Polk LSiM 705 & 707 towers just went on sale (7/16/19)! Which to get, and why?

F1nut wrote: »

Landmonster wrote: »

F1nut wrote: »

You keep dragging your feet and you won't have any LSiM's to purchase because they are being discontinued. Fact!

Do you work for Polk?

No, but I know plenty who do. The replacement models will be announced in September. Take that to the bank.

About time, I saw part of the prototype 2&1/2 years ago on the Polk tour. From what I saw it was sweet looking.

F1nut wrote: »

No, but I know plenty who do. The replacement models will be announced in September. Take that to the bank.

That's great to hear - that there will be replacements for their high-end. Based on their product offerings and current marketing, I assumed that they were getting out of that end of the market.

Any other skinny on the replacement line?

F1nut wrote: »

Yep, but I can't tell you.

Ha - I guess all will soon be revealed

Until then, I prefer to assume that they will be an improvement, a delight for the senses.

They will be available in Black.....

TheSpirit wrote: »

Hi guys, great posts and information. I need some help please. The special on Slick Deals was dead, I called and Adorama honored $1687 for 707X2 and 1 706. I have 7.1 with all LSi currently. Going to replace the front LSI 15 and center with these. Any concerns with having 8 Ohm front 3 and 4Xsurrounds still 4 Ohm? Powered by Pioneer Elite VSX-94 TXH. I was consider updating new receiver but hear new tech comes out next year & will probably hold off. Please understand, I know very little in regards to specs and audio set up. I always read the LSi needed more power than my Elite but honestly, system sounds great. Wanted to make sure ok mixing the 8Ohm and 4Ohm (should be ok as the Elite can do and has been driving all 4 Ohm speakers for years, 80 is the drop off for sub) and which amp should I get? I use amp to drive just the 2 fronts or all 3? Figure I get the amp now with Elite and then upgrade to new receiver next year? The Elite still sounds great but it is old, a lot has upgraded since (looking at you Atmos). Thank you for the advice and patience. I cant stress enough how little I know. I am glad I weaseled in and still got this deal on these speakers.

Cool they sold to you at the discount. I had my bro talked into getting a pair, oops too late.

Don't know about mixing loads on an AVR.

Amps, for budget minded Emotiva, Outlaw or Monoprice Monolith, Only goes up from there. Bigger Outlaw or Anthem, I do like the Anthem amps, nice warm sound to them, kind of like a poor mans Parasound. Parasound amps are awesome.

Thing with amps is you want to drive as many channels as you can. Monolith and Emotiva make up 11 channel amps. For anything over 7 channel I like the Monolith, it comes at 200W X 3 with the remaining channels being 100W. The Emotiva use a smaller 65W on the surround channels. Depending on budget an Anthem MCA 325 for the front 3 and an Anthem PVA 7 for the surrounds.

I'd as @F1nut about mixing loads, if anybody know it would be him.

The load presented by any speaker to an amplifier varies depending on what frequencies the speaker is pumping out at any given time. It's not a constant load but the manufacturers publish nominal ratings to give people an idea of the current requirements of a speaker. So a 4 ohm nominal rated speaker presents a heavier load to an amplifier than an 8 ohm nominal rated speaker. The side effect of that heavier load on a traditional class of amplifier section found in a receiver is heat generation, which is why receivers are rated to be compatible only down to certain load levels by their manufacturers.

So, using speakers with different nominal ratings doesn't matter to an amplifier whether it's in an AVR or a separate amp as long as the amplifier has enough current to meet the draw from all of the speakers. Ask too much of an amplifier and speaker drivers will start to overheat and burn out. That could happen with an 8 ohm, 6 ohm, or 4 ohm speaker running too hard from an AVR.

But, some speakers are more efficient than others and may sound naturally louder. That's where adjusting output levels in the AVR is required so each channel is level matched. What does matter is how much current the AVR can provide to all of the speakers it is being tasked with running as an AVR only has one relatively small power supply.

