Polk Audio LSi15 Floorstanding Speakers

Polk Audio LSi15 Floorstanding Speakers 

DESCRIPTION

The LSi15 is a floorstanding speaker that delivers superior linearity, definition and imaging, as well as bass response that’s rich, deep and satisfying. Like the whole LSi Series, they are highly accurate and intensely musical. Their mirrored image driver arrays and Ring Radiator Tweeter present a large soundstage without sacrificing pinpoint localization. Listen to the LSi Loudspeakers with SACD and DVD-Audio sources to reveal their higher accuracy and resolution, with more dynamic response and superb focus. The LSi Series delivers three-dimensional imaging and remarkable reproduction of even the finest details.

USER REVIEWS

Showing 11-20 of 34  
[Oct 15, 2006]
radargeek622
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Excellent definition. Smooth tonal balance. Tight low end when used in combination with a subwoofer

Weakness:

given their price, none.

I bought these unheard based on previous good experiences with other polk speakers as well as numerous favorable reviews. (Just google polk lsi, lsi15, lsi9 or lsi7 if you want to see the same reviews) Note price listed is per pair.

They are being used with a Denon 2900 dvd player, an Onkyo TX-SR800 receiver set to 4 ohm impedance and an SVS 20-39 pc+ which handles below 80 hz.
They were broken in for about 20 hours before I started serious listening. In a word, they are stunning. Although I wouldnt call myself an audiophile, I have had a lifelong interest in good sound and they are no doubt about it the best speakers I have ever heard anywhere near this price.

I'm struggling a bit with describing why they sound so great but here goes...
The highs are detailed but not etchy, hissy or fatiguing. Percussive sounds have a sharp onset then are gone. Cymbals sound shimmery rather than irritatingly metallic. This is the Vifa tweeter that everybody raves about.

The midrange is very smooth, male and female voices sound natural. You hear nuances in vocal performances that werent there before. There seems to be more dead space between the notes.

The upper bass is tight, although the lower bass is a bit lacking without the sub.
Paired with a decent sub you get the best of both worlds, the visceral impact that comes at the lowest frequencies combined with the definition (think plucked acoustic bass) that is in the mid and upper bass.

Customer Service

Purchased from acoustic sound design and would do so again.(www.acousticsounddesign.com). No hassles, great price. They shipped the product in a few days. The shipper mach 1 air took a week to actually deliver to my house but they took care and it was worth the wait.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Jul 08, 2006]
goldear63
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Incredible detail and dynamics; huge soundstage, both vertically and horizontally. These give you everything the 9s have to offer plus an extended low end.

Weakness:

As with the 9s, these speakers love power...a reciever won't do them justice. Even low-powered amps may not give the control needed to properly integrate the woofer.

Having owned and fallen in love with a pair of LSi9s I bought for my spare room, I decided that I wanted to build a complete 7.1 system around the LSi series.


Admittedly, I wasn't as impressed with the 15s as I was the 9s; they were a little harder to place and suffered from poor Bass to Mid-bass integration. Thankfully, I discovered that much of my problem was related to my power plant.


While my older Acurus A150 performed admirably with the 9s in my other room, the 15s simply needed a little more current. Moving them into my main system with the Aragon 8008x3 created an entirely different presentation; the bass not only tightened up, it became much more coherent and controlled.


While I've heard others discuss the virtues of choosing an amp with a high Damping Factor, I really had no idea what a difference that could make in controlling a woofer. Since mating the speakers with this amp not only has placement become less of an issue, the same attributes that I love about the 9s are now shining through...with a much more useful bottom end.


With the LSi15s up front, LSiC in the center, 9s in the rear and LSiFX on the sides, I am hearing multichannel music like I've never heard before. In fact, this is the first system (of many) that has me seriously considering consolidating my movie/music listening.


Having also recently picked up a used/upgraded Aragon Soundstage 7.1 (to match my Aragon amps), this may be some of the best sound I've heard at a price I never thought possible. Ironic, since I've been through some very expensive and competent compotents over the last 15 years. This is perhaps the best overall speaker in the LSi series (when properly setup).

