LSI9 Advice needed

Toasty

Hi all,

I've been lurking around the forums a bit trying to read up on the LSI series speakers after my friend told me stories about how great his LSI7's were. Of course I want to go one step up to the 9's but I need some advice on the stepping stones to a full 5.1 system. My TV is a Pioneer 5020hd so I'm good for the video side of things, and the speakers will primarily be used for Home theater with some music listening on the side. I'm also up in Canada, so prices are a bit silly ($1400 for a new set of LSI9's from Visions, most other places here don't carry the LSI series) so I'll be trying to pick a pair up from buy / sell or Ebay for under $500 which seems like the median price. Receiver prices are also a bit nuts up here too.

So reading up about the LSI9's I see pretty much all the suggestions are to NOT run them off a receiver and to get an amp, but unfortunately that exceeds the budget a bit. I would want to try and get a used Parasound amp but even used ones are about $900. I'm hoping to keep the initial purchase to about $1000 - $1250.

The plan is to get an Onkyo TX-NR808 which seems highly rated and future proof and can be purchased from Newegg.com for $680 ish brand new. What I'm wondering is would it be "acceptable" to run just the two LSI9's off it until I can afford / find a good amp to run them off? AVSforum has a few posts where people say they can support 4ohm speakers but no one has said "I have LSI9's and this receiver and they work / don't explode".

Alternatively someone here may be able to suggest a better plan to start off with something that will run the LSI9's well that can also hook up to my TV then I'd be all ears.

ben62670

Welcome to club polk.
I would strongly recommend an amp. You can get a used amp from audiogon for around $200 on up that would do them justice. An Adcom GFA-545 would be fine. Don't get hung up on the watt figures. Also someone here may be able to assist you with a less expensive receiver. Ebay has HK refurbs real cheap that would make a fine pre for the amp. Later you can get a 5 channel amp and sell the 2 channel.
Ben

grimmace19

Id go with a less expensive receiver that has pre-outs and an amp at the same time. You should be able to find a used receiver with pre-outs around 300 bucks that will work well (onkyo 707) and then a nice 5 channel amp at the same time for just over what you were planning to spend on the receiver. My adcom gfa7500 was purchased here for 500 bucks so you should be able to do it all in 1 step if you want. And yes, the gfa7500 runs the lsi15s and lsi9's at the same time perfectly.

ben62670

http://stores.ebay.com/Harman-Audio

Habanero Monk

Would the available cross over modification change the amplification needs?

Max pointed me to your modification (Ben). I guess toasty and myself are in the same boat.

ben62670

The XO mod has no effect on the load seen by the amp.

nguyendot

Get an amp, or you'll be doing yourself a disservice. You'll have to spend a lot more than the Onkyo to get a 4 ohm stable, and powerful receiver or integrated. As mentioned, get a lesser receiver with preouts and purchase an amp in addition to it.

Toasty

Would the GFA-545 be the best budget amp then? There's actually someone local to me selling one for $200 and I could justify getting it in advance of buying the speakers if it's really the best option.

ben62670

A 545 would drive them just fine.

falconcry72

Toasty wrote: »

Would the GFA-545 be the best budget amp then? There's actually someone local to me selling one for $200 and I could justify getting it in advance of buying the speakers if it's really the best option.

The Parasound HCA-1000a is another good amp in that price range. There's one a Agon right now for 270, but they can definitely be had for less.

ben62670

Very interesting. I have heard that they "sound" louder, but on an SPL meter they registered the same.

Face

That has nothing to do with the load the amp sees. Unless you radically changed the inductors DCR, the impedance curve should be the same.

Toasty

I don't think I'm at the level to do modifications on speakers yet so I guess I'll start looking for an amp + cheap receiver combo. Any other recommendations for really good 2 channel amps that will make the 9's happy?

ben62670

Parasound, B&K, Rotel...

FTGV

I'm with Ben,if the crossover mod was a simple cap, resitor upgrade( with no changes to the actual crossover configuration) then the load as seen by the the amplifier will not change. Any sonic differences will be attributal to the better passive components.

dorourke07

To answer your question, I ran my Lsi9's off my AVR for almost a year with no issue. Adding the amp vastly improved the performance. As a newbie I didn't even know what I was missing until I took the step up to the amp. If you want to go that route to get the better components it will work and you can get 'em new. However, if you listen to some of the more seasoned vets, they will help you get the better sound sooner.

Toasty

Ugh, after looking on all the various buy / sell sites and ebay and craigslist I feel a bit mushy in the head heh. There are some 5 channel carver amps on ebay for $500 buyout / $199 starting bid, but it seems they aren't as good as Parasound or Rotel. If possible I'd like to go for 5 channel right away since I try to avoid buying things that "will do for now".

Maybe opinions on a 5 channel carver vs 2 channel Rotel / Parasound?

PSOVLSK

I have this AVR for sale. http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=70318 It looks about the same now as it does in the pictures, but I'd look it over closely before selling. It's been in a closet for about a year now.

It wouldn't be your final AVR, but it would be an inexpensive option that would allow you to get a good amp now.

If you're interested, let me know. If not, obviously no big deal. Good luck in whatever you decide to do.

Toasty

I'd be getting a reciever with HDMI unfortunately, I don't think I even have anything that's non HDMI at this point. Thanks though.