REVIEW: Polk Lsi9

steveinaz

Thanks to Courtney (szhleppy), Wes (I-SIG) and myself had a chance to audition a pair of Lsi9's that he brought down, thanks bud!...on to the review...

Review: Polk Lsi9

Related equipment:
- C.E.C. CD-3300 CD transport AES/EBU digtal output
- Benchmark DAC1 DAC
- Musical Fidelity A3CR Preamp
- Parasound HCA-1500A Power amp
- Kimber PBJ Interconnects
- Signal Cable AES/EBU digital cable
- Kimber 8TC speaker cable

Music:
Pearl Jam; Allison Krause; Rush; No Doubt; Steely Dan; John Mayer; Seal; Trapt; Avril Lavigne; Lifescapes "Smooth Jazz"

Setup: (see attached pics)
Speakers were setup on makeshift (err...redneck) stands that placed the tweeter at ear level. My apologies for the cheesey stands, but I haven't owned a stand-mounted bookshelf since 1992. Front baffles were approx 4' from the rear wall, 5' from side walls, 7' apart, and 8' from the listening position with about ½" of toe-in. The room is approx 23' x 48' (14' vaulted ceiling) great room, the living room/dining room/kitchen are all in a single open space, with the livingroom (listening area) at the first 1/3 of the space. This means no wall for about 28' from behind the listening position. Grilles were left off. There were no stock jumpers supplied, so we used 4" lengths of 14awg copper wire to jump the binding post on the speakers.

Initial Impressions:
Oddly enough, the Lsi9 looked smaller than I had imagined it, at first I thought they were Lsi7's. The build and asthetics are very nice—the speakers are heavy for bookshelf style speakers. The finish was Ebony and well executed with black piano gloss top. Binding post are of good quality and beefy/rugged; everything about the build exudes quality & elegance. They wouldn't look at all out of place sitting next to rack full of Krell or Levinson gear.

Listening:
From the moment I hit the "Play" button on the CEC I was immediately impressed with the Lsi9's BIG sound. It wasn't the typical bookshelf sound at all, and Wes and I were all smiles. They filled the room quite easily with modest volume settings, and the midrange grabbed me right away during the Steely Dan set. Wes commented on how Allison Krause' voice can sound a bit nasal on lesser quality speakers, but noted that her vocals sounded very good thru the Lsi. I agree, extremely accurate in weight, tone and realism. The Lsi9 is a wonderful "vocals" speaker. I noted during the John Mayer set that the Lsi9's do miss the lowest octaves, but to be expected on a bookshelf speaker---still bass was very good; the best I've heard in a bookshelf especially considering they were off the back wall a good distance. I can understand how the Lsi9 might be accused of being a little heavy in the midbass if it were closer than the 4' distance he had them at. Midrange was a "ten ring" all the way—beautiful. Treble was very extended and though a touch forward as compared to my Energy Connoisseur's, it never got edgy or etched. The air around cymbals was apparent and abundant---very nice 3 dimensional portrayal. Imaging was very good, soundstaging left-to-right very good, depth pretty good. Piano music sounded extremely real, no huffy or chestiness in the sound of the notes, just beautiful bell-like clarity with great attack and smooth decay--two thumbs up.

Caveats? A few minor nitpics: Keep in mind this is a bookshelf speaker and my listening room is large. In that context, the Lsi9 did begin to unravel a bit when pushed hard—very hard. Some perspective: My preamp volume knob has never seen the 1 o'clock position, we had the Lsi's at about 11:30; I approximate (seat-of-the-pants-estimation) that we were probably pushing 103db or more when I noticed the speaker began to sound compressed in dynamics; hey, again, to be expected when pushing a bookshelf this hard in a room this big. Everything just shy of "concert" levels sounded wonderful, regardless of the material thrown at them, and was plenty loud and uncompressed for music well beyond typical listening levels.

My only other observation was that on a couple of rare occasions, with certain music, the transition from mids to the tweeter sounded a little disconnected---let me explain; On a few passages I felt like I could "locate" the tweeter as it sounded as if it were playing by itself—does that make sense? Lemme try again, I could localize sounds coming straight from the tweeter, it was alittle strange---and rare, so not that a big a deal. I noticed it specifically on a track that had finger snapping in it; the snapping of the fingers sounded like it was coming exclusively from the tweeter, rather than blended in with the midrange.

Addendum: 12/12/2005
After much debate/brainstorming on the Lsi9 displaying dynamic compression, some believe that amplifier clipping may have been the culprit. Although I have doubts about this, it's important to understand the Lsi9 can dip to 2 ohms in some frequency ranges. Bottom line, it might be wise to select an amplifier that is stable to 2 ohms. Just an FYI. I'm still convinced that what I heard was compression, not clipping, as the speakers didn't sound harsh, but rather the soundstage just collapsed; however, keep the above in mind.

