Polk LSi9 bookshelf speaker?-opinions? (1 Viewer)

[donatelloA]

Im replacing my pioneer Elite front home theater speakers with bookshelf speakers (wife wants the "spaceship looking things" out of the theater). Im looking at the Polk LSi7 or 9's --any comments or other recommendations would be great. I have about 800.00 to spend.

andy

 

[John Garcia]

All of the LSis are 4Ohm nominal, and are farily demanding on amps. What receiver will you be driving them with? If it isn't pretty stout, the LSis may not be the best choice.

 

[donatelloA]

Im using the pioneer elite VSX-35TX reciever . I think these are the specs: 100W x 7 (20HZ-20kHZ @ 8 ohm 0.09% THD

what do you think?

 

[Jan H]

IMO, the Polk LSI 9's are the best bookshelf speakers in your price range, but I think if you're planning on using that receiver, you might look elsewhere. They need a lot of juice to sound their best, so maybe you should be looking for 8 ohm speakers.

 

[Lewis Besze]

I own 4 of those[LSI-9],yes they are 4 ohm speakers but they're not hard to drive,meaning they don't need a lot of power[don't know where this myth started],just make sure your receiver is stable into 4 ohms.Call Pioneer.
Get the cherry wood ones,your wife will love 'em.

 

[donatelloA]

what if i get the 7's instead of the 9's? Less power needed?

 

[Lewis Besze]

No, they just handle less power,which is not the same.They actually probably need more just to equall the loudness of the LSI9,due to the smaller enclosure,and one less driver.[though it has a simplier crossover network which will drain less amplifer power]Polk recommends 20-200w into 4ohm, for the LSI9, If your receiver can muster between those figures,and satble into 4 ohms then you're set.

 

[Frank Zimkas]

The Lsi's do in fact benefit from more/cleaner power. I tried running my Lsi's with a -37tx and it just wasn't up to the task. The -37 ran extremely hot at moderate levels. I added an Outlaw 7100 (165 watts x7 @ 4ohms, all channels driven) amp and the difference was very audible. A seperate amp will always out class a receiver. Seperates allow the manufacurer to focus on the specific job the component is designed to do.

There are a few receivers that are rated to handle a 4 ohm load, but the -35tx is not one of them.

I have a pair of 7's for my rear channels and a pair of 9's for my bedroom 2 channel rig. I can tell you from fist hand experience that although the 7's are a great speaker, they can't compete with the 9's in any way.

Pay a visit to the Club Polk forum and you'll be sure to find lots of good info from other LSi owners.

 

[Jake S]

I'm debating using my AVR507 to run LSI15's, LSIfx's, LSI center, and LSI7's (rear surrounds...the 9's are to big for the wall darnit)...may get all this in the next month... will let you all know...what do you think? will I be happy?

 

[Frank Zimkas]

Shouldn't have any problems, it's rated at 185wpc @ 4 ohms. As with all receivers driving this many low impedance speakers you should make sure that you have adequate ventilation around and above the unit. No sense taking chances on a nice receiver like that.

 

[Jake S]

elan z-fan and an open Bello stand...no prob
the lsi's don't seem to be hard to drive

 

[Joey_V]

i have 4 lsi7 and boy.... they are GREAT! i auditioned many speakers from axiom m22ti (which these replaced), sonus faber concertos, paradigm reference 20s, polk rtis, bostons, bw 805... and i still preferred the lsi7 overall (price/performance).

the lsi7 are more of a 6ohm speaker rather than a true 4 ohm speaker. the lsi9, 15, 25 are more of a 4ohm speaker than the 7s.

 

[Frank Zimkas]

No, they are also a 4 ohm nominal speaker just like the rest of the Lsi series.

 

[Tyson Wetzel]

LSi9's are best sub $1k bookshelf hands down. Buy them if you like making yourself happy.

 

[Joey_V]

I understand that, BUT the LSi7 was tested by stereophile and a bunch of members at the polk forum... results showed it to be a 6ohm speaker.

 

[John Garcia]

That would explain why they seem to be able to sound decent with the typical decent receiver. My brother has 7s with a Marantz SR4200 and my g/f has a set with a Marantz SR5000, and both sound fine at average listening levels.

 

[Frank Zimkas]

Show me a link that indicates that the manufacturer's 4 ohm nominal rating is incorrect and that the 7 is actually a 6 ohm speaker.

The 7 is easier to drive because it has fewer components than it's larger brother (Lsi9). It's still a 4 ohm nominal speaker no matter how you look at it.

 

[Joey_V]

http://clubpolk.polkaudio.com/forum/...light=lsi7+ohm

NOTE: The lsi7 is compared to an rt3 (a supposedly 8ohm speaker) and notice how the lsi7 has a higher impedence measurement.

ill try to find the stereophile review.

 

[Joey_V]

Straight from Stereophile:

The Polk LSi7 is of slightly above-average voltage sensitivity, at an estimated 88dB/2.83V/m. The impedance is specified as 4 ohms, but as the plot of impedance magnitude and phase against frequency shows (fig.1), the load remains above 6 ohms for much of the audioband, with a minimum value of 4.2 ohms at 212Hz.

 

[Joey_V]

However, I still a good amp is more than welcome to power the lsi7... which is why Im upgrading from a Yamaha RXV530 to an HK 330 (with preouts) and maybe some outlaw amps in the future.