Crisp Sound. Strong Bass Beautiful Finish Good value price Can handle most Amplifiers that you throw at them.

None for a bookshelf speaker of this quality and price.

Decided to start purchasing a complete Home Theatre system. I did lots of research and after a lot of comparison shopping with Klipsch, B&W, Definitive Tech, KEF and Polk Audio I went with the Polk Audio set. I decided that I wanted bookshelf size, but a set of speakers that not only looked good, but provided incredible sound for a fair price. I loved all the speakers that I tried, but for the beautiful look of the Cherry finish and the crisp clean sound of the Polk LSi9's I was very happy to have chosen them.

Similar Products Used:

B&W, KEF, Definitive Tech, Klipsch

Clean sound. Beautiful cherry wood finish. Compact size.

Need a sub-woofer for deep base but I already have one.

I've been comparison shopping for new speakers for several months. I wanted a set of speakers with incredible sound reproduction that wouldn't visually dominate my living room. The Polk LSi9 fits the requirements and my budget. When I listen to soft passages, especially in classical music, the words "clean" and "pure" seem to best describe the sound. I use them as the front speakers for my new home theater. I've just received a pair of Polk RTi6's for my rear speakers and have ordered a Polk CSi5 for a center channel - all from the same online seller.

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Advent

Clarity and accuracy

Have yet to find any

Have spent the past 6 months researching and listening to speakers to be used as R & L front channel speakers for a new home theater system I am building. Compared KEF, Aspiron and Pinnacle. Polk was comparable or better to similar products by these manufacturers. Have a large sound stage with clear and accurate reproduction. This is most evident listinging to voices, but also does superb on stings and woodwinds on orchestra recording. Base is quick and accurate, but lacking and at the lowest end. Will be adding a SVS sub to handle this deficite. Finally chose the Polks because of excellent price. Purchased for $609 delivered from www.acousticsounddesign.com

Detail and clean sound! At this price range, it is hard to find any speakers can deliver such detail and crisp sound. Actually I may say that even if you paid in full (over $1k on polk website), it is still an excellent buy. One last thing, these speakers perform so well in vocal. If you like vocal work, you will not regrad to get these babies!!

The only weakness is the 4 ohm rating which makes really narrow down your choices on receiver.

I own this pair of speakers for over 9 months now and it is just wonderful. When I set it up last year, the first second I hear the sound coming out of these speakers, I know that my old Bose 301 is crap, totally crap! I can hear so much more and all the muddy sound from the Bose were gone. You can definitely hear every single instrument from a simple trio to orchestral music. I listen to classical and jazz music mainly and it is a real enjoyment when listening from Lsi9. The highs and mids are just great. The bass is also very nice considering its size. Without the help of any subwoofer, it can still handle most of the bass from the CDs such as 1812 and Saint-Sean sysmphony no. 3 "Organ". If you can afford a nice subwoofer, it is surely help to crack up a notch of the bass portion. I am now considering upgrading to HSU VTF-2 or STF-2. The main reason is for movies such as LOTR and also for pop music (I occasionally do listen to pop music), the "artificial bass" do do deep down to 25-30Hz, and Lsi9 is not designed to handle this kind of bass. If you like vocal pieces such as arias that it is absolutely a killer. I enjoy the high C, even D and E, from the tenor such as Fritz Wunderlich's Schubert. It is also good in opera, I listened to DG Bohm's Die Zauberflote and it performs so well that I want to listen to all my CDs to check out how much I missed before!! For movies, I added LsiC as the central channel and it is on the same excellent level of Lsi9. This combination is a killer! When watching movies, the dialogue is very clear and I did hear something I missed before. The only drawback of my system is the surround speakers as I am still using the old crappy Bose 161...... (I don't want anymore Bose in my entire life! Even for free!) I will definitely get a pair of Lsi7 to match upmy whole system sometimes in the future.

Similar Products Used:

Bose 301 (it really sucks!!) Bose 161 (it sucks too)

They pack a lot of sound for size of speaker they are.

