Lsi or older Monitors

DON73

My Polk speakers are monitors except for a pair of RT5s. There is a lot of discussion here about Lsi speakers...........much more than so than the older monitors like 10s, 7s and 5s. How do the Lsi7s or 9s compare to these older speakers? What do they bring to the listening experience that the monitors don't? I'm thinking about buying a pair of LSi7s but I'd like to hear your thoughts first. I have several speakers that I love listening to but I'm open to trying to add to my enjoyment. I'd really like to hear your thoughts. Thanks.

I'm still thinking about getting a tube amp but I haven't made my mind up yet.

cokewithvanilla

Buy a pair used, I think there are actually three in the FS section for a good price. This way, you can make that decision for yourself, and if you don't like it, you can sell them without too much loss of cash.

The LSi's aren't for everyone... but they could be your thing.

steveinaz

If I had to sum up; monitors are the "rocker" line, Lsi's are the smoking jacket and bourbon snifter line. The monitor series is great for main stream music, good dynamics, lots of slam, where the Lsi's are far more demanding on amp, more delicate, finer detailed, more refined, and a bit laid back. Just depends on what you're after...

cnh

I'd agree with both posts above. I have some Monitor 5s and a set of LSI-7s. The LSIs seem to fare better with a good quality SS amp and a nice neutral/quiet pre. As far as laid back, I'd say Monitors with the Peerless tweeter are also less 'forward' than those without it--and are mellower--not unlike LSIs. LSIs have a tighter bass and slightly more detailed and refined highs as Steve suggests. That's also been my experience. Having said that, I should also say that I can listen to my Monitor 5s all day long--no fatigue whatsoever.

Most Monitors have the slamming low end because of the Passive Radiator, etc. which you won't find as much of in the LSI bookshelves.

But in the end, only 'you' can verify or criticize these opinions with your ears as cokewv. says!

They're both good speakers and I tend to switch back and forth between the two according to my 'mood'. Variety is the spice of life, after all!

I also think that Monitors would fair better with tubes? Anyone else on that?

cnh

steveinaz

Yes, 10-4 on the tube comment. Lsi's are power hungry--not a great scenario with lower powered tube amps. Plus you'll get warmth from the tube amp that will off-set nicely the more forward monitor line.

JimAckley

I really enjoy my LSi's for their accuracy and transparency, but I also got my very first chance to hear some Monitor 10s and 5jrs and thought they were really something else! When it comes down to it, I think Steve hit the nail on the head. I will say that the bass is a little muddy on the LSi25, so if you're considering a purchase, I'd look at LSi15, LSi9 or LSi7. For a 2-ch system I would really recommend the LSi15, if you've got the space. On the bookshelf side of things, the LSi9s have a pretty nice low end, but the LSi7s beg you to bring a subwoofer along for the ride. They just simply run out of gas around 90Hz, give or take. When I paired my 7s up with my JBL E50s' 8" midbasses, they had a really sweet sound.

My advice is see if there's anyone relatively nearby who could bring some LSis and have a shootout. It might take you a little bit to find a couple guys, but it will be worth it. You'll quickly know which is right for you.

On a side note, the LSis' tweeters were a bit too laid back for my taste, but that was easily remedied with xo mods. I'd keep that in mind whenever you get a chance to listen to them. It not only helps the tweeters, but really opens them up from top to bottom.

Good luck!

DMara

JimAckley wrote: »

I will say that the bass is a little muddy on the LSi25, so if you're considering a purchase, I'd look at LSi15, LSi9 or LSi7. For a 2-ch system I would really recommend the LSi15, if you've got the space. On the bookshelf side of things, the LSi9s have a pretty nice low end, but the LSi7s beg you to bring a subwoofer along for the ride. They just simply run out of gas around 90Hz, give or take. When I paired my 7s up with my JBL E50s' 8" midbasses, they had a really sweet sound.

