Lsi9 vs LSIM703

Perhaps neither speaker is right for you.

F1nut, rednedtugent: LOL, thanks.

I wanted to make my first post here moderately entertaining, and it looks like I've (slightly?) overdone this...

Seriously, with Lsi9's, despite all the Obvious Technically Inferior Properties (compared to 703), I hear more depth ("3D phenomenon") and more believable, "live" vocals. I wonder if anonymouse's post from Oct 28 meant something similar to my perception. Still, I do hesitate to throw a sizable chunk of money for mods before listening to you, experienced guys

Maybe the best solution would be to sell both of them to hell and invest the money into something that do the "best of the two"??? Any hints? Which brands / models to audition? You may already have some idea what I may want (I want Lsi9's sound to be tighter and LsiM703's sound - which IS "tighter" - to be more "organic")...

Electronics involved: Emotiva XSP-1 Gen 2 preamp, Denon POA-2400A power amp.
Sources: 1) Oppo BDP-83SE; 2) M-Audio Audiophile 193 sound card

The "ear bleeding" with LsiM703 is surely associated more with the computer card as source (dumping it would be an easy answer); still, even with "silky smooth" Oppo this happens from time to time, depending on the record (not necessarily crappy). On the contrary, the sound card match better with Lsi9's, "opening them up". Oppo+Lsi9+classical music = total dull death. And I do listen to classical music a lot!
LsiM703 works with Oppo way better (and even may be harsh! - is it already electronics problem? No, I will not buy a tube amp anytime soon; I'd rather look into speakers that can handle XSP-1 + POA-2400A without ear bleeding).

So, you have the picture. Any smart suggestions? Would X-over modification of Lsi9's be still a reasonable solution?

Thanks!

Full discloser I have some new 703's that aren't quite broke in yet so I have skin in the game and want them to win out. Wife said no to the 707's and 705's.
"If its a hair dull +1 or 2 on the trebble OR -1 on the bass. It could be just out of blanace for your room also so why not give them a shot if you havent." This is where
I've kept my vintage stuff since it wasn't vintage. Backed off the bass a hair since adding the tube pre. I'll swing the 703's over to see how they sound w/ tubes RSN.

I don't know why you say you're getting "ear bleeding" but you my be right about the cause being the computer card. I can't comment on the 9's but I have the RTiA7's with the xo's modified. Before the xo's mods they were very bright and after much better but still not to my liking for music. So I got a the LSiM703's and hooked them up to the same system. They are much better for music than my 7's and not bright at all.

sheremey wrote: »

Hello all,

I was comparing the Lsi9 and Lsim703 in my 2 rooms, with 3 amps and 2 sets of wires for the last 8 months (really). Result? I am deadly confused... I wish everything will be simple and I just stick to newer and better model (everyone agrees, right?) Still, my ears tell me something else. LsiM703 are way more transparent, have way tighter bass, have impressive integrity of all the drivers (I hear very smooth transition and very 'holistic" sound picture)... Still (warning: the craziness comes here!) I don't really WANT to listen to them!!! While Lsi9 sound quite dull in comparison, in a room (the sound dies quickly and is very fragile and easily killable by bad room acoustics), I DO want to immerse in it's sound with my ears up close, I want to dive into that sound, to use Lsi9's as a "huge headphones"... With LsiM703, getting closer to its drivers just kills my ears, it makes them almost bleed... I can see, extrapolate an improvement by X-over upgrade of Lsi9's but I don't really want to do anything with LsiM703's. Please tell me I m crazy. I must have very narrow range of acceptance (stock Lsi9 are too dull, stock Lsim703 are too bright already). Could anyone make sense of my insane observations?

I enjoyed reading your post. I don't think you're crazy. I feel the same way exactly about my lsi9s. They seem far from perfect, but their sound is so soothing, I love listening to them all day. I'm in the market for considerably better speakers, have not heard the lsim703 yet. I have so far listened to a few speakers and feel about many of them them same as you do about the 703, in that they sounds cleaner, more open, but just not a pleasing to my ear as the lsi9.

My point is, I don't think you're crazy, I think you possibly just haven't found the right speaker.

At least I hope that's the case for me, so I'll keep searching.

I decided to pass on the Polk Audio family and friends discount a few weeks back. I was looking at some of the 703's , but thought maybe I'd be happy with picking up some discounted used Lsi9's instead. Now, after reading from others experiences with them, I'm not even sure if the Lsi9 speakers are all that good, maybe I should have gone with 703's.

I've got a Parasound 1200ii amp I could run them with, I would be using these in a office about 15'x18' size and not playing them at high volume. I've got a Yammie 663 avr I could use as a pre. Most of my listening is off of Youtube or an occasional cd, nothing fancy here. I also have a Adcom 545 amp , but I think it's only 8 ohm rated. Just looking for a decent set of bookshelf speakers and thought Polks like these would be worth trying.

erniejade wrote: »

@sheremey ... I had a xsp-1 gen2 for about a month and with my 9's they matched up good. The 9' s are a little thicker sounding while the xsp-1 is a hair on the thinner side......

... The 9's trebble is sweet in my opinion. If its a hair dull +1 or 2 on the trebble OR -1 on the bass. It could be just out of blanace for your room ....

....How far away from the walls are the 9's? ....

