LSi9 Modifications

VR3

Well - a gentleman on here sent me his entire set of speakers (OMG)

So this should be fun...

Here is the cap line up --

Clarity Cap PX, SA, MR -- with Mundorf resistors

And I am lining the enclosure with No-Rez

Excited to be able to HEAR these beasts modified

codyc1ark

Hmmm... Want to practice on mine? I've got to get them modded to match my center.

VR3

This is my second time modding the LSi9 crossover - Im always open to a 3rd...4th...5th

VR3

I do not and I repeat do not like Polks circuit boards - the traces suck and they cram so much stuff on them its insane....

Either way - this one turned out good but man was it a headache to get it to all cram in there and not to mention the terminal cups are a totally different material than the RT series so that was kind of a pain too - very brittle.

But none the less one down one to go!

VR3

I am going to put 1/2" blocks under each corner of the top of the crossover in the cabinet and fasten the crossover to it from the inside.

I will not do this style of crossover mod for the LSi9 unless I have the speakers. Plain and simple.

Any other mods I do that are staying internal will be done with boards that will be attached to the surrounding areas of the enclosure

Conradicles

Good job Trey, that does look like a bit of a task compared to most other models.

VR3

Thanks!

The RTiA7 was kind of the same way - but... I dont know what to tell ya - the terminal cups on the LSi series is cheap in comparison but the circuit boards on the RTiA are horrid in comparison to the LSI and the LSI are horrid in comparison to every other brand I have worked on so far... lol!

VR3

The owner of these speakers wanted to stay internal - so we did what we could to make that work!

He was worried going external would decrease the resale value

VR3

We did basically the same...

18uf caps are PX - even though one is in the tweeter network) - The 12uf is the SA series, the 1uf bypass is the MR series and the bypass on on the 260uf is the ESA series...

So the Clarity Cap line is in full tilt here from low to high! lol

Should sound much better than before though - that is for sure

Outfitter03

Trey I see you are using Mundorf Resistors. Have these become your standard resistor for Polk Mods? I know you did a pretty good size comparison test on your Tyler Aucoustics Speakers and I believe you liked the eagles best.

What difference do you hear? I know they are slightly less expensive than the Mills and the Eagles are significantly less expensive. Feedback appreciated and you caught Kim's attention. Doesn't happen much on the non-troubleshooting threads. Kudo's:biggrin:

VR3

I stopped using Eagles resistors - period... I like the way they sound but the leads are fragile and they are discontinued so I cant get any values... But for some reason in Tylers they work! lol

Mundorf and Mills are on the same quality level, if you want a brighter sound - go with Mundorf, if you want a more relaxed sound go with Mills.

It really almost boils down to values - Mundorf has limited values but if they do have them I perfer to use them. The other downside to Mundorf is you cant use them vertically like Mills because the leads are so short...

I must admit though right now I am using a Duelund in my tweeter and woofer network on the Super Towers and have not looked back recently - I do have about 8 of the 16 ohm Eagles I bought up just in case - we shall see!

Resistors are an interesting thing and they really make a difference!

Outfitter03

Thanks for the reply. Very good information. This is just what I was looking for. The leads on the Duelunds are very fine. Did you double them up and make a twist connection or just run the single strand of silver?

VR3

No problem!

I will go out and say I used the Mills "50" watt on my woofer section as well on my Super Towers and I would say it fares real well against Mills in the woofer section.

I am also a HUGE fan of Mundorf Supremes where stock 10 watt resistors are present. Those are great resistors - same problem though (values)

As far as Duelund gos - I usually just run them with the wire by itself - no reinforcement

jbooker82

Vr3MxStyler2k3 wrote: »

I am going to put 1/2" blocks under each corner of the top of the crossover in the cabinet and fasten the crossover to it from the inside.

I will not do this style of crossover mod for the LSi9 unless I have the speakers. Plain and simple.

Any other mods I do that are staying internal will be done with boards that will be attached to the surrounding areas of the enclosure

I stuffed some poly fill under the end of my A7's xo. Just to help give it a little support. I think they are pretty soild though.

VR3

Oh yeah - the crossovers will last forever - its shipping I am worried about!

VR3

Here is what the gentleman sent me about the LSi9 -

We removed the polyfill and I "re-tuned" the enclosure with No-Rez by ear, flipped the top and bottom drivers and modified the crossover...

Javier said the following and I asked him to reply in this thread!

"well I looked forward to getting them

Sorry to getting back to you so late but.....I can't stop listening to them!

The vocals do just what I was looking for. I do not need to strain my ears to hear what is being sung.

Also, they are less harsh all around. They won't clean up terrible recordings but I noticed the worst ones seem to be smoother.

Now here's the kicker. I now know what polk wanted to accomplish, but they fell short.
The center channel idea with the vocals is a good concept, but they designed it to be so laid back that the vocals lost out from blossoming to their full potential.

Now, the vocals are still in the center but they extend into the room. Instead of staying behind the tv and the drums , the vocals are as loud as everything else. Giving a front stage performance effect. Works for me.

So, I have heard speakers that put you into a music bubble, these speakers seat you in the front row. As stock, to a critical ear they fail, but the upgrades make the polk concept come alive.....Well at least a whole lot better.

The only adjustments I made were to take out the foam from the two air ports. I also bi-wire the speakers, so off went the jumpers. In the future if I want to go with jumpers, would a heavier gauge wire be better? I like the other jumpers but I never used them.

Well that's my review so far, Thanks again Trey"

datranz

anyone has the fr graph of the mod? I would like to know the difference in what they heard. I want to try the mod too, but i want to see the details before doing it. thanks

VR3

No graphs. Just ears