Lsi15s for 2-channel

Flash21

Whaddy guys think of LSi15s for 2-channel? A buddy of mine decided to try a pair, got 'em yesterday and so far is liking them better than his Vandersteen 2CE Signatures...

Do you think a 120 wpc Bel Canto eVo2i has enough gumption for these? He says it is doing fine. I haven't had a chance to get over there and listen...[edit]I just looked it up, and into 4 ohms the eVo2i is rated at 200 wpc, so I guess it should be good to go.

Another thing, I have heard of people saying a subwoofer is good for these, but he is reporting very good bass, so I am confused. Maybe the bass-shy reports are due to lack of power?

ohskigod

I did my LSi15's in 2 channel for a little while and loved em. They dutifully serve in my theater now, but they're keepers. That amp will probably drive them fine. I would be surprised if you need a sub, since bass responce does not seem to be a weakness with these, at least in my experience. even the 9 bookies have a surprisingly good bass response.

I had a pair of Vandy 2C's and would definitly put the LSi15 in the same ball park sound quality wise. both a laid back mellow speaker but still detailed. The Vandy's seemed to dig a skosh deeper and a touch cleaner in the bass department, but that was in my basement, and my basement has wierd bass issues, so your results mught vary.

Flash21

Thanks for the input. I actually just got over there for a brief listen...frankly the LSi15s sounded a little harsh compared to the Vandersteens, despite all the raves about the ring tweeter. They did have a little more bass slam than the Vandys, though. But it was a very short listen, far from conclusive.

cmy330go

Hmmm...I don't think I've ever heard anyone call the 15's harsh before.

To each his own.

polkatese

It's not so much of lacking bass but more of quality of bass, in my experience. LSi15 for two channels? you bet.

G-2

We've got the 15's doing double-duty, we have them in the home theater setup and we also use them (in the same room) and listen to the majority of our music in 2 channel pure audio. The 15's are outstanding and we'd use them for a 2channel stereo rig in a New York Minute! Just our $.02...

Monster Jam

If you find LSis harsh, stay clear of: Polk RTi, Infinity, JBL, and in particular Klipsch. But yeah, I've never heard LSis described as harsh before.

fatchowmein

Harsh? Are you sure it wasn't your source? Norah Jones sounds buttery on mine.

treitz3

Harsh in what arena of the spectrum of frequencies?

Lower, upper, mids?

Flash21

[shrug] I dunno, it surprised me too, after everything I have read.

Regarding source, he has the same Denon CD player and Bel Canto integrated as I do (see sig).

The highs (cymbals and such) all sounded like one similar sizzle. With the same music through the Vandersteens, the highs were much smoother, and I was able to differentiate the highs from cymbals, guitar strums, sibilance much more easily.

Frankly the LSi15s almost had me wincing with the volume turned up, but I am sensitive to harsh highs.

I didn't have time to get into subleties such as soundstage and imaging...

heiney9

Are these properly broken in? I don't doubt what you heard with your own ears, but I have LSi's and the Vifa is to die for. Very laid back, lots of detail and never ever shrill or harsh or overbearing. Perhaps it was the material you were playing on them.

For me it was just the opposite. It took me a while to get used to the laid back, smooth and natural sound of the Vifa. I was used to the classic Polk sound and after about 2-3 weeks with the LSi's I really grew to love the Vifa tweeter. I still prefer it by a pretty wide margin even over the RD0 silk dome tweeters that replace the original sl2000 and 3000 in the classic Polks.

All I can say, and this goes for any new equipment, is give it some dedicated listening time and then draw your conclusions. On many occasions I've been dead wrong on my initial impressions of a new piece.

H9

Flash21

He bought them used, they are in great shape but I don't know how broken in they are. The material played may have been iffy, but was the same for both speakers.

heiney9 wrote: »

All I can say, and this goes for any new equipment, is give it some dedicated listening time and then draw your conclusions. On many occasions I've been dead wrong on my initial impressions of a new piece.

Absolutely correct. This was a snapshot, brief listen for all of 20 minutes total between the two pairs of speakers...I don't mean to make it sound like a conclusive judgement, because it is not. We'll see how things progress.

ohskigod

might be room issues. I've had both the vandersteens and the LSi15, and the Vandersteens are far more forgiving if you have a bright room (which my basement was before I did some room treatments. Its one of the major reasons I used the Vandersteens for as long as I did.

polkatese

Synergy?

I'd say, if Vifa tweet is good enough for Franco Serblin, then it should be good enough for Matt.

wingnut4772

The Lsi 15s can sound etchy without proper amplification. Especially at louder volumes. Even with good amplification , I can see where someone could hear it. It's partly what drove me to upgrade mine.

Generally speaking they are laid back but there is an elusive harshness to the top end which is subtle but noticeable to my ears and I guess Flash's as well. It may have been the combination of the Earthquake amp with them as it is a bit on the bright side but I don't notice it so much with the Von Schweikerts.

Flash21

The room is a bit oddly shaped, but the materials are pretty standard, with sheetrock walls and carpeted floor.

The amp, as mentioned, is a Bel Canto eVo2i Gen II, which could never be described as harsh, and has 200 wpc/4 ohms, so it wasn't clipping, otherwise the Vandys would have shown the same symptoms.

It took me a while to get used to the laid back, smooth and natural sound of the Vifa

You could delete Vifa and insert Vandersteen, too. Both are often described as laid back...but as usual YMMV.

cheddar

I wouldn't call it harsh, but things did tighten up a bit when I went from a denon AVR to my mpa 2250. With the 400wpc amp, bass hits slammed much harder and tighter. Also the high end seemed to really open up. I could see though how one might describe the highs as crisp. But definitely not something that could produce listening fatigue, for me at least.

ohskigod

could just be comparative listening. like I said, while the LSi is know to be laid back, the Vandy, in my experience, is even more laid back, particularly in the highs. the only speakers I owned that was more mellow were the Bozak Symphonies.

Monster Jam

To be honest, I wouldn't buy a speaker any more laid back than the LSis. I alsmost bought the RTi over the LSis because I prefer the brighter sound. Just my preference of course.

Some speakers I find more laid back than the LSi include Vienna Accoustics and Boston Accoustics: not my cup of tea.

Flash21

Bit of an update, got a call from my buddy, says he when we did our listen he was using adapters (8! of them) because his spades were too small for the ginormous binding posts on the LSi15s...well he figured out a way to do it without the adapters, and he says it is a "night and day" difference...now it is a much closer battle with the Vandys.

So my previous impressions may not be close to reality...stay tuned.