LSi25 vs LSi15 and PSW650

DAlba

Well, what would you do?

ntculenuff

haveing not heard either of them i would go with the lsi25's, and a psw 650 for the lfe ( i am a 2 sub kinda guy) so with the towers you would have L sub, R sub and lfe sub
i still want powered towers. so i guess i am of no help but at least you have a reply.. he he he:D

Aaron

I loathe powered towers! Get the LSi15's.

Aaron

SPEAKER7

I would also go with the LSi15's and may also purchase a good separate sub.......I would not have to worry about the powered subs breaking down in the towers down the road if it does happens.


Just my personal take!


dc.:)

mantis

The Lsi's really don't need a sub.They go pretty low.I heard them at Interstate Electronic's(again bad demo)running with a Yamaha rxv1.It souned good but not what I expected.I really listened to just the speaker when I was there and even in **** conditon's,you could hear there potential.They are deep sounding.The music is far in there.Nice,I bet with a good room, better amp's,they would sing.I would love to bring a pair home ,but thats over an hour for me to drive if I don't care for them,or they don't mate with B&K well.If I picked up a pair ,I would bring home a B&K ref 2220.We have one in stock,It sound better then my B&K st140.It has 2x the power.But anyway,mating a sub with passive speaker's is extremly hard to set up.Powered tower's are hard to setup as well,but not as hard as a seperate sub for music.
Dan
Ps. My partener went back down to Interstate Electronic's and heard the LSI 25's ,he said they are as good as Dynaudio Contour series in sound quality.Thats a bold statement but his ears are qualified.
Dan

Dr. Spec

At least with the bass management circuit on my receiver, on DD or DTS playback, the dedicated LFE channel is not sent to the mains, even if they are set to "large".

I've checked this a bunch of times on different DVDs by setting the mains to "large" and playing scenes with a lot of bass. I physically watch the woofers on the mains and there are definitely times (not always - it depends on the DVD) when the woofers on the mains barely move during scenes with tons of bass. Only one conclusion can be drawn - all the bass in that scene is being routed solely to the LFE channel.

I don't have a problem with powered towers - I have a problem with not getting all the bass the DVD offers.

I see two options - you can run an LFE cable to each powered tower through a Y-splitter off the LFE jack, and then straight wire the unpowered top of the towers from the receiver. I would select "normal" for the speaker size in this case.

Or option #2 would be to run a dedicated LFE cable to a separate sub, and wire your powered towers conventionally and manually select your crossover frequency to the top half. I would select "large" for the speaker size in this case.

Option #2 would be my recommendation.

juice21

go with the LSi15's & 650 combo. let the 15's 'sing' in the upper and midrange, and let the 650 handle the bass. i find a stand alone sub(s) paired with tower speakers provides a much more pleasant result, but again, that is just my opinion...

pdebaum

Dr Spec,

As far as I know, the LFE channel is not singled-out by the typical bass management circuit. That means its being routed to mains or sub-out is ruled as all other channels by the SUBWOOFER switch on the receiver (respectively OFF (or NO) and ON (or YES)). And if your receiver implements this correctly, it doesn't matter what your mains are set at. Actually, your receiver shouldn't let you set them to SMALL if you have SUBWOOFER OFF, since the main-outs need to be kept full-range for the bass to be carried.
At least on my Marantz SR6200, with SUBWOOFER = OFF, I can definitely feel the LFE coming out from the mains. It might be different on your receiver but that surprises me; it would be a most illogical deviation from the standard bass management rule.

Aaron

If you set your mains to large and your sub to no (or off), all the LFE should be redirected to your mains. That's how it's supposed to work. So, if you're using a powered tower, that would be the best configuration (mains=large, sub=no/off). There is no need to run RCA cable(s) from the LFE preout.

Aaron

Dr. Spec

Thanks for all the info on bass management. I'm still confused....

On my receiver, if I set my mains to "large", the output to the subwoofer is automatically terminated and the little SW light on the display goes away. This is always the case on regular music tracks from a CD.

