Lsi 15 vs RTi12
I recently had some damage to my old speakers (polk S8) and decided to upgrade so I ordered a pair of RTi12s. I just recently found this forum and now I am wondering if maybe I should have spent a little more for the Lsi 15s. How does the RTi compare to the Lsi? I will be using the speakers mostly for home theater. I also ordered a Denon AVR-4802R receiver and FXi5 surrounds. I am not sure if my choices were the best but I needed to order something to receive the 2nd half of the money for the insurance claim. Oh I also ordered a sv sub woofer because of all the good reviews on this forum.
Post edited by ChrisMc on
Comments
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Welcome to the forum!
My .02
I think the RTi 12 does better with HT than 2 channel and that the LSi 15 is more of a 2 channel speaker. Hope that makes you feel better.Political Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk -
...And I'll disagree with the first two Yahoo's!;)
I'm an Lsi fan from the word go. Does that mean that they are the best choice for everyone, maybe...maybe not. The only way to know for sure is to try 'em. I own 1 or 2 Lsi's and had a few Rt's in the past. I really liked the Rt speakers, but I wanted a system with better sound, so the Lsi's were my choice. If you can audition the Lsi's, do it and let your ears tell ya what sounds good.
And for Gawd's sake don't listen to F1 or ATC...Those guy's are always liquored up on near-beer!;) -
That's Root Beer, thank you very much!
Political Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk -
Rare moment....I agree with Frank,
The Lsi series are designed to do both.They are there high end speaker line currently.
Movies,music...It doesn't even matter.
Personally I think they do both much better then the rt lines of today and all in the past.
Higher quality sound reproduction is higher quality sound reproduction..... in this case true.
DanDan
My personal quest is to save to world of bad audio, one thread at a time. -
Originally posted by mantis
Higher quality sound reproduction is higher quality sound reproduction..... in this case true.
Dan
Ahhh, so true Dan, but that is all very subjective to each individual.
To my ears, I did not like the LSi15s. Too flat, too laid back, too mellow, too, well, boring for lack of a better word.
Even taking the old receiver for RTi and seperates for LSi line chestnut and throwing it out the window in this case since the 12s need seperates just as much if not even more so than the 15s to really shine, for dynamic movie sound tracks and hard rock/heavy metal music, the RTi12 RULES the LSi15, to my ears anyway.
On the other hand, if you listen to "Audiophile approved' recordings such as "Mary Ulmer and Her Happy Little Dulcimer", then I'd say yeah, LSi 15s all the way! -
bigsexy1,
they both are good speakers.As you said it's up to the ONE to decide not the speaker.
Your statement that the rti's need seperates even more so then the Lsi's to shine,well I don't agree as you can get the rti's to shine off alot of lower powered receivers.Denon's avr3803 is a prime example.They sound fantastic running off of.
But again all personal....
DanDan
My personal quest is to save to world of bad audio, one thread at a time. -
As always, personal taste matters...
Personally, I didn't really like the LSi's...they seemed a bit "lifeless" and flat to me. The 12's really blew me away with their clairity and punch. IMHO the perform equally well for both HT and music. Also, before my M-Blocks I used to run them off of just my receiver and it ran them quite well.
Whatever your decision though you can't go wrong with any Polk speaker.
A lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part... -
I think a person is making a HUGE mistake if they are looking for a speaker for "movies"
A good speaker is a good speaker. It changes the dynamics and tone and overall polsih of the feed going up the chain. I don't think any speaker designer has labelled a speaker a "music" or "movie" speaker at all. Having said that I think the LSi15 is light years, and I mean many many light years better then the RTi12.
I personally think the RTi series of speaker is one of the worst I've heard in its price range in terms of sibilance in the higher freq's the "esses" seem very shrilled. The mid-range is not deep at all, but rather foward, with no background. It sounded to my ears like notes were echoed on paper, rather then having a real life airy feel to them. The bass response seemed to try and hide all other problems. They "punched" but at alot of times when they shouldn't have. Drowning out details. (It should be noted that these comparisions are used with the best possible sources and current at task. If you are comparing mid-low fi products moving the source up the chain then read no further. Buy the RTi12's you'll never appreciate the LSI's.)
The LSi's are totally different. Which I find surprising because they are made from the same company. What I can tell you with LSi15's is that in order to get the most out of them. You need to buy very expensive electronics and upstream box's.
I use the LSi9's and had bought a NAD 541i CD player. While it was an improvement, it still is not a good enough mate with my SimAudio and LSi9's. I should have dropped more money on the CD player. It is the most important part of the equation. The same should apply with the DVD player. If you are using the LSi15's a $500 DVD player simply won't cut it. The LSi's aren't as bad as say Totem speakers but they still require lots of current up the chain and I would argue they it demands separates.
I think the LSi speakers were designed for a true Hi-fi sound. That sound can only be heard via the right equipment. Unless you are willing to spend close to the same for a DVD player, and Processors and Amp's go with the RTi12's. This decision can not be based on the speakers themselves. But everything required to get the most out of either line. -
To each his own ...
I think the 15's are a little better in the highs but that's it.
As a standalone pair of speakers overall I found the 12's to be superior regardless of the level of electronics and source.
This is why each individual must listen and make their own decisions as each person hears things differently and has different priorities. -
WOW let the opnions fly.........
Sources,wire,speakers even the quality of the software will all play a big role in overall sound quality.Mostly overlooked is the room which they all live in.
Running 1740 dollar speakers off a 80 dvd player dubbing as a cd player should be a crime.....what a waste...
I feel like this,if your going to have high quality speakers,why would you mate them with entry level?Money?If the budget doesn't allow for a system of matching,then why shoot the load on the speakers?Just thinking about what I read above.
There is alot to be said about Balance.Dan
My personal quest is to save to world of bad audio, one thread at a time. -
The ONLY thing that matters is the listener.
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I don't get it but I have to agree again.......Frank
My thoughts are my own.Dan
My personal quest is to save to world of bad audio, one thread at a time. -
It's simple, all the fancy assed equipment, wires, electronics, gadgets, & tweeks, don't mean squat if you the listener don't like what you are hearing. If some of these folks are big on the RTi series and not LSi...LOVELY!! It's all about what each individual enjoys, not about what a group of people THINK they should enjoy.It is possible for one person to get just as much enjoyment from a $80 DVD player as another gets from an $800 player. Same goes for speakers. RTi, LSi, SDA's, KEF, B&W, ETC. If you like what you hear the label means DICK.
That's what I meant.
