LSi9 question

shogun

I just purchased some used LSi9's and had a question about them. When I listen to each driver with the volume low, it sounds like one of the woofers is louder than the other. I was thinking maybe one was not working and running as a passive radiator but I took it out and it does work. I purchased the speakers without being able to hear them so I had to check them out at home. I think both the LSI9 do the same thing and just found it odd and I wanted to see if thats normal.

Thanks,
Doug

[Deleted User]

Hi Doug,
Great speakers! Here's a link to Polk's web site that explains what you are hearing:
http://www.polkaudio.com/education/tech_article.php?id=23
Let us know if you have any additional questions or concerns.
Cheers, Ken

shogun

Thanks for the quick reply. I though they were OK but just wanted to confirm it. I didn't get the manuals with them so no I am assuming I need to mount them vertically and not flat like I have them.


I wish they were a bit more efficient because I have to turn it up much more than my Polk Monitor 10's to get the same level dB.

Doug

PrazVT

What are you powering them with?

shogun

I have a Harman Kardon AVR 635. It is rated at 75 watts x 7 and it is a true 75W RMS with all channels driven from what I remember. It can obtain the level I like to listen to at times but now I get close to 0 dB on the volume and that doesn't give much headroom for clipping etc. The Monitor 10's must really be more efficient than the LSi9's.
Doug

Drenis

Kenneth Swauger wrote: »

Hi Doug,
Great speakers! Here's a link to Polk's web site that explains what you are hearing:
http://www.polkaudio.com/education/tech_article.php?id=23
Let us know if you have any additional questions or concerns.
Cheers, Ken

A little off topic but I too noticed this similarity with my RTi A9's and thought perhaps it was to do with the cross overs. You really think the driver is blown but it moves, it sings. Boy do those woofer's EVER move under power.

That link confirmed that. Very cool technology.

Upstatemax

shogun wrote: »

I have a Harman Kardon AVR 635. It is rated at 75 watts x 7 and it is a true 75W RMS with all channels driven from what I remember. It can obtain the level I like to listen to at times but now I get close to 0 dB on the volume and that doesn't give much headroom for clipping etc. The Monitor 10's must really be more efficient than the LSi9's.
Doug

LSi 9's love power and they are a 4ohm speaker.

You might want to consider a power amp for them. When I put my Parasound HCA 1500A on my LSi 9's it was a large improvement. I was using my HK 3490 to drive them before that (150wpc @ 4ohm).

PrazVT

Actually - his AVR 635 puts out 50+ amps peak, which is more than enough. Whether it supports 4ohm speakers officially, it doesn't say. So Op may be ok.

shogun

I have a Haffler JF2000 that is really a Rockford Fosgate RF2000 that is 2 or 300 RMS / Channel I thought about using but the center channel would not be matched sice the amp is only 2 channel.

I'm pretty sure the HK AVR635 is 4 ohm stable.

Doug

Upstatemax

PrazVT wrote: »

Actually - his AVR 635 puts out 50+ amps peak, which is more than enough. Whether it supports 4ohm speakers officially, it doesn't say. So Op may be ok.

The 3490 is 150wpc with a peak amp rating of 45... It's no slouch, but there was a marked improvement going to the 350wpc, 60amp/ch Parasound...

Dynamics were far better and I can keep the volume knob lower than before while still getting all the lovely detail.

shogun

Does anyone bi-amp these speakers? I would think you need identical amps to do this and in a home theater this would be expensive with 5 or more channels.

Doug

cfrizz

If you shop on Audiogon for an at least 200wpc @ 8ohms 5-7 channel amp, you won't need to worry about bi-amping and you will have plenty of power to have your speakers operate to their full potential. Your receiver is not going to do this.

It won't be cheap, but it will last you for years. Do it once, do it right, sit back and enjoy.

Welcome to Club Polk.

PrazVT

Agreed. If he's having to turn up the vol, ultimately a more powerful amp will remedy that. I'm using a NAD 375 integrated and rarely need to turn the vol past the 9 or 10 o'clock position.

shogun

This is the other amp I have but it's a two channel so it may not be the best since I use my system mostly for HT of if I do listen to music, it is concert DVD's in 5.1. I could try it but it would probably over power the center channel.

http://www.gamblin.net/rf2000.html

shogun

One more quetion for those of you with LSi9's and a sub, do you run the LSi9's full range or do you set them to small and filter out the lows? I know this may come down to personal preference but I I wanted to know what other have found that works for the LSi's.

