Polks at Tweeter

Early B.

I ran out to Tweeter (HiFi Buys) today to check out their newly arrived Polks. They'll carry the complete line of Lsi's and Rti's. In my area (Atlanta, GA), not all of the Polks had arrived yet. They didn't have the Lsi15s or 25s yet, but they're expecting them tomorrow.

The Polks were in a room alongside the Sapphires (which sound lousy, by the way) and a pair of Sonus Faber bookshelf speakers. The room included several varieties of Yamaha and Denon receivers. The Lsi9 was gorgeous (never saw one before). They have both cherry and ebony, but only the ebony was displayed. I wasn't too impressed with the Lsi9's ($899), but the salesman assured me that they had not been broken in yet.

I took one of my favorite CDs with me to test them out. That was great because you can A/B test Rti's vs. Lsi's, which is what I wanted to do. Of course, the acoustics aren't the greatest, but that's to be expected. The most powerful receiver in the room was the Denon 3805. To me, the RTi8 sounded much better than the RTi12 at lower volumes, but that's probably because the 12's didn't have enough juice going to them although the salesman thought the 3805 was more than adequate).

The salesman anticipates that the Lsi's will get a dedicated HT room. They had a 5.1 dedicated setup of Martin Logan electrostatic speakers (I didn't like them -- too bright) powered by a B&K 150 wpc receiver, so hopefully the Lsi's will get the same treatment.

Overall, I think the Polks will sell well at Tweeter. You can't find Lsi's anywhere else in Atlanta. I plan to go back in a couple of weeks to check them out again once the speakers are broken in and the Lsi15's and 25's are set up.

MSkeezer

Are there any Tweeters in IL or MO?

quickr1

yeah theres a tweeter in schamburg, il.

mantis

The Lsi series is coming in.They should be in all of our stores by june.I'm excited to hear the Lsi25's and the LSIW.I'm also picking up a pair of Lsi7's in cherry for surroundback for the theater.

We as Tweeter are rolling right along.I'm looking forward to many good things this year.

Dan
Tweeter In Home Inataller

MSkeezer

Jesus, that's a 300 mile trip. Thanks, though

Ron-P

There's a Tweeter out near my office in Chino, CA. I can take an alternate route home and drive right by it. I might have to do that and take a look-see. My eyes have yet to see the glory of the Lsi's.

idealty

Hey guys. I also visited the local tweeter in Burlington, MA and they had all of the Polk rti and Lsi series speakers. I recently purchased the rti8's, csi3, and fxi3's and are very satisfied with them thus far. But that was the first time i got to see and hear the rti12, lsi25, lsiC (center), and lsifx as well as the fxi5. All the speakers were powered with a Denon 3805, but the salesman was reluctant to turn up the joice to more than about -15 on the volume. Here are my initial impressions:

rti12 - a very large floor speaker! Didn't realize how large they were until i saw them in person. Much taller and deeper than both the rti8s and rti10s. From what I heard, there wasn't a dramatic leap in sound quality from the rti8s. In fact, at the same volume (relatively low) the rti8s sounded much louder and the mids were def more prominent. I blame this entirely to the rti12s being underpowered. You really need a seperate amp for these babies to begin to reach their potential. There sound was more like the lsi series than the lower rti models (less harsh and very smooth and detailed). But they are rated at 500W! What reciever have you ever heard of that can pump out half that?? They can't even be compared to other speakers unless they being adequately powered.

lsi25 - very unique looking speaker. They are pretty tall, but short in width giving them a sleek thin look. In terms of sound, I heard a difference when comparing to the rti line. The sound was more laid back and not as "in your face". It was very smooth and detailed. The sound was indeed different, but I don't know if that means better. It was clean and precise, but not as "exciting" as the rti8s for example. Note that these speakers are 4ohms and were again powered by the Denon 3805 (probably not the best match). Overall, while it will appeal to some, I don't think it's worth the large amount of extra money. After hearing about how "precise and detailed" and amazing the LSi series sounds, they left me less than amazed.

lsiC - great center speaker. With the ring tweeter, the sounds it puts out are extremely detailed and clear. Not overly powerful and sound is rather laid back. Not an absurd amount of money for a center and a perfect match for lsi fronts.

lsifx - nice big surrounds. Probably the best surrounds you can buy for less than $1000. Bipole/dipole, 2 woofers and 2 tweeters on opposite sides. Nice reflective sound. However, not a tremendous improvement over the fxi5.

fxi5 - only surround in Polk line-up to have a 6 1/2" woofer (although only one). Same drivers as fxi3 except woofer is larger. Use for large areas

Overall, I wasn't amazed by the sounds of neither the rti12 nor the lsi series. I consider myself an audio enthusiast (more than a beginner but not an audiophile) and to my ears there isn't a dramatic increase in quality. The most important thing is in order to take advantage of these high quality speakers, you need other high quality components with lots of power. Recievers aren't going to make these speakers sing. I think that's the largest problem with the currecnt set-up at Tweeter. Hope this helps.

Early B.

Great comments, Idealty. I'm concerned about the underpowering of the RTi12. Many potential purchasers may pass on it if they compare the 8 with the 12 and they're powered by a receiver. Nonetheless, it may appeal to those buyers who love large, powerful looking speakers. At Tweeter they display their speakers with one of the grills off. Man, that 12 looked awesome. If money weren't an issue, I'd buy it on looks alone (in cherry).

fireshoes

Originally posted by MSkeezer
Are there any Tweeters in IL or MO?

Just a few more months until American is opens up in Saint Louis, Thomas. Then you can get your demo on.

woodyjacobs

This is great news. I've been wanting to get my demo on with the LSI's for two years and haven't been able to due to no local seller. NOW Audio Video in NC just announced that they are being sold to Tweeter, so looks like my chance is comin.' Yippee!