I'm running a pair of LSi15's for my 2-channel, and my experience is their bass is too muddy & weak. I would love to add a subwoofer to it; that made me mad at myself for selling my microPro 4000 so cheap a few months ago when I upgraded my HT set to the dual JL Audio F113 set. The microPro 4000 would be so so cool for my 2-channel bedroom setup :redface:

steveinaz

Dmara, do you have hard floors or carpet? If on carpet, have you ever tried spiking the speakers to clay tiles sitting on top of the carpet? It helps...

bluecomet

If you are comparing Monitor speakers with peerless tweets to the Lsi series then it is a matter of preferance. Both are excellent speakers. The old Monitor line is a tremendous value for the money. The size of the Lsi series is very appealing. The Lsi 9's give off big sound for a smaller speaker. On the other hand the Monitor 7 with peerless tweets is one of the best polk speakers ever made taking nothing away from the 5's or 10's in the series. It is just a very well balanced speaker that does everything well. Looking at what speakers you have I would find a set of Monitor 7's over a pair of Lsi 7's. I have them both and I would take the Monitor7 all day long. If you don't have the peerless tweets in your monitor speakers swap them for RDO 194's, that will also make an improvement in the speakers you have.

DMara

steveinaz wrote: »

Dmara, do you have hard floors or carpet? If on carpet, have you ever tried spiking the speakers to clay tiles sitting on top of the carpet? It helps...

Steve, I got hard floor, and the Lsi15's are on original Polk spikes. See pic#5 & pic#6 here: http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1531558&postcount=63. I have no complaint about the Lsi15's except for when it gets to the low bass range.

Rev. Hayes

A quick timeline:

I bought Lsi 9s.

I joined Club Polk.

I bought Monitor 10s.

I sold Lsi 9s.

It's all about what you want to hear when you're listening. For me the Monitors are far more exciting and just plain fun to listen to.

edit: I should add that the lady of the house was NOT pleased by the switch. But hey.....

JimAckley

DMara wrote: »

I'm running a pair of LSi15's for my 2-channel, and my experience is their bass is too muddy & weak. I would love to add a subwoofer to it; that made me mad at myself for selling my microPro 4000 so cheap a few months ago when I upgraded my HT set to the dual JL Audio F113 set. The microPro 4000 would be so so cool for my 2-channel bedroom setup :redface:

Full xo mods (including the inductors) will clean up the muddiness on the 15s somewhat. Polk really skimped out on the XOs in the LSi line. I also saw that someone was putting the db subs from the car audio line in their 15s, but I haven't read/heard anything in regards to that.

I will say to the credit of the 25s that they can dig pretty deep, but it's just not clean enough to make me happy. I'm scooting my 25s into another system soon here. I'm hoping to find a good deal once the LSiMs come out.

steveinaz

I wish Polk audio would do like other companies and have a "classic" line that would include the most popular sellers like the Monitor 10's & 7's, and so on--but built to the same specs as they were.

Joe08867

steveinaz wrote: »

I wish Polk audio would do like other companies and have a "classic" line that would include the most popular sellers like the Monitor 10's & 7's, and so on--but built to the same specs as they were.

I am with you on that. I would love to get a new set of Monitors or SDA's.

Klipsch has made The LaScala, Klispchorn, and others forever. Heck even Bose still makes 901's. So why not.

maxima

I think Jim hit the nail on the head. The LSi crossover is a weak link and it is definitely worth taking the time to upgrade.

TennMan

maxima wrote: »

I think Jim hit the nail on the head. The LSi crossover is a weak link and it is definitely worth taking the time to upgrade.

I'm surprised at that. I thought the LSi series was the "top of the line" speaker and should have the best of everything. Was it a matter of skimping on parts to save money or just a bad choice of parts by the engineers that resulted in the need for crossover upgrades?

Joe08867

I don't think the crossover is the weak link i think the speaker works better for certain types of music over others.

It is more boutique than mainstream IMHO. I have never really like the LSI sounds personally but I also never heard them on my system.