Doug

BeefJerky

shogun wrote: »

One more quetion for those of you with LSi9's and a sub, do you run the LSi9's full range or do you set them to small and filter out the lows? I know this may come down to personal preference but I I wanted to know what other have found that works for the LSi's.

Doug

I personally set them to small and let the sub do the lowest frequencies. This way each speaker can stick to reproducing the frequencies that they do best. That being said, with the LSi9's, you can set the crossover lower than you could on smaller speakers such as the LSi7's. I would suggest trying 50-60hz with the LSi9's and see how it sounds.

The advantage to doing this is to reduce the issues with bass localization. THX recommends 80hz, and many sources use the common 80hz as the point where a person can no longer localize bass. I disagree with this, as it is very noticeable that some of the frequencies near that crossover point are coming from the sub. It is even obvious in a car system to me. I have my car setup with a crossover point of 70hz at 24db/octave. At home, I have it setup for 60hz with my LSi9's and LSiC, and 80hz with my LSi7 surrounds.

shogun

Since the time I got these speakers, my HK died and I had to replace it. The HK would no longer keep it's settings so I "upgraded" to a Denon 3312. I got the Denon from the local Stereo Shop that also sold the LSI9's so they know the speakers. Anyway I found the new Denon really is junk and the amp and PS can not drive the LSI's unless I never turn it up much. I have been using my Hafler JF2000 for the mains but I am thinking about getting a real amp and wanted some recommendations. I have been looking at used on Creaigs list / ebay and looking at
Rotel 1075 5 X 120W @8, 5x200 @ 4
B&K Ref 7270, 7X200
B&K 200.5 200 X 5
NAD 973 7X140W

From looking around at used amps, it looks like I can get something great for about $1K but I want something that will last and sound good. I am not limited to these brands but I want quality and great sound and I think the LSi’s need a amp that can drive low impedance. I have seen some on the forum say they drop to 2ohms at some freqs. I don’t need 7 channels but if I did get a 7 channel amp, I could bi amp the mains. Also, I now have a 15” Velodyne so the bass is well covered 
What would you recommend to drive 2 LSi9’s, 1 LSiC and 2 LSiFX’s at their full potential. Also, having this in time for the Zeppelin release of Celebration would be a benefit.
Doug

cfrizz

Go with either of the B&K amps. You have an entire LSI system they need all the power that they can get. You have been underpowering them since you've had them. I would think that you want to finally hear what they are really capable of when fed the power that they need to operate to their full potential. As I said when you first asked the question get an amp of at least 200wpc at 8ohms. The more power you give them at 8ohms is the more power they will have at 4ohms.

B&K, Rotel, Parasound, Sunfire, Outlaw, Adcom etc. are all good brands that will get the job done. Don't forget to keep an eye out on Audiogon for a good deal as well.

shogun

Right now there is a B&K 7270 for ~ $1300 locally and I have seen some Rotle 1095's sell for ~ $900. Is the B&K that much better? I know with used there isn't a easy way to go listen and compare since many of them are on ebay. Also, is NAD as good as the others because I see some of them for sale also.

As far as B&K, are the 200.7 as good/better as the 7270's?

BTW, I didn't see much for sale on audiogon and club polks won't let me look at items for sale since I need 100 posts. I understand as far as listing items you want people who contribute but why limit the buyer?

Thanks,
Doug

cfrizz

Both B&K & Rotel make excellent gear, you can't go wrong with either brand. Pick whichever one fits your needs and wallet.

SugarmillMan

cfrizz wrote: »

Both B&K & Rotel make excellent gear, you can't go wrong with either brand. Pick whichever one fits your needs and wallet.

I don't know the B&K brand but I agree the Rotel amps are clean sounding and a good quality build. It is personally annoying to me that you cant buy them online. Rotel will only sell new through a Rotel dealer (if you want the warranty).