Conclusions:
I'm impressed; really impressed. The first 5 minutes of listening, Wes and I just stood there with our mouths hanging open, looking at each other in disbelief---we were speechless. The Lsi9 sounded much better than I had anticipated—and that’s saying alot, as I had pretty high expectations. It's really amazing to see such a small speaker sound so large. Wes and I were out on my patio as the system was playing, and I told Wes "from out here, you'd never know if that was the Polks playing or my Energy towers"...Wes agreed. The midrange was gorgeous; treble very nice 99.9% of the time; and bass, as good as you'll get in a package this size. It never sounded bloated or boomy, like alot of bookshelfs can, it was very clean and deep reaching at reasonable playback levels.

Build: *****
Sound: ****
Value: ****

BIZILL

ah dang! i should've stuck around to listen to these puppies. didn't fathom ya'll would be playin' with 'em today. i thought wes (i-sig) was just gonna drive 'em home. looks like once again i missed out. thanks for the invite to stay the night. truely wish i had.

michael_w

Nice review Steve. That's quite the room for such a small speaker to fill... When I took my 7's downstairs to a bigger, more open room I was quite dissapointed as to how they sounded in comparison to my tiny 8' by 13' room.

How do you think they compare to your C9's? (other than the obvious things like less extension in the polks)

steveinaz

They actually have more in common than you might think. Of course the Lsi's can't compete in the bass department, but I'd give the nod to the Lsi9 ever so slightly in the midrange. Treble, personally I prefer my C-9's treble delivery--but that's a really a subjective comment--a preference. The Lsi9's treble is really very good, just a touch more forward than I prefer.

Finally, power handling, the C-9's have that in spades, as it should for a 4 driver tower speaker. The C-9 and Lsi15 would be a more legitimate comparison.

I'll let Wes comment on our severe listening levels with the C-9's and a particularly "dynamic" CD he brought. Wes cautioned me about clipping the amp and not wanting to damage my speakers; I told him "In this house, if it blows, it's gotta go..." and pushed the C-9's we did...

steveinaz

Bump for some more thoughts that I wanted to include.

Ferres

"I noticed the speaker begin to sound a bit strained and compressed"

This could be just the power amp running out of juice to throw at it.

steveinaz

Doubtful, my amp puts out 215 watts/channel; 325 @ 4 ohms. It was just too much for the dual 5 1/4" drivers and a huge room. We ran my Energy's far beyond those SPL's with absolutely no compression or distortion, and the Lsi9's were actually a little more efficient than my Energy C-9's.

Edit: Changed "dual 4" to "dual 5 1/4"

Ferres

The C-9 is an 8 ohms with 94db sensitivity compared to the Lsi-9 with 4 ohms and 88 sensitivity. I'd assume the Lsi9 would tax the amp more. Just my thoughts :P

steveinaz

On paper yes, in my room the C-9's required a bit more volume knob to reach the Lsi9 levels. (about a half-inch more clockwise turn)

So much for specs huh?

shack

steveinaz wrote:

Oddly enough, the Lsi9 looked smaller than I had imagined it, at first I thought they were Lsi7's.

steveinaz wrote:

It was just too much for the dual 4" drivers and a huge room.

Well...there you go.... You obviously had a pair of "downsized" LSi9s. Sounds like the "Twinkie" story to me.... No wonder they seemed small and didn't fill up the room.

steveinaz

ooopppss...my bad, dual 5 1/4" drivers.

shack

steveinaz wrote:

OOpppss.. are they 5"? Sure do look small....

Yep...5 ¼"

Ferres

The '4 ohms' thing is taxing. You could test it with a beefier amp to rule that out. My Lsi9's once blew out my parasound 1200 mk2 and that has similar features to the 1500a.

steveinaz

Do the math:

even at 109dB SPL (which we definitely didn't push them that hard) you're using only 128 watts given 88db efficiency. There's a distinct difference in "sound" between clipping and dynamic compression. The Lsi9 didn't sound harsh, they just began to collapse the soundstage, aka: compression.

BIZILL

polk's site recommends only 20-200 watts per channel for the speakers. i'm sure steve's amp was up to the task.

McLoki

Interestingly that is about when the 7's start to give up the ghost as well. (about 103db starts dynamic compression.) Guess the extra woofer just fills out the sound rather than adds any volume capabilities?

Michael

Edit - that was 103db at 6ft. or about 109db at 1 meter.

steveinaz

I struggled with even bothering to mention it in the review, but I felt I should as some people like their music very loud at times. As stated in the review, they have more than ample output for 99/100 listeners and impressed me with their ability to fill the room as well as they did.

Bottom line; large room = large speaker, if you like it loud. I would imagine if these were in a typical sized living room, you'd likely never reach the point of dynamic compression, making it a moot point.

I-SIG

I liked 'em a lot! I can certainly see a bedroom setup with some LSi9's in it without hesitation.

This is mainly a bump for now. I'll write more tonight, most likely.

Wes

steveinaz

I was wondering when you would chime in bubba.

Joey_V

Steve,

Great review of some great speakers! Ahhh... so many good memories with the 9s.... *sigh*.

Two thumbs up!

