LSiM 703 Review

JimAckley

pjdami wrote: »

Thanks for the detailed review Jim. Very well written and thought out. You bridged the gap between any 'weaknesses' with the current LSi line and the LSiM. As an owner of LSi 15s for many years now (mostly HT use), I have long waited for an 'upgrade' from Polk. Can't wait to get my ears on some LSiMs.

If you like your 15s a lot, for a great deal less $ you could upgrade the crossovers in your LSis, and be nipping at the heels of the LSiMs. If cost isn't an issue though, go get some Ms. You won't regret it.

magic12kenneth wrote: »

After reading your reply, I really got excited. I'll have to add this one to my wish list:

Paradigm MilleniaOne Satellite Speakers
PSB Imagine Mini Bookshelf Speakers
Audience ClairAudient One Bookshelf Speakers (single driver, most natural speaker with a big too)
Polk Blackstone TL3 Satellite Speakers (TL2 was a little muddy on low volume)
Polk LSiM 703 Speakers (New)

How are the amplifier requirement to make them dance? I'll have to read up on the design what makes this so special.

Interesting take on the TL2s. IMO, they're not too bad, but they do serve an obvious price-point ($300-450 for the TL250 set, depending on the vendor). I have the TL250 on my HT right now in order to break them in and write a review, and IMO it's better than most HTIBs, but that's more than likely because I've got a behemoth SC-37 on them. Once they're broken in I'm going to try them with a budget receiver to see how different the results are. That being said, I also have the TL3 center, and prefer that over the TL2. I would kill to get two sets of TL350s and do a review of a TL3 9.1 system, but I dunno if I'll get to that anytime soon. I haven't heard most of whats in your list, but you can't go wrong with LSiMs or TL3s

mantis wrote: »

I would if you had a large room. The SC 7 series models have good reserve power and surprising dynamics. In small to medium size rooms with 4 ohm load speakers these receivers do very well. They crush large rooms with 8 ohm load speakers. I have done so many Mythos / SC theater and never once felt I needed more power.

If you are one to be watching and listening at reference levels all the time , then yeah adding an amp will be safer for both the receiver and the speakers. When I had the Rotel RMB1095 , it was very nice as it got out of the way for sound quality. At medium volumes you could not tell the difference when the amp was in the chain and when I removed it. Pretty sweet amp.

^^^^^ what he said times a million. As long as you've got a solid 100 watts, you'll be fine. More's always welcome for dynamic headroom, but not necessary.

magic12kenneth wrote: »

Jim, two more questions for you. How big is the sweet spot and off-axis listening? Reading from the technical paper, the bookshelf has three drivers integrated. How coherent are there? I'm pretty sensitive to this after owning a single driver speaker for desktop listening.

I unfortuantely didn't write down any thoughts on the off-axis response. If I can get them for a few more minutes before they get shipped off, I'll throw them on my system and give you some feedback.

If by "coherent" you mean how well do they blend from one driver to the next to the next, you won't even notice the change in drivers. It's smooth as silk from one driver to the next. Obviously it will be more noticeable if you're right on top of them, in which case I'd recommend a pair of TL3s and a MP1k instead. How near-field are you intending on having them? When I first got them, I put them on my computer desk, driven by my HK 3480, and was pretty floored in comparison to the three speakers I'd had hooked up in that system as of late, which were the LSi7, RT5, and JBL E50. In that system, I'm at least an arm's length away from the speakers, and have them set up in an equilateral triangle.

MADGSF

Jim did a great review on the LSiM 703 and after listening to them for a couple of days here are my thoughts. All of my listening so far has been music as I don't have the matching center channel. I tried to keep this short but failed.

I have not spent much time with the current LSi-9/15 line up. I?ve had the RTi speakers in my signature for over 5 years and my notes are in comparison to them. For music with the RTi I can only listen for a short time before fatigue sets in. The amount of time varies depending on the volume level and type of music. The louder I go the shorter the time and poorly mastered recordings can be somewhat painful for me due to hearing issues I have. That is not to say I cannot listen to music with them at all but it is not something I do much because of the points above. For movies they are superb and overall I have been happy with them.

As expected the LSiM are much different. I find the speakers very engaging and easy to listen to for long periods. They bring me into the music in a way the RTi's don't and I found myself tapping my foot a lot. The highs are open and detailed with an air around them I have never experienced. But this is not at the expense of being too forward. I really thought there would be a loss of detail as I expected the LSiM to be laid back to the point of losing that detail. I think that there is more and better detailed information on the LSiM when compared to the RTi.

I have a big room that is open to the kitchen and the lows were very good with the speakers by themselves. If I had them in a small room I would probably forego a subwoofer. However I had to bring my sub in to add just a little fill at the bottom for me to be completely happy. I thought I would need the 705 or 707 due to the volume of my room but with a sub these bookshelves work great in my room. To me the midrange, high and lows are perfectly balanced and overall the speaker is just smooth from top to bottom.