Thanks for the 3 great points. Indeed, I hear XSP-1's "thinness" with other power amps or my AKG headphones plugged directly to its phone amp. Indeed, Lsi9's complement that and 703's seem to reveal in an unpleasant way.

I played with the tone tweaking, and with 703's the matching problem is so big that sometimes maxing out the controls ( -3HF and +3LF) still leaves the sound a bit thin.... And I am not a "basshead" at all, I do hear and appreciate the difference in every single dB changed... This might be also due to the Supra cables that contribute to the "thinning" phenomenon (but also have positive effect with Lsi9s!)

I keep speakers 2 feets from the wall. While in the living room, they are on heavy Target stands.

With Lsi9, room size / listening position / distance seem to matter A LOT. In my small bedroom, they already sound quite phenomenal (when used as "near-field monitors"). In a larger room, their sound quickly "dissolves in the air". I noticed that if you put hands over the ears making a conical shape to filter out some room reflections, the sound improves *dramatically*. LsiM703 are so aggressive in comparison that room reflections don't seem to matter anymore (or, at least, that much).

tonyb wrote: »

The lsim's are the more revealing of the 2 speakers and will no doubt showcase your systems weaknesses. In this case, the computer card, amps, and possibly cables too.

One upgrade begets another.

Amen

Lietuvis91 wrote: »

.... I feel the same way exactly about my lsi9s. They seem far from perfect, but their sound is so soothing....

Thanks! That is the exact word.

DSkip wrote: »

I'd recommend you quit doing instant changes. Leave the 703 in there for 2-3 weeks.....

Thanks. Yes, I own lsi9 since 2006 and LsiM703 for the last 8 *months*, swapping them between the rooms every 2 months or so... not exactly instant changes. Interestingly, with my low-volume listening, the break-in period seems to be extended quite a bit. I believe it took 2 years or so for my Lsi9's to stabilize their sound With 703's, I still hear how they evolve. The first 2 months or so the soundstage was practically non-existent; all the sound was located in a "fuzzy cloud" of about 2 feet in diameter. Then, during the next 6 months the instruments started to "hatch" from that cloud and emerge as individual entities At the moment, the soundstage of 703's is the same as of 9's.

Lietuvis91 wrote: »

...I think sometimes that the LSi9 is a bit of a misunderstood speaker. ....a dedicated pre and a nice amp to push them, not to mention reasonable quality wire.

Yes, it sounds like consensus that I mainly have component matching problem.
Still, 703's seem to be quite different speakers, not "improved Lsi9s". In the latter case, I'd have no doubts switching. Even if we remove the "thin" components like XSP-1 and Supra wires (replacing the latter with MapleShade's, for example), 703's highest frequencies still bother me as having less of the "fine structure", compared to Lsi9's (the latter seem to have really magical tweeter, I never heard anything like that). Or should I check 703's + tube amp combination?

Summarizing the discussion, I can see 2 possible strtegies:

a) keeping the electronics as is and upgrading Lsi9's crossovers

or

b) swapping XSP-1 for a tube preamp and keeping the 703's...

I can "mentally extrapolate" the effect of the further and still need to audition the latter.

Why puzzled ? The 2 speakers are different in their presentation, not such a stretch to think the cabling would compliment one and not the other.

This puts you back into the search for synergy. Like I always say, one upgrade commands another. Try some analysis plus black mesh 12 speaker cables on those LSIM's....you may forget all about the 9's.

Conradicles wrote: »

Not sure why the LSi9 is conceived as a bad speaker on the ol' Internet's these days...it is a fantastic speaker. Don't believe everything you read. Try things for yourself.

I can tell you why....it's because people fail to power them properly. They think because it's a bookie that any old cheap receiver can drive them. When it doesn't sound good from being underpowered, it's the speakers fault. This btw isn't just beholden to LSI's, many other brands suffer the same reviews from people who simply don't power their speakers well enough.

Agree. Besides not all watts are equal. Some speakers like current. The lsi9 is one of them besides the 4 ohm load.

If you mean someone that can modify yours, try westmassguy here on the forum.

Simply put, the Lsi9 has very flat and neutral treble.

The 703 has a boosted high end, by about 3 or so db.
That is seen as more detail.....

Just google the stereophile chart

Dead horse....I guess but I always chuckle about the posts that claim a new model is the equivalent of discovering a solar system over the old model.

IMHO, the significant difference between the LSiM and the LSi's were the mid bass........the LSi's were capable of really good clarity, airiness and transparency from the midrange on up through the treble. Further on down, they got thicker and more syrupy. Moreso the LSi9's than the LSi7's (which I think were the best speakers of the line).....and that problem got worse in my limited experience with the towers. I think the LSiM's cleaned that up....plus I think tricked up the treble a bit (not saying that's a bad thing).

Ultimately, I think that you got to listen to judge but I don't think the LSiM was a a revolutionary step forward as much as it was an evolutionary step forward. And the LSiM's are MUCH better looking.

I've had all three series and find them to be similar but not necessarily better than each other. They have a common Polk signature sound but are tweaked to sound a little different. The Legend line is touted as being the "high definition" model. I'd suggest pairs of all three of the big bookshelf models may be used in the same home theater system without significant issues other than the styling being a lot different. To me, the big improvements were in the tower speakers from series to series. Polk got the big bookshelf speakers right every time from the beginning.