Polk LSi9 vs Emotiva ERM-1

[josko]

Well yes, if I could (and had an inkling of what I was doing), I would. But meanwhile, can I indeed improve the sound of LSi9's with an active crossover, and if so, how?

 

[bandphan]

Well yes, if I could (and had an inkling of what I was doing), I would. But meanwhile, can I indeed improve the sound of LSi9's with an active crossover, and if so, how?

There are several threads at the Polk forum on crossover mods which could be applied to an active crossover. Do you have an external amp?

 

[bigred7078]

Well yes, if I could (and had an inkling of what I was doing), I would. But meanwhile, can I indeed improve the sound of LSi9's with an active crossover, and if so, how?

for the LSi9's it would honestly be a waste of money to go with active crossovers. Updating the crossovers however, with better quality caps and what not would be a better route to take and leave you more money for a future upgrade. Otherwise your pouring way to much money into something that just does not need an active crossover IMO.

 

[just listening]

BigRed is right on the money. Creating an active x-over is a serious waste of money, etc.. You won't be able to make one that can properly power the LSi9's. Mod the x-over and put the balance of what you would have spent towards a quality amp.

 

[bandphan]

BigRed is right on the money. Creating an active x-over is a serious waste of money, etc.. You won't be able to make one that can properly power the LSi9's. Mod the x-over and put the balance of what you would have spent towards a quality amp.

He was inquiring about the dcx2496

 

[just listening]

My apologies everyone.

 

[josko]

Maybe I can explain myself a little better. I have a set of B&W 803's for stereo listening. They are powered by a Levinson 334 on the lower end and a Mac 275 on the top end. I really like the relatively undamped 334 driving the low end on the B&W, and think the tube amp on the high end makes an appreciable and very nice difference (over a solid state amp).
I've left the internal crossover in place and am not about to experiment with gutting my 803's.
However, I also have a set of Polk Lsi9's for HT, and I'd have much less of a problem messing around with a Polk crossover. So my thought was to try it with the LSi's, see how much difference it makes, and decide whether I really want to take a soldering iron to the 803's. I have another Levinson 334 to power a pair of Polks with, and can borrow additional amps for the experiment.
I'm also curious what's perceived to be wrong with the stock crossover on the LSi9's. Is it just that capacitors wear out, or is there a design issue as well?

 

[just listening]

The x-over parts in the LSi9 are not the best in terms of quality by any stretch of the imagination. To me, it is pretty obvious that in order to get their costs down they went with cheaper parts. If you look at the upgraded x-overs in the Polk forum the difference is very obvious.

 

[Face`]

I've seen a lot about that, seems to be a worthwhile project. That was another thing that attracted me to the LSi's was that I could upgrade the crossovers down the road when I had a little more money.

Just replacing the film caps in the HF section makes more than subtle improvement. Replacing the electrolytic caps in the LF would also makes an noticeable improvement. Electrolytic caps do not belong in loudspeakers.

What exactly is wrong with the LSi9 crossover? I've been searching over on the polk site, but can't find anything concrete. I have a set of LSi9's, and they sound OK, but now I'm tempted to go mess around with active crossovers. I'm kind of itching to try a DCX2496 or somesuch, and the LSi9 sounds like they'd be a good candidate, but have really no clue where to start. If anyone can fill me in on the LSi9 crossover woes, and/or perhaps point to a DIY active crossover project link, I'd much appreciate it.

I wouldn't say there's anything wrong with them. They were built for a certain price point and to fit inside of a bookshelf cabinet. As for going active, you would need 6 channels of amplification since the LSi9 is technically a 2.5 way speaker.

Perhaps Polk could learn a few things from Dave Fabrikant. Just look at this beauty:

Now, that is what I call a X-over! Make no mistake the 340's are exceptional speakers.

There is nothing special about those crossovers, it uses the same grade of parts used in the LSi9's crossover.

The x-over parts in the LSi9 are not the best in terms of quality by any stretch of the imagination. To me, it is pretty obvious that in order to get their costs down they went with cheaper parts. If you look at the upgraded x-overs in the Polk forum the difference is very obvious.

Correct, and it's something that can be easily fixed.