newbie

toeknee

recently got suckered in by bose, was wondering if their are any basic tools to simplify audiophile terminology,providing me with the tools to make sense of it all. I am in the beginning stages of setting up a home entertainment center. already decided to go with polk speakers but unfamiliar with receivers and amps. found a pair of lsi9's for bout 600$ and really considering in starting of with those since for a pair of brand new ones seems like a great deal. eventually considering to build a 5.1 home theater system,wondering if anyone had any advice for some one in my newbie status that would have any recommendations on setting these speakers,or anything to consider,thanks much appreciated..:o

Jed Leland

Hello Toeknee,
Welcome to the CP Forum, we'll try and offer some information. The matching center channel is the LSiC and the surrounds are the LSiFX. All Polk's best speakers and if combined with a good sounding receiver a first rate home theater. In my opinion the NAD receivers are the best to use with the LSi. I think of NAD as the "Polk" of electronics. Excellent sound at reasonable prices. If you want special effects type bass then you'll need to add a sub-woofer. Polk's DSW series are the best value, in my opinion.
Cheers, Ken

sTiLlLeArNiNg

Welcome to CP! One thing i will reccomend to you is to look for a receiver that is 4ohm capable/stable and also one that has pre-out's to allow for future upgrade possibilities

I have seen people commenting that the HarmanKardon's work well with the LSi's but if it was me i'd be looking at Pioneer or Yamaha as i feel HK is a tad overpriced.

Just my $0.02

cnh

As mentioned above....get as good an AVR as you can....one with the best DACs, etc. that you can afford and pre-outs. You will need a POWER amp to power the LSis the right way....so after you get an AVR with pre-outs...possibilities are:

Certainly Nad...but they're usually expensive unless you buy used.

Denon
Pioneer Elite
Harman Kardon
Onkyo
Yamaha (a bit bright...but might be OK with LSIs which are more laid back)

and others..these are all High Current designs...the higher the model the better....but you'll still need a good power amp....Parasound, Carver, Adcom, Cambridge Audio, Rotel and so on in the midrange...

Then there is an even 'higher' calling....the class A amps and TUBES! But that's a bit down the way....read the posts here and the gurus will tell you the legends of this equipment much better than I..

You'll also need a good sub....SVS, Velodyne, Sunfire, Epik, Hsu, etc. The Polk DSW line is also OK.

cnh

sTiLlLeArNiNg

I'll probably catch some flack for these comment's (i usually do) but i would say that my Yamaha is not bright, i actually find it rather "laid back" and "neutral" especially in pure direct mode. Plus it has more feature's than i could use lol

For a separate amp have a look at Emotiva product's, xpa3 is a GREAT bargain IMHO. It has 3 channel's at 300w/ch @ 4ohm for $599 and a 5yr warranty

cnh

sTiLlLeArNiNg wrote: »

I'll probably catch some flack for these comment's (i usually do) but i would say that my Yamaha is not bright, i actually find it rather "laid back" and "neutral" especially in pure direct mode. Plus it has more feature's than i could use lol

For a separate amp have a look at Emotiva product's, xpa3 is a GREAT bargain IMHO. It has 3 channel's at 300w/ch @ 4ohm for $599 and a 5yr warranty

That's cool..

Yamahas are fine for LSis especially...and their most recent models, I believe, are sounding 'less' bright than the older ones. But hey, there is a lot of subjectivity involved in this assessment as well as what kind of speakers one is running.....it's all good in the end one just hears what one hears.

cnh

rebug

hey everyone. i'm new to this as i've never joined a forum before. i just ordered 2 tsi300 floor standing speakers to use as my front left and right. i also ordered the cs10 as my center. my receiver is an onkyo tx-sr706 7.1 receiver. i originally am using 5 jbl speakers and my front l & r, surround l & r and center speaker. i have it completed with 2 energy speakers. the sound was too bright for me as the jbl center would not pick up enough volume when i'm watching blue rays. so i just ordered the polks for the front. here is my question. i just found out that the tsi300's are not magnetically sheilded. i have alot of equipment. all 3 gaming consoles, cd player and cable box. can u guys please tell me if i'm in trouble for ordering the polks. it's 3:334 am and i don't know if i have to cancel the order. i don't want to cause they sound like good speakers. if i can keep them, how far away do they have to be from my equipment and what, if any, of my set-up will i be risking. i have limited space so i was hoping to place the speakers a coupla feet from my equipment. help. rebug!

wutadumsn23

Hmmm, never noticed that before on the TSi's. I would imagine you would be ok with your stuff being a few feet or so away, but don't quote me on that. The real experts shou8ld be able to help you out. Oh and btw, next time feel frre to create your own thread, it will give it more exposure, you pretty much thread jacked. Welcome to Club Polk.

Edit: also read this on a similar issue raised here a few years ago. "Shielded speakers are not necessary for LCD or plasma TVs as there is no cathode ray tube to be affected by the magnets."

-Jeff

vc69

rebug wrote: »

hey everyone. i'm new to this as i've never joined a forum before. i just ordered 2 tsi300 floor standing speakers to use as my front left and right. i also ordered the cs10 as my center.

<snip>

here is my question. i just found out that the tsi300's are not magnetically sheilded. i have alot of equipment. all 3 gaming consoles, cd nt. help. rebug!

You're good. No worries. Enjoy! Welcome to Club Polk.

toeknee

wow,thanks for the heads up,everything being taken into consideration,im certain with all the advice given i wont be disappointed,how does anyone feel about the wiring for the lsi's bi amp or bi wire,read a review,http://www.crutchfield.com/learn/reviews/20030923/polk_review.html,stating theirs a big difference,also what type of wires would be recommended

vc69

toeknee wrote: »

wow,thanks for the heads up,everything being taken into consideration,im certain with all the advice given i wont be disappointed,how does anyone feel about the wiring for the lsi's bi amp or bi wire,read a review,http://www.crutchfield.com/learn/reviews/20030923/polk_review.html,stating theirs a big difference,also what type of wires would be recommended

Did you LSi's or TSi's? Both will be fine near TV but there is a serious difference between the two.

wutadumsn23

vc69 wrote: »

Did you LSi's or TSi's? Both will be fine near TV but there is a serious difference between the two.

+1, the LSi's are a whole other animal. As for Bi-Wiring/Bi-Amping I clicked that link you posted and it was a dead link. The general consensus (including me) is that it isn't worth the cost of the extra speaker wire. The AVR only has so much power to give and it comes from the same place, so adding another set of speaker wires to the Surround Back L/R terminals on your AVR and running them to the speakers will make little to no difference, IMHO.

-Jeff