Lsi sETup, not performing well

lanion

Does your Sony reciever have an OSD (on screen display) that you can access via the remote? There should be an easy-to navigate menue if you can open that. You will have to have some video-out going from your reciever to your TV, naturally (in some cases this cannot be a component connection for the OSD).

cokewithvanilla

yes, it has a display, however, I have been messing with it for a while to no avail. I need to find the remote... the remote has a 1.5 inch lcd or something, maybe there are more settings on that.

what is the frequency knob on the back of the LSI's for?

lanion

That frequency knob sets the crossover point for the built in subwoofer. i.e. if you set it to 80hz, the subwoofer will not try to play anything above 80hz.

cokewithvanilla

Power must be an issue, if I set my receiver to play only the Center, and the Fronts, it sounds ok (still no sound depth), but when I put it on 5.1 the sound is noticeably worse, and quieter.

Oh, another question... should I go with a PSW1000, or should I try something like M&K?

lanion

For bang for your buck subwoofers everyone will tell you to buy an SVS or a HSU (or an outlaw-- very similar to Hsu).

www.svsound.com
or
www.hsuresearch.com
or
www.outlawaudio.com

cokewithvanilla

How do Polk's Subs rate with SVS's? Would I get a much better sub from SVS than the PSW1000?

Are there any reasonably priced 7 channel amps around?

lanion

Polk has not put out a good sub in a long time. They have some promising subs on the horizon, but there is no release date in site.

the PSW1000 only goes down to 30hz, which is not worth $1000 for a home theatre sub. Spending $1,000 at SVS or at HSU will get you a *FAR* better HT sub than the PSW1000. The VTF-MK3 sub is on sale now for $620 which is an excellent deal.

Here is a thread where someone has ranked a lot of subwoofers : http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=768150 right now it looks like HSU is offering the best subwoofer / $$ with the VTF3-mk3 and the VTF3-ho. However those are really ugly (imo) with the turbochargers.

DesertPilot

I use my POLK LSi series for both critical SACD music and Home Theater. I've gone through a number of speaker systems over the years and LSi is simply the best - especially given the price. Having said that - they need power (I am using an Outlaw Amp - 300WPC at 4 Ohms). ...and, of course, quality source material (ie, DVD/SACD player). I can't imagine them not sounding absolutely awesome.

marcus

cokewithvanilla

Maybe when I get an amp they will sound good... but right now they sound terrible

lanion

http://cgi.ebay.com/Outlaw-Audio-7100-7-Channel-Amplifier-700-Watts_W0QQitemZ130117364547QQihZ003QQcategoryZ14973QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

This amp will put about 160watts into 4ohms with all channels driven. Very respectable way to get started.

So your Sony is rated at 100watts per channel, but not at all channels driven. With all 5 channels driven you are probobly getting about 30watts/channel (I made that number up, but that is about how much power most "100Watt" recievers put out if they don't list power "all channels driven, 20hz-20khz".)

Sherardp

I would reset the Sony AVR, that way everything goes back to default. Check all your wiring, etc. Then work from there. I've seen allot of good tips here to help you get all setup. As the guys said here you're going to need power to drive the LSi series. Perhaps you should also think about a new AVR, perhaps a STRDG1000 if you wanna stick with Sony + Power Amplification. Your house should be on fire with the LSis in there. If you cant get it right, invite one of the guys on the boards over to help you and have lots of beer onhand. I hope you get it sounding good in there. Enjoy

VXR8

Pepi28 wrote: »

I agree with lanion, I think he has the bridge disconnected and only wired the bottom terminals. Coke you should make sure that if you are wired up using only two wired per speaker then there should be a jumper going from red to red and black to black. I f not you will be missing all of the highs because they are not being sent to the tweeters. Just a thought of course.

Just on that, is there a photo of what you are saying here? If I understand correctly, what you are saying is that when you bi-wire, you only jump the wire at the terminals at the rear of the speaker and not run a double length from the amp / AVR? If you do run a double length, does that confuse the amp / AVR to think there are 2 sets of speakers hooked up and change the impedance?

Thanks in advance.

Refefer

http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?ampsmult&1183203075

Pick up this baby. 200 wpc into 5 channels will do the trick, for a decent price.

Adcom's have plenty of juice to drive what you need.

lanion

VXR8 wrote: »

Just on that, is there a photo of what you are saying here? If I understand correctly, what you are saying is that when you bi-wire, you only jump the wire at the terminals at the rear of the speaker and not run a double length from the amp / AVR? If you do run a double length, does that confuse the amp / AVR to think there are 2 sets of speakers hooked up and change the impedance?

