Polk Audio LSi15 vs. SDA-1c's
nooshinjohn
Posts: 25,483
It has only been a few days and perhaps my ears have not become adept at hearing the nuances of the LSi's, but to me it is clear that the older SDA series has much more presence and authority than do the 15's. They dig deeper in the bass department and have much more depth to the soundstage. The also seem to be much louder than the 15's even though the volume level was not changed at all during the comparison. The RDO-194 upgrades pulled the high end of the 1c's to a level of clarity that the 15's seemed to just miss.
The only area where the 15's were able to keep up was in the midrange department were I noticed that some vocal passages seemed a bit tighter and more accurate, but over all the old soundly beats the new. The 15's I bought used, but may not have been properly burned in yet, so my perceptions may change a bit, but at this point it's SDA all the way!
I love the 15's for the purpose I bought them which is to replace my monitor 50's for surround duty, where their performance has been stellar. I will let them run in a but more and test them again in a month or so and see if they have improved.
As an aside to this review, I do not have a clue what happened, but all of a sudden my Sunfire has come alive! All I can think of is that it has not been burned in. The dynamics this thing is capable of are truly astounding:D I will have a review of it as soon as I get a chance to do some more critical listening, but I can say that my initial impressions were dead wrong:o
The only area where the 15's were able to keep up was in the midrange department were I noticed that some vocal passages seemed a bit tighter and more accurate, but over all the old soundly beats the new. The 15's I bought used, but may not have been properly burned in yet, so my perceptions may change a bit, but at this point it's SDA all the way!
I love the 15's for the purpose I bought them which is to replace my monitor 50's for surround duty, where their performance has been stellar. I will let them run in a but more and test them again in a month or so and see if they have improved.
As an aside to this review, I do not have a clue what happened, but all of a sudden my Sunfire has come alive! All I can think of is that it has not been burned in. The dynamics this thing is capable of are truly astounding:D I will have a review of it as soon as I get a chance to do some more critical listening, but I can say that my initial impressions were dead wrong:o
The Gear... Carver "Statement" Mono-blocks, Mcintosh C2300 Arcam AVR20, Oppo UDP-203 4K Blu-ray player, Sony XBR70x850B 4k, Polk Audio Legend L800 with height modules, L400 Center Channel Polk audio AB800 "in-wall" surrounds. Marantz MM7025 stereo amp. Simaudio Moon 680d DSD
“When once a Republic is corrupted, there is no possibility of remedying any of the growing evils but by removing the corruption and restoring its lost principles; every other correction is either useless or a new evil.”— Thomas Jefferson
“When once a Republic is corrupted, there is no possibility of remedying any of the growing evils but by removing the corruption and restoring its lost principles; every other correction is either useless or a new evil.”— Thomas Jefferson
Post edited by nooshinjohn on
Comments
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John, many of your observances have to do with the gear associated with your setup at the moment. Change so much as one thing and each speaker can lose life or be brought to life.
It's not as common, but the same can be said with components.~ In search of accurate reproduction of music. Real sound is my reference and while perfection may not be attainable? If I chase it, I might just catch excellence. ~ -
agreed... I believe the 15's to be great speakers but without the use of a sub they just seem to lose something for me. My testing was done with my pre set to pure direct mode. I want to spend more time with them when I get a chance after they have been run for a while and compare them again.The Gear... Carver "Statement" Mono-blocks, Mcintosh C2300 Arcam AVR20, Oppo UDP-203 4K Blu-ray player, Sony XBR70x850B 4k, Polk Audio Legend L800 with height modules, L400 Center Channel Polk audio AB800 "in-wall" surrounds. Marantz MM7025 stereo amp. Simaudio Moon 680d DSD
“When once a Republic is corrupted, there is no possibility of remedying any of the growing evils but by removing the corruption and restoring its lost principles; every other correction is either useless or a new evil.”— Thomas Jefferson -
Are your 1C's modded other than the RD0-194's?"He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you." Friedrich Nietzsche
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not yet... I am going to do the crossover mods this summer I think. I like them so much now that I am a bit afraid of messing with a good thingThe Gear... Carver "Statement" Mono-blocks, Mcintosh C2300 Arcam AVR20, Oppo UDP-203 4K Blu-ray player, Sony XBR70x850B 4k, Polk Audio Legend L800 with height modules, L400 Center Channel Polk audio AB800 "in-wall" surrounds. Marantz MM7025 stereo amp. Simaudio Moon 680d DSD
“When once a Republic is corrupted, there is no possibility of remedying any of the growing evils but by removing the corruption and restoring its lost principles; every other correction is either useless or a new evil.”— Thomas Jefferson -
I can second the observations regarding the Mid range. I had SDA1B and Lsi15 together at one time. The mid range on LSi15 is much more defined and sound lush. The SDA do beat LSi in sound stage department. I am not sure if the difference is due to better mid range drivers in LSi15 or due to crossover differences.-izafar
Goldenear Technology Triton 1 - Benchmark AHB2 - Benchmark LA4 - Auralic Vega - Auralic Aries Mini - Marantz TT-15S1 - Clearaudio Nano
