LSi 15 or 25?

crmfmly

I'm wanting to know which one is really the better speaker. The 1,000 dollar difference is of no concern to me if the 25 is indeed the better speaker. I'm in the process of getting my finances caught up so that way I can go out and make a purchase. The closest place to me that has anything Polk other than the Monitor series is Crutchfield in Virginia, so I can't just "go out and listen to them". I know that having either one I have to have an amp to push it. I plan on having 1 maybe 2 PSW1000 Polk subs and I'm wanting to know if having the 25 with the built in 125 watt 10" will dround out my sub?

cmy330go

I would recommend doing some searching around the forum for similar threads. From my reading it seems that most prefer the 15's over the 25's, especially in regards to music. If you are planning on having 2 subs in the system, the 25's would almost certainly be overkill. Of course if you have an unusually huge room there may be an exception.

Also for what it's worth, unless you want the psw1000 because of it's matching cosmetics I would probably recommend going another route. You can honestly get more bang for the buck elsewhere.

Just my quick 2 cents worth.
Dave

Early B.

They both sound similar, except for the bass, of course. Do you need the extra bass? Are the speakers mainly for HT or music? How big is your room?

One thing's for sure -- you can get a lot more for your money by looking at other options for subs.

Offhand, I'd suggest getting the 15's a huge sub (only one).

Dennis Gardner

Agreed Early,

3-4 subs throughout your room is a balancing/cancellation nightmare. The 15s would be better if integrating with other subs is required.

SuperDave

I thought the 25's had a better sound when I auditioned them both at Sound Advice. Certainly the bass is more pronounced and more adjustable as well. The 25's are more tuneable with gain and crossover settings. Just my 2 cents.

dorokusai

LSi15.

jegs

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=679781

mulveling

I've owned the LSi7, 9, and 15 at one point or another, and I've auditioned the whole LSi series. I still think the LSi25 audition provided the best sound, even though powered though a mere ~ $1K receiver. Used my Lsi 15's mainly with Outlaw M200's. Always felt the bass response was its weakness. Didn't go deep, not very powerful sounding, and what was there was a tad flabby and boomy (not nearly as bad as low-fi gear mind you). I'm not knocking the 15; it's a very nice speaker but I never was really satisfied with the bass. Sometimes I even preferred the LSi9 (without a sub - never did like how my Hsu STF2 integrated into 2ch). There may be an amp or biamping configuration that can transform the bass, but that would be quite a job. The LSi25 left a better impression on me as far as being extremely well balanced from top to bottom, once dialed in. Really loved the LSi25, but at the time I didn't think I could have speakers that large, so I settled for the LSi15. The LSi25 really left a great impression on me. I think I would have been happier with just a pair of LSi25 - for both 2ch music & movies - instead of the LSi15 + LSi9 + Hsu setup.

McLoki

I like the LSi15's best of all. The 15's are the hardest to power correctly and will not shine with a weak amplifier. The 25's are nice, but the bass is VERY hard to set correctly for both 2 channel and HT. Most of the LSi15 bass issues you hear of is more of a placement/amplification issue rather than an actual issue with the 15's.

Anyway - that is my vote.

Michael

mulveling

McLoki wrote:

I like the LSi15's best of all. The 15's are the hardest to power correctly and will not shine with a weak amplifier. The 25's are nice, but the bass is VERY hard to set correctly for both 2 channel and HT. Most of the LSi15 bass issues you hear of is more of a placement/amplification issue rather than an actual issue with the 15's.

Anyway - that is my vote.

Michael

What level of apmlification is required to power the LSi15's properly?

McLoki

mulveling wrote:

What level of apmlification is required to power the LSi15's properly?

I think it is more current capability and dampening factor rather than just watts. There is a big difference in sound betwen a large/expensive amp and a small/inexpensive one though when you listen to the 15's.

Some have reported good sound from a low power / high quality amp. It is much easier to go large and not worry about it though. I would say the outlaw monoblocks are a minimum for them, and perhaps still not ideal.

Michael

BTW - if you are ever in the area, you are welcome to stop by for a listen / comparison.

tdeluce

mulveling wrote:

What level of apmlification is required to power the LSi15's properly?

300 watt Outlaw M2200s didn't cut it for me - I now have 600 watt
per channel Cinenova Crande 3 for the LCR and I am very pleased.

The LSi15s are great speakers but they need a great deal of current
to make them sing...

marcpam

tdeluce wrote:

300 watt Outlaw M2200s didn't cut it for me - I now have 600 watt
per channel Cinenova Crande 3 for the LCR and I am very pleased.

The LSi15s are great speakers but they need a great deal of current
to make them sing...

Just out of curiosity, if the speaker max rating for LSI towers is 300 watts @ 4 ohm then why do you think you need 600? The Outlaw will output 300 @ 4 ohm.

tdeluce

marcpam wrote:

Just out of curiosity, if the speaker max rating for LSI towers is 300 watts @ 4 ohm then why do you think you need 600? The Outlaw will output 300 @ 4 ohm.

