Great sound!

Yucky xover

This is an update. I got 12 of these for my 6.1 system. I have been running them off just on my Outlaw 6.1 reciever until yesterday. Each one has been modded with a huge .47 12 g coil and a high quality cap (6.8p? I don't remember). I also use them with a Infinity Sw212 subwoofer (two 12" drivers, 300w servo amp). I have liked the sound. I went from a Technics THX Prologic receiver to the Outlaw 1050. But now...! I bought the Outlaw 750 amp and hooked it up to the receiver. It has 165 w, 265 into 4 ohms.The sound? Well, these LX5 speakers sound incredible! I didn't think things could get better, but they are noticeable.For example, in Fantasia 2000, in "Pomp and Circumstance" I can hear a harp that I never knew was there!Here is my point- a good power amp can make a HUGE difference in sound, even if you have what you think is a "good receiver". If you hear some super expensive speakers hooked up to a good amp, just how much of the sound is due to a good amp, not the speakers? The amp was $1100, but compared to other amps, it was a bargain (with this quality, they start at $1500 for an ATI and go up from there!).My advice to all is to mod the xover, stuff them with insulation, get a good sub and a fine amp and you will have a system that will put more expensive systems to shame!

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Infinity

UPDATE

UPDATE

Want to get much better sound from your Pro LX5 Speakers.
I plugged the 2 tune ports in the front of the case with 3/4" corks tapped in about 1/2". Bass is now ROCK SOLID.
They sound like totally different speakers. Any hardware store should have corks. 4 cost me 80 cents. USE CORK!
NOT RUBBER. This way if you ever want to remove them with out opening the case a cork puller will work fine.

LET ME KNOW HOW YOUR EXPERIENCE TURNED OUT!

Jim Glenn

ke4iza@hotmail.com

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UPDATE

You love em or you hate em!!

I am back with an up date......The good news is that these are sale priced this month for $59.95 (regular$159.95)that's $90 off the price per speaker. At this price IT IS A MUST BUY for small speakers. Yes you will need to plug the bass ports for the best sound. But they sound great for the bucks and I love the tweeters. In other words you can get excellent speakers this month for $120.00 plus tax. I now have 2 pair of these...They are great sounding and small in
size. With this new low price look at these...Just remember
Radio Shack is not the place to audition speakers...The set up never works right and the help who works there always is having a bad day. take 'em home try 'em you will like them.
Don't even consider their other stereo gear as it's way over priced and under quality! But I love "Some" of their speakers. Sales ends this month!!

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Alot of small speakers from elcheapo to monitor type!

Articulate highs and smooth mids specially on Jazz

Boomy bass unless you plug the port(s) depending on model with an airtight item.. Wood, cap, etc forget cotton, cloth etc.

Ok lets cut to the chase, most of the stuff out there in the commercial stores and mid-fi retailers is crap. If you want audiophile quality stuff, pick up a Stereophile and look at what they have reviewed.

So what about these you ask ? Well, my main system is true audiophile Conrad Johnson, Audio Research, etc so I have a benchmark. Let me just say that the ribbon tweeter is really VERY good. I have a 5 feet ribbon based main speaker and this LX5 while not as dynamic or accurate is extremely good for a second set in the den, bedroom or as I use them for movies and as a second set for the den.

Movies:
I have 6 of them (1L 1R 1SL 1SR and two for Center) powered by a 100 w/pc receiver. There are also two subwoofers powered by a Carver M400 Cube crossed at 200Hz. So these LX5 are not asked to put out anything below 200hz.

They sound excellent in this setup. The Matrix lobby shooting scene is amazing with the air that these provide, The Mummy with the sandstorm plane chasing scene also really provides an opportunity for these LX5's to shine. Dialog is really very good with the two being used for the center channel. By the way I have not plugged any ports in the Movie setup because the crossover in the reciever removes the low bass...but read on below...

Den
For two channel sound without subwoofer, you really must plug the ports up. I have the older model here with two ports apiece. They are round and easy to plug up with (1) wooden dowels or (2) magic markers. For example I cut a suitable piece of wooden dowel to about 3" and pushed them in. They are airtight and are not ever coming out unless you open the back and push then out. You can also take a 5" magic marker with cap attached and push them in all the way. If you have the single port model the port is wider and you will have to find something else to make it air tight.

What does that do ? Well once the port is plugged in, the boomy bass is gone. In its place you get the mid and highs shine through specially on Jazz, last night the local DC Jazz station (WAMU?) put on a P. Barber song, that I am intimately familiar with (Track 1 What a Shame, from Cafe Blue ...) and let me say these speakers put out that with a real sense of air and her vocals shone through well. And even the piano and simple bass notes were there though with not the authority of bigger speakers. Was I satisfied. Heck yes. For $150 a pair (or cheaper) you cannot get better. And guess what folks any good bookself will have bass limitation and that is a fact of life.

