Moving from Monitors to LSi
EndersShadow
Posts: 17,722
This move is a long term goal and not likely to take place until next year, however I want to start my research now so if something good comes along I can jump on it.
Currently I have a set of Monitor 60's for my fronts, a pair of Monitor 40's for surrounds and a CS2 center. The front three are being driven by a Carver 705x amp and the surrounds by my Integra DTR 5.9 receiver.
With the launch of the New LSi series this week there is going to be a drop of some sort in price for the older LSi lineup, both online and for used. I have always heard these are the cream of the crop Polk speakers and as such am interested in possibly picking up some for both 2 channel listening and also Home Theater use.
I am wondering the following:
1) Will LSi fronts pair well w/ Monitor 40 surrounds or should I replace those? My receiver will not do 4 ohms well if at all so keeping these would be preferable as replacing them would require the purchase of another amplifier.
2) What fronts should I go with: LSi 7's, 9's, 15's? The 25's are out of the budget and have heard they require much more tweaking to get them to integrate right with subs. The 15's have a 8" driver which should sound nice, however I dont know how easy they are to integrate either from what reading I have done.
3) Will the Carver amp be able to drive the front three? I found a review (here) that lists some decent 4 ohm spec's w/ 2 channels driven (283 wpc), but nothing listed beyond that. I am willing to drive just the front three from the amp (since one of the channels is bad anyway) and let the AVR do the rest (or if needed another 2 channel amp).
4) Is the LSi line one I should look into or should I just go with the RTi series?
I have attached a picture of the layout of the apartment so you can see what kind of space I have to work with. I know the 15's require some decent room on either side and out from the wall (but I forget how much).
Currently I have a set of Monitor 60's for my fronts, a pair of Monitor 40's for surrounds and a CS2 center. The front three are being driven by a Carver 705x amp and the surrounds by my Integra DTR 5.9 receiver.
With the launch of the New LSi series this week there is going to be a drop of some sort in price for the older LSi lineup, both online and for used. I have always heard these are the cream of the crop Polk speakers and as such am interested in possibly picking up some for both 2 channel listening and also Home Theater use.
I am wondering the following:
1) Will LSi fronts pair well w/ Monitor 40 surrounds or should I replace those? My receiver will not do 4 ohms well if at all so keeping these would be preferable as replacing them would require the purchase of another amplifier.
2) What fronts should I go with: LSi 7's, 9's, 15's? The 25's are out of the budget and have heard they require much more tweaking to get them to integrate right with subs. The 15's have a 8" driver which should sound nice, however I dont know how easy they are to integrate either from what reading I have done.
3) Will the Carver amp be able to drive the front three? I found a review (here) that lists some decent 4 ohm spec's w/ 2 channels driven (283 wpc), but nothing listed beyond that. I am willing to drive just the front three from the amp (since one of the channels is bad anyway) and let the AVR do the rest (or if needed another 2 channel amp).
4) Is the LSi line one I should look into or should I just go with the RTi series?
I have attached a picture of the layout of the apartment so you can see what kind of space I have to work with. I know the 15's require some decent room on either side and out from the wall (but I forget how much).
"....not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." William Bruce Cameron, Informal Sociology: A Casual Introduction to Sociological Thinking (1963)
Post edited by EndersShadow on
Comments
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EndersShadow wrote: »With the launch of the New LSi series this week....
Is this true?Lumin X1 file player, Westminster Labs interconnect cable
Sony XA-5400ES SACD; Pass XP-22 pre; X600.5 amps
Magico S5 MKII Mcast Rose speakers; SPOD spikes
Shunyata Triton v3/Typhon QR on source, Denali 2000 (2) on amps
Shunyata Sigma XLR analog ICs, Sigma speaker cables
Shunyata Sigma HC (2), Sigma Analog, Sigma Digital, Z Anaconda (3) power cables
Mapleshade Samson V.3 four shelf solid maple rack, Micropoint brass footers
Three 20 amp circuits. -
Is this true?
Thread here: http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=103775
this post :http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1401346&postcount=462"....not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." William Bruce Cameron, Informal Sociology: A Casual Introduction to Sociological Thinking (1963) -
anyone?"....not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." William Bruce Cameron, Informal Sociology: A Casual Introduction to Sociological Thinking (1963)
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EndersShadow wrote: »This move is a long term goal and not likely to take place until next year, however I want to start my research now so if something good comes along I can jump on it.
Currently I have a set of Monitor 60's for my fronts, a pair of Monitor 40's for surrounds and a CS2 center. The front three are being driven by a Carver 705x amp and the surrounds by my Integra DTR 5.9 receiver.
