just upgraded to lsi15 for music/ht and snell xa1900 center

deseroner

anyone have experience with snell xa1900 thx center speaker , anyone heard or tried it yet, i am going to be using a ma700 4ohm 300 watt to power it up.

BeefJerky

If you have LSi15's for the front speakers, you will want to use a Polk LSiC for the center. If you use a different center channel, your front stage will not match. The speakers will sound different, so your sound will change as it pans from left to center to right. This is something that is very noticeable to me and many others.

BlueFox

BeefJerky wrote: »

If you have LSi15's for the front speakers, you will want to use a Polk LSiC for the center. If you use a different center channel, your front stage will not match. The speakers will sound different, so your sound will change as it pans from left to center to right. This is something that is very noticeable to me and many others.

While that can be true, it is not always true. I have 4 LSi15s, and was using an LSiC. I upgraded the LSiC to a PSB Synchrony One Center, and it blends right in. No issues at all. I did not even have to change the AVR SPL settings for it to match with the other speakers. However, it is a big improvement over the LSiC in terms of 'bigger' and better sound from the center.

deseroner

BeefJerky wrote: »

If you have LSi15's for the front speakers, you will want to use a Polk LSiC for the center. If you use a different center channel, your front stage will not match. The speakers will sound different, so your sound will change as it pans from left to center to right. This is something that is very noticeable to me and many others.

i had a lsic , did not like it for movies, not clear , great on music, i had a boston acoustics 325c,clear on voices ,but not as good with music, so i am trying this speaker snell xa1900 for home theather. i got this b**chin amp was rebuilt by rolland at car, new poly capacitors, rebuilt to spec . new amp is gonna rock those lsi15 ,600watt 4ohm. but i want to know who had experience with snell, iam waiting on it to arrive,gonna run ma700 amp 300watt 4ohm. so i have rti12's but replace with lsi15 for music , when only running lsi15 .snell is when i watch movies etc.

BeefJerky

i had a lsic , did not like it for movies, not clear

I keep hearing people say that, but I honestly do not understand why. My LSiC is crystal clear, on both movies and music. It certainly keep up with the rest of my LSi system, and of course blends perfectly.

Of course, it depends on the movie's soundtrack too. Some are just mastered poorly, and that is not the fault of the speaker in any way.

Monster Jam

+1 to Beef Jerky statements.

That said, I would consider adding another LSiC if I were to move my theatre into a larger room.

BlueFox

BeefJerky wrote: »

I keep hearing people say that, but I honestly do not understand why. My LSiC is crystal clear, on both movies and music.

Mine was to, but I felt it was not up to par with the LSi 15 speakers. Upgrading my LSiC to the PSB was one of my better HT upgrades. Right up there with adding the Sunfire TGA-5400 amp, MIT interconnects, and Mapleshade Golden Helix speaker wire. I might be upgrading my 2 front LSi15s at some time in the future to PSB Synchrony One towers, but that will be after I upgrade my two channel speakers. Then the PSBs will be free for the move to HT.

ALWALLER

What is the cost for a PSB Synchrony One Center upgraded?

cfrizz

It will be interesting to see if this complaint about the LSIC goes away with the new one coming out.

Lietuvis91

BeefJerky wrote: »

I keep hearing people say that, but I honestly do not understand why. My LSiC is crystal clear, on both movies and music. It certainly keep up with the rest of my LSi system, and of course blends perfectly.

Of course, it depends on the movie's soundtrack too. Some are just mastered poorly, and that is not the fault of the speaker in any way.

Maybe it's possible this is due to gear and/or wires?! Yours may be a good match, and maybe some of the others are using stuff that isn't a good fit for lsi's? What gear are you running your lsi's with, including the center?

Of course speaker placement is also a big deal since lsic is not that big of a speaker... I found this to be very important with the cs2. When I had it too low under the tv, it was hard to understand dialogue.

Just from swaping out gear and wires and changing speaker location, I am finding there are quiet a few variables that can make a difference.

BeefJerky

My system is as follows:
Pioneer VSX-21TXH AVR
3x Marantz MA500 monoblocks for front sound stage
1x LSiC
2x LSi9 for front left and right
4x LSi7 for surround and surround back
12 gauge low-voltage-lighting cable from Home Depot with Monoprice banana plugs for the speaker cables
Various brands of good quality interconnects

I'd like to note that when running the LSiC off the AVR, it was still clear, I just had to watch the volume.

I have the LSiC placed above my Samsung 52" LCD angled down to ear level.

Lietuvis91

BeefJerky wrote: »

My system is as follows:
I have the LSiC placed above my Samsung 52" LCD angled down to ear level.

AHA!

Somehow I bet some of the poeple who complain about clarity of the lsic have it sitting UNDER the tv, with possibly a table or other obstructions between the speaker and the listening position... :rolleyes:

Also, marantz gear tends to be very neutral/natural. I saw an improvement in clarity of sound vs my onkyo when I got my marantz sr7002. Glad you posted, kind of confirms my suspicion.

It all makes a difference

Joe08867

Part of the issue the OP was probably having is all the different amplifiers powering things. I never liked mixing and matching amps for the same system. The word is Synergy. I can't imagine how much Synergy there is with Carver, Fosgate Audionics and Soundstream all on the same system.

