I just purchased the LSi15, LSiFX, LSiC, DSW 66wi sub home theater set up at www.acousticsounddesign.com. I previously had the Infinity Alpha series, which was a good mid-range set. The LSi series sounds incredible and they are beautiful, as well. There is plenty of power to spare. I did, however, have to upgrade my Denon receiver to another Denon receiver that was capable of driving these 4 ohm monsters. I don't regret any of it.

I was very happy with my experience using Acoustic Sound Design. The shipment was even more prompt than I expected and I was very impressed with the packaging of the speakers. Mike, the owner was very helpful and I would definitely do business with them again.

There are very few of these speakers left, as they have been discontinued and replaced with the LSiM line. Get them while you can, as they are, in my opinion, one of the best speakers made for the money.

the lsi15's are clean and clear. very good with my rotel ra 1070(100 wpc)
cambridge audio azur 840a v2 with a 200 wpc at 4 ohm can be very good with the polk lsi 15,
vrey good polkaudio speakers are: rti6. rti a7. lsi9.
the polk lsi15 are on top of all.

I had heard good things about this system from several online reviews. I was fortunate to get this at a fire sale price on eBay as refurbished as a system for my office. Overall, it have to say it's a quite impressive speaker except for some boomy midbass - standard issue in most mass market brands, but surprising given the speaker's target audience, which is more high-end audiophile users. The reproduction of midrange and treble is excellent, although one needs to be on axis to get the best possible sound. Very good transient response, and excellent reproduction of vocal information. Given that the boomy midbass is correctable via tone controls, this is an excellent value in people looking for alternatives to Bose mass-market 'junk' products but who don't have money to buy a $3000 system. Compared head-to-head it holds its own with some very highly regarded high end speakers. Highly recommended as a great value.

The speakers are so clean it makes you feel like you have reproduced pristine laboratory conditions. Absolute detail and analysis of your recording are heard with these speakers. Once positioned properly, these speakers absolutely disappear and all you hear is music. Also, with proper positioning, these speakers look like a couple pieces of modern art siting in your room because you hear no sound coming from them and they look very nice.

Depending on the recording, these speakers will at times sound thin if the recording does not contain deep bass content. Of course the sound is also effected by the acoustics of your listening room. You may need a subwoofer to hear a more lifelike, full and weighted sound spectrum

I use my speakers in a two channel music only system. The speakers are so clean it makes you feel like you have reproduced pristine laboratory conditions. Absolute detail and analysis of your recording are heard with these speakers. Once positioned properly, these speakers absolutely disappear and all you hear is music. Also, with proper positioning, these speakers look like a couple pieces of modern art siting in your room because you hear no sound coming from them and they look very nice. Depending on the recording, these speakers will at times sound thin if the recording does not contain deep bass content. Of course the sound is also effected by the acoustics of your listening room. I have since added the matching subwoofer (PSW1000), which caused the sound to bloom, become more dark and natural sounding compared to the original laboratory, pristine sound, caused a depth in the soundstage along with more bass weight on the deepest notes. The subwoofer helped to present a more lifelike presentation of the instruments. Also, with the sub online you could at times hear certain instruments even more distinguished than before, without the sub. I am sure I will go back and forth between listening with and without the sub online. As I said, these speakers were already good by themselves.

Similar Products Used:

Polk RT2000i, which is a far better sounding speaker than the Lsi 15.

In my opinion, this is a great all-around speaker. I listen to a broad variety of music, with an emphasis on hard rock. I've listened to many speakers over the last 10 years, in the $1,500-$5,000 price range and this is one of my favorites; nice-looking, relatively affordable, and easy to set up. I'd assume it compares favorable with some more expensive models from niche audiophile companies due to company scale and economics. My current system:

Rega P3-24 with Elys cartridge and TTPSU
Rotel RCD-1072
Rotel RC-1082
Rotel RB-1080
Polk Lsi15
Monster Power HTS2500
Kimber 8TC and Hero cables
Audioquest NRG-2 AC cables

I hope this review is useful to some of you.

Clean. Clean. Clean! These speakers will astonish you! The closest thing I've heard to these was easily quadruple the price...and these sound better! Ghost notes on the snare come out. You can hear the vocalist breathing and fingers moving on the strings. Distorted guitar passages gain structure. You'll hear your favorite music like you've never heard it before. It's like someone took the cotton out of my ears.

They are beautiful. The finish is a deep black piano laquer. The cherry wood side panels are warm and well finished. The speakers look, feel, and sound very expensive. I cannot begin to express the value presented by these speakers.

These are nit-picks. For this price, you really can't complain.

1. The grilles are unneccesary. They extend the full height of the tower and the drivers only occupy the top 1/3rd.

2. The manual mentions nothing about reversing the phase of your sub.

3. The very bottom end is a bit weak without a subwoofer. Easily cured.

I'd like to provide a detailed review once these speakers break in properly, but first I'd like to provide the following warning:

***IMPORTANT*** If you are using these speakers in a 5.1 or 7.1 system with a subwoofer, and notice weak bass, REVERSE THE PHASE OF YOUR SUBWOOFER.

