TEST: Polk's audiophile loudspeakers (1 Viewer)

[GeorgeK]

Gil, the base in the 15 did not seem boomy or loose to me. The transition from bass to midrange seemed very balanced. There seemed to maybe be a very slight edge in punchiness at the bottom of its frequency range for the LSI-9 compared to the 15.

Brian, I can't answer those questions until I get my new processor, I am without one right now. I plan to use the FX's as side surrounds and the 7's as rear in a 7.1 setup.

 

[Gil D]

George, Brian,

Thanks for the feedback on the LSi-9 and 15. I went ahead and placed an order for the LSi-9's in cherry. If I like the 9's then I will get the 15's and the center. Later I can decide whether to use the 9's as sides/rears or add the FX bipole/dipole pair.

Gil

 

[Brian Kleinke]

Great Gil!!!
I'm sure you'll let us know, and I'm pretty sure you won't be disappointed
Brian

 

[Noah]

Alex, thanks for some great posts on these fantastic speakers. I work at a specialty shop and we just received these last week--everyone has been gawking at them ever since!! Some very jaded salesmen have been reduced to smitten lovebirds, retreating to our listening room just for some time alone with them. It is very entertaining to watch. I myself am feeling like an idiot, having just sprung for an entire B&W 600 series 3 package last month. I love them, but I wish I had waited for the Polks--they are that good. And as for aesthetics, they destroy the humble B&W finishes. IMO, they are the best value in loudspeakers on the market. Great looks, build quality and top-notch sound. The bookshelfs, in particular, are great value when paired with a nice sub. Kudos to Matt Polk--I recommend everyone seek out these speakers, or suffer the dreaded torture of buyers' remorse!

Noah

 

[Alex F.]

Noah:

You're most welcome. Glad to be of help.

 

[Brian Kleinke]

Wow Noah, those are some nice words!!!! I'm glad to know others think as highly of these speakers as some of us here on the forum.
Perhaps with time people with change there opinion that Polk speakers aren't for audiophiles I still loved the comment in the Stereophile review of the RTi25 speakers when the reviewer talked about Mathew Polk being the Rodney Dangerfield of HiFi
Brian

 

[Gil D]

Noah,

I used to own B&W 603's and the CDM-se center. Very nice speakers. I actually was impressed with what B&W did with the new 601-S3 - much better than the old 601.

I am hoping that the new Polks do compare more at the level of my Sonus fabers or the likes of B&W Nautilus and Dynaudio Contour. What other speakers do you have in the store?

 

[Hanwook_K]

Hehe ... I did get them. I was trying to break them in before I said anything.
First of all I am very disappointed in Polk audio for not responding to my emails on why on the website the tweeter in the LSI9 are about 1cm way from each woofer, vs. the ones I have and the ones reviewed on soundstage where the gap is more like 1mm.
Second, I do like the speakers a lot. They sound very typical polk audio (atleast the higher product lines) - warm, good imaging, and good tonal balance. But with the vifa tweeter they have better resolution, better imaging, and better soundstage. They are also much smoother than any previous model (LS90 and RT series).
I just upgraded my CDP to the Sony 775 SACD player and I am even more impressed even after only 24 hours of breakin of the CDP. (My marantz 6200 is forsale that I was using with a stock ART DI/O also for sale ). I got an xbox that I will be using for DVD playback.
I like them much better than the Diva 2.1 (of course the LSi9 are 1.4x the cost).
I am using the LSi9 purely for two channel stereo and they are music. They pull me in. Everytime I listen to them I get impressed every time. I suspect that over the next 100 hours they should become more detailed and the soundstage/depth/height to get a little wider. I will also try biwiring them in the next week to see if I do hear a difference. (for some reason polk recommends biwiring even though in my technical opinion says there is no benefit besides getting rid of the jumper).
To me I prefer these to my nOrh marble 9.0 ($3000 MSRP). The nOrhs were more detailed. They went deeper. And for a 2 way speaker it sounded great. But it was almost too neutral and possible due to my other pieces of equipment reveled too much of my other system's faults and made the speakers sound cold.
I do recommend people to take a listen to these if possible (and do make sure they are broken in because they were definitely very harsh on the ears and the bass was much looser and less defined. They also didn't image and the soundstage was narrow). But of course you need to make up your own mind on whether or like them.

 

[Greg Johnson]

What was the verdict on using an Lsi9 for a center channel? This is something I had planned on doing. I hadn't noticed about the tweeter arrangement until reading this thread. Thanks to all for the reviews on the Lsi series. Hope you all enjoy.

Greg Johnson

 

[Gil D]

Greg,

I was informed by a Polk rep that the LSiC "sounds virtually identical to the LSi9 but uses a better-shielded version of the XT25 tweeter." Shielding isn't an issue for me, but the slimmer LSiC cabinet appeals to me since I will be probably mounting above or below the screen. Also, Polk doesn't offer the LSi9 packaged singly, so you need to buy a pair. If you plan on running a 6.1 setup you could split the 2nd pair as front and rear centers.

