AVR for LSis

WilliamM2

Absolutely ridiculous and uninformed.

Sad thing is, he probably read most of that mis-information right here at Club Polk. I don't know how many times I have read here that you must have seperates to drive Polk's (Lsi and RTi).

I wonder how many potential Polk owners this scares away?

engtaz

WilliamM2 wrote: »

Sad thing is, he probably read most of that mis-information right here at Club Polk. I don't know how many times I have read here that you must have seperates to drive Polk's (Lsi and RTi).

I wonder how many potential Polk owners this scares away?

I think that it's more from the flaming that goes on. Instead of informative correction, they get slapped down.:(

Bill Ayotte

JoshParsons84 wrote: »

Pre/pro: Anthem Statement D2
7-Ch Amp: Sunfire TGA 7400
AVR's will not drive LSi's. Seperates are THE way to go. Actually AVR's won't drive RTi's too well either. In all honesty seperates are the way to go with all HT speakers.

This is one of the most ignorant things I have ever seen.....Do you have any idea how much $$ this is? If he is looking for a AVR, help him, don't tell him that you could spend thousands more on something that you aren't looking for....That being said...

That NAD will power the hell out of those LSi's....The Sunfire Ultimate Receiver is no slouch either....I don't really know your price range.....That Sunfire is kinda expensive, but you're getting 400w/ch. at 4 ohms.........

Bill Ayotte

Polk & H/K wrote: »

The NAD T763 puts out 300 watts dynamic power in 4 ohms. The LSi 15s max watts is 250 what more do you need?

You don't NEED anything more, some people want more though....

Monster Jam

I want a $4,000 Sunfire or Parasound Halo 51 amp to drive my 4 x LSi15s and an LSiC. Guess what? It aint gonna happen for at least a year. That means I'll have run my current rig (5 LSi speakers) off of a dusty, old HK AVR 525 for over two years by the time I'm able to upgrade.

And in my opinion, it sounds pretty damn good.

cmy330go

Wow...It's good to see this change of pace. I thought for sure everyone was going to try to push separates down this guy's throat.

I personally ran my entire LSi 7ch system off of my Yamaha RX-V2500 for at least a year. It would drive the speakers to higher than comfortable levels for extended periods of time with no problem what so ever.

When I finally added the 2ch Halo for my LSi15s up front I noticed an improvement, but I would hardly describe it as night and day. The system sounded great before, and after the amp.

WilliamM2

I personally ran my entire LSi 7ch system off of my Yamaha RX-V2500 for at least a year.

That's just not possible, I have read right here at CP that Yamaha's sound bad with Polk's, and can't drive 4 ohm speakers!!!

Demiurge

Polk & H/K wrote: »

I have no room for a pre/pro it must be an AVR.

Can you explain this, please?

Demiurge

WilliamM2 wrote: »

Sad thing is, he probably read most of that mis-information right here at Club Polk. I don't know how many times I have read here that you must have seperates to drive Polk's (Lsi and RTi).

I wonder how many potential Polk owners this scares away?

Anyone who said that you "must" has mis-spoke. However, running the LSi series without an amp is just depriving yourself of what that speaker line has to offer.

You're better off just sticking with inferior speakers that don't feed off of amplification if you don't want to give these speakers the power they thrive off of.

So, no, it's not a must, but I'd venture to call it a little bit insane to run the LSi line without amplification, especially a full 5-channel system.

MSALLA

Demiurge wrote: »

Anyone who said that you "must" has mis-spoke. However, running the LSi series without an amp is just depriving yourself of what that speaker line has to offer.

You're better off just sticking with inferior speakers that don't feed off of amplification if you don't want to give these speakers the power they thrive off of.

So, no, it's not a must, but I'd venture to call it a little bit insane to run the LSi line without amplification, especially a full 5-channel system.

