powering LSI-15

nickel

Hello, I could use some advice, I am not an audiophile and have very little experience with electronics, but I do love good sound.
What I have going on is I have purchased a set of LSI-15 with center and hooked them up to my denon-3805, I Bi-amped the towers but I do not feel that I am getting the quality or volume of sound out of them that I believe they are capable of, trying to figure out if I have to purchase a new receiver or can I keep my denon which I like, and ADD a amp to that without spending a fortune $500 to $600 any advice I would appreciate.
Has anybody here used the 3805 with success paired with the 15'S

BlueFox

I thought that Denon model sounded familiar. I checked my old gear in the garage and sure enough, I have a Denon 3805. It has been at least 6 years since I have used it, but at the time I was running 4 LSi15s and an LSiC with it. Whille it was not in a big room, 11 x 12, it worked fine for me.

However, as others will point out, seperate amps, or more robust AVRs, are a much better alternative with the LSi speakers. After I upgraded to a much better AVR, and then added an external amp, I really was able to experience what the LSi speakers are capable of doing.

cfrizz

Welcome Nickel!

Since you already have a receiver that has preouts, the best thing to do is to get a separate power amp of at least 200wpc @ 8ohms to power your LSI speakers. They need lots of power to operate to their full potential. In the meantime, be careful turning up the volume.

Good bang for the buck brand new amps are Emotiva XPA-3 or 5 or Outlaw audio amps.

If you don't mind buying used, look on Audiogon for a 3-5 channel amp from: Parasound, Sunfire, Rotel, B & K, Adcom, Nad.

There is no such thing as too much power when it comes to powering speakers, since they will only take what they need to operate to their full potential.

It won't exactly be cheap, but if you do this now, you won't have to upgrade this particular piece of gear for years to come since it will do it's job through all other upgrades to your system.

Congrats on your purchase of the LSI's. You have Polks top of the line speakers, now you just have to give them the power that they need to sound their best.

satman24122

I have a Denon 3806 that I tried using when first got my LSI15 speakers and it worked fine as long as I played it at low volumes but the receiver did get hot so I decided to get a amp. I got mine from emotiva LPA-1 and it works very well. They have a UPA-5 amp which is a 5 channel amp for $429 free shipping. I would get one so you can protect your receiver. Good luck

jinjuku

nickel wrote: »

ADD a amp to that without spending a fortune $500 to $600 any advice I would appreciate.
Has anybody here used the 3805 with success paired with the 15'S

My model Adcom, the 5503, is routinely going for between $400-$450 on site's like ebay. It would have more than enough juice for your L/C/R (350 watts at 4 ohm).

Craigslist is your friend. Emotiva gives you a 30 day in home trial. You would have to pay shipping back.

As others suggested, Rotel, B&K (though they just did go out of business, ATI picked up the pieces, so buyer beware. At this point I personally would pass), Parasound...

Where are you located? You may be able to find people willing to host a listening session for you.

F1nut

I Bi-amped the towers

Just so you know, that is not bi-amping. Bi-amping requires separate amps with their own power supply, not a shared one like your AVR and it requires the use of active crossovers.

I posted this in a similar thread the other day,

With audio gear, as with most material possessions, you have multiple choices based on cost and performance. Generally speaking, the better the performance, the greater the cost. It's up to each of us to decide the ratio that we are comfortable with. However, when building an audio system, it is best to build it with gear that is at least on the same performance level. As you have chosen some fairly decent speakers, you would want to find an amp that is on the same level. My advice, save up some more money to buy that amp. Rome wasn't built in a day.

ohskigod

I concur with using the Denon as a pre (using the pre outs to power separate amps. that is just the way to go with LSi's, getting a beefier receiver will be like throwing money out the window)

Emotiva is a good route to go if you have to go new, though I never heard them with LSi's.

I feel the best way to get bang for buck is the usd route, though that has perils (dealing with people on ebay and audiogon, no warranty, researching what is good and what isnt)

Another company to consider new is Outlaw Audio (like Emotiva it is internet sales only, and a phenominal bang for buck). I do use a couple of there mono amps on my center with great results. 2 of those Mono's wold be your most economical viable option.

tonyb

Maybe we can make a sticky for powereing Lsi speakers. Cherry pick a few answers, so we don't sound like parrots every other day.

nickel

Thanks for all the advice, I will research amps that were suggested, I live in alaska so it doesnt seem that we have as much used gear available on craigslist and such, I have been trying to decide if I should pull the denon out of the equation or if it is worth keeping, and what receiver I could use as a replacement with enough power so that I wouldnt need a secondary amp.
I appreciate all the help.

cfrizz

We have been telling you that you will end up spending MORE money trying to get a receiver that will only power them to a fraction of what they are truly capable of. You could try a Sunfire receiver but it's going to cost you alot.

nickel

I decided to go with XPA-5 so that I would have flexibility to add better rear speakers in the future, the question I have now is how to best hook amp to denon 3805, from what I can tell I only have analog outs off denon, does that mean if playing blueray with true HD that signal will not make it to the amp as a digital signal, Im not sure what options I have with the denon.
Thanks

nooshinjohn

cfrizz wrote: »

We have been telling you that you will end up spending MORE money trying to get a receiver that will only power them to a fraction of what they are truly capable of. You could try a Sunfire receiver but it's going to cost you alot.

There is a Sunfire TGP mk III on the 'Bay right now for 1200 bucks...

tonyb

Actually, the blu-ray player decodes the signal,sends it out by analog to the denon which just passes it through to the amp. Keep in mind to get all the audio this way, you need all 5.1 speakers.If you don't have a sub,that info will be lost.

angelsfann02

F.y.i I have had my Emo Xpa-5 for a week or so, and I am powering some Lsi 15's with it. I am not done putting it through its paces yet, but I must say this amp does make the Lsi 15's "bright". If you don't like your music "in your face" then the Emo isn't for you. The 15's love the xpa5's power, and they did come alive compared to when I had them connected to my Pioneer vsx-23thx receiver. I recommend you listen for yourself, its the best way to go....

nguyendot

tonyb wrote: »

Maybe we can make a sticky for powereing Lsi speakers. Cherry pick a few answers, so we don't sound like parrots every other day.

OMG, best idea EVER.

Please do this. If not I 'll make two threads myself:
Biamping - your receiver sucks at it
and
Powering LSi's - you better have some outputs baby.

Then i'll bump them every day, lol.

grimmace19

Powering LSi's - you better have some outputs baby.

^ Now that's a fantastic thread title. Although I was one of the many who made a new thread when I first got my 15's asking a bunch of amp questions ;-)