LSi9 review (long)
Aaron
Posts: 1,853
With CD's in hand I made my way to Stroudsburg, PA, a little town in the mountains about 45 minutes from where I go to school. The dealer was Main Street Appliance, Furniture, & Home Entertainment Center. The place is fairly large, but their set up for audio components is less than ideal. There are no sound rooms and all the speakers were either placed right up against TV's or right against a wall (in a corner sometimes). My salesman was apparently the only guy there, besides possibly the owner, that knew anything about audio. He originally pointed me to some $300 Energy bookshelfs, but after I told him I was looking for speakers in the $2000 price range he quickly forgot about those speakers. Then he directed my attention to the Energy Veritas V2.3 tower speakers for $2300. These speakers supposedly won the "Golden Ear" award from some review.
Energy Veritas V2.3:
These speakers use a 1" aluminum tweeter, 2" aluminum midrange, and 2 6.5" woofers. They are fairly nice looking with their gloss black sides, but yet they come off as somewhat cheap looking thanks to their squirrelly tweeter/midrange unit, silver drivers, and a rubber top panel. They were placed right up against the wall, were too far apart, and the couch was too close. They were hooked up to Marantz 6200 receiver (with cheap wire) and a Marantz 5200 DVD changer as the source. There was not a single amp or preamp in the store! So, I threw in my first test disc, Erich Kunzel and the Cincinnati Pops "The Great Fantasy Adventure Album." I use the "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves Theme" as my test track. This song has a lot of deep and thunderous bass, and as you can imagine, these speakers boomed quite well since they were placed right up against the wall. I also found the tweeters to be on the bright side and the overall presentation a little forward (not too surprising considering that they use aluminum tweeters and midranges). I was pretty disgusted about the placement and hookup, so after about two minutes of the song I stopped it and got the salesman's attention. I told him I was pretty unimpressed with the sound and that I thought it would sound a lot better if we moved the speakers out away from the wall and moved the couch back. He was cool about it, so we rearranged everything. I re-listened to the song, but was still unimpressed. The bass was much more natural, but it didn't go very low at all. The imaging improved a bit thanks to the relocation of the couch. Next I threw in Dave Matthews "Crash" and listened to the song "Crash." Again I was under-whelmed. Dave was between the speakers, but not very convincingly so or very clear. Basically these speakers just didn't have what I call "the magic." The Magnepan MG1.6/QR's and the Sonus Faber Concerto's have "the magic." By this I mean that they just envelope you in sound that's so clean, clear, and three dimensional (imaging) that you can't help but just smile. The speakers fade away and you're just listening to the performer(s), not speakers.
Polk LSi9:
I then questioned the salesman about "those Polks" over there. He didn't seem to give them much credance compared to the Energy's, but he said they're pretty good for the money. So, we hooked those. As he started to turn the volume up on the Marantz 6200 it turned off. Strange. He turned it back on, started to turn the volume up, and again it turned off. Third time's the charm, right? Wrong! As he turned it up the third time, sparks and mini-flames erupted from inside of the Marantz followed shortly by smoke. It looked like the transformer blew, but the salesman said it was some capacitors near it. I thought it was freakin' hilarious. He had no idea why it happened. I suggested that it was likely because the Marantz couldn't adequately handle the 4 ohm load of the LSi's. He replied by saying that the Marantz literature says their receivers can power "any speaker ever made" from 2 ohms to 16 ohms. Yeah, right. He then said the Energy's were 6 ohm speakers, but they are in fact 8 ohm nominal, 4 ohm minimal. So, he grabs another 6200 and hooks it up. As he begins to turn the volume up the receiver shuts off. Uh, oh. This time he knew not to turn it on again, so he brought over another Marantz, this time the 5200. This time, however, the receiver didn't shut off. The "Peak" light came on, just like with the 6200 (which also showed the peak light when I was listening to the Energy's). The strange thing was that the peak light was coming on at extremely low volumes with the LSi's. With the Energy's it didn't come on until it was fairly loud, though not super loud. Eventually the peak light settled down and went away. Phew, I could FINALLY listen to these speakers.
