Polk Audio LSi series Home Theater (2)

crmfmly

Hey guys forget about going small. I DO wanna go BIG!! The Onkyo TX-NR1000 receiver, LSi 25 fronts, LSi C center, LSi FX for surrounds and rear surrounds, 2 PSW 1000 subs. Now you all had something bad to say about the Polk subs but the boom isn't as important to me as the clean crystal clear surround. And with my receiver having 2 sub outputs and the PSW 1000 having 2 subs in it making a total of 4 subs I'm not really concerned about the bass. Now you guys did mention something about having an amplifier for the main speakers. Could you further explain how and why an additional amp is used in use with the rest of my speakers?

PolkThug

The Lsi's have a lower resistance than most speakers. Most Onkyo's expect a certain amount of resistance, and when that resistance is not there, the Onkyo can heat up and go into protect mode. Just to confuse things more, this may or may not happen.

audiobliss

But with powering a full LSi HT system to referrence levels, I'm-a gonna say it will happen. And you can get a lot better sub than the two PS1000 for the money. And we're not recommending 'boom'. Nobody here likes that, either.

Oh, and don't start a separate thread everytime you have another question. You can keep it all to one thread.

okiepolkie

From a power standpoint, I will agree with those that have answered before me. If you are going full HT with the LSi's, then I would recommend separates. For the price of the Onkyo TR-NX1000, even if it were a used model, you could get a pre/pro and amp from www.outlawaudio.com.

If you are stuck on Onkyo, then I would suggest looking at the RTi series from Polk. These speakers, with the exception of the 12's, and possibly the 10's, will be fine using a high quality receiver like the 1000.

As far as the subwoofers go, comparably priced SVS subwoofers will provide clean, lower bass than any current Polk offering. I like the looks of the Polk, but if you take a look at some of the finishes available for the plus and ultra series subs, it seems to still be an upgrade.

sickicw

You sound like you like bass quality over loud booming bass. Me too. I strongly recommend a sealed subwoofer. The polk ones you are looking into are ported. Sealed subwoofers have much better frequency response (less boomy) but require more power. I would look into a high end velodyne sub or other sealed sub. If you don’t like boom, stay away from the ported subs.

If you really do want to go big, you have to go big everywhere, not just in the speaker department. You will be disappointed in the lsi line if you don’t give them enough high current amplification. I would seriously not get the $5k receiver that will be obsolete next year. Seriously, there are new high definition formats (dobly trueHD and DTS HD on blu-ray and hd-dvd disks) that are just now starting to come out and you wouldn’t be able to take advantage of this if you buy this model. Plus the HDMI version 1.3 isn't going to be complete until june 2006. Get a cheap $500 onkyo with pre outs and wait until next year for a good pre amp or receiver. Spend your money instead on a good amp. For your setup and amount of money, I would suggest the Krell showcase 7. You can buy new, or easily find a used one.

Early B.

Crmfmly --

Feel free to disregard the great advice you've received here. If you want to waste time and money on a screwed up HT system, go for it. We hate to see people waste money on Polk Lsi speakers and underpower them with a receiver that is not designed to handle them. At some point you need to acknowledge that you don't know what you're doing. We can almost guarantee that you will not be happy with the setup you're proposing.

I'm done.

audiobliss

Early B. wrote:

Crmfmly --

Feel free to disregard the great advice you've received here. If you want to waste time and money on a screwed up HT system, go for it. We hate to see people waste money on Polk Lsi speakers and underpower them with a receiver that is not designed to handle them. At some point you need to acknowledge that you don't know what you're doing. We can almost guarantee that you will not be happy with the setup you're proposing.

I'm done.

While that might have come across a little harsh, I agree with it 100%.

tryrrthg

sickicw wrote:

You sound like you like bass quality over loud booming bass. Me too. I strongly recommend a sealed subwoofer. The polk ones you are looking into are ported. Sealed subwoofers have much better frequency response (less boomy) but require more power. I would look into a high end velodyne sub or other sealed sub. If you don’t like boom, stay away from the ported subs.

simply not true.

When you're talking subs of the quality of SVS or HSU 99% of the time boom is caused by the room, ported or not. put any high quality sub in a bad spot in the room and they'll all boom. Propor placement and some EQ will flatten out the room induced boom.

Also a sealed sub does not have "better frequency response" they roll off MUCH sooner than a ported sub. A ported sub will play a lot lower than a sealed sub. with a sealed sub you need a lot of woofer and a decent amount of room gain to match a ported sub's output down low.

They both have their trade offs, one is not "better" than the other...

