optimus LX5?

[tbergman]

I found some Optimus LX5's in my parents house, all I know is they are from the 90's and a radio shack brand, but are they good for anything?

 

[Adam]

I'd say hook them up and see what you think of them. If you like them, great. If not, nothing lost. The one review that I skimmed didn't seem overly glowing of them, but you might as well see what you think.

 

[WmAx]

I found some Optimus LX5's in my parents house, all I know is they are from the 90's and a radio shack brand, but are they good for anything?

They make fantastic rear surround speakers. The tweeter is omnipolar above about 7 or 8kHz. You do need to cross them at about 100-110Hz minimum. If you do some mods, they make pretty decent stand alone speakers for office or bedroom use. The tweeter on them is actually excellent for certain hi-fi purposes, but it's not used to even 1/10th of it's potential on the LX-5. The metal cage causes all sorts of problems/reflections and the midbass driver and crossover are low quality. The cabinet is also sub par.

-Chris

 

[m_vanmeter]

I agree, the LX5's are great surround speakers with their Lineaum tweeters. Their modest 5" main speaker is a mid-range at best, so they need to be matched with a subwoofer that can easily be crossed over at 120 to 150 Hz.

To tell a short "war story", I installed 5 LX5's in our company main conference room for media events. The wide pattern of the Lineaum tweeters fills the large room and does not create hot spots. People are amazed when the ask and find out they are rat-shack speakers from the 90's.

It's a shame the patent fight over the Lineaum tweeter design killed off the entire line - they had a lot going for them. Some DIY'ers buy the LX5 of the "bay of E" just to tear them apart for the lineaum tweeters.

Give them a try. If they are in good shape, I think you will like the results

 

[Seth=L]

They make fantastic rear surround speakers. The tweeter is omnipolar above about 7 or 8kHz. You do need to cross them at about 100-110Hz minimum. If you do some mods, they make pretty decent stand alone speakers for office or bedroom use. The tweeter on them is actually excellent for certain hi-fi purposes, but it's not used to even 1/10th of it's potential on the LX-5. The metal cage causes all sorts of problems/reflections and the midbass driver and crossover are low quality. The cabinet is also sub par.

-Chris

I used to have one of their center channels.