First I listened to the Robin Hood theme. The overall presentation was more relaxed than the Energy's and not harsh at all. Resolution and imaging seemed fairly similar, but I liked the sound better. The bass was lacking, but that's always going to be the case with this song unless you have some real woofers. Next up was "Crash." This is the song where I can immediately judge a speaker's worth. The Polks proved to be significantly superior to the Engery's in every way. The detail and imaging was very good. Dave was standing between the speakers, just Dave, not any extraneous "stuff" that I heard with the Energy's (and other lesser speakers). Impressive. I was quite surprised by the bass performance; it was strong for a pair of 5.25" drivers. The bass also seemd to be accurate and quick. The final CD I listened to was the Rippingtons "Live in LA" CD. As usual I used "Weekend in Monaco" as my test track. Again, I was impressed by the detail and imaging. I really like that relaxed and totally unharsh presentation. The bass performance was good again.
LSi9 conclusion
So did they have "the magic?" Yes and no. I was extremely impressed by these speakers, especially for only $800. Did these speakers sound better than the Magnepan's or Sonus Faber's that are my referance? No. BUT, these speakers had crap for power and source material. They had a cheap Marantz receiver that could barely drive the speakers and DVD player for the source. When I listened to the Magnepan's they were hooked up to a $1500 Classe amp, $2200 Classe preamp, and a $3000 Theta CD player with fancy cables all around. The Sonus Faber's were hooked up to a $1500 B&K amp, B&K preamp, and a $1200 Sony DVD/SACD player. I think it is very likely that the LSi9's would run neck and neck with those speakers given the right equipment. Even if they don't, they only cost $800 while the Magnepan's cost $1700 and the Sonus Faber's cost $2000.
I think my experience confirms what Paul said: these speakers are not meant for receivers. The other question I'm sure a lot you are wondering is how these compare to the RTi line. While I can only speak for the RT55 and RT800, those speakers are not even in the same ballpark as the LSi9. It's a no contest. The LSi9 is superior speaker in ever way.
These are nice looking speakers, by the way. The ones I listened to were black. The gloss black on the top is really nice as are the wood side panels. The cabinets are rock solid.
The dealer offers a week in-home trial, and I nearly took a pair home. Only problem is I don't have the cash right now. For $800 I doubt you'll find a better speaker. It is very likely that I'll pick up a pair of these in the near future.
Aaron
Energy Veritas V2.3:
These speakers use a 1" aluminum tweeter, 2" aluminum midrange, and 2 6.5" woofers. They are fairly nice looking with their gloss black sides, but yet they come off as somewhat cheap looking thanks to their squirrelly tweeter/midrange unit, silver drivers, and a rubber top panel. They were placed right up against the wall, were too far apart, and the couch was too close. They were hooked up to Marantz 6200 receiver (with cheap wire) and a Marantz 5200 DVD changer as the source. There was not a single amp or preamp in the store! So, I threw in my first test disc, Erich Kunzel and the Cincinnati Pops "The Great Fantasy Adventure Album." I use the "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves Theme" as my test track. This song has a lot of deep and thunderous bass, and as you can imagine, these speakers boomed quite well since they were placed right up against the wall. I also found the tweeters to be on the bright side and the overall presentation a little forward (not too surprising considering that they use aluminum tweeters and midranges). I was pretty disgusted about the placement and hookup, so after about two minutes of the song I stopped it and got the salesman's attention. I told him I was pretty unimpressed with the sound and that I thought it would sound a lot better if we moved the speakers out away from the wall and moved the couch back. He was cool about it, so we rearranged everything. I re-listened to the song, but was still unimpressed. The bass was much more natural, but it didn't go very low at all. The imaging improved a bit thanks to the relocation of the couch. Next I threw in Dave Matthews "Crash" and listened to the song "Crash." Again I was under-whelmed. Dave was between the speakers, but not very convincingly so or very clear. Basically these speakers just didn't have what I call "the magic." The Magnepan MG1.6/QR's and the Sonus Faber Concerto's have "the magic." By this I mean that they just envelope you in sound that's so clean, clear, and three dimensional (imaging) that you can't help but just smile. The speakers fade away and you're just listening to the performer(s), not speakers.
