Polk Audio LSi25

[guitarplyrstevo]

So today at my work, I was messing around with our LSi25 tower speakers and was blown away at the clarity of the sound. What I really liked about the speaker is how the tweeter in the LSi25 a little warmer than the very bright sounding RTi12 and how the LSi25 has a powered 10" woofer in each tower. What are all your personal opinions about the LSi25 model? I have been considering selling my RTi12 tower speakers and buying the LSi25 towers since all A/V salesmen get 75% any Polk Audio gear. Before shipping, I will be paying around $750 for the pair.

What are all your thoughts, and if you have any suggestions on other speakers for around the same price, feel free to say so. Only thing I require is it has a built in powered subwoofer. Thank you.

 

[mike c]

75%!!!!!!

how do I apply?!

at 750, it might be pretty hard to beat the LSi25.

 

[mazersteven]

The LSi series has an outstanding tweeter. Great speaker.

 

[guitarplyrstevo]

So I already know that I really love the sound of the LSi25's but I have a couple questions. Since the subwoofer inside the tower is powered, would I just connect my subwoofer output to the tower speakers? If so, how would I do this if my receiver only has one subwoofer out? I have only seen Yamaha receivers with dual subwoofer outputs.

Also, what do you guys say is a reasonable price for the cherry Polk Audio RTi12's? They have some scratches but are missing the stands.

 

[gus6464]

Look at it this way, the only other speaker I know of which uses the Ring Radiator tweeter is the $25k Magico Mini. So IMO that tweeter is that damn good. Jump on that deal quick I say.

 

[j_garcia]

I have heard other speakers with the ring radiator tweeters, and there are a number of variations of that tweeter as well. It is one of my favorite, however I was never really impressed with the LSi line aside from the tweeter and the cabinet quality. $750 is a great price for those guys though.

 

[TLS Guy]

So today at my work, I was messing around with our LSi25 tower speakers and was blown away at the clarity of the sound. What I really liked about the speaker is how the tweeter in the LSi25 a little warmer than the very bright sounding RTi12 and how the LSi25 has a powered 10" woofer in each tower. What are all your personal opinions about the LSi25 model? I have been considering selling my RTi12 tower speakers and buying the LSi25 towers since all A/V salesmen get 75% any Polk Audio gear. Before shipping, I will be paying around $750 for the pair.

What are all your thoughts, and if you have any suggestions on other speakers for around the same price, feel free to say so. Only thing I require is it has a built in powered subwoofer. Thank you.

I think you have two options to set this up. If you don't use a sub other than the ones in the towers, I would use the LFE in to both and set the crossover on your receiver to 80 Hz. Set the left and right fronts to small. There is no crossover in the speaker on the LFE input.

I have a feeling the best solution would be to use the internal crossover and set it to 150 to 180 Hz and use a separate sub connected to the LFE and set the receiver mains to large.

This concept looks a lot more promising than your RTi12s. The bass crossover on these is active, and this is the way it should be for crossovers below 400 to 350 Hz. I just don't believe you can design a worthwhile speaker with passive crossovers below that point, unless it is the first order filter for the fill driver of a two and half way speaker.

 

[j_garcia]

Or you could get the 15s and not have to worry about the powered subs if you intend to use them with a separate sub.

 

[Ron Temple]

Or you could get the 15s and not have to worry about the powered subs if you intend to use them with a separate sub.

I haven't spent anytime with the LSi25, but I've heard the previous powered RT offerings and I felt the bass was too muddy. I'd tend to think there would be more setup issues with the 25s than with the 15s (which dig deep), but aren't issue free either (placement can be a ***** with the side firing passives I'm told), to get the tightest bass response.

 

[j_garcia]

I haven't spent anytime with the LSi25, but I've heard the previous powered RT offerings and I felt the bass was too muddy. I'd tend to think there would be more setup issues with the 25s than with the 15s (which dig deep), but aren't issue free either (placement can be a ***** with the side firing passives I'm told), to get the tightest bass response.

I would imagine factors would mainly be crossover used and absolutely placement will be a factor - with side firing drivers, you will want some space around them on the firing side, and room acoustics will come into play. Proper placement is key for pretty much any speaker, but these might require even more time tweaking to get the most out of them (either 15s or 25s). I found with the 7s that I had, they were fairly sensitive to placement.

 

[TLS Guy]

Or you could get the 15s and not have to worry about the powered subs if you intend to use them with a separate sub.

Then he would have a speaker with a passive crossover at 150 Hz. He has already had trouble with one of those design which is predictable. If the 25S is properly designed the fact that the lower crossover is active should give it a big advantage. However I don't know the details of how it is conceived from an engineering standpoint. But the powering of the bass speaker should give the designer huge advantages, if he knows how to take advantage of them.

We really do need to move away from receivers to AV pre amps with the amps and active crossovers in the speakers. Amps really belong in the speakers, not a receiver.

 

[guitarplyrstevo]

Then he would have a speaker with a passive crossover at 150 Hz. He has already had trouble with one of those design which is predictable. If the 25S is properly designed the fact that the lower crossover is active should give it a big advantage. However I don't know the details of how it is conceived from an engineering standpoint. But the powering of the bass speaker should give the designer huge advantages, if he knows how to take advantage of them.

We really do need to move away from receivers to AV pre amps with the amps and active crossovers in the speakers. Amps really belong in the speakers, not a receiver.

I agree, all passive speakers that I've heard do not sound at its best. I think to achieve the speakers optimal sound, the speaker designers should supply the speaker with a rated power supply for the bottom end. All subwoofers have built in power, why shouldn't full range speakers have power to bring out the bottom end?

I have even heard some bookshelf speakers for studio recording that have power supplies for their 6.5" speaker. It makes a huge difference and makes the speaker overall a more even sounding speaker.

But back to one of my original questions: What sounds like a decent price for two cherry RTi12 speakers? It has some scratches and is missing the stands.

 

[TLS Guy]

I agree, all passive speakers that I've heard do not sound at its best. I think to achieve the speakers optimal sound, the speaker designers should supply the speaker with a rated power supply for the bottom end. All subwoofers have built in power, why shouldn't full range speakers have power to bring out the bottom end?

I have even heard some bookshelf speakers for studio recording that have power supplies for their 6.5" speaker. It makes a huge difference and makes the speaker overall a more even sounding speaker.

But back to one of my original questions: What sounds like a decent price for two cherry RTi12 speakers? It has some scratches and is missing the stands.

Look at current and past eBay sales. I have no idea.

 

[Shicks18]

$600 + s/h would be a fair deal, people on forums will drag you down further however. Shipping is around $180 for those puppies.

 

[guitarplyrstevo]

$600 + s/h would be a fair deal, people on forums will drag you down further however. Shipping is around $180 for those puppies.

Really? That much? I would agree if the condition was new but it has some scratches and is missing the stands.