This makes sense so far, right?

But when I play a DVD in 5.1, a separate LFE light comes on to indicate the presence of a dedicated LFE signal, and it goes right to the sub through the LFE jack. Even though my mains are still set to "large". In this mode, the SW light remains dimmed unless I switch the mains back to "normal", then both the SW and the LFE lights are lit.

I assumed by this observation, and by physically watching the woofers on the mains that the LFE was a dedicated signal sent to the LFE jack.

You are correct, though, this seems like unconventional bass managment. I agree 100%, there should be no reason why someone with powered towers and no separate sub couldn't connect line level speaker wires to the towers sub section and manually select the crossover frequency to the top half and expect to get everything including the LFE channel with the mains set to "large".

There should be no need to HAVE to run a separate LFE channel, right? Again, I agree - my experience at home simply suggests otherwise.

Is it possible my receiver is sensing the presence of a connected sub to the LFE jack and routing the LFE channel to the sub automatically, even though the mains are set to "large"???

Maybe I should disconnect the LFE jack and see if the mains woofers act any differently on the same soundtracks..............

What do you guys think?

Spec

juice21

dr. spec - when playing a stereo recording, some recs. will automatically drop the sub signal routed via the LFE output when the fronts are set to 'large', if you set the fronts to 'normal' when listening in stereo applications your sub will(should) be sent a signal ve the LFE output.

when listening in 5.1 playback, wether your mains are set to 'large' or 'normal', both settings will still utilize the LFE output and send a signal to your sub, only the 'cut-off' frequency will differ depending on which your front's are set to (check your recs. manual).

when running powered towers, to obtain a full signal being sent to your mains, they should be set to large, and the sub should be set to no/off. if you do not set your sub to no/off, your mains will not be receiving a full signal.

Dr. Spec

Thanks Juice21!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The force IS strong with you. You clarified that beautifully and I fully understand now.

The fact that the bass management circuit is apparently different on stereo playback vs. DVD 5.1 playback was **** up my understanding of the situation.

I now know that for DVD playback, even if the mains are set to "large" (which kills the sub in stereo playback - hence my confusion), the subwoofer also needs to be set to "off" in order for ALL the bass to be routed to the mains, including the LFE channel.

I also now understand that if the sub is left "on" in DVD playback, the only difference between "normal" and "large" on the mains will be the cut-off frequency to the sub - but there will still be a signal sent to the sub regardless, if it is left "on".

My apologies if I confused anyone with my above recommendations - my receiver juked me.........

Spec

juice21

now you got it! bass management CAN be confusing, glad i could clear it up for ya!:D

jmierzur

If you are planning on purchasing a sub or two, why do you need the LSi15? Will they ever be used stand alone? Is the LSi25 bass better than a dedicated subwoofer (or two)?

I have the LSi9 (on 28" stands weighing 40 pounds each) with two subs. I am in the process of 'tuning' my sound room with DIY wall panels and bass traps. I have a Stereophile Test CD with signals specifically designed to test speakers and rooms.

Tuning starts with a 1kHz reference tone. Subsequent tones start at 200Hz, ending at 20Hz. The response I have achieved thus far is +-2 db down to 40Hz (with a room peak of +4db at 80Hz that I am trying to remove). The following tone, 31.5Hz measures at -5db. This is without subs!!

Using a DVD setup disc, I have achieved +3-2db (same room peak present! Ahhhh!) using a full spectrum frequency sweep.

With proper placement, the LSi9 will give you a flat response down to 40 - 50 Hz. If you are planning on using a sub or two, I do not see why you would need the LSi15. I would recommend the LSi9, then spend the extra money on two of the best subs you can afford.

PS It is worth the effort to find the proper speaker/listening position in your room. My initial setup, which I thought sounded great (+7-15db response), was not the best choice of locations. Many hours moving speaker/listening locations and measuring, re-measuring responses has provided a drastic improvement thus far.....

I will (maybe) connect the subs again when I am finished tuning the room.