Holydoc

crmfmly wrote:

Hey guys forget about going small. I DO wanna go BIG!! The Onkyo TX-NR1000 receiver, LSi 25 fronts, LSi C center, LSi FX for surrounds and rear surrounds, 2 PSW 1000 subs. ... Could you further explain how and why an additional amp is used in use with the rest of my speakers?

Sounds like you are working towards a very nice system. I do like that "in theory" the Onkyo can be expanded to allow for different formats in the future. This of course depends on Onkyo's continual support of the NR1000.

As for the power issue, the LSi line demands quite a bit of power to run them. There are very few if any receivers that can handle the kind of power needed to run these speakers to their potential without some type of amplifier help.

The Onkyo has pre-outs that will allow you to hook up a separate amplifier to push your speaker system. I am currently doing that with my 900 series. However the point that is being pushed here is that you can actually save some money on the receiver portion so that you can place that money towards a nice amplifier. In other words no matter if you decide to go pre-amp or just stick with your first choice of the Onkyo receiver, you are still going to have to purchase an external amplifier to push your speakers to their potential.

Also by purchasing a nice Pre-amp if technology changes in the future or you add to your system, you can just replace the pre-amp without having to place extra money into another external amplifier. For instance, I always buy computers that are easy to upgrade like you are trying to do with the 1000series. However, by the time I am ready to do a major upgrade, technology has advanced so far that it is just as cheap just to replace the computer with the latest and greatest. I fear that this will also be the case with the Onkyo.

puunda

tryrrthg wrote:

When you're talking subs of the quality of SVS or HSU 99% of the time boom is caused by the room, ported or not. put any high quality sub in a bad spot in the room and they'll all boom. Propor placement and some EQ will flatten out the room induced boom.

I agree, booming happens to both sealed and ported subs. It could be the room, placement, or it could be by design of the sub (some people like boom).

tryrrthg wrote:

Also a sealed sub does not have "better frequency response" they roll off MUCH sooner than a ported sub.

For the same driver in the same sized box. A different driver in a different box can roll off same or much later than ported sub.

tryrrthg wrote:

A ported sub will play a lot lower than a sealed sub.

3dB louder in a similar (or slighty bigger, can't recall) box.

tryrrthg wrote:

They both have their trade offs, one is not "better" than the other...

You're right. It depends on the 'bass' you want from your sub. Sealed will give you lower rolloff, so you esentially get 'more bass' in the lower regions. However most people can't hear this bass. A ported box with the same driver and bigger box will give you 3dB louder, lower roll off point, but twice the slope. So essentially great up to rolloff. But not much after that.

Personally sub for movies, I'd go sealed.

cfrizz

Since you are getting an entire LSI setup it is crucial that you have the necessary power to run all of them. You will throw your receiver (as nice & as expensive as it is) into protect mode on a really loud extended passage of a movie or music!

You would be much better served to get a cheaper receiver with preouts so as to add a separate 5/7 channel amplifier of no less than 200 watts per channel. Or better yet, you could probably purchase an Outlaw 990/7500/7700 combo & be a very happy camper!

You have asked for advice, and we have given you good information (most of it based on experience!) so that you can do this right the first time.

sickicw

I have owned both types of subs (yes a SVS) and will never buy another ported one. They might sound good in a large dedicated room, but i dont have one and sealed ones sound much better in my room.

McLoki

If you really like Onkyo you might go with an Integra Research (and an amp) or, for less money, an integra home theater (and an amp)

the integra research gets you the upgradablility and the home theater the lower price.

What you are paying for in either one is a quality pre-amp and tuner. Rather than paying for amplifier sections that you will not use.

Both with match fine with any number of high quality amps. (you could get the matching Integra amps, but don't have to limit yourself to those....)

Michael

Midnite Mick

asked a question but deleted. I will start a new thread instead....sorry

Mike

autosellers

Now this: asking, how many of you used a TX NR1000? I doubt any of you guys listen to one, based on your misleading advices and tips.

cfrizz

Welcome Autosellers. We don't need to listen to it. It's a receiver & is not powerful enough to drive a full set of LSI's.

Why don't you try reading up on the speakers before you criticize what most of us have learned first hand.

Toxis

I've listened to a 1000 many times at a buddy's house and sure it's nice but my denon receiver as a pre and a separate power amp is alllllways better and half the price. Save a couple grand and get better sound? All day long!

Yashu

Interesting... a whole thread of people that actually agree with me, too bad you guys couldn't have had my back in that other thread where I said the same thing.

The best thing to do here, is to get a cheaper receiver, use it as a pre/pro and get some separate amp(s) to power the speakers. NAD makes some GREAT 5 and 7 channel amps, as do many others... or you could just get a couple beefy two channel amps. For some reason people don't like polk subs, and for HT, velodyne is hard to beat at it's price.