Polk Lsi build quality?

begbie

Interesting read-up on the Lsi's from Homethteater mag. Pretty much highly regarded.
However thier lowest score was a 90 on build quality. Still a 90 score is very good but it had me wondering on some of the other reviews and threads I've read on their build quality.

One review I remember reading said that on closer inspection the craftsmenship was a bit crude and had a few rough edges.

Early last year the bevel edges were a problem but that seems to be resolved by taking those out all together by Polk ! :supermad:

Any other issues Lsi owners have noticed ? Things not in level? Not tightened? Panels show spacesor gaps? etc.

How about grills- cheap? flimsy? Base made of plastic.

Don't mean to point out on any gripes we might have on Polk cause their excellent for the money !! But maybe they'll listen up and make even more improvements !

I just can't wait to get my Lsi's soon myself- it's just not soon enough .

polkatese

begbie,
on my LSi9 and LSiFx, I do noticed some workmanship imperfections, such as uneven edges, and if you have the grill off, and sit about 2 feets in front of them, I bet you can find a couple quality issues (crude is the right word), mainly on the front panel. Which LSi are you getting? As long as the drivers and tweeters are ok, I am happy with them, after all, it's a mass production products!

mantis

I gotta agree here.The Lsi's from day one I felt they aren't up to par with built quality.I personally feel it's there worse quality.
I don't like the base,it's cheap and the bottom is pressboard.I have already messed up one of the inserts for the spikes due to moving them around(I tweak alot).I found this disturbing as I moved the livin hell out of my rt1000p's and never had any problems.I lift them straight up and place down where I want them.For every move.The corners could use alittle better TLC.The wood panels on the side are a great color but I depressed to find out that they are not real cherry wood....they looked like oak stained cherry to me from the beginning.
But sound quality I am completely happy.There tonal quality sends shivers up my spine.I am forever thinking of ways to improve on my sound quality.polkatese gave me an Idea and I might take him up on it..........

pjdami

Well I just took a good look at my LSi 9's and I can honestly say they look like they are built pretty good. Tolerances in the gap between the veneer and the "piano gloss black" middle are pretty even. The drivers look well placed. Binding posts are rugged. The bottom of my LSi 9's are the same as the top, the "piano gloss black" finish and not particle board (probably because they are bookshelves and not floorstanders). Dan, I agree though, for the price one pays for 15's, the spikes should screw into something other than particle board for the bottoms.

I was a little disappointed to in the cherry wood color too. I prefer it over black though. I was expecting something more like the cherry on my Studio 40s which I find are extremely well built (but also cost $300 more retail with the cherry than the LSis) Besides these minor flaws though its the sound that makes us enjoy these LSi speakers and not the microscope.

here's a couple of pics to show the difference. Damned piano gloss does attract dust rather quickly too. Just dusted them things two days ago!

pjdami

studio left / lsi right

begbie

pjdami,

Glad to hear your 9's have a good build quality. Hopefully it's only a select few of early production model Lsi's having some b/q issues.

Btw pjdami, the Lsi cherry pics you posted are not that bad but your studio's are better !

fireshoes

I like the LSi finish better

organ

I have no beef with the LSi build quality. Everything seems to be perfect(no uneven edges) and clean. IMO, the build quality is top notch and they have that very solid feel to them.
The only problem I had was on the day I got them when I noticed the wires for the woofers were wired incorrectly. I had to take out both woofers and exchange the wires. Only took five minutes.

Maurice

polkatese

Maurice,
how do you know it was wired incorrectly? just curious....

organ

polkatese,
On the left speaker, the mids/bass was coming out of the lower woofer while the bass was coming out of the upper woofer. One of the wires has a green sticker on it(can't remember if it's for the top or lower woofer). So after checking the wires for the right speaker to see where the one with the sticker should go, I found out that the left speaker was wired incorrectly. I hope that made sense. I just woke up from a nice nap.

I was very angry at first because I couldn't believe that this problem got past quality control.

Oh yeah, another thing I just remembered. If you own LSi's, use a flashligt and look through the ports. When I took out the woofers, I notced that the bottom port was completely plugged by some insulation from the inside. The guy that worked on my speakers didn't only wire up the left speaker wrong, he also plugged one of the ports.

Maurice

polkatese

Maurice,
hmmm...., isn't that blatant ignorance on the basic of QA checklist procedures? Thanks for the info, I will check mine, just in case. Thanks for the good information...taking a nap before the big nap, eh...

organ

Oh yeah, I don't have school tomorrow so I like to puff up all night, listen to my Polks and sleep until noon the next day.

Maurice

TennesseeOutlaw

organ wrote:

Oh yeah, I don't have school tomorrow so I like to puff up all night, listen to my Polks and sleep until noon the next day.

Maurice

Not in school, but I second that! 420

michael_w

I thought the old style LSi's (my 7's) were a bit crude when it came to the vinyl wrapping because the edges were pretty jagged, but that's about it. I'd love to see actual veneer on the side pannels but that's material choice, not build quality. What is wrapped on the sides is done well.

GATOR3000

I have the Lsi15’s and am happy overall except the “BASE”. When I was placing the towers two of the base spikes almost came off. Agree “the spikes should screw into something better than particle board on the bottoms of 15’s". After all 15’s are heavy speakers, I hope Polk will fix this problem!

Cheers

Gator

Denon Frank

OK people, stop raining on my parade. I've only had the LSi 15's for a week and now I'll have to start looking for problem edges, stuffed ports, etc. I'm looking at it this way. Maybe cheap on the exterior, but has it where it counts.