FXi3 w/ LSi fronts

McLoki

I am looking to upgrade my rear speakers (5.1 setup) and need to stay with something small. They have to fit into the living room on the wall and not be overly obvious. I really cannot go much larger than the FXi3. I could go in wall but am not sure where I would mount them to give a good diffuse sound.

I have LSi'7s front and LSiC center to try and match to. I was thinking of trying to find a used pair of FXi3's and purchasing some LSi tweeters to mount in it.

Would it be worth the trouble or what would you recommend trying?

Thanks,

Michael

okiepolkie

I have thought about doing this with my FXi30's to match my LSi7's. They sound okay right now though, so I'm not too concerned with doing that just yet.

If you want two right channel FXi's, then I can make you a good deal on them.

Whadyasay

I'm also thinking of going with a pair of FXi3's as surrounds with LSi9's and an LSiC. My listening space is 20' L x 15' W. Price is not as much of an issue, but the LSiFX's are just too darn big...they stick out 10 inches and with my walls I'd probably have to build shelves..and they's dominate the room visually (big black triangles taking up most of the wall space). The FXi3's aren't exactly tiny either, but they'd take up considerably less overall space. Is it alright to run the 8-ohm FXi3's off the same amp (Marantz MM9000 5-ch power amp) as the 4-ohm LSi's? Will there really be that much of a tonal difference?

Tour2ma

In general you cannot simply swap out tweeters will-nilly. Different ones can have different FR's and therefore require different cross-overs which can require different MW's, etc., etc.

McLoki,
For pure HT voice matching is not as critical in the surrounds. As op indicates the 3's may work very well for you.

As for where to put them... well, can't quite see all the details of your room from here... nope not even squinting...

A pic, a sketch or even a short description would help define some alternatives for you to consider. For example, if you've got a few feet of room behind your listening positions, another pair of 7's might be the way to go.

If you buy op's 2 "right channel" 3's, you can turn one into a leftish channel by hanging it upside down.

Whadayasay,
Welcome to the Club...
The differing impedance won't particularly bother your Marantz. But the addition of any more speakers could be a issue, as the more you add the less current/ power is available to the 4-ohm LSi's.

Whadyasay

Much thanks for the welcome. I might just use my Denon 2805's amps to power the surrounds (already using it to power the rear surrounds for rare 7.1 duty, but as a pre/pro into the Marantz MM9000 for the FL/R, C, and Surrounds). We'll see. I'm starting to lean towards a pair of LSi7's for surrounds, even though they's stick out from the wall a great deal. But would that put even more strain on the MM9000 amp? I've read a few reviews (one in particular that had a 5.1 LSi setup with the Marantz MM9000), and there were no problems. Somewhere down the road I might even consider a pair of Outlaw mono amps for the LSi9's. ConEd is gonna love me.

McLoki

Originally posted by Tour2ma
As for where to put them... well, can't quite see all the details of your room from here... nope not even squinting...

A pic, a sketch or even a short description would help define some alternatives for you to consider.

Here you go. The rm-6600 surrounds I currently have are on the short wall between the dining room and living room. (angled tword the couches.) the other is between the sliding glass door and the cabinets (angled tword the couches).

Not sure where to put the right surround as it would fire into the cabinets and there is not alot of room above the sliding glass door......

Michael

Look in this post (sub location) to see a pic of my room. (I was going to attach it, but the forum really doesn't want duplicate images)

Whadyasay

Well, decided to go with a set of LSi7's (life sucks, eh?) as surrounds. I have a set of B-Tech BT77 swivel mounts that'll be beefy enough to support them, and they'll be mounted farther back towards the rear corners so that they aren't as obstructive as they would be towards the middle of the side walls, and they can be pointed more towards my listening position so that their more direct radiation can better make up in terms of levels for the added distance. I think I'll be a happy camper.

I'm going to leave my system on '5-ch stereo' with no sub while I'm away at work for a few days to help break them in. My cats are just going to have to deal...serves'em right for crappin' on the rug the other day! But they might do it again......

Tour2ma

Just wait til' you addd a sub... that'll really scare the **** out of them... The 7's sound like a good choice. And your AVR may do OK... All depends on your listening levels. If it has issues an outboard amp and/ or a sub will are both potential routes to alleviate the issues...