This pretty much says it all. I ran all 5 lsi's off my Rx-v2500 with no problems. However, after adding amps, it was like buying better spaekers. They really improve with that strong current.

WilliamM2

You're better off just sticking with inferior speakers that don't feed off of amplification if you don't want to give these speakers the power they thrive off of.

So you think the Monitor series would sound better than the Lsi's if using a reciever? I don't think so.

Using seperates is better with any speaker in my experience, that's why I have run seperates for over 25 years. But when giving advice on the forum you have to realise that not everyone will want to spend that much, just to get that last little bit of improvement.

Demiurge

WilliamM2 wrote: »

So you think the Monitor series would sound better than the Lsi's if using a reciever? I don't think so.

Using seperates is better with any speaker in my experience, that's why I have run seperates for over 25 years. But when giving advice on the forum you have to realise that not everyone will want to spend that much, just to get that last little bit of improvement.

That really depends on your AVR, but for the sake of argument, no, I'm not saying that.

The LSi line hooked up to an AVR is completely different than the LSi line hooked up to an AVR/Pre/Pro with amplification. The monitors would be much better as well, but it's a stark contrast to the difference you'd see in the LSi.

I do realize it, I've lived it.

I started out here with an RM6500 Sat set. I progressed to a mix & match of floor standing seperates, the RTi line, and now to the LSi line. I bought the 5 channel B & K prior to buying the LSi line.

That amp made a huge improvement to my RTi line for the short time they were in there with my amp. Then I got the LSi15s.

They're a completely different speaker than they are with just an AVR, way moreso than the RTi.

MSALLA

Would it be better to say that you won't get the full potential out of the Lsi series without seperate amplification? I was not thrilled with the 9's for the money until I added the amp. I only had them hooked up without the amp for one week, but it was long enough. The 7's were still better then the Rti-6's I had for a short time run only on the AVR.

Demiurge

Also, just to add -- the money I spent on the amp wasn't a little improvement. It was a huge improvement that completely changed my system.

I realize not everyone wants/can afford to spend the money for an amp. Then again, if you have the LSi line I can't imagine why you can't spring $800 on a good amp.

I'd rather have the RTi line with an amp than the LSi line and no amp.

cfrizz

It's not just a matter of not getting the full potential out of the LSI's, it also about over stressing the receiver trying to push the 4ohm load.

Play them too loud & the receiver will go into protect mode & shut down.:eek: Play them so that it won't stress the receiver & you will have to sit on top of the speakers to hear them.:eek: :eek:

What's the point of getting such good speakers if you can't play them to their full potential.

If you're not willing to shell out extra money to put at least 200wpc of separate amplification on them, then don't bother getting them. It would be a waste of money & speakers.

MSALLA wrote: »

Would it be better to say that you won't get the full potential out of the Lsi series without seperate amplification? I was not thrilled with the 9's for the money until I added the amp. I only had them hooked up without the amp for one week, but it was long enough. The 7's were still better then the Rti-6's I had for a short time run only on the AVR.

Bill Ayotte

I don't think he would have a problem with the NAD....Just my $.02 though....

sickicw

I always thought the lsi speakers sounded way to laid back until I drastically increased the power. A receiver might sound ok, but is it worth spending so much money on the lsi speakers if it is only going to sound ok? It’s your call. Also whatever you do, I would invest in a dedicated 20 amp circuit for your receiver or amp.

JimBRICK

If your on a budget than the emotiva rig is a good idea

cmy330go

cfrizz wrote: »

It's not just a matter of not getting the full potential out of the LSI's, it also about over stressing the receiver trying to push the 4ohm load.

Play them too loud & the receiver will go into protect mode & shut down.:eek: Play them so that it won't stress the receiver & you will have to sit on top of the speakers to hear them.:eek: :eek:

What's the point of getting such good speakers if you can't play them to their full potential.

If you're not willing to shell out extra money to put at least 200wpc of separate amplification on them, then don't bother getting them. It would be a waste of money & speakers.

