How do Lsi's sound at lower volume?

Hiccups
Hiccups Posts: 10
edited March 2008 in Speakers
I'm about to pull the trigger on the following...
Center: LsiC
FLR: Lsi15 (x2)
Surrounds: LsiFX (x2)
Rear Surrounds: Lsi9 (x2)
Sub: PSW1000
Reciever: Onkyo TX-SR875

...but I'm curious if the LSI's sound good at lower levels. I hear all the talk about how much they love power and whatnot. Got it.

But does that mean that for night viewing, or for loud action films or for when my wife demands lower volumes, that they don't sound as good as a less power-hungry series of speakers would sound at a lower volume?

Will they still sound amazing at 'wife' levels? Or should I look into a different set if they will often be used in such a fashion?
Post edited by Hiccups on

Comments

  • dkg999
    dkg999 Posts: 5,647
    edited March 2008
    I live in an apt. See the speaker setup below. As long as your amp has good dynamic reserves and is of good quality, low volume is not a problem. You can also use night mode on your AVR to lower the LFE volume and do some dynamic compression of the sound. On a good AVR, headphones are also a nice option.
    DKG999
    HT System: LSi9, LSiCx2, LSiFX, LSi7, SVS 20-39 PC+, B&K 507.s2 AVR, B&K Ref 125.2, Tripplite LCR-2400, Cambridge 650BD, Signal Cable PC/SC, BJC IC, Samsung 55" LED

    Music System: Magnepan 1.6QR, SVS SB12+, ARC pre, Parasound HCA1500 vertically bi-amped, Jolida CDP, Pro-Ject RM5.1SE TT, Pro-Ject TubeBox SE phono pre, SBT, PS Audio DLIII DAC
  • fatchowmein
    fatchowmein Posts: 2,637
    edited March 2008
    Hiccups wrote: »
    Will they still sound amazing at 'wife' levels? Or should I look into a different set if they will often be used in such a fashion?

    They absolutely, positively sound great at normal and low levels IF you feed them juice from a separate amp and not the typical AVR (there may be some AVR that can pump out the juice but they're beyond my $$$$ level.)

    I ran a Yamaha AVR that produced 195W@4ohms into my LSi15's, LSiC, and LSi7's. I typically ran the volume high. At moderate and low volume, during those "wife" levels, I sometimes would get frustrated and resorted to my headphones, so I added an Emotiva LPA-1 (225W@4ohms) and the issues at wife level disappeared.

    Bear in mind some movies like War of the Worlds have the sound effects recorded off the charts compared to the dialouge so your wife have to understand that explosions go boom. For music, especially my classical collection where the audio dynamics can go from low to very high then back to low again, the LSi15's do a wonderful job at moderate volumes. For example, Beethoven's 9th's Ode to Joy has very quiet and very loud passages. Before the LPA-1, the lower passages would fall apart at wife levels.

    A friend of mine purchased a similar setup as mine except for LSi25's and a Harmon AVR-347. The LPA-1 made a difference with his system, too. It's hard for me to explain other than to say there is clarity and musicality when going with a separate amp that I didn't hear before unless I cranked the volume high.

    I've never heard anyone say a separate amp made no difference compared to their AVR when running LSi's but I've heard people argue the spec's when they never tried it before. Try it out when your budget allows it.
  • Gaara
    Gaara Posts: 2,415
    edited March 2008
    I agree with Fat...again. With my Yamaha rcvr I didn't like the LSis at lower volumes, mainly because of noise. I had some hissing going on and in quiet scenes of movies or low level music I could hear it. When I got a separate amp it was much quieter and there was no hiss, so I could listen at lower levels without noise being an issue. The LSis perform well with lower listening levels, when you have clean power for them.
  • john22614
    john22614 Posts: 214
    edited March 2008
    I agree completely.....I used to run my 9's with a mid powered Yamaha, and they sounded dull at low volume levels. Now, with the Outlaw 990 and Anthem they sound great at low to moderate volumes. Very clear and transparent with that rich, warm pleasing tone. You're going to have a very nice system there......enjoy!
    B&W 804s mains
    B&W HTM4 center
    Polk PSW 1000 sub
    Outlaw 990 Pre Amp
    Anthem MCA 30 Amp
    Monitor Radius 180 surrounds
    Audiosource Stereo Amp for surrounds
    Denon 2910 Universal DVD/SACD Player
    Comcast DVR
    Pioneer Elite 42" Plasma 940 HD
    Harmony Universal Remote
    Blue Jeans interconnects and biwires
    Itunes Air Express
  • reeltrouble1
    reeltrouble1 Posts: 9,312
    edited March 2008
    mine sound fine no matter what I use to power them as long as the amp has a nice clean high current flow. I have tried BAT, Manley, B&K and an Onkyo AVR with various LSi/Lci speakers.

    RT1