LSi15's or RTi12's?

jrohrssen

Hello all,

I am upgrading my old system, and was wondering what your opinions are on these 2 speakers. I currently have old Klipsch gear and a low end JVC reciever. My new reciever is a Denon 5803, and I am considering these 2 speakers for the front. I would greatly appreciate any info/opinions anyone has on these speakers. On a side note, would the LSi25's be a better purchase? I have heard them all, and they all sound great, just wondering if anyone who already owns any of these has any input. Thanks.

scottnbnj

since lsi25's have a powered woof they might make it a bit easier for your receiver to drive than the 15's. i'd really like to see some numbers how difficult the 9's, 15's and 25's are in comparison.

if you sit down and really listen to and really tear apart every detail of your tunes for extended periods of time, especially biasing towards near field listening, i'd say lsi hands down every time, but that's just me.

if you want tons of volume for extended periods of time, biasing towards far field listening, you might do your receiver a favor with the rti's.

you'll hear how difficult lsi's are to drive soon, if you haven't already. i'll leave that to more capable hands.

)

PolkWannabie

If primarily listening is 2 channel then the LSi's ... If primarily HT then maybe the 12's ...

Airplay355

all 3 of those speakers are hard to drive so dont make a decision based on that...you have a nice receiver anyway so you'll be fine.

wannabie is right though, it depends on what you are going to listen to. I'm gonna guess you are going for a theater setup based on your receiver purchase.

if you have room for a subwoofer, and you are eventually going to buy a subwoofer then I would go with the lsi15's.

if you dont have room for a subwoofer and you like bass then go with the rti12's.

you also need to think about the rest of your HT. an rti HT is gonna be cheaper then an lsi HT.

i wouldn't go with the lsi25's unless you are going to use them for 2 channel only. powered tower subwoofers are harder to incorporate into an HT with a dedicated sub. it can be done though, and if u wnana do it then go ahead, its just easier to only worry about 1 sub then 3.

jrohrssen

Thanks for the replies, and I guess I should have stated what I plan on using them for, which will be almost exclusively HT. I will be adding the sub, most likely an LSiW, but still toying with that. I currently have an old Klipsch Passive SW.

brettw22

Shameless plug...

If you're looking to do the LSi setup around, I have some LSi7's for sale HERE.

Either choice would be a good one IMO....Personally, I'm a bigger fan of the RT series overall....

PolkWannabie

Originally posted by jrohrssen
I plan on using them for almost exclusively HT.

Suggestion ...

RTi8's
CSi5
FXi5's

SVS - Model depends on room size ...

VR3

Originally posted by PolkWannabie
Suggestion ...

RTi8's
CSi5
FXi5's

SVS - Model depends on room size ...

i agree with this one --

scottnbnj

ok, as much as i butt into ht threads and don't pay attention to ht,.. i just looked up the 5803. whoo ha dude. nicely done.

if you're not going to use all channels, this article talks about bi-amping with the 5803:

http://www.audioholics.com/productreviews/avhardware/Denon-AVR5803p4.html

if i owned this stud, but, didn't dig lsi's, based on what i've read, humbly and respectfully, i'm not so sure rti's would be my next best, most suitable, choice.

)

Airplay355

if he can afford lsi's? why buy an rti theater, his receiver can power lsi's

Joey_V

the lsi are just such smooth sounding speakers.. drool. although the rti12 can be had for cheaper (esp. at CC) and are also killer speakers.

what to do what to do...

jrohrssen

ok, as much as i butt into ht threads and don't pay attention to ht,.. i just looked up the 5803. whoo ha dude. nicely done.

This article is precisely the reason I chose this receiver, I was on the fence, between the Yamaha and the Denon, and since I am really not interested in the DSP modes (the only real downside of this baby) I decided to go with the 5803.

PolkWannabie

If you are going to get a quality sub I'd give serious consideration to the 8's up front instead of the 12's ... The difference in cost between the 8's and 12's will almost pay for the sub and the 8's are as capable if not more so in the highs and mids ...

Airplay355

did u miss that he said he could get lsi? if he can afford lsi then why are u pushin the 8's? the lsi line is definitely better then the rti line. his receiver isnt an issue, it can drive an lsi ht its a beast. not to mention he can add amps later if he wants to upgrade, and u know he will want to upgrade. so why start with a lower model of speakers? then if he wants to upgrade he has to redo the entire HT.

you guys r making money an issue and he never brought it up, all he said was lsi25, rti12 or lsi15.

jrohrssen, if you can afford an HT of lsi, then do it.