PS: I have orderd a pair of crossovers to filter out anything below 200Hz right at the preamp. I think that with the plugs I mentioned above will really present a fine sound.

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Excellent Mid and High Range response.(Ratings reflect the LX5a)

None, really. Well, it doesn't work as a full range speaker but who want to do that?

Ok ok. Their have been 3 distinct LX5 speakers released by Radio Shack. Their was the LX5a, LX5b and the LX5II which is presently sold. Coincendentally, each subsequent release has been of lesser quality. The A and B release were never marked as such, but are very different. The LX5a was released around 1996, and the "b" variation was released around 98. The "b" had a different style port and different woofer, as well as a modified crossover circuit. It had a very impaired mid-range as compared to the LX5a. The newest release is but a shadow of what the LX5 once was. It has seemingly poorer high and mid-range response, the difference is highs is probably just a result of the crossover though. I had the LX5a. I used them in a bi-amped setup with a dedicated subwoofer. The amps were feed from an electronic crossover from the preamp. All that I can say was that in that setup they sounded 'superb'. Highs were excellent, midrange was extremely good. With additional stuffing material, they had insignificant level of colorization. It was not even imaginable that they cost 75/each. I once tried using them as just "bookshelf" speakers, but I was not impressed. The bass response was simply not adequate to use them as a full range speaker in any circumstance. Using them as full range and allowing them to recieve frequencies below 120-150 Hz allows FSB to rear it's ugly head. Overall, the original LX5 was the best value one could ever hope for. Paying the original 75/each sale price was almost like getting them for free considering their potential. I wish that I still had them actually. However, I would not want the LX5b or LX5II. My ratings reflect the LX5a ONLY! The latter versions are acceptable, but will not fool blindfolded friends!

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N/A

I found the LX5s quite pleasant in the highs but the midrange and bass were terrible. Very muddy and unresponsive. The Pro X88's although smaller did a much better job with both the mids and bass. The mids were clear and the bass tight and responsive. I have no idea how some of you guys could have given the LX5's such a high rating when its smaller 'brothers' are cheaper and produce much better music.

For home theater these are GREAT.

The woofer and the Radio Shack crossover

I picked up 4 of these for 49 each. I am running them with a Denon 2400 and an Energy exl8 sub. The dipole tweeter is great with pro-logic! Even better with DTS!! You dont have to sit in a certain spot to get the effect. If you have a pair of these, and blow the woofer, do NOT go to Radio Shack for a replacement. Call Madisound and get an SEAS P14rc 5" woofer. not only at 33.00 is it 17.00 cheaper than the RS woofer, it is better by FAR, I've done it and it works. Upgrading the crossover is my next project, I'll post to let you know how it goes.

ht use

music

this is a review of the "rca pro lx55" speakers.

speakers were broken in for 10 hours, and auditioned on an akai solid state reciever. speakers were modified by plugging up the bass ports with cotton cloth.

on a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being unlistenable, 10 being nirvana. no "value" rating (they're $50 each. you decide.)

for ht: 7
for use alone with regular cable, these are fine speakers for the price ($50 each). mellow, warm sound that opens up with break in. nice imaging, and enough sheilding to place next to your tv (i have a wega which are sensative to magnetic fields). for use with dvd, you will need a subwoofer.

for rock music: 5
not much punch, but good directionality on pan-pot stereo recordings. a bit dark sounding, and they lack "sparkle". bass response is there, but barely.

for classical: 2
muddy sound and blurry imaging characterize these speakers for classical.

i will give a "3 star" rating for each only because the cgi script on this site requires it. it is silly to give evrything 5 stars or 1 star, as too many people on this site do. my actual ratings are stated above.

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none

muddy midrange,no highs,boomy bass

How did this speaker get such rave reviews?,Astonishing?I must have got a different version.I opened it up and it`s built with high quality components,huge magnet on the woofer,A plastic piece on the tweeter was loose on arrival it snaped into place .the bass was ok from such a small unit,but with the massive lineum tweeter,i figured super high freq. output,not to be ,first i thought i got a pair with blown tweeters, since i coulden`t demo them at radio shack,(display not working), but there was highs, just not a lot, these are for my rear effect channel`s ,and my yamaha wont allow rear treble control, if i could boost the treble maybe these would be acceptable,I needed a speaker on the brite side with no help.so i got the x88`s. It`s weird how these units both use the same tweeter one mono poler one bi-poler and the mono one exceeds in high freq.both on sale 59 dollars for the lx5 II and 49 for the x88`s each.

Lineaum Tweeter
5 Year warramty

Bass

For those of you looking for these speakers at the lowest price I have seen available- Go to valuepass.com. I am not affiliated with them and it is a pain in the butt because you have to download a special viewer but they have a coupon for 60% off of the lx-5 that you print and bring to your local shack. For $59.99 each thats a good deal. First download their viewer then click on internet electronics, click on gadgets and you will see the coupon- good till 01/29/2000