None

They are a great pair of bookshelf speakers.We purchase them at www.acousticsounddesign.com

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Polk monitor series speakers

It is better than anything you'll find anywhere near its price

compression at high volumes in complex passages

I’ve own these speakers for over 2 months now, and my satisfaction with them has not waned a bit. Their construction is rock solid, their fit and finish is superb, the quality of the drivers and crossovers is without parallel in this prices range (or well above it, in my opinion), and the sound surpasses many speakers I’ve heard for well over their price. I’ve been an audio enthusiast for many years now (not an audiophile, mind you, because I understand this concept called “value”), and I’ve had the opportunity to hear many comparably sized speakers that cost much more than these and sound worse. For example, B&W’s high end bookshelf speakers lack the clarity and the impact of the Lsi 9’s, Paradigm’s reference series lack the imagery, and ProAc’s ridiculously priced bookshelf speakers sound hollow and pale in comparison. I could go on. The only similarly sized speaker that sounds better than these that I’ve heard is Thiel’s PCS, which costs over 3000 bucks. Where I see the LSI 9’s limit is certainly not in its higher frequencies—it’s true that this tweeter is just incredible. It’s not impact either—car crashes have startled me less than some of the potent sounds that explode from these speakers. Its only weakness—and this is a weakness only in comparison with much pricier speakers—is that one can notice a little compression and breakup at loud volumes in complex passages of music. This is probably due to the 5 and a quarter inch drivers’ limited surface area, and I hesitate to consider it a weakness, because you’d never notice it unless you’ve heard Wilson’s and Thiel’s speakers. These speakers simply rock. You should go buy them right now. Just so you know, I don’t work for Polk and I don’t have a vested interest in this review. And I don’t write product reviews on web pages as a hobby. My motive for writing this review is it to encourage people to find these speakers (as noted by others, they’re not hanging out at Best Buy or Circuit City—you can do a dealer search at polkaudio.com), listen to them, and recognize that the art of high end audio is not reserved for the super-rich. Audio is one of the best hobbies there is, and Polk makes it possible for poor b*stards like me to be excited about it.

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More Polks, AR, Epicure,

Power handling...these speakers can take it!

none

Great speakers, clear/crisp sound, very nice and very fast customer service from acousticsounddesign.com. I will have to buy a new amp or receiver since these speakers need to be "driven" My wife loves the cabinets.I love the SOUND! Good value, these speakers are worth every penny.

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Bose Advent

Wonderful company to buy from

Great item, superb sound, very nice customer service from electrodude.com Great value, best price on the net. I was very pleased!!!

Soundstage, image specificity, transparency,cosmetics, fit and finish.

Probably a bit bass-shy for the heavy thumper crowd, but those who value sound quality and delicacy over brute bombastics will really appreciate them.

I can't say enough about the value per dollar that these provide. They replaced my trusty and long lived SDA 1cs that I have had since 1988, with driver upgrades in 1999. I had purchased Legacy Studios in 2001, which cost me about $350 more and could not hold a candle to these speakers, even after extensive listening,tweaking and moving around the room.I eventually gave up and sold them. After careful and slow break-in (about 150 hours) at low volume with white noise and frequency sweeps, I finally had the chance to give these a good listen this past week with various forms of music ranging from jazz and classical to hard rock and heavy metal. Once properly set up, the most immediately noticeable plus is the balanced soundstage and image specificity. Images were well defined and placed in proper perspective and center images were dead on with no drifting. If you're into bass-heavy music adding a subwoofer would be a plus (I have a Polk PSW450 which I did not use for this review) but these speakers provide ample bass in smaller rooms. Summing up, for the price/performance factor alone, these speakers are astonishing in their price range.The fit and finish (I ordered cherry) are nothing short of first rate. I urge anyone willing to plop down more money for similarly-sized speakers to add these to your short list. It's a purchase that will leave you smiling when you realize what a bargain you are getting. I intend to enjoy them for quite a long time!

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Legacy Studios

sounds open, clear and natural with hi-tech tweeters and high build quality

could get 'bigger' sound from floorstanders at the same price

i bought these speakers for my home theatre after being enthralled by the great reviews i've read and i must say i'm not disappointed by the sound. i even listen to them in stereo sometimes and found the open and transparent sound addictive. the treble is detailed but not bright like the current british speakers and the midrange has a nice warm presence that's easy on the ears. british speakers tend to sound 'shouty' in comparision nowadays and boomy as well. these polks sound natural in the bass but need space to 'breathe'. excellent speakers on the whole for music or movies at the price point

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b&w, kef, monitor audio