Similar Products Used:

Paradigm Reference, B&W, Citation, Focal, Totem, Infinity (classic), etc.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Jun 08, 2006]
Chris
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Attractive! One of the nicest top ends I've heard at any price range. Well defined bass with proper positioning and power. Top to bottom an overall great performer.

Weakness:

Needs lots of power and good positioning to get proper bass response.

Having owned and auditioned numerous speakers over the last several years, it was a surprise that I found myself revisiting Polk having left them over a decade ago. By know means would I describe myself as an Audiophile, but I do know what makes a speaker sound good, and which ones offer good value.


In fact, other than a few esoteric dbrands I've owned, the last decade has seen me owning just about everything in Paradigm Reference line. While I always enjoyed the top-to-botttom performance of the Ref 100v2, the LSi15s actually gave me a new perspective on open and detailed
sound at an incredible price.


While lacking the bass punch that the 100s offered, the mid-bass and up (especially the highs) surpised me at just how open, smooth and transparent a mid-priced speaker could be. Even the low-end, while not as deep, provided a nice, cohesive sound that seemed to have more control.


With its slim cabinet and small footprint, this speaker gives you all the fine attributes of a mini-monitor; excellent imaging, soundstage and detail with the benefit of not needing to purchase speaker stands:)

Similar Products Used:

Paradigm, Infinity Renassaince 90, Legacy Classic, B&W, Totem and Dynaudio

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Apr 24, 2006]
mtr1015
Audio Enthusiast

I bought these speakers from www.acousticsounddesign.com
and I already love them. I do not have my entire system up and running but from what I can tell I am gonna love the speakers, wish I could have afforeded the Lsi25's but ooh well. Recommend www.acousticsounddesign.com

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
4
[Apr 24, 2006]
Matthew Richardson
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Excellant Sound Quality. Power is adequete

Weakness:

Subwooders lack bass, but this is corrected by actually having a subwoofer which is expected (so not really a weekness).

Love the product so far. Seller was great to work with

Customer Service

Excellant Seller www.acousticsounddesign.com

Similar Products Used:

Lsi C

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
4
[Feb 17, 2006]
Christopher
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Very good imaging. Deep and wide soundstage. Clean and neutral middle and high frequencies.

Weakness:

Boomy mid-bass

I have had the LSi15's for a couple of months, and have been somewhat disappointed. They have a mid-bass emphasis that causes a boomy effect on many recordings. On the positive side. They have very good imaging, and create a wide and deep soundstage. Above the bass and lower mid-range, they sound clean and neutral. On good recordings, the sound seems to float all around the speakers, never sounding like it is being forced out of two boxes. Unfortunately, for me, the mid-bass thumping just about ruins the speakers overall tonal balance.

OVERALL
RATING
3
VALUE
RATING
2
[Jan 10, 2005]
Kevin
AudioPhile

Strength:

Highs and mids, price, build quality.

Weakness:

Bass- can be solved with a proper power amp, or a seperate sub.4 ohm load

These speakers rock! I got these after reading many reviews and have not been disapponited at all. I think they are the cleanest sounding speakers I've ever heard. The bass is lacking a little, but that can be solved with a seperate sub.

Similar Products Used:

polk, bose

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Oct 13, 2004]
20to20K
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Excellent sound across spectrum when properly driven. (Can't wait to get that amp!) Attractive appearance and build quality.