McLoki,
Ah.... I remember that room... It's the one with the SVS now parked in the short wall corner by the dining room.

Are the stairs open or walled in at the listening area's end of them?

McLoki

Originally posted by Tour2ma
Ah.... I remember that room... It's the one with the SVS now parked in the short wall corner by the dining room.

Are the stairs open or walled in at the listening area's end of them?

You are correct sir. I did try the SVS in the corner of the short wall, but my bass dropped off dramatically. It is now in the polk sub location. Still have some major room issues with bass that I am working with, but so far it is the best place I have found. (I don't know why, but it was like the short wall wasn't even there. I got no increase of bass from it in that corner at all. It was almost like it was just in the center of the room??)

Anyway. There is a door going down stairs right behind where the couches come together. (There is a landing then a stairway going upstairs that is all open.) (I will try an attach an acutal pic later on today to give you a better view of what I am dealing with.)

Thanks for your help,

Michael

Tour2ma

Michael,

Yeah... posted some thoughts on your bass curve as well in that thread.

Reason I asked about the stairs was to see if the left rear could move there, getting more behind you where it normally would be in a 5.1. Looks like with a wall bracket it could go right on the dining room corner of the stairwell (pending WAF determination).

The right rear is still problematic. Possibly a ceiling bracket mount???

Whadyasay

Tour2,

I'm already using a Hsu STF-2 sub, which could shake this pre-war stone building to the ground if need be (enough complaints from neighbors to know this), and I'm using a Marantz MM9000 150wpc/@ 8ohm 5-ch amp (Denon ABR-2805 as digital pre/pro, Sony TA-P9000ES for analog), so I'm pretty set in terms of power and bass (!!) I'm, simply upgrading from my painfully sibilant Klipsch Reference 25 setup. I was actually also considering a pair of the new Monitor 30's as surrounds (a little smaller and considerably lighter than the LSi7's), but I might as well go for the matched set.

Here's an older pic of my current setup (still looks the same, a few differemt components)..I think I'll be looking for racks that will go better with the cherry LSi9's...to get away from the Darth Vader look.

Tour2ma

Wdsay,

Catching up now and see your dilema more clearly. Moving from 'easy-load' Klipsch to LSi's is a whole different ball game. The HSU should help considerably, but if not a 2 ch amp for the front stage is all you should need to add.

If you really love the LSi sound, I'm sure you'll be happier with your choice of the 7's as rears rather than the New Mon's. I would not think the 30's would be a good match, although matching for HT is less critical in surrounds to be sure. If you do much 5 ch SACD listening, you might find differences between the two lines more objectionable.

Whadyasay

Yeah, that's the thing, I do alot of SACD listening. moreso 2-ch, but several 5-ch. I actually listen to more music than DVD movies, which is one of the reasons I got the Sony TA-P9000ES, which is an excellent analog preamp. The Marantz MM9000 never even got warm pushing the Klipsch's...I think it would be happier working at least a little harder, and from my discussions with other MM9000 owners, it won't have a problem with 4-ohm loads. Forget the 30's, I've already decided on the LSi7's.

Here's a quick Photoshop mock-up of the front system with the LSi9's and the LSiC, albeit with the 9's severely toed-in (angle of original 9 photo), but you get the idea until I get the LSi's set up. I'd like to be able to keep the grilles on for visual purposes, since the fronts w/out the grilles are a bit jarring and 'BMW-ish', but if it hinders the sound, I'll keep'em off when I'm listening by myself. Maybe I'll get some cherry wood-accented audio furniture in the future, but for now, I don't think it's too bad of a blend. I might even put some cherry veneers on the sides of the LSiC! (see photo mock-up)

Tour2ma

Wds,

Thought these might be of interest to you:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5734494403&ssPageName=ADME:B:EF:US:1

Link is to the first of three that close over a 5 minute span. "View seller's other items" will show all.

Whadyasay

I was contemplating those quite a while back, but for now, I think the MM9000 will suffice. Somewhere down the road, I'll be looking to upgrade in the amp department, and probably keep the MM9000 around for either Bi-amping or surround duty.