The Outlaw M2200 could not handle War of the Worlds at Reference level -
it clipped and fried my LSiC. When I upgraded to the Cinenova Grande 3,
soundtracks were a great deal more effortless. No comparison at mid to
high volumes.

unc2701

25's are a setup nightmare, esp if you want an additional sub in there and don't have good bass management. I've been running mine w/o a sub for about a year now... still can't decide if I wish i'd gotten the 15's.

Anyhow, you'll probably be happy either way.

Demiurge

I liked the 15s a lot when I demoed them, and they are the planned mains for my current system.

aaharvel

for straight 2ch. music i would LOVE to have a pair of powered towers like the lsi25. The thought of a separate sub with 2channel music just doesn't gel with me. For home theater though, the 15's and a sub are probably your best bet- much like what most here say.

Dave how are you liking your new P.Elite receiver? Better than your old Sony yeah?

Demiurge

I like the Pioneer, but I will like it a hell of a lot more when I get Mark's B&K AV-5125. Next stop, LSi15.

crmfmly

I want a PSW1000 sub maybe 2 cuz my Outlaw Audio 990 I'm getting has 2 sub outputs. But with having 2 subs would the RTi12's be better really than the LSi 15's or 25's? Or where the RTi have different tweeters than the LSi's sound really off? Like I said the only thing I can go out and audition for myself is the Monitor 50's and 70's, CS1 and CS2, Monitor 40's and 30's

DollarDave

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=679781

I think this just about ties this fella to good ole Polk_Audio_Lsi from a few weeks ago...

McLoki

A waste of a thread, but good info shared none the less...... :rolleyes:

Michael

pal51961

Another vote for 15's. They do require power, but not quite as much as others have posted. I run them with an acurus 200W X 3. They absolutely roar. I have a 28 X25 room and I can't imagine needing to play it any louder. I would also recomment the Hsu line of subs. Far better than the moderatly powered Polk line of subs. With a little work on placement of your sub you will seamlessly match the polks for a very linear sound, and all the clean powered bass you could dream of. Good luck.

mantis

As any good speakers, if you want to take advantage of them, you must have good power to run them. Most receivers fail in at this.

Lsi's are great speakers. In my opnion they are the best sounding speakers they have ever built. Between the 2 I picked the Lsi15's for my own reasons. I didn't want powered towers again. the Lsi25's do sound a bit better. Funny I actually perferred them over the Lsi15's for music.But the thought of having powered towers again with the damn built in subs drives me crazy. I hate to Dial in the subs for music and home theater playback. They are very hard to setup and I wasn't willing to go though that again. I owned the Rt1000p's and had a love/hate going on.

If the powered tower thing doesn't bother you in any way, get the 25's. With alot of time and efffort, they will sound better then the 15's. There bass response is much better and tighter. I have Installed alot of pairs of 25's and since it's my job, I don't mind setting them up for other people. I got the subs in those things to sound incredible. You wouldn't even know they where powered. No forced sound , just natural bass performance.

Honestly If I had to do it all over again, I would have got the Lsi25's.

Dan

wingnut4772

I auditioned both and I preferred the LSi15. The fact that they were less expensive was just a bonus.

F1nut

Hello people, PUTZ ALERT!!!

As Dave pointed out above, crmfmly is Polk_Audio_LSi.

From the AVS Forum:

Polk_Audio_LSi
Aspiring Polkologist


Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Charleston, West Virginia
Posts: 126 Polk Audio LSi 15's or 25's

---

I'm wanting to know which one is really the better speaker. The 1,000 dollar difference is of no concern to me if the 25 is indeed the better speaker. I'm in the process of getting my finances caught up so that way I can go out and make a purchase. The closest place to me that has anything Polk other than the Monitor series is Crutchfield in Virginia, so I can't just "go out and listen to them". I know that having either one I have to have an amp to push it. I plan on having 1 maybe 2 PSW1000 Polk subs and I'm wanting to know if having the 25 with the built in 125 watt 10" will dround out my sub?

__________________
Receiver: Onkyo TX-SR503
Fronts: Polk Audio Monitor 40
Center: Polk Audio CS1
Surrounds: Paradigm Cinema ADP
Subwoofer: Velodyne VRP-1200

wingnut4772

Well....he seems to be behaving?????

SuperDave

and you don't need a subwoofer. listen to both side by side you will pick 25's i bet.

Ruin

Mantis,

If you know how to properly set up LSi25s to sound great for use with no additional sub, please give us/me a tutorial!

Thanks!

Big Daddy

I Demoed both of them and I prefered the Lsi15. Since they are very "power hungry" You will need an amplifier with lots of power to operated them properly and of course good speaker cables.

For the money, the Lsi15 is the best you can buy. It competes and even outperforms speakers that costs 100's more. Best of Luck