Dynaudio Audience 72, 82, vs. Polk LSi 15, 25 (1 Viewer)

[Jimmy Michigan]

Hello, this is my first post on the forum:

Getting on with it ... those four speakers, and possibly the Epos M15, are the leading candidates in my quest for a 2-channel music-only system. Has anyone listened to these speakers enough to make some form of comparison, even a general impression? I've read so many good things about all of them, unfortunately, I haven't had the opportunity to get them all side-by-side to discern for myself which speaker best fits the bill. They are all available for roughly the same price, and I'm sure they all have made compromises in order to fit into the price range that they have; I thinking that one of them will be a more complete speaker than the others, it's a matter of reaching that conclusion.

I should add, *fun* and *involving* would be two very important characteristics in this contest.

Jimmy

 

[Mitch E S]

Hi Jimmy.

I have the Audience 52s and 72s and would highly recommend either one for 2ch music. Are you planning to use a sub with them? What size room will it be in? And... what are you using for amplification? They require a fairly powerful amp (I wouldn't recommend them with a receiver).

Good Luck, Mitch

 

[Jimmy Michigan]

Mitch, the room will be what I would think of as being medium sized. Amplification will be along the lines of one of Jolida's hybrid (solid-state/tube) 100w amps, such as the JD1501A. I won't be using a sub for this setup, I'm planning on keeping things simple for the 2-channel system. I believe the Dynaudio's and the Polk's that I'm considering should supply enough lower presence to satisfy my 2-channel requirements. The Epos M15 might make adding a sub necessary, I'm not sure. Can you tell me about your 72's, and what you've learned about them? Thank you for your reply.

 

[Mitch E S]

Jimmy,
I'm not an audiophile by any stretch but I'll tell you what little I can. I've had about a half-dozen speakers over 25 years. In fact I still use the first ones I ever bought from Radio Shack set up for my teenagers. I originally purchased the 52's for 2ch-music. I had them set up in front of my Klipsch rf3's (part of a surround sound 5.1 setup). I had thought the rf3's were very nice for movies but just felt something was missing when listening to music. After much investigation I decided to try the 52's. Everything I'd read (including their manual) said that they take 100 hours to break in but I loved them right out of the box. More musical, I could hear more detail and pick out the individual instruments then before. The 52's go surprisingly low for bookshelf speakers and I could have been satisfied with them for music but of course decided to replace all the Klipsch with Dynaudio. The 72's of course go lower and they are just as musical as the 52's (and they don't need stands , my wife once knocked over one of the 52's and thankfully there was no damage after I began breathing again). My room is 18ft x 16.5ft opening attached to another room 10ft x 20ft and the 72's do a very nice job of filling the room. I have them 3ft off the back wall and 4ft in from the sides. They are not the most attractive speakers but they're on the smallish size and you don't really notice them at all. I use to listen without a sub but have recently purchased a more musical sub which adds a little down low.
Have you checked out the reviews at audioreview.com for the speakers. I noticed that someone who reviewed the JD1501 was using them with the 72's and someone else had the 52's, and they both thought it was a great combination so you might be on the right track
When my father-in-law (who used to play the drums in bands) visits I play him Jazz and Big Band music and you can just tell by the look on his face that it brings back memories.
Hope this helped, Mitch
ps. after reading the reviews of the Jolida now you got me thinking

 

[Jimmy Michigan]

Thanks for the information, Mitch, I'll have to have a look at the Audience 82's as well, just to see if the difference in bass makes them a better "subless" fit.
Having one of your 52's topple to the floor must have been a very traumatic experience for you, I'm glad that it has passed.
Yes, I have read those reviews and have found them very helpful as well. The people at Response Audio, in particular, Bill Baker, are first rate. I'm going to have one of their products (Jolida or other) in the near future, at roughly around the time I can reach a conclusion on my speaker choice. Thanks again, Mitch.