Best bookshelf speaker $300 and under??

[MvpBrady]

Hello I'm wandering which set of bookshelf speakers are the best for my surround system. lsi 15 polk audio towers. what book shelfs when paired will sound the best? I'm going to bi amp my towers. Im only looking to spend around $300. I'm aware of the lsi bookshlfs but wandering if there is a better pairing set out there for my system. Thanks for your time.

 

[GranteedEV]

I'm not sure if they would be considered the best possible "pairing" for the polk towers, but I highly recommend these:

EMP Tek E41 Bookshelf Speaker

Their quality is to die for.

 

[j_garcia]

http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/loudspeakers/84725-small-bookshelf-speakers-~300.html

The speakers that would go with those would be the Polk LSi7 or LSi9. Nothing else will pair "better" since they are the exact same driver compliment.

A little tip on biamping (if you aren't going to do it right...):

http://sound.westhost.com/bi-amp.htm

 

[MvpBrady]

this will be a noobish question but, ovb my speakers have four ports in the back. Now do I still need to follow that guide that you sent me? im imagining that I do but I wanted to ask. Thanks for your time

 

[j_garcia]

If you aren't going to do an active setup (which would require an active crossover before the amplification stage meaning in most cases it can't be done with a receiver alone) then you would just be passive biamping. You would disconnect the jumper between the posts and connect one channel (+/-) to the top and one to the bottom. Here's the key fact to take from that article though:

Passive biamping (where two amplifiers are used in a bi-wiring connection) is, IMHO, a waste of money. Although there may be some moderate sonic benefits, they are not worth the expense of the extra amplifier.

Rather than biamping, simply get enough power to drive the speakers properly.

 

[MvpBrady]

the only problem I have is that I have to buy an external amp for my towers. The lsi7's are also 4 ohm, so I will then have to purchase another external amp. So I think I'm just going to buy another set of bookshelf's because I can't afford all of these amps. lol. So with that being said which would be the best or most comparable for the price of $300 or lower.

 

[MvpBrady]

Further stating I'm getting upset with this retailer who sold me these towers. I gave this guy the specs for my receiver and he said the polks would be great. SMH... So now I'm a little nervous that I'm going to fry either my receiver or my amp. And I called polk direct and he had recommended that I purchase an external amp. But now I'm hearing its a waste of money

 

[j_garcia]

It is a waste of money to biamp, not to use an external amp No receiver will have the sort of power a decent external amp will give you. The LSi7s are 4 Ohm, but they are also far easier to drive. I owned them and drove them off a receiver for a year so you can get away with the 7s on a receiver. The 15s would be better off with an amp if you want to turn things up. The risk is damaging the drivers not your receiver. If you don't have enough power and crank it up, the tweeter usually fries first, and the LSis are fairly well known for this which is why an amp is usually recommended for them. In terms of an amp, you can look at a 5ch amp like the Emotiva XPA-5 which should be plenty for a full set of LSis. You might also look at something like the XPA-3 to run just the front three speakers as you will likely want an amp for the matching LSiC center too, which is also harder to drive than the 7s.

The guy that sold you the speakers was clearly not knowledgeable - don't ask his advice again.

 

[jcunwired]

Unless you listen to a lot of multichannel music the LSi are a bit of overkill as surrounds. Polk RTiA1 were just positively reviewed at Sound & Vision:
Review: Clash of the Minispeakers | Sound and Vision Magazine

I had a pair of LSi9 for awhile in a 2 channel setup, they had no problems being powered by a low budget Onkyo 2 channel receiver. In your configuration though I would look into a 3 channel amp to power your front speakers, that may be a hefty load for a receiver alone.

 

[j_garcia]

I do think you could use the RTiAs for surrounds since matching the surrounds is less critical. I reviewed the RTiA3s a few years ago when they came out and I liked them. I wouldn't go below the RTiAs though, because for some reason there's a pretty big gap in sound quality (IMO) between them.

 

[MvpBrady]

I purchased the adcom 7607 got it for 400 its a 7 channel amp perfect for all my speakers. so for my rears you guys are reccomending rtia's. they will go good with my lsi15? oh and I purchased a valydyne woofer it sounds great thumps really well. how about for the center would you guys defintly recommend purchasing the matching center for my fronts???