Another LSiM 707 Review

wallstreet

I thought I would create a new thread instead of threadjacking Jim?s 707 review. For those looking for his review, here's a handy link.

First Impressions
I wasn't as concerned with the finish as Jim. These are pre-production speakers after all. They've been boxed and unboxed several times. Bottom line is they look gorgeous. I own some nice furniture and these speakers will look nice in any decor. Polk does need to have other options on the finishes though. Some people just don't like cherry wood. My neighbor came over and commented, "they look great but I need black".

One test I always like to perform is the knuckle test. A quick rap to the side of a speaker gives you an idea of what's inside. Although as Jim mentioned earlier, the sheer weight of these behemoths make my reference LS-90's seem bookshelvish. Needless to say, these speakers sounded solid. Even with music playing at substantial volumes, there were barely noticeable vibrations coming through the sides of the speakers.

Polk has finally upgraded the patch plate to link the bi-amp speaker posts. I believe Club Polk can take direct credit for this improvement. The improvement in sound using of a high quality wire to patch the speaker posts is well documented in the forums.

Setup
I have a dedicated media room (15x25) so setup was a breeze. First remove two sixty pound LS-90's and then replace with two one hundred pound 707's. It really is a chore to move these speakers. The spikes on the bottom plate have rubber covers for wood and other hard floor surfaces. I left the rubber covers on my carpeted floor. I originally placed the speakers about 18 inches from the wall and left them there. Based on my reference speakers, this has been the sweet spot for my room. For amplification, I used a B&K AVR-317. This is the upgraded AVR-307. It offers 150x7 WPC. For two channel listening at 4 ohms, the B&K outputs 229 WPC at clipping. After twenty minutes of listening, the B&K was very hot. I grabbed a small fan to improve the flow of air and the unit quickly cooled down. This is plenty of power to run these speakers in a two channel setup. A full blown 7.1 system may be a different story. I turned the sub off and set my fronts to large and settled in for some listening pleasure.

Listening
The good. The first thing that strikes you about these speakers is detail. These speakers are very revealing. I had a CD of jazz music encoded at 256kbps playing for several minutes before I had to move to the original CD's. DVD audio, SACD, or any of the newer CODEC's will shine with these speakers. Analog folks, go upgrade your cartridges. I noticed detail in well-worn recordings I hadn't noticed before. I had the same impression the first time I heard these speakers. The depth and imaging are amazing. You really start to appreciate the effort that goes into mixing a quality soundtrack. The bass output almost matches the output of my SVS 25-31 (which is tuned to 20hz). I consider this an amazing accomplishment given the size of the woofers. An added benefit of small woofers is improved sonics. These woofers can keep up with the fastest transients adding to my listening pleasure.

The not as good
About an hour in I dropped in a CD from Gota. When I got to track 2, 'Time There Will Always Be', I felt like something was missing. On this track there is a synth groove that goes up and down with the song. It was there, it just wasn't as prominent as it was with my reference speakers. I believe this is the same issue Jim was referring to in his review. Given the differences in our room dimensions, I would have to contribute this as a characteristic of the speakers. I did not notice this with the 703's, but I didn't spend as much listening time with those speakers.

Conclusions
I have been in the buy a quality bookshelf and good sub camp for the past couple of years. The idea of buying a bookshelf with higher quality drivers and integrating with a capable sub is still a good idea. The fact that Polk can build a speaker with everything I need in one tidy BIG package has me rethinking my position. All in all, the LSiM is a worthy successor to the LSi line.

Conradicles

Good job. Surely they will come out in black finish as well.

RuSsMaN

Black is a go, of course. Walter, let me know when you're done playing and I'll come pick them up, no immediate hurry.

As a side note, the woofer section is probably still not even broken in yet. With the show and demo at my house, that equaled about 40 hours on them. After Jim and Walter, I'm sure they are still not even at 100 yet. Something to take into account.

RuSsMaN

I don't think your Marantz 2216 is up to it.

xsmi

Yes. Very impressive. Both the review and the compare pic.

Toolfan66

Boy do I want a set!!!! I just might rethink some of my upgrades those are beautiful!!!

stillen

So you are saying the mids were missing something, is this the only detail mildly lacking in these speakers.

thanks for the review

mrbigbluelight

Very nice and straightforward review, Wallstreet. Nice job. Good idea, too, to make a separate thread from Jim's.

Was encouraging to hear your impressions of the 707's bass response, that the bass output compares favorably with your SVS 25-31. Kind of figure that the mid/high ranges Polk would have pretty much nailed, but it seems that Polk's done their homework down there in the rumble zone, too.

You mentioned that when you played Gota's "Time There Will Always Be" that it seemed like something was missing. Very honest review, and am just wondering if that may have something to do with your B&K running a tad on the toasty side . Certainly quality gear and, as you mentioned, Jim had a somewhat similar experience, so maybe it is a case of something that will level out with more burn in ?

Might be an idea, but if time/logistics allowed for it, might be kind of cool to pass the 707's around the loop again for initial reviewers to have a 2nd listen to. Just a thought (that won't require any effort on my part, so it's a good thought. )

Thanks again to all you folks putting your time/energy into reviewing gear.

wallstreet

stillen wrote: »

So you are saying the mids were missing something, is this the only detail mildly lacking in these speakers.

thanks for the review

Yep. Everything else was top notch.

wallstreet

mrbigbluelight wrote: »

You mentioned that when you played Gota's "Time There Will Always Be" that it seemed like something was missing. Very honest review, and am just wondering if that may have something to do with your B&K running a tad on the toasty side . Certainly quality gear and, as you mentioned, Jim had a somewhat similar experience, so maybe it is a case of something that will level out with more burn in ?

Could be, hard to tell. I hooked up one LS 90 and one 707 and played the Gota song. The groove was more pronounced in the LS 90 than in the 707. It's not that one speaker is right and the other is wrong. They're just different. The 707 played much deeper than my 90's and the mids and tweeters really just outclassed my 90's as well.

wallstreet

RuSsMaN wrote: »

Black is a go, of course. Walter, let me know when you're done playing and I'll come pick them up, no immediate hurry.

As a side note, the woofer section is probably still not even broken in yet. With the show and demo at my house, that equaled about 40 hours on them. After Jim and Walter, I'm sure they are still not even at 100 yet. Something to take into account.

Saturday would be a good day. I'm heading to Boston on Sunday.

RuSsMaN

As in today? I just had dental surgery yesterday. I dont know how much carrying I can do but if they are boxed and downstairs I can get em in the Suburban.

Where are the 703's with Marvin? Jim, you have my amps and power cables?

marvda1

703's are with jim.

wallstreet

I'm boxing now, the boy can help load.

JimAckley

If the 707s are still at Walter's, I wanna drag one of my 25s over and get a few snapshots of the three models together on Wednesday. I don't mind putting in the muscle to get them into place if it's all kosher with you Walter. It'd be cool to see the evolutions over the years all in one photo. That's a really rare photo op that I'd kick myself in the **** for not taking.

703s are boxed, Operettas are boxed, power cables and splitters are in the truck. Russ, I've gotta head out to east TX for most of the day tomorrow but will be back late and could bring them by that night if you've gotta have them absolutely ASAP, but it would be easier for me to bring them up that way on Wednesday, especially if I can get up there and get pics of the 707s anyway. No reason for me to take two trips if I don't have to.

Earthy

Nice review. Gonna have to save my pennies.