Any one as crazy as me?

MrMusicman1

Hello,

My first post. About a year ago at this time I purchased a pair of LSi25's to run only in stereo. At the time I was living in a dorm 13'X11', I received sound warnings on a daily basis! No one else could come close to competing:)

My goal was to have the best possible sound with the least amount of equipment. These speakers are amazing (and expensive) but I never read many posts of anyone owning a pair of LSi25's. The few owners I have seen all have been home theater systems.

Has anyone else gone the same route or tried to develop an amazing stereo only system?

Any suggestions about stereo audio with my speakers are also welcomed.

Speakers:
PolkAudio LSi25's

Amp:
Harmon/Kardon HK 3475

Frank Z

Welcome to the forum.

I think the reason that most people opt for the 15's instead of the 25's is HT. I've heard the 25's powered by a Conrad Johnson tube amp and preamp and they did sound fantastic. For 2 channel they are a great choice, but the 15's or 9's with a seperate sub are a better option if a person is looking to set up an HT system. Generally a seperate sub will out perform the sub's in the 25's.

Is your HK a receiver or just an amp?

I think you'll find that most of the Lsi owners around here will recommend a seperates package to really bring the Lsi speakers to life. There are a few receivers that have the ability to drive your speakers, but the selection is not that big.

Wardsweb

Mr MusicMan1 your sir are not crazy. I on the other hand could be judged not quite stable. I have five working systems in my house ranging from 7 watt tube driven horns to 3000 watt home theater with dual 18" bass horns.

I find a dedicated 2-channel music setup and a separate home theater setup to work best. It avoids having to make any compromises to accomodate either function.

MrMusicman1

Thanks for the responses. My HK is considered a receiver. At American, where I bought the speakers, it was the most powerful stereo receiver they had. The HK also includes separate sub outputs, that feature helped sell me on the receiver.

Here is the link if you would like.
http://www.harmankardon.com/product_detail.asp?cat=REC&prod=HK%203475&sType=C

I do consider my self a novice at upper end home audio. However, I have had several opportunities to set up home theaters for friends. Most importantly, I do know what sounds good.

Frank z, awesome set up and nice job with the site. Some day later in life I hope to have such a room. Did you find that having a separate sub helps your system instead of using the built in ones? Quality out weighed cost?

Wardsweb, my friend you are much more crazy with 5 systems and dual 18" horns.

Gary Robertson

If i amremembering correctly,the Harmon Karden was the first receiver to be invented created and sold -"EVER" ,,back in the fifties.if somehow later in my life that i was forced to own a receiver-it would be a Harmon Karden-although i believe thay nakamichi builde the "ONLY" receiver with the pre amp,the power amp amd the tuner on separate chassises witch make for a much cleaner output and overall sound.

Frank Z

I think a sub is very important in a multichannel audio or HT set up. The 15's don't do the LFE signals justice.

cmy330go

Nice setup Musicman!

I actually work at an American in Iowa, and I have had a lot of time to play lsi's with different receivers. I have to say that you made the right choice, at least in my opinion. Most receivers don't have near enough oomph to do these speakers justice. Don't get me wrong I'm not by any means saying that it is as good as seperates cause it's not, but I am saying that the HK stereo receivers are impressive.

In regards to the 25's vs. the 15's.

I went with the 15's because no mater what I threw at them I liked the sound. With the 25's I found myself wanting to constantly tweak the sub level and crossover. I just couldn't seem to nail down the perfect settings. Maybe I change music too much.

Well that's my $0.02 worth.

Enjoy
Dave

MrMusicman1

Dave,

Thanks for the reply. It is nice to hear that other people don't think I made a bad choice. When I was looking for the speakers I had never had a chance to experiment with that that quality of speakers before.

I completely agree with the sub level settings. They do need to be adjusted from time to time depending on what is being played through them. I got the point where I use an automatic equalizer on my computer for playing music. It automatically adjusts its self according to the genre of audio, a very nice most appreciated feature from Apple. iTunes available here:

http://www.apple.com/itunes/

As for the crossover, I never have much of a problem with it. I just leave it set very low and things sound great.

Thanks