Selection of speakers

cusco69

Hi All,
New to this forum and hope you Polk folks can help me select a pair of speakers to match my Marantz PM KI Pearl Lite and CD6004. I already have the TSi100 and the DSW440i sub. Listens to all kinds of music from Jass to rock and new age. Listening area is approximately 12' x 15' with 10' ceiling. Budget is US$1K. Thank you all in advance.

cnh

Welcome to Club Polk!

That Marantz is a two channel integrated amp, right? 70 watts x 2? Able to also drive 4 ohms loads?

OK, if that's true, your budget is 1K, room is of average to smaller size. If that budget were a tad more? I'd buy set of the new LSiM 703s if you want Polk's 'best'! Definitely worth saving a few hundred more for! You "won't" regret it!!

http://www.polkaudio.com/products/lsim703

And that amp will probably be adequate for now. You may want to upgrade later.

If you want to go cheaper, the LSi-7s I run below with a sub are not bad. They're NOT 703s, but OK!

You can get a nice set of refurbs from Polk for half price (799 a pair originally, 399 refurbed).

http://www.ebay.com/itm/PAIR-LSi7-CHERRY-Bookshelf-Loudspeakers-Polk-Audio-/360463317823?pt=Speakers_Subwoofers&hash=item53ed49bb3f

There are also the larger LSI-9s but I'm not sure how your amp will fare with them. They like a LOT of power:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/PAIR-LSi9-Ebony-Bookshelf-Loudspeakers-Polk-Audio-/390406468909?pt=Speakers_Subwoofers&hash=item5ae609f52d

Or you could go with something non-Polk? Like a pair of Totem Rainmakers, etc. Lots of good quality bookies around to choose from.

Some people like Ushers, Epos, and KEF Q300s are in your budget too!
http://www.whathifi.com/review/kef-q300

rooftop59's Energy C-3s for $190 are a nice deal too. But you don't have the post count to see this thread?
http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?136032-Energy-C-3-Monitors-190-shipped-CONUS



Good luck!


cnh

cusco69

Thanks cnh. I am looking forward to upgrade to a better amp next year. Currently wants to have reasonable speaker set so that I need not upgrade them again next year. Will check out the LSiM703. Howabout the RTiA7. Read lots of rave review about this, and price close to the LSiM703

cnh

Although the A7s are a decent dual duty speaker (Home theater and Music). They are really more of a Home Theater than a music oriented speaker.

The LSiM series is the most "musical" speaker Polk has produced in at least a decade or more! So if you're thinking two channel and can afford it. 703s! By themselves they should be adequate in a room your size. But if you play a lot of BASS heavy music you might want to add a Polk MicroPro 1000 sub (also good for music)!

cnh

cusco69

Hi cnh,
Thanks again. I will get the LSiM 703 as recommended.

cusco69

Hi cnh
Ordered the LSi703 as recommended. Would arrive Tuesday week. Cant wait to hear the difference. Thanks Again.

marvda1

now just grab that yaqin tube integrated that's up for sale and you'll have a great starter system.

cusco69

Hi Marvda1,
Thanks for the suggestion. I had just hooked up the 703 and felt difference already, but think its not showing enough sound stage. I will give it some time before thinking of anything. Belief the Pearl Lite should be able to power these 703s.

KiTsuNe

If you got them new you should reserve judgement after breaking them in

cusco69

hi Kit---
I tested the speakers with Marantz KI Pearl Lite 70w/ch and it gets muddy when I crank up the volume to 11o'clock. I tested with Msrantz cd6004 with Hank Williams Jr A country boy can survive and Dire Straits Pound your friend. The soundjust get muddy when the volume is up. I had now the E-406 on the way. Hope it does the job. I ?m a polky for long time, but if this still csnnot workpad I will switch camp to B&W which I had heard so much

cusco69

The song from Dire Straits is You and your friend. sorry for error as I am using vietnamese k?u pads

cusco69

The song from Dire Straits is You and your friend. sorry for error as I am using vietnamese k?u pads

cusco69

update
I had changed the speaker cables to magnum hybrid and the high mid is now much better. However I still cannot hear the highs coming up. It is still very tight and narrow, as though something is locking the sound in the speaker cabinet. I have the speaker running 6hours a day for 10days now hope it would open up more. Still praying.

SolidSnake1988

How about some bowers & wilkins 685's read many great reviews.

sponger

cusco69 wrote: »

update
I had changed the speaker cables to magnum hybrid and the high mid is now much better. However I still cannot hear the highs coming up. It is still very tight and narrow, as though something is locking the sound in the speaker cabinet. I have the speaker running 6hours a day for 10days now hope it would open up more. Still praying.

You're using an accuphase e-406 amp instead of the marantz now? It doesn't sound like that you're simply dissatisfied with the performance of the speaker. Instead it sounds like there is some type of a malfunction. You mentioned that the "highs aren't coming through." Do the highs "come through" for your TSi100's?