EndersShadow

TennMan wrote: »

I'm surprised at that. I thought the LSi series was the "top of the line" speaker and should have the best of everything. Was it a matter of skimping on parts to save money or just a bad choice of parts by the engineers that resulted in the need for crossover upgrades?

It was a buisness decision on what pricing bracket they wanted to hit, and I wouldnt say the "skimped" on the parts. Would you pay an extra 600 for better crossovers on a 1.5k set of speakers? A lot of people would be turned off by that price.

You have to realize that most folks/consumers love the LSi's as they are. But this forum is for enthusiasts and we are a bit different. 99% of folks would never even think about modding the xovers on their LSi's because they sound good enough for them, but good enough for the average consumer might not cut it with enthusiasts but we compose a much smaller market. So it would make no sense for Polk to add upgrades that only the top 1% of folks would potentially pay for.

I myself am getting a pair of 15's shortly. While the xovers will be done someday, right now just going from Monitor 60's to the LSi's will be enough of a step to keep me happy for a year or so (I hope ).

maxima

EndersShadow,

I have to respectfully disagree. My crossovers have been done (thanks, Face!) and the crossover had about $5-10 worth of parts in it stock. I don't think it make sense to use a $65 Vifa XT tweeter (or talk about how the thicker side panels make for a pretty inert cabinet) and then cheaper out on the crossover. I'm not saying spend $600 (my parts for the upgrade were $300) on the crossover but I think $25-50 would have been a fair compromise.

I think you are correct in that most people would never attempt to modify the crossover. The fact that several people have chosen to upgrade their crossovers I think backs up my assertion.

EndersShadow

@ Maxima

I concur, however Polks obviously made the decision to use the parts they did based on a massive amount of testing and market research. You also have to think if the parts alone added 300 extra, how much would Polk need to charge on those parts to make a profit on that and then the same with labor.

All together it might have knocked the LSi's into a higher bracket and made some vendors (Fry's, Best Buy) decide to no longer carry them due to the clientel required to spend that amount of money.

I agree that it would have been nice if they spent more money on the crossovers, but if you look at the crossovers that have been modded here recently on the forum that are not Polk, spending very little on crossovers and caps isnt just a Polk thing , it seems to be the industry standard.

Besides most consumers look for the lipstick on speakers (finish, gloss, vener, ect) and very few open them up to look at the guts. Hell I dont know if they would even let me do that if I asked at a retail chain lol.....

DON73

I'm having the x overs for my M7s rebuilt with Sonic caps and Mills resistors. When they're finished the 7s will have Peerless tweeters which will replace the 1000 tweeters. The cross overs I'm having rebuilt are made for Peerless so I expect the 7s should sound even better than before. I prefer the 7s to the 10s as they are now but when I get the 10s modified that might change. I too think the 7s are probably the best speakers Polk made aside from the SDA series which I haven't heard. I don't know of anyone here who might have Polk speakers and BB has only 2 models.......both small towers.
Thank everyone for some great evaluations of LSis and monitors. I think I'll wait till I have my 7s back together and see how they sound before I think about buying the LSis.

maxima

EndersShadow,
I agree 100%. Almost all manufacturers skimp in this area. To me, it would make sense to use a $50 tweeter and spend the additional money on crossover parts. I think this would make for a more well rounded speaker overall. That being said, the LSi is good enough for all but that last 2% of the population.

cfrizz

It's an apples to oranges comparison. The LSI's are very different from the rest of the Polk lines, They sound better, and require more equipment (amp) to get the best out of them. They truly excel with music, but will also do just fine with movies with sufficient amplification.

They will most certainly sound VERY different from your B & Ws it might take your ears a bit to adapt to the mellower sound.

heiney9

DON73 wrote: »

I too think the 7s are probably the best speakers Polk made aside from the SDA series which I haven't heard.

You obviously haven't heard a modified RTA speaker. I'd put those above any modified Monitor.

H9

Tour2ma

EndersShadow wrote: »

But this forum is for enthusiasts and we are a bit different.

WAAAAAAAaaaaaa.... Funniest thing I've read since I dropped back in...