Weakness:

Need lots of clean power to perform well. Difficult to move around the room

I purchased my LSi15's about 6 weeks ago and so far no real disappointments. I primarily auditioned these against B&W's, Def. Techs, and Paradigm and I felt these offered the fullest sound for the money paid. If money were no object I would have opted for the B&W 703's because of their more responsive low-end, cleaner mids, and stunning finish & appearance...but alas price WAS an object and the Polks were half the price. The low-end issue was rectified with a 12" Velodyne sub that only set me back $350. I also plan on getting a seperate power amp to drive them. The guy at Tweeter ran a B&K 200 RMS through them and made the speakers come alive at similiar sound levels. My Denon 2803 AVR does a decent job of driving them but really needs to be cranked up for these speakers to perform their best. For some reason these sound better than the top of the line LSi25's to me...maybe it's just subjective. I thought the 25's bass was a little too "in your face" and artificial. I thought the LSi15 plus sub combo offered a more realistic and laid back sound and was about $700 less money. For bass response I listened to Marcus Miller, for acoustic vocals Joni Mitchell, for drum solos Dennis Chambers, Joe Morello(Take 5) and Stewart Copeland. All sounded great. I don't listen to much classical so I don't know how they respond in that regard. Plan on getting Polk centers and surrounds in the near future to complete the home theatre...for now just listening to clean two channel is enough for me! Any truth to the sales pitch that you need timber matching centers and surrounds for best possible soundstaging?

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha NS-500 JBL Century 100's Only other speakers I've owned.

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
5
[Jul 29, 2004]
ohlins
AudioPhile

Strength:

good bass despite the only 8 inch woofers. very detailed and extended highs, fortunately not bright at all. a good rendition of soundstage depth.

Weakness:

does not like the binding posts at all as they do not accept most spades except the largest. comtemplating to replace with aftermarket vampire binding posts.

i started off as a fan of mini monitors and used to crave after spks like Pro-Ac Super Tablettes, Acoustic Energy AE-1..well you get the idea. along the way, i gradually discovered the joys of hearing good deep bass. however, having holographic sound staging is still as important. the solution? ahhhh...an active subwoofer system to partner my JM Lab Micron (traded up to a Micron Carat much later). this set up was inspired by a very popular choice many years ago, i.e. Spica TC-50 + Kinergeics subwoofer system. many years have gone (only recently), the subwoofer amp developed a problem and i had the opportunity to either, replace the subwoofer system or change to a full range speaker. i took the latter option and began to audition a chosen few. the RM22 blew me off at once, being dynamic, sweet, completely disappearing and convincing. but too bad......way too expensive for i wasnt prepared to spend THAT much. and then, i found the LSi15.....polk! reminded me of those commercialised mass market speakers of interest to non-audiophiles (the speakers had the last laugh!) re-reading WS's review from onhifi.com persuaded me to give them a listen, and i did. NOW I AM GLAD I DID! they are now sitting pretty in my listening room for 3 days now. once i have locked in their set up positions, i would install the spikes to securely couple them to the floor. in a few words........WOW, they sounded so much better than what i had experienced at my dealer's. way better bass that just surprises me (8 inch woofers?), unbelievable details, smooth mids where vocals soar... i will add more comments when the spks are run-in fully and the set up is complete.

Similar Products Used:

Paradigm Studio Ref 100v3. however, due to too short an audition, was unable to form a representative opinion. able to play very loud though and very good bass performance. PMC FB-1.....expensive yet nothing special. do not light any fire. like the Joseph Audio RM22...pity they are beyond my budget. moreover the local dealers are still selling the Mk 1! are they serious?

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Feb 19, 2004]
Cameron F
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Midrange - vocal, full range speaker, finish.

Weakness:

Not as transparent when compared to expensive electrostats. Cost is pushing the envelope for a dynamic speaker design at $1500.

Of the speakers auditioned under $1500 the Polk Audio LSi15 and NHT ST-4 were the best. The LSi25's bass was poorly integrated compared to the 15's. The 15's have a very forward vocal range, which grabs the listener. To some this may be to forward or it may be correctable once it's home with proper placement. The NHT for several hundred dollars less is a strong contender. The main difference between the two is in the midrange with Polk having a 2 to 1 advantage. Overall this speaker is a good choice, by far it's better than Infinity, Bose and Klipsh.

Similar Products Used:

Demoed Magnapan, Martin Logan, Infinity, Paradigm, KEF, NHT.

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
2
Showing 11-20 of 34  

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