Chuck Staples

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
1 to 3 months

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 1.00 votes

Price Paid:  $399.00 from Polk Direct (eBay)

Summary:
I bought these to complement my Polk Lsi system that includes; Lsi15 up front, Lsi9 now in the rear, LsiC center channel, and Hsu Research VTF3-MK3 sub. My Onkyo receiver directs all sub-80Hz LFE information to the sub.

I use the LsiFx in dipole mode in a 7.1 system. They sound great and add great depth and spaciousness to the system as a whole. I have the tweeter about 3ft above seated ear height with all other tweeters at ear height.

The continuity in sound having all seven speakers with the same drivers and crossovers makes for a seamless experience.

I'm glad I added these. Although the usual price is about a grand from a reputable dealer, Polk sells on eBay and I bought these as "reburbished". I can't tell that they are anything but new. They look and sound brand new. The finish is the same outstanding glossy black as the other speakers. The grills are identical to the Lsi9.

Visually, these speakers aren't exactly invisible, but they look very professional so the wife-acceptance-factor is pretty decent (at least enough for my forgiving wife).

I'm giving these a 5-star rating for performance, and 5 stars for value in my case. If I paid a grand, I'd drop the rating a star or so.

Strengths:
Solid mid-range and highs. The lows are more than sufficient. And if you use these in a x.1 system, you have a sub, anyway. Very musical. Great fit and finish.

Weaknesses:
Not recommended for wimpy amps. They have an 88dB efficiency, so use an amp with sufficient current reserves. Having a powered sub will help in this regard.

The wall-mounting could be better. A template is included, but it can be difficult to get the pair of #10 screws for each 25lb speaker to stick out enough to tightly hold these against a wall.

obournjd

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 4 of 5

Used product for
Less than 1 month

Price Paid:  $649.00 from www.acousticsounddes

Summary:
These are great sounding speakers. Bought them to be front speakers in my bedroom until I change out the whole home theater to Polk in the near future and move them to the rear. Hooked up to my old Yamaha RX-V470 reciever (weak but still decent) and new Onkyo DX-C390 CD Changer this is a great sounding system for a bedroom. I bi-wired them also and this seems to add a little to the sound making them seem taller. Really have to play with the speaker placement since these are not front-firing and I recommend the bi-pole mode if you are wall mounting.

Strengths:
Solid base and crystal clear highs. Variety of speaker placement options for odd shaped rooms.

Weaknesses:
Not designed as a front speaker so know that going in and play with the placement to optimize. Appropriately placed these sound excellent as front speakers.

Similar Products Used:
Klipsch Heresy II

Price Paid:  $0.00 from www.acousticsounddes

Summary:
After auditioning many surround speakers for my 7.1 system, I chose the Polk Lsifx's. In my opinion, They produced the best, smoothest engulfing sound of surrounds I listened to. They are also switchable from dipole to bipole mode. Although much more expensive than other surrounds, I got a great deal online from www.acousticsounddesign.com which was substantially less than I could find anywhere else.

Strengths:
Having Identical drivers on both sides makes a big improvement over others that just place a tweeter on both sides. Polk's "ring" tweeters are a fantastic design.

Weaknesses:
None sofar

Similar Products Used:
Surrounds: Definitive Tech,Cambridge Soundworks