Here some other random thoughts. I have the same speaker stands Jim was using and since my couch is not, ahem, modified to bring me to the proper level I found myself moving down to get at the right level. Having said that while I did not hear a great difference between the two positions I would purchase proper stands for them. I found the off-axis response to be very good but as expected the sweet spot is better.

I think these speakers help with poorly mastered recordings. I tired an old AC/DC CD I have had literally for decades but don?t use much as the highs are just too piercing. With the LSiM most of the songs that gave me issue are enjoyable again. I even tried the music channels I get from Verizon and was pleasantly surprised as I found myself enjoying music I normally don?t. The real test will come tonight when I put in my wife?s Celine Dion CD to see if I can actually enjoy her music. :eek:

I ran MCACC on my AVR and it saw the speakers as being improperly wired or out of phase. I triple checked the wiring and all was fine. For grins I even tried swapping speakers from left to right with no change. I am using Audioquest Slate bi-wire with the jumpers removed if it matters. I use the exact same wiring with my RTi and have never had that issue. I had MCACC continue anyway and everything sounds good so I am not sure what is going on there. Last in regards to packaging, I am not sure if the boxes I received represent the final configuration but feel the speakers could be a little better protected. The review pair I have are in great shape but I think maybe a thicker cardboard or a little more side cushioning would be a good idea. Polk does include a soft material between the speaker and the normal plastic wrap which I think is great.

There you go I don't write reviews much but know everyone is eager to hear feedback on these. I am lucky enough to have access to them and for that I am very grateful to Polk and Russ. Now if I could just get the matching center channel for movie testing...

JimAckley

Nice review Mark. I left you a voicemail about borrowing my 30" stands if you feel so inclined. Just let me know.

In regards to your comment about the phasing, I never stopped to run the MCACC on my AVR, but I did have one 703 hooked up at the same time as an RT5 on my HK 3480, and I was surprised to hear that it sounded out of phase in comparison to the RT5. I flipped the polarity of my RT5 and it still sounded odd, so I just decided "screw it" and hooked up the other 703, and that's when the magic began. I'm not sure why the phasing is weird, but after I get a set of these for keeps I should have an answer.

p.s. - Nothing helps Celine Dion sound better :biggrin:

EndersShadow

JimAckley wrote: »

p.s. - Nothing helps Celine Dion sound better :biggrin:

A 5th of bourban might lol.....

magic12kenneth

Thanks for those answers, Jim. I look forward to your TL3 review. I will be buying two sets of speakers, one for a small bedroom and the other for home theater upgrade.

By the way, how natural sounding is the 703 for acoustic and vocal music in term timbre? Meaning, how real are the instruments and human voices.

JimAckley

magic12kenneth wrote: »

Thanks for those answers, Jim. I look forward to your TL3 review. I will be buying two sets of speakers, one for a small bedroom and the other for home theater upgrade.

By the way, how natural sounding is the 703 for acoustic and vocal music in term timbre? Meaning, how real are the instruments and human voices.

TL3 review won't be for quite some time. That would be something where I buy two sets of TL350s (for a single 9.1 setup), break them in, do the review, and sell them slightly marked down to some CP members or something. I just think it'd be pretty beastly to do 9.1 out of those compact speakers, where it's pretty much 100% non-intrusive to your room, yet fills it with sound of epic proportions. Imagine 9 uber-compact wall-mounted speakers. They'd never get in your way. It's sickening!

On the 703s, everything sounded real... almost like I was sitting in at an acoustic session in the back of your favorite pub or a coffeehouse kinda jam session. I put them through quite a few different styles of music, and everything was just butter-smooth yet incredibly detailed. Everything except the depth was up to or beyond the high standards set by my upgraded LSis, and as I've mentioned before, that could possibly be attributed to how new the 703s were. With a good, strong break-in period they might sound even better. I'm sure Mark's put some good hours into them so they might be further improved from when I heard them.

Walter (wallstreet) has them next, so keep your eyes peeled for his take on them. I'm delivering the 703s back to Russ later this evening so Walter can get a shot at them, and will be picking up the 707s and an amplifier, so be ready for an LSiM 707 review thread :biggrin:

JimAckley

BTW, I just found out that the 703s, hadn't even been broken in. I was literally the first one to put any power to that set, so there's worlds of improvement yet to be discovered within that set.

Warming up the 707s right now :biggrin:

Topper

JimAckley wrote: »

BTW, I just found out that the 703s, hadn't even been broken in. I was literally the first one to put any power to that set, so there's worlds of improvement yet to be discovered within that set.

wow thats pretty cool to hear .

magic12kenneth

JimAckley wrote: »

On the 703s, everything sounded real... almost like I was sitting in at an acoustic session in the back of your favorite pub or a coffeehouse kinda jam session. I put them through quite a few different styles of music, and everything was just butter-smooth yet incredibly detailed.

Thanks again Jim. This is very impressive for a bookshelf speaker. Can't wait to demo one if I can find a local dealer in Bay Area, California that carries it. How low does the bass goes down?

You are burning the 707 already... I wonder how it compares to 703.

