmos

I have the Lsi15's, LsiC and 4 x LsiFX.
I started off using an Onkyo TX-SR875, 140w@8ohms low current amp
It sounded ok but was dissapointed with overall sound quality, didn't sound as clear as described on reviews and forums.
I than purchased a Nad T973 140@8ohms, 280@4ohms high current, this improved sound so much It was like connecting different speakers but the systems still missing something.
I sold the Nad and awaiting arrival of an Ozzi made EleKtra Theatron 7 channel PA
200w@8ohms, 380w@4ohms, heres hoping for the best.
Hope this helps.
Regards
John

grimmace19

Thanks for the help john. I realize most of you are further along the journey than I am but I can't imagine the LSI's sounding worse than my monitor 70's especially with a large receiver upgrade.

tonyb

grimmace19 wrote: »

Thanks for the help john. I realize most of you are further along the journey than I am but I can't imagine the LSI's sounding worse than my monitor 70's especially with a large receiver upgrade.

Large receiver has nothing to do with it. It's supplying the current needed to run the LSI's which, most receivers can't do. Keep the volume knob at a reasonable level untill you can get your hands on an amp and you'll be ok. If you try pushing it,you risk damage to the speaks or receiver,or both.

cnh

tonyb wrote: »

Large receiver has nothing to do with it. It's supplying the current needed to run the LSI's which, most receivers can't do. Keep the volume knob at a reasonable level untill you can get your hands on an amp and you'll be ok. If you try pushing it,you risk damage to the speaks or receiver,or both.

+1, The first time I heard a pair of LSI-15s was in a Tweeter where the guy had them hooked up to a mid-level Pioneer Elite AVR...they sounded like A()S! compared to the 8 ohm speakers next to them. Muffled, too weak, no real dynamics....NADA. Heard them again on a Marantz pre/power amp (4 ohms lots of power....many 1000s of dollars?) a COMPLETELY NEW SPEAKER...SWEET, full, smooth, detailed and unbelievably musical...like someone took a cardboard box OFF the speaker.

Since then, I ALWAYS require any LSI listening session involve a good quality pre/power amp. Among those I've heared paired with them are Parasounds and GamuTs, and Primare! Each has its own sound, but each has enough power to make the LSis sound 'muscial' as they should because that IS what they were designed to do well!!

An AVR will just NOT do justice to LSIs...they won't sound a lot better than even your M-70s...the M70s mids will actually sound cleaner?

So buy the speakers and forget about comparing them to M series...apples and oranges there. You can almost power Ms with the amp section in a table radio?

Nonetheless that's a nice price for a 'wonderful' front stage...worry about the power later.

cheddar

grimmace19 wrote: »

I'm leaning towards an Onkyo 805 used just to save on the money side of things and then getting an amp down the road. At 105 watts per channel will this run these well enough? Otherwise, what suggestions do you guys have for a used receiver to safely run these on under 500 dollars that does TrueHD and has at least 2 HDMI inputs.

grimmace19 wrote: »

I can't imagine the LSI's sounding worse than my monitor 70's especially with a large receiver upgrade.

These would seem to be mutually exclusive goals. For under $500, you almost certainly will not be getting a receiver that can drive the LSi's safely to volume. You seem to be willing to accept over inflated AVR watt ratings to justify your purchase and not have to worry about the volume settings. If getting the speakers and having the patience to wait for the proper upgrades is not an option, IMO, don't pay for the over rated amp section in an AVR. Just get a cheap AVR with pre-outs (TrueHD and HDMI is much cheaper than a beefy amp section) and get a used two channel adcom etc. amp. If you have to stretch your budget a little, at least you will have a fully functional system you don't have to baby and can take your time to plan future upgrades.

grimmace19

Alright men, I finally sacked up and brought them home! Both towers and the center for $750... I think I got an awesome deal. That being said and the fiance being amazing I think your advice for the cheap receiver and separate amp off the bat will work the best.

So now I'm open to suggestions for both. Keep in mind the price tags a little bit... not sure how much I can truly spend without the fiance going nuts BUT, she knows that on my audio quest I need to just do it right.

Hit me with suggestions. Ive had an onkyo and yamaha receiver so far and thought both were pretty good but like I said I need HDMI and TrueHD. Also in your suggestions keep in mind that I feel like I would short change the center channel unless I had a 3 channel amp... unless I'm not looking at things properly again.

nooshinjohn

HDMI is over-rated IMHO...

There is 1 receiver that comes to mind that will solve both problems...

http://www.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?intamult&1280763464&/Sunfire-Ultimate-Recevier-7x20

If you hold out a bit, you will find a TGR-3 that has HDMI video support for under a grand as well. It will have more than ehough balls to handle the LSi's with ease.

Congrats!

grimmace19

Appreciate the link but now I just feel like a flat out noob. Am I somehow able to get the TrueHD out of that for movie tracks? I thought you had to use HDMI from say a ps3 into a receiver capable of truehd in order for it to not be synthetic? Am I missing something? I truly don't mind going from hdmi to the tv as long as I'm not losing the sound in the process...