If the TSi100's sound better than the LSiM703's, then I would say that something is amiss somewhere.

tonyb

Are the jumpers in place on the back of the speakers ? How about a pic, I hear they are worth a thousand words.

cusco69

Hi Sponger and Tonyb
I am still using the pearl lit?. With the tsi100, I have to crank up the volume to get it to come alive but it did not work for the 703s. I remembered the 100s have the same problems in the beginning and one day when I was playing it loudly in the day it just poped. I thought to hell with it and shut off the system to check but everything seems alright driver cones etc. Then I powered up again and raise the volume up gradually and found it sounding so different. With the sunday I think its is now better than the 703. Still waiting for the e406. Just got news it arrived at the port dunno how many more days to reach my door. Hoping the higher power amp would open the 703s up. Praying.

cusco69

hi
I have read lots about them but have not have a chance to audition them. Where I am now is too far away from the main cities. 6 hours to any audition !

tonyb

Sounds to me like you fried something in the crossover already.

sponger

I think it's that you're driving a 70w/chann amp into clipping and subsequently frying whatever speakers you're using with it.

cusco69

hi
Do you guys mean I fried the speakers or the amp.? I can still get the tsi100s to scream but not the 703s. How could a 70wpc amp fry the 703 which is rated for 200watts? I am a little lost here

sponger

cusco69 wrote: »

hi
Do you guys mean I fried the speakers or the amp.? I can still get the tsi100s to scream but not the 703s. How could a 70wpc amp fry the 703 which is rated for 200watts? I am a little lost here

I don't want to open myself up to criticism by being too specific, so I'm going keep it as generalized and as vague as possible. Your typical "premium" aka "high-end" speaker is going to need more if not a lot more power than the average speaker in order to work properly.

If the power source is not enough to properly drive the speaker, then the user will typically overstress the amp in an attempt to make the speaker play more loudly. The result is that the amp sends a "clipped" signal to the speaker. Looking up the term "amp clipping" will probably better help to illustrate that for you. Speakers react poorly to clipped signals, and will thus fry -- yes, the speaker itself.

I hope that's not your situation. It would be great news if the speakers are still A-OK, and that all you need is more power -- clean power, that is.

tonyb

Depends on how loud your playing them, how hard your pushing them in what size room. The fact that you heard something "pop", tells me you probably fried a resistor, hence the bad sound going forward from that point. Just because you have an amp doesn't mean you can bury the volume dial, if thats what happened. Only guessing for the time being.

Might be time to get your read on my friend. We only have a hundred or so threads on powering LSI's, but the principles apply to any speaker.

cusco69

Well I did not pop the 703s, it was the 100s but it is still ok now with the sub. It is much brighter than the 703. The 703 is very mellow and tight as compared with the 100s. I was expecting the 703sto be more open and come get me but thats not happening. Maybe like what you guys are saying I need a better amp to get hold of it. I will come back next week when I get the e406 in place. Thanks for all your input.

cusco69

Well, the e406 did get more details into the speakers. I can hear the highs now has a little more air to it, but 2 things still not quite live up to all the rave about these speakers. The stage is still not where I hope to achieve, and the lows seems to have a lot of resonance. MAYBE its my living room. I do not have a dedicated room.

I have read all the threads and am sure the amp with 170wpc is up to task. By the way, I always listen at low volume (7 to 9 o'clock on the volume dial) except that one pop on the tsi100s due to frustration.
Any suggestion for room accoustics apart from carpets, curtains, sound boards on the walls?

tommyt21

Looks like you have a very reflective floor.. Is the rest of the room like that? Small room hard surfaces sounds like a recipe for disaster.

cusco69

Yes, the whole house are ceramic tiled. Walls are all bricks and concrete. Big headache trying to solve the resonance.

tommyt21

cusco69 wrote: »

Yes, the whole house are ceramic tiled. Walls are all bricks and concrete. Big headache trying to solve the resonance.

My room is not nearly that reflective and room treatments made a huge difference on clearing up smearing, nulls, FQ cancelations and muddy bass.

littlewoodboats

cusco69 wrote: »

Yes, the whole house are ceramic tiled. Walls are all bricks and concrete. Big headache trying to solve the resonance.

I am in a rent house so am limited as to what I can do. A rug from Lowes with a dog bed in each corner made a huge difference. I am in a converted garage with linoleum on a concrete floor. I put up a curtain over a window behind my speakers as you did but used a black out curtain. (much heavier)

Stand in the middle of your room and clap your hands once. You should get an idea of how bad things might be.

ravaneli

Your room is beautiful. Don't ruin it with treatments. If you can get a dedicated room you can install treatments there.

cusco69

Well I have the e406 now in place. The high now has a little more air into it and the base is tighter. However, I still cannot get the stage to appear. I had listened to the same tunes in friends place with lower power and quality amps but with a dedicated 2 channel room, the stage really appears in front of me, but once I get home, it is missing. I hear all the lows and highs, clarity and now with the 170wpc amp, I get more air into the music, but still no stage? See my living room layout and see if you guys can help. I have another thread also showing the same picture under placing of speakers, started because of different requirements then, but now it all boils to onlt the sound stage.

Another picture shows my custom made iron wood stands for the M703s.