The VSX 94 receiver is a good one, but it is really only rated by Pioneer to play nicely with speakers with nominal ratings down to 6 ohms. There is some degree of flexibility in those ratings which are needed so a receiver can pass industry safety certification standards. I don't think that model had the D3 digital amplifier module that is rated to be compatible with 4 ohm speakers. There is supposed to be a menu setting in the receiver's display to set the receiver to either 6 ohm or 8 ohm compatibility. Sure it will work with 4 ohm rated speakers, and it obviously did well, but in reality the receiver was probably limiting power supply to the speakers over the years and not getting the best out of them.

Both the LSi and LSiM lines can sound much better with more power from a separate amplifier than they were getting from the receiver. If it was my system, I'd get a separate amp and use the receiver as a processor for a while.

Emlyn wrote: »

The load presented by any speaker to an amplifier varies depending on what frequencies the speaker is pumping out at any given time. It's not a constant load but the manufacturers publish nominal ratings to give people an idea of the current requirements of a speaker. So a 4 ohm nominal rated speaker presents a heavier load to an amplifier than an 8 ohm nominal rated speaker. The side effect of that heavier load on a traditional class of amplifier section found in a receiver is heat generation, which is why receivers are rated to be compatible only down to certain load levels by their manufacturers.

So, using speakers with different nominal ratings doesn't matter to an amplifier whether it's in an AVR or a separate amp as long as the amplifier has enough current to meet the draw from all of the speakers. Ask too much of an amplifier and speaker drivers will start to overheat and burn out. That could happen with an 8 ohm, 6 ohm, or 4 ohm speaker running too hard from an AVR.

But, some speakers are more efficient than others and may sound naturally louder. That's where adjusting output levels in the AVR is required so each channel is level matched. What does matter is how much current the AVR can provide to all of the speakers it is being tasked with running as an AVR only has one relatively small power supply.

The VSX 94 receiver is a good one, but it is really only rated by Pioneer to play nicely with speakers with nominal ratings down to 6 ohms. There is some degree of flexibility in those ratings which are needed so a receiver can pass industry safety certification standards. I don't think that model had the D3 digital amplifier module that is rated to be compatible with 4 ohm speakers. There is supposed to be a menu setting in the receiver's display to set the receiver to either 6 ohm or 8 ohm compatibility. Sure it will work with 4 ohm rated speakers, and it obviously did well, but in reality the receiver was probably limiting power supply to the speakers over the years and not getting the best out of them.

Both the LSi and LSiM lines can sound much better with more power from a separate amplifier than they were getting from the receiver. If it was my system, I'd get a separate amp and use the receiver as a processor for a while.

Oh man, so much good information here. Thank you! Yes, the 94 did ok with 7 4 ohm Lsi speakers but I always felt they needed more power (friends and wife said I was crazy). Once I get the front LsiM hooked up, drive front 2 or take the advice of drive as many as I can with the largest amp ($$$) I can? Those Lsi got loud with just the 94, excited to see what happens when I add more an amp!

mrloren wrote: »

It won't get much louder in the DB range. With an amp your overall sound quality will improve 10X. Detail, dynamics and clarity are the big plus to adding an amp. you will hear things you never thought where in the music.

will it matter how powerful the amp is because I'm inclined to get the Outlaw 5000 but was told on the avsforum not to bi-amp even to an external amp, which makes me now wonder if that detail, dynamic, clarity, headroom will come in better with something more powerful like 200-275w/ch amps (monolith or xpa3) of course, someone else then stated that normal listening levels are at 80w and I'm not going to be blasting it or listening to more than 2 or 3ch at at time during a movie ...even for music I wouldn't mind just keeping it 2ch

F1nut wrote: »

Bi-amping involves 2 separate amplifiers meaning completely separate power supplies not a shared supply. In addition and extremely important it requires the use of active crossovers. Anything else isn't bi-amping. Forget you ever had the idea.

I see, thank you! 5000 will suffice then; first, I'll just see how it sounds with only the rx-a3080 that's coming Tues.

The AudioQuest NRG-4 power cord was also mentioned to improve clarity in a review about the amp, is it a negligible difference or worth it?

I'm running a 5000 with my 2070 on my 3.1 setup with my 705's and 704 and it seems to be plenty of power for my setup. I did notice a difference with upgraded power cords on my amp and AVR.