I'm going to have to disagree with this. As I said before. My Yamaha was able to drive my entire LSi rig to louder than comfortable levels for extended periods without shutting down. In fact I think I only remember the internal fan kicking on once or twice.

In addition to this. Where I used to work it was quite common for an inexpensive receiver to be left running LSi's in a demo room all day without any trouble.

Yes more power will make them sound better. But, they will still sound great on a good receiver.

Polk & H/K

Crutchfield has the Yamaha RX-V2700 140x 7 $1599.99. Dynamic Power 8ohms 170w,6ohms 205w, 4ohms 265w, 2ohms 345w. Yamaha over NAD for LSis YES or NO?

cfrizz

If you are going to insist on running LSI's on just a receiver, than get the NAD. Just make sure it has preouts so that at some point you can get separate amplification to hear what your speakers are REALLY capable of.

WilliamM2

Crutchfield has the Yamaha RX-V2700 140x 7 $1599.99. Dynamic Power 8ohms 170w,6ohms 205w, 4ohms 265w, 2ohms 345w. Yamaha over NAD for LSis YES or NO?

Not for that price, www.etronics.com has it for $1099, currently out of stock, but they will get more.

I don't know if the Yamaha is the right choice for you, but I would personally buy just about anything before NAD. In my experience, and that of a couple of friends, they are very unreliable, and very slow to complete warranty repairs. Never have figured out why they are so highly reccommended here.

MSALLA

Your not limited to the NAD. You could look at Outlaw AVR's, Rotel, B&K, or Arcam. Any if the upper mid-fi AVR's would be a good choice if this is the route you want to go.

cmy330go

MSALLA is right. You don't have to be tied to NAD.

From what I hear about NAD they tend to be pretty mellow sounding. Which IMO does not go well with the already mellow LSi's.

In regards to the Yamaha RX-V2700....I personally think the slightly brighter sound of a Yamaha works well to balance out the more laid back LSi's. Of course your room treatments will have an even larger effect on how bright or warm your system will sound, so try to take that into consideration when selecting your gear.

Demiurge

Polk & H/K wrote: »

Crutchfield has the Yamaha RX-V2700 140x 7 $1599.99. Dynamic Power 8ohms 170w,6ohms 205w, 4ohms 265w, 2ohms 345w. Yamaha over NAD for LSis YES or NO?

If I were you, and insisted on an AVR, I'd buy the cheapest one with preouts I could buy (within reason, obviously) and then put the bulk of my chips in the amp.

MikeC78

Demiurge wrote: »

If I were you, and insisted on an AVR, I'd buy the cheapest one with preouts I could buy (within reason, obviously) and then put the bulk of my chips in the amp.

Are you saying to purchase a pre/pro with a cheap pre-amp section and DAC's, to only connect to an amp to amplify the crappy sound?

cfrizz

AVR's with preouts aren't really that cheap! That's when the cost really starts going up.

MSALLA

I think the issue is that he dosen't think he has the room for 2 units (pre/pro & amp) and wants an AVr for that reason. Not anything to do with money.

Polh & HK, I had this same issue and made a small rack to fit behind my TV/equipment stand in the corner.
They are not on display but no clutter and I have great sound.

Bamadude

MSALLA wrote: »

I think the issue is that he dosen't think he has the room for 2 units (pre/pro & amp) and wants an AVr for that reason. Not anything to do with money.

Based on the original post I think you’re right. This may be a case of him really not wanting to rearrange his entire HT cabinet to fit an amp. Maybe he ran across those LSi's on the cheap and couldn't pass them up. BUT, just maybe if someone brought over a decent amp and rev’d those babies up for him, he'd probably be willing to knock down a wall or two to make it fit

Demiurge

I don't understand the statement "I don't have space for a Pre/Pro & Amp, but I do have room for an AVR." What does that mean exactly? How can space be that restricted?