RTI10 vs LSI15... worth the upgrade?
I purchased a set of RTI10s back in Dec of 04 and was pretty happy with the speakers. I purchased from my local tweeter center and got a pretty good deal on the speakers. I normally would buy from a online company who had the cheapest prices but somethings I still rather pay a little more money knowing if I have any problems I can return them. Another reason I bought from tweeter was because of the one year upgrade program they offer. They give you a full credit on speakers if you want to upgrade for a year. So I took advantage of that this past weekend.
Now on to the review. I truly liked my RTI10s they performed great but still seem to be lacking a little something. I moved into a new house which had a little bigger of a room to fill and I really wanted to dress the room up a little as well. I remember looking at the LSI15s thinking they are a very nice looking speaker with the cherry finish but at the time I decided the RTI10s would fit my pocket book better and they sounded great. Knowing I can trade up my RTI10s I decided to go back for a second look and listen. Now having the RTI10s for 8 months, they worked perfect for my needs at the time, but after moving them into my new theater room they seemed a little on the weak side when it came to the low end and clarity. I listened to the RTI25s and the 15s in the demo room at tweeter center and decided that the $1500 price difference was bass output which in my mind should be handled by a good sub. So, I ended up grabbing a set of the LSI15s, LSIC, and LSIFX surrounds. Once home I setup the LSI15s first just to run a few songs over and I could tell a big difference in just the range these speakers cover compared to my old RTI10s. Played Rush YYZ - incredible, Neil was sitting in the room with me.
The lows seemed perfect, not too much bass, just where it should be to complement a nice sub. Once I setup the rest of my LSI system I was blown away at how crisp and tight sounding the system was. I played a few movies over the weekend and the clarity was perfect. It seems in the past I've always had to adjust volume during different scenes and this system was very well balanced. I run a Yamaha RXV3300 receiver with no power amp and this system just blew me away. I think if anyone is thinking up upgrading, personally, I think it's worth it. If you're on a budget I think the RTI series is a great setup but if you can swing the extra cash I would highly recommend the LSI series.
Now on to the review. I truly liked my RTI10s they performed great but still seem to be lacking a little something. I moved into a new house which had a little bigger of a room to fill and I really wanted to dress the room up a little as well. I remember looking at the LSI15s thinking they are a very nice looking speaker with the cherry finish but at the time I decided the RTI10s would fit my pocket book better and they sounded great. Knowing I can trade up my RTI10s I decided to go back for a second look and listen. Now having the RTI10s for 8 months, they worked perfect for my needs at the time, but after moving them into my new theater room they seemed a little on the weak side when it came to the low end and clarity. I listened to the RTI25s and the 15s in the demo room at tweeter center and decided that the $1500 price difference was bass output which in my mind should be handled by a good sub. So, I ended up grabbing a set of the LSI15s, LSIC, and LSIFX surrounds. Once home I setup the LSI15s first just to run a few songs over and I could tell a big difference in just the range these speakers cover compared to my old RTI10s. Played Rush YYZ - incredible, Neil was sitting in the room with me.
The lows seemed perfect, not too much bass, just where it should be to complement a nice sub. Once I setup the rest of my LSI system I was blown away at how crisp and tight sounding the system was. I played a few movies over the weekend and the clarity was perfect. It seems in the past I've always had to adjust volume during different scenes and this system was very well balanced. I run a Yamaha RXV3300 receiver with no power amp and this system just blew me away. I think if anyone is thinking up upgrading, personally, I think it's worth it. If you're on a budget I think the RTI series is a great setup but if you can swing the extra cash I would highly recommend the LSI series. Yamaha RXV3300
Polk LSI series - 15,C, and FX
Infocus 4805
Emotiva XPA-5 power amp
Polk LSI series - 15,C, and FX
Infocus 4805
Emotiva XPA-5 power amp
Post edited by MikeCamp on
Comments
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You ain't heard nuthin' yet. Wait 'til you get separate amps, then those Lsi's will really come alive.
Congrats on your purchase.HT/2-channel Rig: Sony 50 LCD TV; Toshiba HD-A2 DVD player; Emotiva LMC-1 pre/pro; Rogue Audio M-120 monoblocks (modded); Placette RVC; Emotiva LPA-1 amp; Bada HD-22 tube CDP (modded); VMPS Tower II SE (fronts); DIY Clearwave Dynamic 4CC (center); Wharfedale Opus Tri-Surrounds (rear); and VMPS 215 sub
"God grooves with tubes." -
You really wanna hear those speakers do some amazing things..... put some power behind those bad boys. You are really only using a little of the 15's potential by giving it receiver power.
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cant stress that point enough, your next upgrade has to be seperate amplification, and fast. if the budget is tight, go used on Ebay of Audiogon (i ope your reciever has pre outs)Living Room 2 Channel -
Schiit SYS Passive Pre. Jolida CD player. Songbird streamer. California Audio Labs Sigma II DAC, DIY 300as1/a1 Ice modules Class D amp. LSi15 with MM842 woofer upgrade, Nordost Blue Heaven and Unity interconnects.
Upstairs 2 Channel Rig -
Prometheus Ref. TVC passive pre, SAE A-205 Amp, Wiim pro streamer and Topping E50 DAC, California Audio Labs DX1 CD player, Von Schweikert VR3.5 speakers.
Studio Rig - Scarlett 18i20(Gen3) DAW, Mac Mini, Aiyma A07 Max (BridgedX2), Totem Mites -
Congrats.......but give 'em more power, the kind that comes from seperate amps; then you'll be blown away again!
H9"Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul! -
I couldn't agree more about adding seperates. Congrats on your LSi set up. I really enjoy my LSi and still listen to them once in a while.
Maurice
