Polk LSi9 vs Polk LSi15

Joey_V

Thoughts from the peanut gallery?

I thought I was really set on getting back a pair of the LSi9 and using them strictly for my PC listening/gaming/movie/internet/system beeps... blah blah...

Anyway, I was going to lug around my Rotel RC1070/Rotel RB1090 juggernaut of an amp back to my bedroom to power these LSi badboys and roll them back to the listening room whenver I need to listen critically on the Summits.

We're going NO SUB btw.

However, I made the mistake to critically compare the LSi9 with the LSi15. What I found was that properly setup, I felt that the 15s are better than the 9s in one particular area - midrange clarity and REALISM.

This realism may be in part, due to the bass, but it is undeniable that the 15s have a cleaner presentation. There is such a difference in A/B testing (same receiver powering both), that I'm beginning to feel compelled to really really go for the 15s as my PC speaker setup.

What do you guys think?

I'm not sure I'm ready for surround sound/HT as I cant justify the added cost in my smallish bedroom... it would cost me quite a bit to go HT, not to mention I would be underpowering them because I simply dont have the funds.

15s vs 9s.... you tell me.

mulveling

I used to own both. I never felt like I'd set the LSi15 up quite right - while mids and highs were very nice, the bass was kinda nasty. I was powering them with Outlaw M200 monos, and though I gave them enough room to breathe, I hadn't experimented too much with room placement. Bass was one-note, big midbass peak, and lacked depth. Sounded like it was attempting to be punchy, but lacked the guts and soul to pull it off. The LSi9 at least didn't try to have as much bass presence, so I didn't have as much of a problem with it. They were more plug and play - set them up on stands somewhere and they'll sound good. It would be cool to hear the 15's in my new setup, though.

So, with lesser electronics and a non-ideal room, I'd have to say LSi9 are the safer bet.

josh_parsons626

What about a full LSi setup set with an Outlaw 7700 7-channel amp? Or for your fronts is it better if you run 2 2200 monoblock amps. So you'd have 2 2200 and a 7500 for the 2 LSiFX and 2 LSi9, right?

mantis

Zero wrote:

Joey,

We are going to have to talk about what group you are going through thats granted you all this cash. ****, I'd be done with both rigs in just three months.

If you like the 15's, go for it. It's really that simple.

I find the Lsi-9's signature to fall within the 'romantic' side of things. The mid and upper bass boost provides a warm sense that I find very palpable and even preferrable on many recordings. I enjoy the LSi-9's flexibility in terms of amplification and positioning. It's a pretty versitile speaker that looks sexy, moves quite a bit of air for its size and can sound convincingly large. For $999/pair (retail), it is STILL in my opinion, a heavy contendor for speakers in the 1k range.

The LSi-15 boasts not only a cleaner mid-range, but is in my opinion more adept in coherency between the tweeter and two mid-woofs. It's a speaker that is more about articulation, than bloom. That cleaner mid-range in my opinion, contributes to your minds perception of more aggressive high-end. The Lsi-15 naturally produces sound with a more palpable sense of scale, ala; the realism you speak of. The downside is that the 8 inch driver used really is not up to par with the rest of the speaker and getting it to blend well within a smaller room can be a challenge. Much to the disgust of many members here, I ran into success stuffing the ports - creating a psuedo sealed woof section. As always, experiment and see whats best for you.

Considering the music you listen to, and obviously having more than enough income to compensate not only for the speakers themselves, but the electronics down the road - I'd go with the LSi15's because the bottom of the line is that you do have options when working with the bass. With the LSi-9, well, its very very respectable but there is only so much you can get outta it. I'd rather have something I could work with.

I pretty much agree with this post except I really didn't like the 9's. I had then and A-B the **** out of them vs the 15's and there really wasn't anything I liked better on the 9's. I felt they sounded muddy in comparsion. I'm not saying there a muddy speakers but in comparsion to the 15's, they tended to sound that way. The 15's are so much more open and natural sounding.

Good luck man

Dan

knownalien

josh_parsons626 wrote:

What about a full LSi setup set with an Outlaw 7700 7-channel amp? Or for your fronts is it better if you run 2 2200 monoblock amps. So you'd have 2 2200 and a 7500 for the 2 LSiFX and 2 LSi9, right?

this is almost my exact set up. But I use the LSi9's as surrounds powered by a 2200 mono block.

For me, two channels bi-amping each LSi15 from the 7500 was the only way to get the 8" to really speak. I don't know if this is a good thing or bad thing, but I do like the result. The LSi9's however are an excellent sounding speaker. For everything but rap music, I don't know that the fact that it does not have an 8" makes much difference. the clarity is very nice.

Joey_V

mulveling wrote:

So, with lesser electronics and a non-ideal room, I'd have to say LSi9 are the safer bet.

With all due respect, what electronics do you think one needs for the LSi? The 1090 isnt enough?

mantis

Joey_V wrote:

With all due respect, what electronics do you think one needs for the LSi? The 1090 isnt enough?

