NAD and LSi's

argylesox

Our modest system consists of an NAD T-747 AVR driving two LSi7 fronts and an LSiC along with a powered sub. While this is a very sweet sounding combination but I have always wondered if it would/could be even sweeter if I took some of the load off the AVR with say a mono block driving the center only?

polk500

Yes it would ;lots of threads in this forum on the Lsi series they are 4 ohm and I think you should amp all three. You have great speakers and as they say on this forum feed them power and you will love the results.

Cheers Roger

argylesox

Well, yes I have read many of those threads and I have also read threads from folks who claim the AVR I have does just fine with the LSi7?s since they say they?re actually closer to 6 ohm and the easiest to drive of the LSi series making my system good to go. The LSiC may not fit that description but the NAD does just fine with it as well.

I like the sound of my existing system but the thought of improving the sound even more has been wearing on me. What I?m trying to determine is would separates really make such a tremendous difference? Currently I have no way to tell.

For the argument?s sake let?s just say that they will make a difference worth the cost. I?m not an audiophile, have never owned separates and have a modest audio budget so if I were to consider the separates route what would be your recommendation? Please feel free to correct my thinking or comment on what I perceive to be the order of upgrades I could consider in ascending order of cost:

1. One mono block amp for the LSiC which would take some of the heavy lifting off the AVR.
2. A two channel amp or two mono blocks leaving the AVR to drive the center and/or surrounds if added.
3. A three channel amp or three mono blocks, etc. as per above.
4. A five channel amp with the possibility of going to a 5.1 later.

Also am I correct in thinking that I would continue to use my existing AVR?s pre-outs in the above scenarios? That would also mean that any special or perceived ?NAD? sound would be replaced by that of the power amp, correct?

nhhiep

I wouldn't do it, unless you plan to upgrade to Lsi9s. Lsi7s are really 6ohms and that is a good AVR. NAD stuffs are better than average.

tonyb

I would leave it as is until you upgrade the speakers are add more. The sub is doing the heavy lifting in the bass department so no real big load is presented to the AVR as of now.
Adding more speakers or more power hungry speakers and it may be time to add an amp, but for now enjoy.

Loud & Clear

I've only experienced minor improvements when supplementing an AVR with an amp. The significant improvements have always come with bettering the speakers. Perhaps selling the 7s in favor of the LSiM 703s would bring added pleasure.

rooftop59

I had a NAD 317 with a pair of LSi7s and the sound was wonderful. I can't really imagine more power bringing much improvement, as you are correct that the 7s are really closer to 6 ohm speakers. But the LSiC is a true 4 ohm speaker, and you can regularly get a single Marantz MA500 on eBay for around a bill, so if you want to experiment grab one of those or something similar and see if you hear a difference.

gdpeck

I believe from limited experience the NAD receivers are a step above other consumer brand receivers in terms of amplification. I currently have two NAD receivers in service. In my bedroom system I have a NAD C720BEE driving an unmodified pair of Monitor 5 Series II speakers. I have had these speakers for over 20 years and have driven them with Yamaha and Denon AVRs and to my ears the two-channel NAD is clearly superior than either of those options by a large margin. With the Yamaha the Polks were overly bright and fatiguing. Moving to the Denon, they got a lot less bright. Moving to the NAD is really what made me fall in love with those speakers.

In my Home Theater setup I have a NAD T775 running a pair of LSi9s and an LSiC for the front stage. These were previously driven by a Denon AVR-3802 and the NAD drives them much better than the Denon ever did. After having the NAD for almost a year, the audio DSP board failed, so it is currently in the shop for service, so I am back to using the Denon to drive the home theater system and there is a big difference. Everything just sounds kind of flat with the Denon. I haven't had a chance to try any separate amplification, so I can't say for sure that it wouldn't help, but I'm very happy with the way the NAD drives the LSi9, LSiC combo. Actually, the only reason I ever consider trying external amplification is when I read this forum. It's kind of dangerous to be here.

