Integrated Amp for LSi15

Blaczek

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?

pitdogg2

Denon AVR-3805 is a pretty good receiver. I have had two of them, if you're not wanting heavy SPL I'd think it would work just fine.

agingboomer

Before you sell the surrounds, try setting the system to 5/7CH STEREO mode. You might appreciate the sound.

DaveHo

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.

agingboomer

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."

pitdogg2

agingboomer wrote: »

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."

Yes the 3805 got very good reviews. It is one of the few that passed the full range tests that only dropped from 120wpc to 90wpc all channels driven. It also didn't clip with 2ch until after almost 170 wpc IIRC.
Either way the LSi15 starts at 4ohm and drops lower, that may be where the trouble starts. Driving 4ohm or lower loads x 5 or more it will run out of gas. I do know mine would get very hot when driving my SDA 2a speakers no where near 97db. The SDA 2a starts at 4 ohm and drops to almost 3 ohm during its operating range.

skrol

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.

skipshot12

I’d buy a Krell FBI Integrated in a second if had the scratch.
An integrated that will drive any speaker thrown at it.

VR3

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