Pioneer Elite SC-27 with Polk LSi Speakers

[Audio101]

I am told that the Polk LSi line of speakers is 4-ohm and I plan on purchasing a Pioneer Elite SC-27 which is an 8-ohm unit. Any suggestions on how to wire/set-up this combination? Do I need to purchase a single 4-ohm 2-channel amp, multi-channel, or?

Thanks!

 

[cfrizz]

How many LSI speakers are you going to have? If you just have 2 with no plans to upgrade to other LSI's then you can get a 2 channel amp of at least 200wpc to run them.

If you plan on having a HT with the series than plan on getting a 5-7 channel amp to power them.

I wouldn't risk that nice receiver, or the speakers being powered to their full potential with that Pioneer. Otherwise, you will have to watch out for how loud you turn up the volume, in order to prevent the Pioneer from going into protect mode. (which is a common occurance with a receiver trying to drive LSI's.)

Good new brands of amps to look at are Emotiva, & Outlaw Audio. Or you can get more for your money buy used from Audiogon. Other brands to look at are Parasound, Sunfire, Rotel, Adcom, Nad, B & K.

The more power you feed speakers the better they sound. But this is essential when trying to drive 4ohm speakers like LSI's.

My brother has the bookshelf LSI 7s and they really came alive when matched up with a Parasound 1500A 205 wpc amp. And the amp doesn't get hot even when pushed hard for a long period of time.

 

[j_garcia]

I've driven a set of three LSi7s with a 100w Marantz receiver and they were fine for over a year. They can handle as much power as you can throw at them though. I have a feeling that receiver will be fine with them, but as mentioned, if you are going to have a full set of LSis, then I'd offload some of them (front 3) from the receiver to an amp. My speakers are all 4 Ohm and even with my hefty receiver, I found that running the front 3 off amps makes the speakers a lot happer. It isn't going to "bring them alive" exactly, it is just going to allow you to crank it up higher before clipping occurs.

 

[Audio101]

Thank you guys for the advice. I am looking into buying LSi 25's soon, and will follow with the LSi9's for the rear, LSiC for center, and a LSiFX for the sides. Im trying to locate the aforementioned speakers used, so if anyone knows of any for sale please drop me a line!

I feel like I may start off with these w/out an amp and keep the use light. I'll look at the list of amplifiers and see if I can find a used one that fits the budget; either a 2-channel or an all out 7 channel.

Also, I've heard that the LSi25's are hard to set up. I.E. standing waves when used with a sub, which I already have. Decisions decisions..

 

[j_garcia]

If you have a good sub, LSi15s might be a better way to go. If you have a really good sub, the LSi9s with an amp will give you a lot of bang for your buck. You could get away with 7s for rears as well. 9s with 25s up front would mean an external amp for sure.

 

[jinjuku]

Do you have a budget for an external amp yet?

 

[Audio101]

I currently have a Klipsch Sub-12, and am just about ready to buy a used pair of Polk LSi 25's. I hope to find a way to set them up to be compatible with my current sub.

As for budget on an amp, I do have a few dollars that I can put toward either a 2 channel and just run the 25's off that, or maybe a 7 channel to run the entire system off of. I just need to find the rest of the system Still looking for LSi9's, LSiC, LSiFX's.

 

[cfrizz]

Don't forget to check out Polk's Ebay store for refurbished sales.