JimAckley

I'd say solid to 58Hz, give or take 2 Hz. Once they've got a couple hundred hours on them, I'd bet at least 50 without a problem. I'm still stunned that they sounded that good fresh off the line.

When run with a subwoofer, I crossed them at 80Hz.

Just a noteworthy comment: Mark mentioned to me today that he ran them in "Plus" mode, which means the receiver crosses the sub @ whatever chosen frequency, but maintains full-range status on the speakers. I ran mine in "Yes" mode, which crosses the speakers the sub.

magic12kenneth

The bass is good for me since this is for a simple 2.0 desktop setup. Do you think the Audioengine N22 with 22w might work well?

EndersShadow

magic12kenneth wrote: »

The bass is good for me since this is for a simple 2.0 desktop setup. Do you think the Audioengine N22 with 22w might work well?

Doubt it highly.

MADGSF

Kenneth which speaker do you want to drive with the N22, the 703 or TL3. I agree the 703 will need much more than the N22 can provide. However I am toying with the idea of using the N22 for the TL3's I have.

magic12kenneth

MADGSF wrote: »

Kenneth which speaker do you want to drive with the N22, the 703 or TL3. I agree the 703 will need much more than the N22 can provide. However I am toying with the idea of using the N22 for the TL3's I have.

I was thinking using the N22 for either 703 or TL3 depends if the TL3 has good low volume listening. I will have to get a sub for the TL3 unless I go with the 703. I just wanted a small setup to enjoy the music while working. Is the 703 90db sensitivity with 4 ohms? The other option is Virtue Amp.

MADGSF

Well even though I have never heard it IMO the 703 will not work well with the N22. I would look at an integrated from Rotel, Arcam or Cambridge Audio if you want to hear what the 703 are capable of.

fossy

Great right up's gentlemen...... 703's look very promising ... and just as I was getting the lsi9's broke in . :rolleyes: I'd have no problem droppin some coins on the 703's ..... Polk probably has a whole dept figuring out how to get more of my coins...that whole dept needs a raise !!!

JimAckley

IMO, I would prefer more than 22wpc on some 703s. Granted, they are more efficient than the previous line, and the 703s are easy to drive, 22 watts just isn't much to work with. If this was a quiet system for an office or study, then it could work, but if you want some real juice to it, like MADGSF said, get an integrated from one of the big boys with some power. You'll need 100+ RMS per channel for the gut-punching midbass to really come into play.

fossy, I'm with you that they have a coin-snatching dept Just when I was happy with the LSis, they went and figured out something to change my mind

cnh

I'm pretty much tapped out 'change'-wise, at this point. Will take quite some time to save up for the new series...but well worth the wait. Till then, the trusty home office LSI-7s continue to please.

Some nice review work, above guys. Keep them coming!

cnh

renowilliams

I wonder if there will be a chance for Canadian Polkies to audition these and for that matter buy a pair.

fossy

oooo yea & JIm .... ya live in texas

no no sooner nation :biggrin:

JimAckley

DSkip wrote: »

This pair is being shared between a few in the area and probably won't last long since they'll be used for marketing. It isn't really a ship to and fro deal, just something Russ and Steve are allowing us to enjoy while it lasts. I wish I could spend some time with them myself, I just don't see it happening since about the time I could actually audition them, the demo is likely to be over :frown:

At least the 707s will be around... Life ain't so bad

RuSsMaN

Jim, you need to come get the Operetta's and get your biamp on. Skip, broham, I'm about to shove the 703's down Walter's throat, what else can I do for you sir? Let me know. We're going to be neighbors soon, I pray for our women.

JimAckley

Texted ya Russ. I'm busy from 4-7, but any other time in the day is good. Just let me know.

RuSsMaN

Anything will prob work, I'm ramping up for a grad party in a few days, Atrium Garden system is center stage!

JimAckley

Got the Atrium all setup already? I'm anxious to hear how they sound. I'll call you tomorrow and pick up the amps.

Topper

RUSSMAN & JIMACKLEY - Hey if you guys get a chance to play with them Polk garden speakers, I'd love if you guys could make a new post and put your thoughts down. Don't really come across much on those particular speakers

txcoastal1

DSkip wrote: »

Russ, I'll be wanting to demo them for sure, but not until I move. I'd rather those who can demo them properly in their dedicated listening rooms have them before I ever touch them.

You just want them broken in

wallstreet

Hooked these speakers up last night for a little listening test. Smooth is the word of the day. More thoughts later.

Topper

JimAckley wrote: »

At least the 707s will be around... Life ain't so bad

yo JIM when we going to hear your thoughts on the 707?

JimAckley

I'm going to write up a full-on review this week for sure. I've had some synergy issues in my normal HT room so I'm going to try moving them into my much-larger living room and give them another shot. So far, I haven't been as satisfied with them as I have been with the 703s, and I've even got two Operetta amps powering them so it's not necessarily a power issue. They just don't sound quite right so far. They seem a little boomy on the lowest sub bass and lacking in the midbass dept. The stereo bass is dealing my small room a plethora of phasing issues, which is why I want to bring them out into my larger room. I'll give you more details in a few days.