LSi 7s for near-field use?

Refefer

Hey guys, I'm new to the forum and figured I'd ask your advice. I am looking for a pair of nearfield speakers (within 3-5 feet or so) and have gotten an option to purchase a pair of used Lsi 7s for $400, which doesn't seem a bad deal.

Has anyone used these speakers nearfield before? The nearest Polk LS dealer is about 60 miles away, a trip I don't particularly want to take, and as such havn't auditioned them, and am going off of what I've heard and read.

Also, which amp would I ideally want to drive them at considering the close range? Ideally, I don't want to spend more than $400 for a used amp and it sounds like the 6wpc wonder won't be able to drive these very well. Due to the closeness of the speaks, I don't think the power of the amplifier is much of a factor, but if I'm wrong by all means correct me

I'll be using these for about 95% music (Mostly Rock and Electronica, with a splash of every other genres), 5% for "HT".

If there are other sets of speakers that would be better for the price (I'm trying to keep everything under $800 or so, not very stretchable unfortunately), I'm all ears (no binding deals yet).

Thanks

Refefer

Thanks Zero. I actually tried some RB-35s, but I found them to be exceedingly bright. My guess is the tractrix needs a lot more space than a couple of feet to tame it's horn. I also auditioned a pair of Gallo A. Diva Ti's, but decided that I'd opt for something with greater bass extention (the Gallos were crystal clear until they went mia at around 120hz, off wall).

So the NAD would be well matched with the LSi 7s? I'll try to grab one.

Refefer

No I didn't Bi-wire them. Would the use of jumpers have helped? You must understand I was using a little t-amp to power it and I assumed that a single connection would have done just fine. Klipsch recommends against bi-amping the rb-35s, I guess I took that to assume that bi-wiring wouldn't help much either.

As for a sub, I have a psw10 I was using with a pair R30s for my tv. Would that be sufficient to cover the low end? Or should I seriously think about upgrading my sub to something meaner? I'm not a bass head so over emphasising the low end isn't one of my goals, and as I'm not using them in a HT makes me think that super deep bass (say lower than 35hz) isn't neccesary.

Toxis

I personally own the LSi9's for my HT and a set of Klipsch RB-35's for my DJ setup (turntables to spin electronica). Personally, for rock/electronica I highly recommend the 35's over the LSi's. Don't get me wrong, the musicallity of the LSi's are nothing short of amazing but I like the more aggressive sound from the 35's for rock and techno. The LSi's seem to almost take the edge off some of the harder music (granted I listen to Slipknot a lot). But you definitely need to run the 35's off a good set of electronics. I'm using a Rotel amp to power them. When I ran them directly off an old Onkyo stereo receiver, I could hear the flaws in the equipment. I haven't tried bi-wiring/amping yet but will.

Refefer

Toxis: I remember when I read some reviews on the klipsch's, they mentioned that you needed to stick in a fair amount of juice through them before the bass driver caught up with the horn (which I assumed was the problem since I was running them at probably 4 watts max). While sticking in 20 watts would be fine for a DJ setup, I'm sitting about 3 feet away... and I like to hear when I'm done However, maybe it was just my t-amp... any thoughts?

Another question: these speakers will be placed on a desk. Would there be any advantage to getting them a couple inches off the surface of it (4" stands or something)? Will my sound stage improve if I do that?

Toxis

Mine are run off a 120w Rotel, but remember, that's not feeding them that much power all the time so if the volume is lower, you're not getting a full 120w. When you run them off a 20w amp, you're not going to get the dynamics and headroom you would off a larger amp. Sure, for nearfield you don't need as much power as you would sitting back a bit but still... dynamics are dynamics.