Shizelbs

Nice write up. They are heavy mofos aren't they?

Joey, get back to studying.

Joey_V

Shizelbs wrote:

Joey, get back to studying.

Yes sir!

*Opens book and reads for friday's final in Pathophysiology*

steveinaz

Shizelbs wrote:

Nice write up. They are heavy mofos aren't they?

Joey, get back to studying.

They are very heavy, like little fire safes! LOL

I-SIG

Definitely heavy.

Now that I got my SVS question answered, I'm gonna tweek the system a little to get the bottom-bottom end off the 9's to see what they can really do.

I may not write more tonight after all. I have an important basketball game to watch. Go Jackets!

Wes

tonygeno

Joey_V wrote:

Steve,

Great review of some great speakers! Ahhh... so many good memories with the 9s.... *sigh*.

Two thumbs up!

Joey:
How are the Ref 1s? Are you enjoying them?

Joey_V

tonygeno wrote:

Joey:
How are the Ref 1s? Are you enjoying them?

The Ref1s are solid speakers - but as of two days ago... they are sold.

Looking to get back on the LSi track (most likely the 9s) but am still waiting for a response from Martin Logan regarding a possible smaller electrostat to the Vantage - around $3k methinks.... which is far more affordable than the $5k that the Vantage retails for.

We'll see... .

Always fun times in audio!

*Looks at clock*... I think I should go to bed.. another long 16 hour study session tomorrow! Stupid finals.

tonygeno

Why did you sell them? Wow, you're doing a lot of movin and shakin! Must be having fun, though.

heiney9

McLoki wrote:

Interestingly that is about when the 7's start to give up the ghost as well. (about 103db starts dynamic compression.) Guess the extra woofer just fills out the sound rather than adds any volume capabilities?

Michael

Edit - that was 103db at 6ft. or about 109db at 1 meter.

Jumping in a bit late. I think some of this phenomenon is due the physical cabinet size as well. Think about it....the same drivers are used in the Lsi-15's so some of the compression (limitations) of the drivers is the smaller volume cabinet of the bookshelf size speakers can contibute. Granted the 15's use a different x-over. But as we all know there is no substituite for cabinet volume when it come to speakers. Just my .02c....

Nice review Steve....I'm torn between the 9's and 15's when I finally decide to replace my current speaks.

H9

steveinaz

heiney9 wrote:

Jumping in a bit late. I think some of this phenomenon is due the physical cabinet size as well. Think about it....the same drivers are used in the Lsi-15's so some of the compression (limitations) of the drivers is the smaller volume cabinet of the bookshelf size speakers can contibute. Granted the 15's use a different x-over. But as we all know there is no substituite for cabinet volume when it come to speakers. Just my .02c....

Nice review Steve....I'm torn between the 9's and 15's when I finally decide to replace my current speaks.

H9

Absolutely, cabinet size plays a huge role. There's just so much you can expect out of a compact speaker, the Lsi9 in all but the largest rooms will play plenty loud without compression for 99/100 owners.

I haven't heard the Lsi15, but I'm a floorstander fan, the one thing I missed when listening to the Lsi9 was the lowest octaves---it gives your sound more realism when you can energize the room with deep/clean bass, as much so as an accurate high-end. Of course Lsi9's w/sub would probably be a killer setup.

If I were strictly a Jazz/contempoary/classical listener, I would not add a sub. These babies were built for Jazz/Vocal, I wouldn't want to mess up that balance.

madmax

steveinaz wrote:

Doubtful, my amp puts out 215 watts/channel; 325 @ 4 ohms. It was just too much for the dual 5 1/4" drivers and a huge room. We ran my Energy's far beyond those SPL's with absolutely no compression or distortion, and the Lsi9's were actually a little more efficient than my Energy C-9's.

Edit: Changed "dual 4" to "dual 5 1/4"

Not so "doubtful" at all. I ran my LSi 9's with the Carver Silver 9t's once and never ran out of speaker with the needles peaking to the top.
madmax

steveinaz

Possible? Yes. Probable? no....

Given the SPL we were pushing, I was nowhere near clipping for that amp. As stated in the second part of that quote also, the C-9's were pushed far beyond the Lsi's with absolutely no sign of distress. For reference, it was the 3rd track on Trapt's "Someone in Control" CD when we decided to push some serious watts that they began to compress, those 5 1/4's looked like they were about to vibrate clear out of the cabinet with the heavy rythm guitar section.

No source, no matter how high the input level, in my system has been anywhere near clipping at 11:30 on the volume. Could it have been the extremely low impedance drops in the Lsi9? That's a possibility, if that was the case I'd have to call that a negative for the Lsi9; if you need more than 215 watts/channel to drive a bookshelf cleanly, your not going to have much of an consumer audience. They were actually "real world" more efficient than my C-9's. When we switched back to the C-9's I immediately had to increase the volume on the pre about an inch clockwise to achieve the same loudness.

This was definitely compression, as the soundstage just collapsed, almost as if the speakers were turning themselves down...this differs greatly from audible clipping distortion.