Thanks in advance.

No, you misunderstood. Biwiring should have two runs of cables or special Bi-wire cable with 2 terminals on one end and 4 on the other end.

For the LSi25 this turns out to not really matter, since the High Freq terminal drives everything above ~80hz and the lower terminals only drive the subwoofer. It is for this reason that you cannot bi-amp the Lsi25 (it already is biamped).

cokewithvanilla

If I were to buy say.. the Harmon Kardon AVR-645, and a 2 channel Adcom GFA-555... powering the LSi's with the Adcom, could the HK hold up the rest of the setup (2 sets of LSiFX, LSiC, and a good woofer, maybe a HSU)? And I mean at a good power... because these Lsi's sound horrible... and I would hate to waste my money on a receiver that cannot handle these speakers and get the same results.

If so, are HK's any good?

cokewithvanilla

oh... GFA-555 or GFA-555II .... it seems like they both have different ups and different downs, which one has more ups? or better ups? does it matter?

askinquestions

Wanted to see if you ever upgraded, and how things sounded.

AndyGwis

Yes, did you figure out what ailed you?

If I were you, Coke, I would forego the 2 channel amp with a 645 and get something like the 245 with a 5 channel amp. Something that has high current and good power to 4 ohms.

MGPK

If your system sounds better in 2 channel mode than in 5.1, I would suggest checking out your night mode or dynamic compression feature in your receiver. Some receivers will compress only in Dolby Digital and some compress in all DSP modes. I think yours is the former.

cfrizz

I doubt we will ever know. His last look on here was 6-1-2007.

Monster Jam

Yeah....went from cokewithvanilla to cokezero.

Couldn't resist.

Yashu

my guess is not having them wired correctly. Some people might not know what to do with bi-wirable speakers... when to use it, how, the jumpers, and such...

Grimster74

Without a doubt, if your looking to bring some life to those speakers you need to start throwing some serious power to them using a dedicated amp. The older receivers may have a 4/8 ohm switch on the back of them but they do not have the reserved power to drive them 4 ohm speakers for a long period of time before going into protect mode. Look for used amps on Audiogon, FS thread on the Polk Forum or the likes of Rotel, Outlaw, etc. What ever you do, good luck.

cfrizz

Yup from speakers to power this series requires quite a bit of money invested in order to get the best out of it.

The poor regular people come on here and find that out. And as we know most regular people aren't interested in putting out that kind of money.

I'll bet you he dumped the speakers.

fatchowmein

cfrizz wrote: »

I'll bet you he dumped the speakers.

Dump LSi25's, C, and FX??? What????

Say it isn't so, Cathy!

frreo1

I think you need a new receiver, or preamp/power amp combination that delivers reasonable power at 4 ohms. I have 4 LSI 15's two LSI 7's one LSI C and a PSW 1000 connected to a Sony DA 9000ES (200 watts), and the sound is nothing short of incredible.

When I first got them, I had a 100WPC Yamaha that just did not cut the mustard. After getting the 9000ES, no longer a problem.

When listening in 2 channel only, I connect two of the LSI 15s to a 60 WPC Tube amp (a HK Citation II that has been overhauled to use 5687/7044/7119 front end, and KT-88 output), and that delivers a "you are there" at 60 watts.

So, the speakers are not the issue.

By the way, would stay away from any receiver that is not designed to properly handle 4 ohm loads (which are most of them).

askinquestions

I know since getting my 25's, seems like my bank acct. has been dwindling. Upgrade this, get that, good thing I don't have kids or they'd be eating alpo..

Yashu

haha... I know the feeling, and so does my wallet... every positive change reveals a flaw somewhere else in the chain, it seems.

aaharvel

Sony str-935. I had one an audio-lifetime ago. And that's your problem. Get a new receiver C.W.V. You have great speakers, I'm envious. Welcome to club polk.

edit- H/K's have a better shot of driving an LSI setup more so than any other mainstream audio company - imo. Pass on the avr-645, and get an avr-7300. Chances are, an external amp might not even be necessary.

cheddar

lanion wrote: »

"The receiver has been in protect mode for 3 years now... no idea why."



That sounds like a major problem with your reciever. I don't think it should ever be 'stuck' in protect mode. Check your reciever's documenation on what that could possibly mean.

It's pretty amazing that through all the above recommendations, the OP didn't seem to address this issue first. I certainly wouldn't want to mess with an expensive LSi setup with any amplification stuck and possibly malfunctioning in protect mode. Seems like asking for trouble...do you smell something burning?