Rotel is more then enough to run LSI. The rb1090 is a monster and powerfull enough for just about any speaker made

Dan

Joey_V

That's what I thought. If the 1090 is good enough for the Summits, it's good enough for the LSi.

Shizelbs

I say go for the 15s if your setup will allow it, but I am assuming this setup will be based around a desk and placement of those 15s behind a desk would be fairly hard to accomplish. 9s are much more flexible. And seriously, how many PC games really have all that much great bass that you would be needing a sub. I know some have good bass, but really, not that many. Then again, I'm not real sure what type of music you listen to.

mulveling

LOL, sorrry, I didn't read thoroughly - no disrespect meant to your Rotel! So, you're going to shlep that Rotel back and forth; that's fine. Actually I may trade my Meridian G08 for a Sony SCD-1 and then I'll have to shlep a 60 lbs player back and forth between a speaker and headphone rig myself Still, the room and placement will be more of a concern with the 15 than the 9. Might as well start out with the 15 and if the magic isn't there, downgrade to the 9s.

Ruin

Setting all this talk about electronics aside, I think you need to look at why the 15s sound better, bass response aside.

Crossovers

In the 9s and 15s the crossover point for the tweeter is the same, however in the mid/bass range the 9s top driver covers down to 200Hz while the bottow one handles all the way down to 38Hz (-3DB at 50Hz). Since the 15s have that 8 incher to handle low bass, the mids can, and do, have a narrower operating range allowing them to more acurately reproduce the sound. In the 15s the top mid driver goes down to 800Hz vs the 200Hz of the 9s, and the lower driver goes down only to 150Hz vs the 38Hz of the 9s, then the 15s 8" driver handels everything from 150 down to 22 (-3db at 32).

THIS is why the mids and upper bass sound different/better on the 15s. No amount of dollars spent on electronics is going to make the 9s and the 15s sound exactly the same.

Ruin

Joey_V

Zero wrote:

Hilarious stuff. Joey protecting his beloved 1090 like a goose..

I hate you Sean.

BTW, I called you the other day... pick up your phone!

Joey_V

Ruin wrote:

Setting all this talk about electronics aside, I think you need to look at why the 15s sound better, bass response aside.

Crossovers

In the 9s and 15s the crossover point for the tweeter is the same, however in the mid/bass range the 9s top driver covers down to 200Hz while the bottow one handles all the way down to 38Hz (-3DB at 50Hz). Since the 15s have that 8 incher to handle low bass, the mids can, and do, have a narrower operating range allowing them to more acurately reproduce the sound. In the 15s the top mid driver goes down to 800Hz vs the 200Hz of the 9s, and the lower driver goes down only to 150Hz vs the 38Hz of the 9s, then the 15s 8" driver handels everything from 150 down to 22 (-3db at 32).

THIS is why the mids and upper bass sound different/better on the 15s. No amount of dollars spent on electronics is going to make the 9s and the 15s sound exactly the same.

Ruin

I agree 100%.

george daniel

I've been following(lurking) on this thread lately.My lsi 15's just do not have the "tight bass" that I want(2 ch).I may put them in another system and replace them with my taylos ref monitors, I've swapped amps,,belles 350 and/or anthem amp2se without resolution. Currently have the lsi's about 36" from the side walls,4 feet from the rear,,getting better but not there yet,next on the agenda may be some room treatment,,sorry for the rant,,just tired of lugging stuff around

george daniel

Stuffed,,actually the bass is a little tighter,at this point I think that I'll just keep tweaking as I do not want to haul them back downstairs just yet.

malikarshad

george daniel wrote:

Stuffed,,actually the bass is a little tighter,at this point I think that I'll just keep tweaking as I do not want to haul them back downstairs just yet.

Hey George what kind of stuffing did you use?
I also want to experiment with my Lsi15 and see the results.

george daniel

malikarshad wrote:

Hey George what kind of stuffing did you use?
I also want to experiment with my Lsi15 and see the results.

Cornbread stuffing,,:D ,,actually a dark cotton sock in the ports,,for me it was an audible difference (better/tighter).

malikarshad

george daniel wrote:

Cornbread stuffing,,:D ,,actually a dark cotton sock in the ports,,for me it was an audible difference (better/tighter).

For a minute I thought you stuff sometime else in the port hole:p
Anyways thanks I'll try it and see if it makes a difference.
I mainly run LSi15 with no sub with my Tube Amp and Tube Pre. The bass always seemed little lacking and bit more on the muddy side.
I hope this will solve this issue.

steveinaz

I'm a fan of tower speakers. Bookshelves tend to compress at high volume levels. I could never do bookshelves in my main system.

organ

steveinaz wrote:

I'm a fan of tower speakers. Bookshelves tend to compress at high volume levels. I could never do bookshelves in my main system.

Same here. I guess we must have the same liking when it comes to sound. Dynamics/slam and that "bigness". Rock on Steve! There's no replacement for displacement.