Lsi25 vs. Lsi9 with Subwoofers.

be83663

So first of all, can a pair of LSi9's with good subs like Velodyne 5000's (two of them on opposite corners of the living room) with 600w RMS each produce as good sound for both music and Home Theatre as more expensive LSi15's or LSi25's? Then would someone buy a pair of LSi25 only because they would want extra 10" subwoofers that come with the speakers, and would that be worth the investment?

Second of all, would using a pair or two LSi9's with a receiver like Onkyo 805 with 130 w/c and certified 4 ohms performance produce better sound in highs and mids than using LSi25's with the same receiver due to its less work load requirement in the lows, or it would not matter because LSi25's have separate active amplifiers for the lows?

Systems

Maybe.

Chuck

dkg999

From a couple of recent listening sessions I have noticed that the bass on the LSi15's (and I am assuming also the LSi25's) is really impacted by room placement. Unless you have complete freedom to place the 15/25's in the best placement for the room, I would opt for the Lsi9's with good subs and then work with the sub integration.

mightymouse

What kind of sub do you have in mind?

Good subs do not come cheap. And by the time you have finally settled on a good sub, the final cost of bookshelf + sub might come out to be more than the cost of a pair of LSi15's.

venomclan

Yes and no.

haimoc

In my opinion, Lsi9s and a good sub is a better choice.

Early B.

Neither. For the price, explore other options. A nice pair of floorstanders that dig fairly deep may be a better choice.

be83663

mightymouse wrote: »

What kind of sub do you have in mind?

Good subs do not come cheap. And by the time you have finally settled on a good sub, the final cost of bookshelf + sub might come out to be more than the cost of a pair of LSi15's.

The Velodyne 15" DSL-5000 subwoofers run around $800 each and has Class D amp for 600 watts. Together with a pair of LSi9's for about $900, it would be around $1700, around the price of a pair of LSi15's. So, would one 15" sub be better than two 8" of LSi15? I heard some people talking about that LSi15's or LSi25's would need a separate sub for Home Theatre anyway; then the cost would go up that much more.

mightymouse

Well, how high are you thinking about crossing over with the sub? The -3db point on the LSi9's is at 50Hz. If you set your crossover point at 50Hz, most likely you wont notice where the bass is coming from. The higher the crossover point, the more noticeable it becomes.

The -3db point on the LSi15 is at 30Hz. If you set your crossover point at 30Hz, the bass would really be unidirectional.

Of course these are just paper specs, in real life the -3db crossover point would probably be 5 or 10Hz higher.


If you are thinking about setting the crossover point at the -3db point of your speakers, then the LSi15's would still play cleaner than the LSi9's, simply because the 15's have that 8" woofer to take care of the midbass. The 5" woofers on the 15's don't have to deal with the midrange.


With regard to the Velodyne sub. Have you thought about the Velodyne SPL series sub? There is a thread here that talks about the SPL series in depth. The room correction EQ feature on the SPL series is something that you should definitely look at if you are serious about properly integrating your sub to your fronts.

be83663

Can I set the LPF of Velodyne subwoofers at 80 Hz, with LSi9's? And what would that 5" woofers in LSi15's do if they didn't have to deal with the midrange; aren't woofers supposed to be for midrange?

mightymouse

Subs are not supposed to play very high frequencies. So if you can keep the crossover point as low as possible you'll get better results from the sub.

I should have said the 8" woofer in the LSi15's deal with midbass, and the 5" woofers deal with midrange. With the 8" woofer in the 15's taking the midbass load off the 5" woofers, the 5" woofers can play the midrange more cleanly. From what I have read, that's the advantage of the 15's over the 9's.

be83663

I see. Thank you!

Actually, as far as where the amp power is distributed to, if I use LSi9 that has two woofers and a tweeter, then wouldn't more power be available for those three than if I used LSi15 that has those three and a subwoofer; or equal power will be available for two woofers and a tweeter of LSi15 as for LSi9 because it would not need an extra power for its sub because it is an active sub?

mightymouse

You are welcome.

But just remember, these are all just theoretical stuff. Real life circumstances limit your choices. Each LSi15 weighs about 66lbs, that's REALLY heavy, and REALLY difficult to haul up the stairs and move them around. In contrast, the LSi9's weigh about 32lbs each. That's still a lot of weight to carry around, but much less than the LSi15's.

Also, the LSi15's because of their side firing woofers need room to breathe, placement is going to be tricky, you have to experiment a lot.


Personally, I went with the LSi9's because I don't have much room, and because I really don't feel like hauling 130lbs worth of speakers up a couple of flight of stairs.:D

I may add a sub later on to my setup. The Velodyne SPL 1000 or 1200 seem to be really good candidates at this point.



As to the power thing, I am not very knowledgeable with this kind of info. Perhaps other members can chime in.