Polk Audio LSi series Home Theater

crmfmly

Hello I am new to the whole Home Theater thing a little bit and I've been doing a lot of research here lately and recently I've bought an Onkyo TX-SR503 receiver, Polk Audio Monitor 50 bookshelf speakers, CS 1 center channel, and Paradigm Dipole/Bipole surrounds and a Velodyne DPS 12 subwoofer. It sounds alright but it's not enough for me. I'm wanting to do an Onkyo TX-NR1000 receiver with LSi floor-standing, center, 2 sets of diplole/bipole surrounds, and 2 PSw1000 subs. Now I've got my mind made up on that. My question is what speaker cables, speaker wire, surge protection and the whole 9 yards should I really buy? I'm wanting to do everything in Monster Cable THX, but I'm really having a hard time determing what speaker wire to get. Should I go ahead and get a big thing of wire with no connectors, or should I get a thing of wire with connectors. But another thing is when I run and hide my wires for my surrounds I'm using right now about 25 to 30 feet of wire per speaker. So could somebody help me out?

Early B.

Whoa there fella. Back up for a minute. If you're gonna buy Lsi floorstanders, you're better off with separate amplification. Do NOT power them with a receiver. Secondly, forget about the two Polk subs and buy the largest Hsu or SVS you can afford. Also, forget about Monster Cable altogether. Check out Audioquest, Kimber, DH Labs and many others.

Slow down, 'cause you've got some more research to do. Build your HT system one step at a time.

AndyGwis

Early B, you beat me to it! Guess the Early B. gets the worm. . .

jrlouie

Early B. wrote:

If you're gonna buy Lsi floorstanders, you're better off with separate amplification. Do NOT power them with a receiver.

I 2nd what he said.

McLoki

3rds.....

Michael

danger boy

i agree too with the others.. one wrong move and you'll end up with something wrong.. meaning the wrong component or speakers not matching.

Since that was your first post.. others will chime in with more ideas. Doing your homework before you purchase anything will make you more happy in the long run.

The only non Polk speaker I would buy, and this was already said... is the subwoofer. I'd personally buy other wires/cables than monster and save you some money in the long run.

audiobliss

Exactly what everyone else has said. The LSi line of speakers are very demanding, and a receiver would not even do just one pair of LSi7 justice, much less power a HT setup of LSi speakers to movie-watching levels. Beyond a doubt, you need separate amplification. Here's a quick list of amplifier manufacturer's websites for referrence:

Audiosource Amplifiers
Audiosource could be good if you're on a really tight budget. They're mostly pro amps, and so aren't really suited to home audio, much less speakers of the same caliber as the LSi series.

AMC Amplifiers
Outlaw Audio Products Page
AMC and Outlaw are also good if you're on a budget, as they're more affordable new than a lot of other amps. I'd much rather use AMC or Outlaw than Audiosource.


The rest are pretty much 'high-end', though some are obviously more so than others. With the rest of these, you're basically going to be satisfied until you seriously get into critical listening and demanding the most your system can deliver.

Adcom Amplifiers

NAD Electronics

B&K Products

Rotel Stereo Amplifiers

Anthem

Sunfire Amplifiers

Parasound

Niles

Odyssey Audio

Monarchy Audio

Bryston

Krell

Musical Fidelity

Polk really does make some excellent speakers, as it seems you've already discovered. However, they don't make good subs by any means. HSU and SVS may be worth taking a look at.

As for cables, stay away from Monster Cable. Yeah, they make pretty decent products, but they're a lot like Bose: a lot of hype, and inflated prices. You can find a lot nicer cables, both speaker wire and interconnects, for less than Monster Cable. Also, MC has horrible business practices that by themselves warrant boycotting them, in my opinion.

You'll also need to think about a source. What kind of DVD player are you going to be using? Are you going to listen to any music on your system? If so, you may want to think about buying a stand alone CD player.


Like everyone else has said, just slow down, take a deep breath, and do things right the first time. You've picked out a great set of speakers, but now you really need to focus on backing them up with the right gear, or you won't be happy with the results.

Good luck, welcome to CP, and be patient!

ohskigod

there all right on this, recievers can drive lsi to function, but push it, and recievers can and have overheated trying to drive LSi to near reference levels. I have experience with outlaw, great products and great cust service. and priced at high end recievers that I would remotly consider to the job of driving LSi's (and only if my life depended on it )

or, you can get the pre pro and get your amplification used. It will take effort, but youll get a little more for your money. it seems like you have the budget to swing big*, and that's cool (real cool ). but your also taking a big step, we just want to make sure you do it right, so you can really enjoy those LSi's. I have an LSi theater, believe me. do it right, and your in for a treat



*note, IF I were you with a budget, and a desire to get a home theater up and running fast, I'd go all outlaw. Its the best bang for buck across the board, and new / coverred under warranty.

outlaw 990 pre/pro and 7500 (for 5.1) or 7700 (for 7.1) for amplification (those are the 200 a channel amps, which will put 300 a channel into the 4 ohm LSi's) get that, and youll be good to go!

cfrizz

I agree with all the above. A couple of other cable companies to check out are Blue Jeans Cable & Signal Cable. Well made cables at reasonable prices!

Check out our signatures & you'll see what a good many of us are recommending we are also using!

Welcome!

sickicw

I have a Onkyo TX-SR703 that i use only for my rear speakers. It does an ok job, but could be much better. I love the onkyo as a pre amp, but even there best model receiver won't be able to properly push the lsi speakers. you will need separate amplification, and some type of preamp, or a receiver with pre outs. Also if you have $2000 to spend on subwoofers, i would look into something like the velodyne DD series.

GATOR3000

Unquestionably consent with all of the above!

Also, while you at it you should consider Powercentre/Conditioner for your rig.

Cheers

sickicw

Oh and to answer you question about power, you might need to do a bit of planning on what type of amp(s) you are going to need first. I have a 5.1 lsi setup and am already looking into adding Dedicated power lines from the fuse box. If you go this rount, you might as well get the electrician to add surge protect at the box for your entire home. Anyway, just be sure you make a budget and plan accordingly.