Polk LSi9:
I then questioned the salesman about "those Polks" over there. He didn't seem to give them much credance compared to the Energy's, but he said they're pretty good for the money. So, we hooked those. As he started to turn the volume up on the Marantz 6200 it turned off. Strange. He turned it back on, started to turn the volume up, and again it turned off. Third time's the charm, right? Wrong! As he turned it up the third time, sparks and mini-flames erupted from inside of the Marantz followed shortly by smoke. It looked like the transformer blew, but the salesman said it was some capacitors near it. I thought it was freakin' hilarious. He had no idea why it happened. I suggested that it was likely because the Marantz couldn't adequately handle the 4 ohm load of the LSi's. He replied by saying that the Marantz literature says their receivers can power "any speaker ever made" from 2 ohms to 16 ohms. Yeah, right. He then said the Energy's were 6 ohm speakers, but they are in fact 8 ohm nominal, 4 ohm minimal. So, he grabs another 6200 and hooks it up. As he begins to turn the volume up the receiver shuts off. Uh, oh. This time he knew not to turn it on again, so he brought over another Marantz, this time the 5200. This time, however, the receiver didn't shut off. The "Peak" light came on, just like with the 6200 (which also showed the peak light when I was listening to the Energy's). The strange thing was that the peak light was coming on at extremely low volumes with the LSi's. With the Energy's it didn't come on until it was fairly loud, though not super loud. Eventually the peak light settled down and went away. Phew, I could FINALLY listen to these speakers.
First I listened to the Robin Hood theme. The overall presentation was more relaxed than the Energy's and not harsh at all. Resolution and imaging seemed fairly similar, but I liked the sound better. The bass was lacking, but that's always going to be the case with this song unless you have some real woofers. Next up was "Crash." This is the song where I can immediately judge a speaker's worth. The Polks proved to be significantly superior to the Engery's in every way. The detail and imaging was very good. Dave was standing between the speakers, just Dave, not any extraneous "stuff" that I heard with the Energy's (and other lesser speakers). Impressive. I was quite surprised by the bass performance; it was strong for a pair of 5.25" drivers. The bass also seemd to be accurate and quick. The final CD I listened to was the Rippingtons "Live in LA" CD. As usual I used "Weekend in Monaco" as my test track. Again, I was impressed by the detail and imaging. I really like that relaxed and totally unharsh presentation. The bass performance was good again.
LSi9 conclusion
So did they have "the magic?" Yes and no. I was extremely impressed by these speakers, especially for only $800. Did these speakers sound better than the Magnepan's or Sonus Faber's that are my referance? No. BUT, these speakers had crap for power and source material. They had a cheap Marantz receiver that could barely drive the speakers and DVD player for the source. When I listened to the Magnepan's they were hooked up to a $1500 Classe amp, $2200 Classe preamp, and a $3000 Theta CD player with fancy cables all around. The Sonus Faber's were hooked up to a $1500 B&K amp, B&K preamp, and a $1200 Sony DVD/SACD player. I think it is very likely that the LSi9's would run neck and neck with those speakers given the right equipment. Even if they don't, they only cost $800 while the Magnepan's cost $1700 and the Sonus Faber's cost $2000.
I think my experience confirms what Paul said: these speakers are not meant for receivers. The other question I'm sure a lot you are wondering is how these compare to the RTi line. While I can only speak for the RT55 and RT800, those speakers are not even in the same ballpark as the LSi9. It's a no contest. The LSi9 is superior speaker in ever way.