PolkWannabie

I didn't miss anything ...

IMHO ...

- The LSi's are best driven with separates regardless of how beastly the receiver is ... Is your response about that particular receiver driving LSi15's to their fullest .vs. using separates for the job a result of your own AB tests ? or is it supposition ?

- In a HT only environment I actually prefer the RTi's over the LSi's

- As far as the cost is concerned the only comparison I made was of the 12's .vs. 8's with a sub as opposed to your comparision which you should go back and reread since it compares the costs of RTi's .vs. LSi's.

If you think the LSi's are that much better then why don't you have them as opposed to the older RTi70's which clearly aren't as good as either.

In any case I was hardly PUSHY, I only SUGGESTED that since he was already looking at the 12's as an alternative that he ought to give SERIOUS CONSIDERATION to the 8's with an SVS sub instead of the 12's and that in a purely HT environment MAYBE the RTi's might be the right approach.

To each his own ears and wallet ...

scottnbnj

hehe,don't worry stud-receiver dude. lsi's won't be even a little bit embarrassed if you decide to bring them home from the dance and allow them the honor of mating with your 5803.

i force my lsi9's to do the dirty with my lowly carver receiver several times a day and, as strange as it may seem, i think they ~like~ it.

)

jrohrssen

Thanks for all of the replies, in the end I went a whole different path though.

I picked up the Monitor Audio GR60's and the GR Center as well. I also took the advice of some on this forum and picked up the SVS 16-46 PC+ Sub, and man is that baby nice! Again, thanks for all the input.

Jay Rohrssen

Toxis

Well, I've been selling this line of Polk for over a year now. Here's my thoughts.

If you are going to listen to any music through the system (even just once in a while), I would go for the LSI's. MUCH more musical of a line.

If you don't care about that and want this to be strictly for HT, I say get the 10's or 12's. The 8's are WAY to bright and really lack in the midbass that I like in a strong HT. The 12's sound awesome for HT. I was going to do the 10's but decided to splurge and go LSI15's. GREAT decision that was! Granted, I also listen to a lot of music (SACD/DVD-A) and wanted pure musicallity.

PS- I'm running a Denon 3805... works great.

faheem5

So how is the LSi line for home theater. My main listening is going to be 60% movies 20% music and 20% other (tv, games) Am I better of going with the RTi 10. Orginally when I heard the LSi9 I was blown away, I went back with my own cds, and same felling of awe. Then I took some film scores, and it didnt live up. I didnt take a movie with me to demo, but I know film score is mixed in with lots of dialouge, action sfx so on. So if it couldnt really handel the film score, am I correct to assume that it really doesnt shine in HT.

Frank Z

I correct to assume that it really doesnt shine in HT.

No, that is a very bad assumtion to make. The Lsi's, just like any other speakers, are going to perform differently in every room. Placement is critical, power is critical, source is critical. Are the RT series more forgiving? I thought so. Do the Lsi's outperform the RT series? In my HT, OH HELL YES!! Will the Lsi's sound as good in your room as they do in mine? No one can answer that question.

Receivers and Lsi's just don't hold a candle to a seperate amp mated to the Lsi's. That actually applies to any speaker.

nemos2

So I own a full LSi system...the 15's. LsiC, and the LsiFX's.

I do about 50/50 music / HT

When I first took home my Lsi15's they were replacing an older pair of Polk RT400's ( i think..) and the LSi's outperformed them hands down. Then I upgraded and moved into seperates by adding an amp (outlaw 755) and then the LSi15's blew the rt400's out of the water. I have added the rest of the Lsi's over the last 6 months...and can honestly say, that in my room, with my gear, the LSi HT setup is great. As much as I know some people may not agree, the LSiFX's were by far a huge improvement over the FXi35's that i was using...So...

ON a side note, this group of speakers really likes having power behind them....big difference with the addition of the amp.

and lastly.... the 15's were pretty picky about placement. I had to mess with them for about 2 weeks to finally get them to their final resting place...

So....LSI for HT in my room, oh yeah....

racer4551

I will add my two cents,i vote for the LSI setup,which is what i have all around 7.1 setup.I do use separates and let me tell you you would have to spend a bunch of money to surpass the sound of these speakers.They do it all very well,sacd's,dvd-a,home theater,you name it,they excell in their price range.And they mate very well with different brands of electronics.Just buy them and dont look back! Thats what i did and love them!