Hanwook, I think I just noticed what your talking about as far as the different pics showing the woofer/tweeter placement. The Soundstage review pic does look closer but it's also shot at an angle.

 

[Greg Johnson]

Thanks for clearing that up for me Gil. For those of you that have purchased the LSi center. How good was timbre matching when you were calibrating your system? The reason I ask is because I am trying to gear my system more to SACD and DVD-A. I was thinking of getting 5 LSi-9s but it looks like I'll have to rethink that. I guess having a LSi-9 sitting on top of your 57" RPTV wouldn't rate high in the WAF department anyway.
Greg Johnson

 

[Jan H]

New LSi System (25's, center and FX surrounds delivered tomorrow! Can't Wait! Will post a review. Tonight I really wish they were here, so I can hear the deafening silence of Arco arena as the Lakers roll on! GO LAKERS!

 

[Jan H]

Uh...oops..Nice win, Kings fans. Can't wait to hear the deafening roar of the home crowd for Game 3 with the new Polk LSi system! JH

 

[Brian Kleinke]

Greg,

I seem to recal the the timbre matching of the LSiC to the LSi15's during calibration was much better then my old RTi25's to the CSi245.

I would agree that a LSi9 standing on top of a 57" RPTV would be kinda ugly... however the LSiC looks quite nice on top of my 57incher.

My question for all of you with LSi's do you leave the grills on or off? Personally I think they look really neat both ways, but leave them on in my system.

Brian

 

[Hanwook_K]

I leave the grills off.

Can anyone else measure the gap between th woofer and tweeter? Mine is about 2mm...

I love my LSi9 with my Sony 775 SACD player.

 

[Jan H]

A quick review on the LSi system (25's,C, Fx, followed by a few questions for the Forum. Associated Equipment:
Denon 3802 (preamp)
EAD PM 1000
Toshiba 9200
Kimber Illuminati D-60
DH Labs Q-10 external biwire & T-14 for surrounds.
Homegrown Silver Lace IC's
SVS 16-46PC (with tuning port to 21HZ)
First impressions after 5 hours: Wow! Sweet, detailed midrange and treble. The music just jumps out of the speakers and images like crazy, but it never sounded bright. It just sounds right. I've had a grin plastered to my face since this afternoon . The only caveat so far is that the bass is a bit muddy right off the bat, but I'm sure it will improve with break in. Listened to Beethoven's Violin Concerto with Gidon Kremer on Teldec, Ralph Towner's Anthem, Foo Fighter's Nothing Left to Lose, Rush MOFI Moving Pictures, and Charlie Haden's Nocturne, and the Berenboim Beethoven DVD-Audio (astonishing!). It handled each of them with ease and grace. Watched a bit of TPM and U-571, and they performed as effortlessly as with music. Will offer details after 100 or so hours of break in. My question is this: I've never owned powered speakers before. Should I set the speaker settings to large or small (they're currently on Large)? I'm also not really sure about how to set the volume and crossover levels on the back of the speakers. If anyone can offer some tips about how to get these babies sounding their best, I'd appreciate it, and then be able to offer a more educated opinion on their performance. I LOVE THESE SPEAKERS!

 

[Brian Kleinke]

Jan,
With an SVS 16-46PC you could do either Large or Small for the 25's depending upon how you liked it. I'd agree the bass should sound better after you break them in. How adjustable is the X-over for the L & R channel on the Denon? One thing to try is to have the Polks still handle bass down to say 40hz, and the SVS everything below that. But that's just an idea. I have the 15's and keep them set to small with an 80hz X-over, I didn't think the xtra cost for the 25s was worth it given I'm plenty happy with the bass produced by my SVS 20-39PC.
Hopefully Alex will have some more input / ideas since he actually owns the 25s.
I'd keep them set to Large for now to make sure they get lots of bass single to try and break them in
My .02 -- Hope this information was somewhat helpfull
Brian

 

[Jan H]

Thanks, Brian.

The 3802's lowest setting is 80Hz. BTW, Brian, do you use the crossover bypass feature on your SVS? What are the pros and cons of doing so?

 

[Hanwook_K]

My Lsi9 became less muddy over time - If i recall most of the improvment came within the first 200 hours ... I agree I though these would be overly bright and harsh speakers - but they are extreme smooth and well balanced ...

 

[Brian Kleinke]

I don't use the crossover on my SVS, I figured it was mainly to be used when you didn't have a direct sub in and had to run your Right and Left channels through the sub.

The Sony has adjustable crossovers down to wither 40 or 60hz (I don't recall which) but I decided to set it to 80hz and I'm perfectly happy with the bass I'm getting.

This might be worth some input from Tom V over at SVS...

Brian