When I had them playing in stereo mode along with my my subwoofer, the bass sounded very weak. There was no bottom and I couldn't understand it. I was so dissapointed with the sound I almost boxed them up and sent them back. Luckily, while I was tweaking, I tried reversing the phase of my sub and WOW what a difference. I was so relieved. Why? you ask.

My best guess is the woofers of the LSi15's are designed to fire inward and force the pressure wave into the enclosure and out the port at the bottom. This is reverse of most speakers that fire outward. The reversed waves of the speakers cancel out the positive waves of the sub and vica versa. It's the same concept used by noise-canceling headphones. Result: it's like someone turned off the bass.

Anyway, try it and your bass will come back. You'll be glad you did.

Very musical! Very articulate: highs, mids, and bass are accurate to source. Constructed meticulously. Very unique look / design (sophisticate) - if that's a desired feature.

Fussy placement. Sound good arbitrarily placed. Sound phenomenal when care is taken to get tweeter placement, symmetry, breathing room (note: they were designed with specific placement in mind, i.e. labeled "right" and "left" speaker, etc. 4ohm speakers - need POWER ! ! ! !

This bit of information if for those who you enjoy (or feel the need) to TWEAK your equipment until you get the best possible sound:

When I first bought the LSi-15's I wasn't that impressed. I'd spent several years with a very reputatable speaker that. . . . frankly was . . . . phenomenal! Why change then? Audiophile-to-the-corps! :) Anyhow, to make a very long story very short I discovered the LSi-15's are very fussy. Yes, the image well and can deliver a very large soundstage, but no where close to when the tweeter is at ear level. In "MY SEAT" in my listening area, my ears are approx 39.5 inches (remember, I said I am an audiophile-to-the-corp) ;) . The tweeters in the LSi-15's measures just a 36" when the feet are screwed in (on my carpet anyhow). I created stands that lifted the tweeter to 39.5 inches and VOILA ! ! ! ! !

Of course the speakers are set-up symmetrically: 10 1/2 feet apart, my sweet-spot - 10 1/2 feet away.

For those of you who claim to be fellow audiophiles, you MUST try it (unless you want to lower your seating postion to match that of the tweeters).

I placed the speakers 24" out from the back wall and 52" in from the sidewalls (my room is 20' X 25'.

Regardless of the size of my room, which gives me the luxury to try many things, it wasn't until I raised the tweeters to my ear level that they opened up and became all I knew they would be.

Why? Well, in my experience, speakers whose midranges straddle the tweeters tend to produce a more narrow 'voice.' Because my story is longer than I intended, I will avoid explaining what happens to the sound patterns when the mid speakers are configured in that manner.

Back to the music / performance - the important 'stuff!', pro-reviewers ought to be ashamed for not giving attention to the LSi series. I have the LSi-9's as rears and a pair of tripoles (from a very reputable company) as my sides. I love the sound; then again, tweaking my set-up was necessary. The sound is very articulate, mature, refined, defined: great for: jazz: both vocals and instruments, acoustic, strings, horns, etc. Will play anything well, but seem to shine out with instrumental, vocals, non-synthesized music (IMHO)

Lastly, I discovered POWER is the secret to the LSi-15's. I'm running 250 wpc through them from a beast of an amp. Because of the 4 ohm load, that made sense that more power (clean power) would clarify, tighten, and excite the sound. I love these speakers. I was concerned initially, but they proved well worth the change. Note: for brandnew LSi series speakers, from my experience, they needed break-in time OR . . . my ears need time to get use to sound from my other speakers. Either way, they seemed to improve greatly after 2 weeks of constant listening - so . . . . be patient with them. They will come alive with some adjusting: i.e. . . . . . TWEAKING! ! ! !)

Yes - I did purchase them for $1000 total. I got them at a close-out sale, brandnew, in the boxes. I did have to frequent the store as prices steadily declined. It was worth it!

Customer Service

Haven't needed any

Similar Products Used:

None - as for design. Performance: PSB, Paradigm, Klipsh, Focal - just to name a few

musicality, listenability for the long term! caressing to the ears

lower bass a tad weak but not distracting from the music

Just wanted to say after owning these speakers for 2 years now they are still wonderful and very pleasing - there ia gestalt to these speakers that is remarkable. other speakers get rave reviiews and the lowly polk somehow gets overshadowed in the high end.

This is truly a speaker for the high end enthusiast - its a speaker for the long term. it's charms are discovered after extended listening. They won't bowl you over with hi fi sonics and they are not megabuck.

