LSIs here I come

christnroc

So at present I have an apartment, it's a small living room but I'm about to die without sound! I'm having an incredibly hard time deciding which surround speakers to buy! For sure I want the LSI9s for my front l/r and an LSIC for the center. The problem comes in the rears!

At present I have my television mounted to the wall above my fireplace and plan on placing the LSI9s on stands at ear level to the left and right of the television (main seating area faces the fireplace). This is a fairly small room, I'm roughly eight feet back from the fireplace with the couch AGAINST THE WALL of all places...nowhere else to have it.

Eventually I want a 7.1 system, but in this room I couldn't imagine putting one in. So I need help, what to use for the rears? I'm open to LSI9s, 7s or the LSIFXs but It seems the LSI7 or FX is the best choice to me. The room is closed in on the front, the right, and obviously the wall directly behind the couch. To the left of the couch (maybe half a foot) is a small hallway leading to two bedrooms with room on the wall to place a rear speaker or if I go with another LSI9 have a speaker on a stand, the wall to the right has room for a speaker on the wall or LSI9 on a stand. To the left of the living room everything opens up into a dining area and a kitchen.

Am I stressing to much about this? As I type it seems the LSI7 is the clear choice, I'm just concerned about using them in a future 7 channel setup. Would it serve me well to get these now and plan on getting 2 more later for my rear surrounds, or would these serve best as rear surrounds in an ideal setup with LSIFXs as the side rears?

I sell this stuff for a living...going to drive myself crazy second guessing my decisions, someone decide for me! lol

ben62670

LSi7's would be a good choice. They are easier to drive, and a very capable speaker. You will want to drive the mains at least with an amp.
Welcome to Club Polk.
Ben

christnroc

ben62670 wrote: »

LSi7's would be a good choice. They are easier to drive, and a very capable speaker. You will want to drive the mains at least with an amp.
Welcome to Club Polk.
Ben

For the time being, in the setup I'll be using, I'm contemplating using an RX-V863 from Yamaha and biamping the LSI9s. Would you think this would be sufficient?

Thanks for your input!

be83663

For a small room size, 5.1 will be good enough to produce suuround effects for watching movies by reverberating sounds off of the walls. I would go with LSiFX even though it might be a little more expensive than the LSi7's. When placing the LSiFX, if you decide to go with it, be sure to place them 2-4 ft. above the listening position, and not directly facing your ears, using a Dipole mode to let the sound reverberate around you. It will be worth the money!

christnroc

be83663 wrote: »

For a small room size, 5.1 will be good enough to produce suuround effects for watching movies by reverberating sounds off of the walls. I would go with LSiFX even though it might be a little more expensive than the LSi7's. When placing the LSiFX, if you decide to go with it, be sure to place them 2-4 ft. above the listening position, and not directly facing your ears, using a Dipole mode to let the sound reverberate around you. It will be worth the money!

The money's not my concern, just want to make sure I get the best sound for this smallish area! Mounting them a few feet above ear level would be beneficial for sheer logistics (that hallway to the left, if they're a little higher people will be less likely to bump into them).

maximillian

+1 to what be83663 said. Typically you want the dipoles for the side-surrounds and direct radiators (LSi7's) for the rear surrounds. If you only do 5.1 (due to limited room size) then buy only the dipoles. See here:

http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=75470

Some other things to take into account...
- The LSiFX will require an amp though so it's a little more expensive.
- The LSi7's can be driven off a good quality receiver.
- Voice matching the surround speakers is not as crucial as the front sound-stage. Ideally you want to use the same series speakers, but it may sound just fine if you don't. Therefore you could buy the FXi speakers. If you have the money, then stick with the LSiFX's though.

doug lang

Your room sounds about like mine. And with that size the 5.1 set up works well. I know there are some who say go for the 7.1 no matter what size, but i don't think it would be practical. As you can see i use all lsi's with the fx's for the rear. I to have the couch problem, so mine are mounted left and right on the wall about two foot above ear level. I think it sounds great. Now as said the lsi speakers are power hungry. Thats where an amp say of 200watts will work very well. Good luck.

christnroc

I do believe after reading all of this I'm going to go with the LSI9s, LSIC and the LSIFXs. Now on to a sub and maybe some amps...hmmm.