With the launch of the New LSi series this week there is going to be a drop of some sort in price for the older LSi lineup, both online and for used. I have always heard these are the cream of the crop Polk speakers and as such am interested in possibly picking up some for both 2 channel listening and also Home Theater use.
I am wondering the following:
1) Will LSi fronts pair well w/ Monitor 40 surrounds or should I replace those? My receiver will not do 4 ohms well if at all so keeping these would be preferable as replacing them would require the purchase of another amplifier.
Timbre matching surrounds to your mains isn't a necessity. I'm using FXi3's with my LSi9's and don't have any issues. At times when the surrounds are really active, the brightness of the FXi's tweeter overwhelms my LSi9's, but it isn't anything that's making me want to run out and replace them.EndersShadow wrote: »2) What fronts should I go with: LSi 7's, 9's, 15's? The 25's are out of the budget and have heard they require much more tweaking to get them to integrate right with subs. The 15's have a 8" driver which should sound nice, however I dont know how easy they are to integrate either from what reading I have done.
Depends on how badly you want the extra bass extension from the 15's. If you're using a sub, the LSi9s should suffice. The LSi9's have can put out some suprisingly good bass...not enough to replace a high-end sub for home theater impact, but good enough for just about any genre of music.EndersShadow wrote: »3) Will the Carver amp be able to drive the front three? I found a review (here) that lists some decent 4 ohm spec's w/ 2 channels driven (283 wpc), but nothing listed beyond that. I am willing to drive just the front three from the amp (since one of the channels is bad anyway) and let the AVR do the rest (or if needed another 2 channel amp).
Never used a Carver amps so I can't speak from experience...but based purely on the amps specs, it shouldn't have any trouble driving the LSi'sEndersShadow wrote: »4) Is the LSi line one I should look into or should I just go with the RTi series?
Audition both and see what you like.
I've gone from the R50's, to the TSi300's, to the RTi8's, and now to the LSi9's.
I prefer the LSi's over the RTi's for both music and movies (now that I've mated the LSi's with the right gear).
I posted a comparison of the RTi's vs the LSi's here:
http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1384532&postcount=5My System Showcase!
Media Room
Paradigm Studio 60 - Paradigm CC-690 - Paradigm ADP-390 - Epik Empire - Anthem MRX300 - Emotiva XPA-5
Living-room
Paradigm MilleniaOne - Rythmik F12GSE - Onkyo TX-SR805 - Adcom 5400
Headphones
Sennheiser Momentum Over-Ear - Shure SE215 - Fiio E18 Kunlun -
Timbre matching surrounds to your mains isn't a necessity. I'm using FXi3's with my LSi9's and don't have any issues. At times when the surrounds are really active, the brightness of the FXi's tweeter overwhelms my LSi9's, but it isn't anything that's making me want to run out and replace them.
Good, I thought that would make life easier as I already have the 40's, they are wall mounted, easy to drive and work perfectly as it standsDepends on how badly you want the extra bass extension from the 15's. If you're using a sub, the LSi9s should suffice. The LSi9's have can put out some suprisingly good bass...not enough to replace a high-end sub for home theater impact, but good enough for just about any genre of music.
Yeah right now I just have a PSW125, but looking to get a SVS PC-12NSD (and then another), so the bass will be well taken care of later. My only thought was that decent stands are not cheap and the 15's are floorstanders.
How do the 7's compare w/ the 9's? Is it close or one of those not even in the same ballpark kinda deals?Never used a Carver amps so I can't speak from experience...but based purely on the amps specs, it shouldn't have any trouble driving the LSi's
Yeah it looks like the Carver would be ok, or as stated I could get a one channel amp for the center to seperate it if needed. As long as I only have to drive the front 3 from the amp I think I should be fineAudition both and see what you like.
I prefer the LSi's over the RTi's for both music and movies (now that I've mated the LSi's with the right gear).
I posted a comparison of the RTi's vs the LSi's here:
http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1384532&postcount=5
Yeah I am going to check that out, and like I said this is a long term goal. Its just really hard to find someone here local w/ the LSi's. If I want to listen to the 9's Fry's at least has those, but I have yet to find the 15's anywhere.
I might have to head out to Fry's sometime this week just to listen and actually deal w/ their stupid sales folks since they redid their system to make it harder to demo w/o a salesman's help
. They also have the RTI A9's too. "....not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." William Bruce Cameron, Informal Sociology: A Casual Introduction to Sociological Thinking (1963)