What they can do is melt you in the listening chair - they are subtle and sweet - a real find - this is a real gem buried in the hi fi rhetoric. - a real grown up listen and the ears love them

I would love to anwer any questions iabout the speaker if anyone wants to know - send me an email

Similar Products Used:

gallo reference 3's - jm labs obalt - avalon np's (evolution series) - magnepan 1.6

without even considering price,the sound quality in all the aspects is,as I now feel I have the auditioning experience to say,remarkably pleasing,not that I don't intend to hear many other speakers as opportunity arises.But yes price,considering how really good they are is a strength.They are visually,aesthetically very nice also. Anyone with a chance to audition them would be well advised to do so before purchasing things in the range of up to at least $5k.(no I dont work for Polk or any audio related business whatsoever.

I really can conceive of no weakness.I claim no status as an A'phile however.I am a music fan,and equipment enthusiast.

I have owned the LSi15 pair for just over a year now. When auditioning them I listened to such as Martin Logan,Focal,Infinity,Klipsch,and JM Labs.I really liked the Polks,and chose them over the others.I have kept it in mind however that there Exist many other speakers that must be even better,planning to listen to as many as reasonably possible.Well , yesterday, I made a 2 hour drive from the east coast of Florida to St. Petersburg,and Tampa with store addresses in hand,with plans to listen specifically to VS VR4jr,Magnepan 1.6,and Dynaudio.Upon arriving at the first store I was happy to be given the chance to also listen to Thiel cs 2.4,and Sonus Faber Cremona floorstanders,not sure what exact designation.I spent a good deal of time as the store man was really very accomodating,and unhurried.I was truly surprised to discover that my Polks,despite my preconceived notions,are truly as good by comparison as they in fact are.O.K.,now risking accusations of heresy,and or hallucination,I am compelled to say that the LSi15 is as good as the Thiel,and even though some different than the SF Cremona,still comparatively very near as good to my very good hearing,per yearly hearing tests.Yes the Thiels and SF are very good,outstanding in fact.But what I am saying is that the Polks are also outstanding. At the second store I visited I had intended to hear VS VR4 jr.I did in fact listen, and ,(let me pause to be certain I posess the temerity to continue),yes I must say that In deed I feel the Polks truly best the VS by a considerable margin.Actually I was sadly disappointed as I had intended,based on months of reading,to purchase a pair of Vr4jr.At any rate this is a comparative review,as opposed to a A'phile treatise,as you have perceived already.Also I listened to some Usher model,a floorstander,not sure of the model,that was equally disappointing,as it is in the $3k range I think.Also I heard a Gallo model that was impressive for it's wide soundstage,but somehow not as tonally pleasing as the Polk LSi15. The closest I can come to an A'phile review is to say that based upon the words used,as I understand them from other people,and Robert Harley's book,the Polks are to my ears/mind lush,liquid,perhaps slightly toward the warm,open ,airy,and bass competent,however I listen to accoustical instrumental fare,really only an occasional r/r ,or other amplified bass type of music.Listening to such as Dave Brubeck's Time Out,really allows one to hear how good the LSi15 are with respect to soundstage, depth,airy openess,separation of instruments,and the clear ringing non 'tizzy' sound of cymbals.Actually the LSi15compares quite closely to a pair of FINAL electrostats with the included FINAL sub that I heard yesterday also.They were nice,but not by any means better than my Polks.So,surprised as I am,I thnk now that I can deal much better with the nagging thoughts in my mind that I must and in deed can find something better that I can afford with respect to speakers.I am thinking about some nice amps I saw...................................

p.s. The Magnepan dealer was closed by the time I got there.So another time.....

Similar Products Used:

owned Large Advent,pair, 35 years ago.Auditioned Martin Logan,Dynaudio,Nola,Focal,Klipsch, Sonus Faber,Thiel,Infinity,Von Schweikert,Final,Gallo,owned Polk RTi12,and some Bugtussel model,I think Amygdala,perhaps,not sure.

Build quality, appearance, exceptional value, and of course the sound. Polk people are nice to deal with, always a plus.

Power hungry.

I purchased these speakers after extensive listening, reading and talking with people who know quality audio. I made the purchase of a lifetime when I found the lsi15's, the lsi 9's, and a lsi c for 1500.00. One would assume I bought these soley on value alone, however, nothing could be further from the truth. These speaker are in one word....Amazing!!
The good:They are like well rehearsed musicians, whose performance is always flawless. The are athletic and muscular, yet refined and delicate. The highs are lush and silky, never brassy or harsh. Could be the ring tweeter that is so highly acclamied. The mids are solid and realistic, no added color or timbre. The voice reproduction is fabulous. If you don't love jazz you may change your mind. Horns are pure, with brilliant percussive feel.
The bad: Bass is adequate only. Whereas you will not a sub for two channel, you will for HT. This problem will quicky be forgotten once this is done. The other concern is power. You MUST have an amp of expetional quality to make these perform up to thier potential. Having a sufficiant engine these speakers will sing like Ella Fitzgerald. You will never regret the purchase of these speakers.

Similar Products Used:

Kef, Paradignm, JBL, Klipsch, Infinty.