These are nice looking speakers, by the way. The ones I listened to were black. The gloss black on the top is really nice as are the wood side panels. The cabinets are rock solid.
The dealer offers a week in-home trial, and I nearly took a pair home. Only problem is I don't have the cash right now. For $800 I doubt you'll find a better speaker. It is very likely that I'll pick up a pair of these in the near future.
Aaron
Post edited by RyanC_Masimo on
Comments
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Aaron I recently heard those same Energys and found them both boomy, and tinny, but then speakers are all about personal preference thats why i love the polks just right, those energys were bloody hard on my ears. regards Fabian:)The Wonder From Downunder
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Aaron,
I guess you have finally auditioned the Lsi's........and your conclusion was thumbs up....my little cousin also (stereo/eletronic whiz kid) told me the Lsi would be a better speaker than the paradigm's because of the ring tweeter technology and they are really great for dvd audio/sacd because the tweeter can go much higher than the conventional tweets....(too technical in my lay man terms) and your getting execellent value ....because you will only get these kinds of tweets in the high end speakers.....5000.00+......that's what he say's.
anyways, I thougt your drive over for the audition was a waste time (what a joke) until I read further down your post......attempt number three.....and finally the speakers were running. I guess you'll be owning a pair soon and you shoud not have any problems powering them with your carvers........
I sure wouldn't mind getting a pair today if we have them here in my city and if they were only 800.00 canadian not in US currency....it would be at least 1600.00+......MAYBE l'll bail out on the TV...sell my 5 month old HK reveiver, and my old 1 yr JVC......AND pick up a pre and power amp to power them.
dc.:D -
I was lucky enough to audition the LSi 9's and the LSi C in MY HOME about 3 weeks ago. ( I know the local Polk Rep here well
Anyway, I was completely blown away. I listened to them with a variety of music, from SheDaisy (country), to Dave Mathews, to Metallica. They were very transparent, and very neutral. Vocals we clean, and the sounstage was very localized. The sweet spot with these seems to be very large as well.
After some music, I popped in a few movies. One scene that I like to use is the fight scene towards the beginning of Jurrasic Park 3, with the T-Rex and the other dinosaur. The amount of depth and sense of space they conveyed was amazing.
The most impressive thing to me about them was the smoothness of the tweeters. I seem to be very senstive to higher frequencies, so I have the treble down on my older RT 8's to -2. I was able to turn it back up to flat, and never felt fatigued, even at theater volume levels.
Overall, I spent about 2 hours listening. I would definately put them up against many speakers that are twice the cost of these.
If my wife would let me, I would run out and by a set today, but I'll probably have to wait till next year.
If you haven't had a chance to hear these yet, go out and give them a listen. Even if you aren't in the market to buy right now, you'll definately appreciate what you hear.
Shep -
I have purchased the LSi9 and LSiC recently. They are being used in my new sound room with the following amps:
- Rotel RB-980BX amp for LSi9
- Rotel RMB-1075 for LSiC and FX500
- Two Def Tech ProSub80s (two smaller drivers are better than one large IMO)
Initial auditions of the LSi15 at the dealer using a Sony or HK receiver did not display any characteristics that warrented futher auditions. The only reason I decided to futher audition these speakers was the new tweeter being utilized.
The speakers were compared in the dealers sound room against the Totem Acoustic Rokk (my first choice if I did not purchase the LSi series) speakers using a Conrad-Johnson amp. The LSi series produced a smoother more detailed image than the Rokks in the dealer sound room. I decided to take a chance on the LSi9 and LSiC.
Auditions at the dealer sound room (possibly the worst room I have ever heard as the Rokks sounded horrible compared to my home reviews) did not prepare me for the detail and accuracy of the speakers in my environment. The clarity approaches the Martin Logan Oddessy I use as a reference.
For the price, you can not beat these speakers. I do not regret the purchase even though I had major (dealer) problems getting these speakers locally, as well as testing and pricing (CDN$).
John.:)
