Hello. New LSi9 owner.

Bass_Pedal

Received my HSU VTF 3.2 (old stock) this morning. It took me a few hours to get it placed and set just right, which is quicker than I expected. Placement made the biggest difference, had it next to the listening position, like a side table, for the first while and I couldn't get it to blend right. moved it to the front of the room off to one side beside a couch, much better. Then I had to adjust the crossover, decided on 50hz, blended very well. Set the volume and away I went. I'm not going to go on about the amount of difference it's made, all I can say is if I turn the sub off in the middle of a song, it sounds like the bottom dropped out, turn it back on and it fills in again. I have enjoyed these Lsi9's for a year without a sub and have loved it, but now that I have heard them with a sub, there's no going back.

mmadden28

Bass_Pedal wrote: »

... if I turn the sub off in the middle of a song, it sounds like the bottom dropped out, turn it back on and it fills in again. I have enjoyed these Lsi9's for a year without a sub and have loved it, but now that I have heard them with a sub, there's no going back.

How do you have it all hooked up? Is the source doing the XO or the Sub?

I would imagine that if you have the speakers crossed over, and then shut the sub off you will certainly hear the bottom drop out. If the speakers were not crossed over (full range) then the drop out wouldn't be as severe (depending on the xo freq). Follow that?

On my HT rig I discovered a quick way to do sub / no sub comparisons without having to change the XO settings. Apparently when you use Pure Audio mode (on my Onk - not sure what its called on other AVRs/pre's that have the same feature), it bypasses all XO settings and does not send anything to the sub (when using LFE). So I can switch back and forth between with a sub w/ SMS-1 tuned EQ settings and the RTis XO'ed at 80 and no sub full range to the RTi12's. Made for a much more accurate comparison.

I haven't tried this with my LSi9s yet (since they are in my 2 ch rig and I don't have an AVR in the mix. I have always been impressed with the bass that comes out of those things. But I also feel that a sub certainly adds much more to the lower end, that I can't be without anymore-but only for certain types of music and it has to be blend well. Use of a Velo SMS-1 Sub EQ or the Room EQ Wizard setup would be most beneficial to getting a flat response across the board. Some subs will auto correct, but even with my Polk uPro4k's auto EQ, It still needed a little tweaking with the SMS-1 to get flat.

Bass_Pedal

I'm using the subs XO, set to 50hz. I don't have an AVR in my 2 channel rig so they are as full range as they get. Lsi9's are said to go as low as 40hz or perhaps even lower but I found 50 is the best setting. As I say, there is quite a difference when the sub is off, not to say it's not pleasing or anything, it's just not as full on the bottom. I listen to a wide variety of styles, mostly rock and jazz with some classical sprinkled in and the sub does an excellent job for all. You should give it a try.

mmadden28

Bass_Pedal wrote: »

... You should give it a try.

I should clarify. I have used a sub with my LSi9's, and as I mentioned, that I can't be without anymore. What I meant where I haven't tried it with my LSi9's was the quick comparisons with XO set and Pure Audio XO bypass testing. But I do know what your saying about the bottom dropping out.

If you were XOing the 9's then you would hear a more significant drop out. In my early comparisons with my 9's via an AVR and amp with and w/o a sub the dropout was much more noticeable but I forgot to account for the AVR XO settings so whe I turned the sub off I only heard the 9's from 80 and up. I originally though the 9's didn't have as much to thier bottom end as I originally thought--duh.

mmadden28

Bass_Pedal wrote: »

I'm using the subs XO, set to 50hz. I don't have an AVR in my 2 channel rig so they are as full range as they get. Lsi9's are said to go as low as 40hz or perhaps even lower but I found 50 is the best setting. ....

Still might want to look into the SMS-1 or at least the RoomEQ wizard. You could still have some dips or nulls, etc in the room. Or some of the lower freqs frmo the 9's and the sub could be overlapping and canceling each other out. Of course what sounds good to your ears is the ultimate goal and if setting the XO at 50 does it for you then awesome. However it could get even better

Bass_Pedal

I'm certainly no expert at sub integration. Thanks for the suggestions, I'll look into it. If I can get it sounding better than it is already then it's a bonus!!!