That being said I heard the LSIC was a bit of a power hog. I don't know if it is true but having heard one I can't imagine issues with clarity.

dorokusai

If I was to choose a weak link in the previous LSI lineup it would most certainly be the LSiC. The cascaded design is flawed and it just doesn't have enough **** for me in regards to center channels. It should have used a traditional array, been larger or used an additional tweeter for a wider dispersion if the form factor was critical.

cfrizz

Mark, have they changed the design of the CC in the new series?

deseroner

well lsi15's rock with carver amp, got a parasound 2250 for them, well i was pushing 450 watt 4ohm thru a carver pm 900 , i did not test on new amps. well i believe the snell xa1900 should blow it out of the water .

Lietuvis91

deseroner wrote: »

well lsi15's rock with carver amp, got a parasound 2250 for them, well i was pushing 450 watt 4ohm thru a carver pm 900 , i did not test on new amps. well i believe the snell xa1900 should blow it out of the water .

That's not a coherent sentence...
Are you using the parasound or the carver now?
I am lost

Joe08867

Lietuvis91 wrote: »

That's not a coherent sentence...
Are you using the parasound or the carver now?
I am lost

I can't follow him on that one either.

deseroner

Lietuvis91 wrote: »

That's not a coherent sentence...
Are you using the parasound or the carver now?
I am lost

ok, I was using carver pm 1.5 rebuilt but sold it yesterday and came up on a parasound 2250 to drive the lsi15. I am waiting on the snell xa1900 , will post video asap . i have another amp for my center speaker fosgate 4200 450 4ohm bridge x2 50 amp current per channel, i have that hookup to the lsi15, and they sing. so no one has answer my question, who has used a snell center speaker ,like a xa1900.

deseroner

pic of lsi15 , parasound 2250 driving them, snell getting drove by fosgate , and not pictured is rear owm3 and klispch rs7's btw:the snell xa1900 is HUGE ,lol.sounds great though.

Joe08867

Dude, your setup is all over the place.

Three completely different style amps, Three different speaker manufacturers and your worried about how there gonna sound?

I could only imagine how a Horned dual tweetered center is going to sound against the LSI's. Wow, I have nothing.

I have heard Snell and they make nice stuff I just can't imagine the timbre match will be there at all. Snell are way bright in my opinion.

deseroner

Joe08867 wrote: »

Dude, your setup is all over the place.

Three completely different style amps, Three different speaker manufacturers and your worried about how there gonna sound?

I could only imagine how a Horned dual tweetered center is going to sound against the LSI's. Wow, I have nothing.

I have heard Snell and they make nice stuff I just can't imagine the timbre match will be there at all. Snell are way bright in my opinion.

actually calibrated all the sound to be equal in db , for home theater sounds great, when i listen to music , i use only the lsi15, working on getting another parasound for my center.

Joe08867

deseroner wrote: »

actually calibrated all the sound to be equal in db , for home theater sounds great, when i listen to music , i use only the lsi15, working on getting another parasound for my center.

I understand the db and eq levels matching I am talking about the material and build of each comparatively. The Tweeters in the LSI's don't match the Snell and Where do you have the Klipsch? They don't match anything either. :eek:

I hope it sounds good but on paper it does not compute.

I think finding another Parasound would help things a lot. They have a very nice sound and you would have some form of uniformity to the system. :cool:

deseroner

i have it on the wall on the sides,the rs7 klipsch. i do agree on parasound , iam working hard on getting rid of my da-2 amp.they actually sound good,i have the 2250 parasound on the lsi15,clear as the sky.i have the fosgate on the snell , clear also , but it is a little older and not ultra 2 specs.yeah it sounds good,just want all parasound if i can lol.

Joe08867 wrote: »

I understand the db and eq levels matching I am talking about the material and build of each comparatively. The Tweeters in the LSI's don't match the Snell and Where do you have the Klipsch? They don't match anything either. :eek:

I hope it sounds good but on paper it does not compute.

I think finding another Parasound would help things a lot. They have a very nice sound and you would have some form of uniformity to the system. :cool:

tonyb

Try experimenting with those 15's. I would widen them out by about a foot and a half on each side and bring them forward at least another 6 inches to a foot with a slight toe in. They seem to me anyway, too close together with that monster center.

deseroner

alright , upgraded to another parasound 1200ii, got rid of soundstream,i plan on using the 1200ii for my center speaker, trying to get rid of my beaut fosgate amp for another parasound 5 ch amp for surrounds.i now have parasound 2250 for lsi15 , parasound 1200ii for center , using fosgate 4200 for surrounds, but want to match .looking at parasound 1205a for surrounds.

OWiseOne

deseroner wrote: »

alright , upgraded to another parasound 1200ii, got rid of soundstream,i plan on using the 1200ii for my center speaker, trying to get rid of my beaut fosgate amp for another parasound 5 ch amp for surrounds.i now have parasound 2250 for lsi15 , parasound 1200ii for center , using fosgate 4200 for surrounds, but want to match .looking at parasound 1205a for surrounds.

Have you tried your Fosgate Audionics 4200 (it is a 4200 right?) on the LSi's yet? It's an older amp but from my experience with this amp, it's better designed and better build then most of todays top dollar units and it has the THX certs from before there ever was such a thing as the ULTRA this and SELECT that....THX ratings. I'm using the 4 channels of the fosgate audionics 4200 to bi-amp my martin logan SL3's with excellent results and I've tried many of the so called THX Ultra... certified units. Open up the hood of the 4200 and you'll see what I'm talking about. You could even try bridging 4 channels into 2 channels for more punch on the LSi's and see how that sounds.