LSi or BP7004 for Denon 3805

fish976

I currently have a Denon 3805 and Denon 2910 using my old Polk RM6600 Sats with PSW450. I am looking to upgrade my speakers to either the LSi15 with the LSiC and PSW1000 or going with Definitive Technology BP7004 and 2500 center channel. I need to know if my Denon 3805 will handle the LSi15 or would i be better off going with Definitives?

Demiurge

Both of those speaker lines aren't really going to sing unless you have an amp powering them.

Sherardp

go LSI with a SVS sub

cfrizz

Welcome Fish.

Your Denon is not designed to push 4ohm speakers. If you get the LSI's you should get separate amplification of at least 200wpc. Look at Audiogon for used 5 channel amps from Rotel, Outlaw, Parasound etc. You will get a lot more for your money buying the amp used.

McLoki

If your plan is to always run off the Denon reciever and never purchase any external amps - I would remove the LSi's from your list of choices. They are just not the ideal speaker to run off a mid-grade AVR.

I cannot speak to the Def Tech's so no opinon there.

Michael

Edit - If you are just not going to add an amp right away but will at some point - you should be fine driving the LSi's at moderate levels until that time.

cstpeter

Welcome. I think you will be fine with the Denon pushing the LSi. An external amp will sound better, but the Denon will work. The LSi are very upgradeable in this regard.

EDIT: I should add that I drove the LSi9 with a Denon 3806 and a friend drives a 5.1 LSi set-up with a Yamaha 2600...no problems with either. However, when I added an amp they really came to life.

tonyb

when I added an amp they really came to life.


Says it all right here.

fish976

Yes, thanks all for you're input. From what I've been hearing from the sales people my 3805 can drive the LSi15's. But other are saying I would need external amp for a 4ohm speaker.

cheddar

You can drive them, no doubt about that. I used my 3803 and the sound was good. But I also never dared to drive them very hard. And they really opened up after I got the separate amplification. So I guess it depends on how you'll play them.

If you don't like your stuff loud, then you can certainly listen to the lsis just fine with your denon. But if you occasionally crank the volume, then you will be putting a large strain on the receiver. Much better to at least take the mains or the mains and the center off the receiver to give both your denon and your speakers room to breathe, at least if we're still talking about lsis here.

bassaholic

cheddar wrote:

If you don't like your stuff loud, then you can certainly listen to the lsis just fine with your denon. But if you occasionally crank the volume, then you will be putting a large strain on the receiver. Much better to at least take the mains or the mains and the center off the receiver to give both your denon and your speakers room to breathe, at least if we're still talking about lsis here.

I ran my 7.1 8ohm RTi set-up with my Denon 3805 and thought it was the sh%t. It sounded good and got pretty loud however, after adding external amps the difference was day and night. The amps made my set-up sound like a whole new system. Give your 3805 a break and if money allows....find an amp.

dane_peterson

Considering I have a pair of BP7004s, I think I can chime in.

You're going to be a lot better off with the DefTechs if you're concerned about powering them. They're an 8ohm speaker, and the Denon really shouldn't go below 6ohms. They may lack a little bit in articulation alongside the LSi15s, but that's only if the LSi15s are getting all the power they require.

I was in your boat a short time ago... wanted LSi15s, but couldn't spit out the dough for the ext amp. I'm happy with my decision to go back to DefTechs... they're a very good speaker!

bbeacham

I ran two LSi15s, a LSiC, and two LSi7s with a Denon 3805. Worked fine and sounded great.

VR3

Id be willing to put this on the table...

Those DTs will drain your amps far more than the LSi line.

That says alot.

My BP10Bs would of probally taken 500 watts if I put it to em and they only take 300 continuous. Very power hungry speakers, and the 7000 line up is even more so.

Those bipolar arrays wired in a 6 ohm configuration are just nuts. Take lots of juice.

tdeluce

I definitely recommend a separate amp for at least your LCR...
Driving surrounds with your receiver amps should be o.k.

dane_peterson

VR3, I respect your opinion, but do you really think that the BP10s are less power hungry than the SuperTowers? The BP7xxx are 8ohm impedance, while the Bipolar Towers sway between 4 - 8ohms.
I personally think that having the powered woofer will eliminate at least a little low-end strain on your amp.

Either way, I'm very happy with the sound on my setup, so it definitely wouldn't be a wrong choice.

Monster Jam

I'll take this from another angle:

Got a cat or dog, or small kids?
DefTechs have a cloth exterior texture - that might play a factor in decision making or the WAF.

Are your speakers going to be in an irregular room? Most speakers will not like this, but DefTechs more so do to dipole/bipole configuration.

My friend runs his Def Tech towers off of a Denon reciever and it sounds great. I run my LSi's off of a H/K AVR - I need an amp, but it will do in the meantime.

Serendipity

I also think those DTs will drain your amps far more than the LSi's; I currently have Def Tech BP10B's and they made my amp run 2-3 degrees hotter.

fish976

THanks for the updates - I am now leaking towards the Lsi series and will have to purchase an amp in the near furture.

Demiurge

Fantastic choice.

Marcinko7

I can speak from experience with the Denon setup you will clip badly at high levels. Buy the LSI's and keep the volume at moderate levels until you can get the amp. I recommend the Outlaw 7500/7700 www.outlawaudio.com. I listened to cfrizz and she was right, get 200wpc and watch the pictures dance on the wall!

mantis

Umm NO

Denon sucks at running Lsi's. How do I know this??? I owned it not to mention I have Installed Lsi with Denon hundreds of times and walked away feeling empty. The Denon runs out of gas there is no dymanic nothing with you drive it. The suggestions to add an external power amp should be a multichannel amp to power all the Lsi speakers.

If an amp isn't your game then the Def Tech's will work just fine. They are 8 ohm load speakers and dispite whats been said, they are easy to drive. How to I know that?? My X partner owned them and ran the damn things with all kinds of different stuff. They sounded bad with everything. Movies they did pretty well as I enjoyed them alot watching movies but music I didn't like them that much. Some things sounded ok but I would much rather have LSi's.

Both speaker companies do a good job at what they do. Def Techs are nice speakers despite what I think of them. Alot of people are very happy with them and thats ok in my book. Same with LSi.But I feel they are way better speakers no matter what you do with them.

good luck man seems like the Lsi's are in your future.

Dan

fish976

Yes, true I did hear the LSi15's on a Denon 3806 the sound was not impressive. The store did change there setup to a Yamaha 2700 and it's alot better.

cfrizz

Put a 200wpc amp with the Denon & you will see a huge difference. Neither a Denon or Yamaha is really designed to push the LSI's.

Do a seach here on the club about receivers & LSI's. There is tons of info about the troubles receivers have with pushing 4ohm speakers since most of them say a max of 6ohms as far as speakers go.