Integrated Amp for LSi15
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Blaczek
Posts: 2
I recently bought a home and the old owner left their entire HT system behind: 2 LSi15s, 2 LSiFX, LSiC and PSW1000, all of this is being powered by a Denon AVR-3805. I plan on selling the LSiFX and LSiC as I will only ever use this setup for music and the room isn't huge. My question is whether or not the current receiver is adequate or if I should looking to getting a more powerful integrated amp. I'm a complete audio newby and want to keep the whole system simple so I am not interested in separate pre & power amps. I'm open to buying used, what would you recommend?
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Before you sell the surrounds, try setting the system to 5/7CH STEREO mode. You might appreciate the sound.The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.—Martin Luther King Jr.
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agingboomer wrote: »Before you sell the surrounds, try setting the system to 5/7CH STEREO mode. You might appreciate the sound.
That'd be pushing the receiver's power supply to the max unless the volume is kept low. Those are 4ohm nominal. -
For what it's worth, here's a snippet from an Audioholics review from 2004:"The Denon AVR-3805 didn't appear to break a sweat driving the 4-ohm impedance presented by the RBH Sound 1266-LSEs and 661-LSE speakers. In fact, the rated 120 watts per channel was sufficient enough to drive the Reference 3 System speakers to a steady 97dB SPL at the listening position without any audible distortion."The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.—Martin Luther King Jr.
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The LSi15 is a hard to drive speaker with impedance dipping down around 2ohms at certain frequencies and need current, not just watts. Speaking from experience you could start out with that receiver but I think the LSi15 will benefit from an amplifier that can drive more current. I ran my LSi15's off an old but hefty Denon DRA-835. The bass just didn't have much impact even with the upgraded woofers. They came to life when I switch to a Parasound HCA-800ii and even more so with my HCA-1000A. The bass tightened up and the speakers just sound right (cohesive). I would consider these amps as low end Parasound but very capable. I hope to upgrade to an HCA-1200ii or HCA-1500 but the HCA-1000A is cutting it for now.
I had similar experience with my LSi7s that I use in my office. I figured I could just use a receiver and a sub since I wasn't pushing them. They sounded like crap. Then I set the up with the HCA-800ii and they are wonderful.Stan
Main 2ch:
Polk LSi15 (DB840 upgrade), Parasound: P/LD-1100, HCA-1000A; Denon: DVD-2910, DRM-800A; Benchmark DAC1, Monster HTS3600-MKII, Grado SR-225i; Technics SL-J2, Parasound PPH-100.
HT:
Marantz SR7010, Polk: RTA11TL (RDO198-1, XO and Damping Upgrades), S4, CS250, PSW110 , Marantz UD5005, Pioneer PL-530, Panasonic TC-P42S60
Other stuff:
Denon: DRA-835R, AVR-888, DCD-660, DRM-700A, DRR-780; Polk: S8, Monitor 5A, 5B, TSi100, RM7, PSW10 (DXi104 upgrade); Pioneer: CT-6R; Onkyo CP-1046F; Ortofon OM5E, Marantz: PM5004, CD5004, CDR-615; Parasound C/PT-600, HCA-800ii, Sony CDP-650ESD, Technics SA 5070, B&W DM601 -
I’d buy a Krell FBI Integrated in a second if had the scratch.
An integrated that will drive any speaker thrown at it.
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I would say this has always been an old conundrum for Polk speakers as they need high end equipment to really sound their best, sometimes exceeding their retail price- Not Tom ::::::: Any system can play Diana Krall. Only the best can play Limp Bizkit.