As far as amplification goes, my experience with NAD receivers is that they just get the job done and sound very good doing it. I will share that I haven't been entirely pleased with the NAD T775 for a couple of other reasons. These reasons have a lot to do with digital audio and especially audio over HDMI. The issues I've had have been frustrating enough that I've considered going down the path of an AVR from a more mainstream brand as a pre-amp/processor, and seperate multi-channel amp. The thing that has always held me back from doing this (aside from money), is that I just love the sound that comes out of the NAD receiver, when everything is working. I'm hoping that whatever repairs get done with my receiver solve most of the issues, because it really is sweet sounding.

As far as the original questions posted here, depending on how much you watch movies or if you listen to multi-channel music at all, I would spend all of my upgrade budget on rear speakers and move to 5.1 before I did any amplification upgrades, but that's just what would work for me.

argylesox

Wow, you folks are great. This forum is so helpful.

I understood before posting that opinions on this topic would vary considerably and I value every one of them. Perhaps most of our future direction regarding audio upgrades will be determined by a potential move to a different house, but I'm always wondering if I can wring even better sound out of my 7?s and therefore the itch that needed scratching ? not an uncommon phenomenon in the world of audio I think.

The relatively small listening area in our current home is 12.5? x 22? with standard 8? ceiling and our listening done across the shorter dimension. If/when we move and gain a larger listening space I will definitely revisit this scheme again. Unfortunately Polk has discontinued the LSi7?s and 9?s and while the 7?s remain available new I?m not about to stockpile based on possible future events. Initially I really wanted the 9?s but decided on the 7?s for a couple different reasons.

Nhhiep and Tonyb, thanks for your input. We have an 8? sub which really, really made a difference in listening, esp. when we toss in a Blu-Ray. There is some music we listen to which can do nicely without a sub but it doesn?t matter for the most part because we have it set so low you can?t tell it?s there until the bombs start going off in a movie.

Loud and Clear, have you heard the 703?s? Care to pass along any impressions, compared to the LSi 7?s or 9?s for example? They?re beautiful but also a tad expensive, esp. when I got my 7?s new on closeout for $399.

rooftop59, I had never heard of the Marantz MA500?s prior to your post (not well versed in separates as you can tell), but they look like an extremely economical solution to increased power requirements. They would sound as good as a used Rotel or Parasound in that price range? BTW, our NAD doesn?t heat up or show any signs of stress in the present configuration.

Roger/Polk 500, I hear you pal. The 7?s are great speakers and I just know that at some point in time I?ll be futzing/upgrading and more power will be part of that scenario. At that point I?ll get a chance to feed the 7?s better. I?m guessing you?re either in Calgary or Edmonton. I grew up just south of the border from Winnipeg. We're about to get a little of your cooler weather down here on the South Coast.

Actually, I don?t think there are any Polk 703?s available locally to audition. I may head over to store that has the Monitor Audio RX6 Silver available to audition ? I heard it?s a sweet speaker at that price point.

Thanks again for all your input.

argylesox

Gdpeck, sorry, I replied before I read your post. I couldn?t agree with you more in that this is a dangerous place to be ($$$).

Reinforcing news on NAD is always welcome.

I don?t know squat about separates, that?s why I posted but I?m guessing that if I were to use the pre-outs on my NAD T-747 to a power amp, I would necessarily give up that ?NAD sound? in favor of that belonging to the power amp, correct?

Originally I lusted for the LSi9?s (money was an issue at that time) plus I purchased the NAD prior to the speakers and was warned that the 9?s were way too power hungry to be driven by a mere AVR, dipping down into the 2ohm range even, so I chickened out and bought the 7?s. So I really don?t know what I?m missing but I very, very much like the sound of the 7?s, as I?ve previously noted. Besides, the 9?s have been discontinued and are pretty much gone.

Yes, we do enjoy movies and multi-channel music, however prefer stereo for the music side. We have Polk RTi4?s in another room hanging on a wall, driven by a ?70?s Pioneer tuner/amp which is tied to my computer. We may try moving those speakers to our listening room to make them the rears on a 5.1, but I?m not so sure about mixing 8ohm speakers with 4ohm 7?s.