Lower end and great tweeter..

none

These are astounding speakers for under $700.00 there the best. Better than the BW 804's in my opinion. They have a better lower end and the tweeter is smoother on the Lsi9.. Acoustic Sound Design is the place to get them..

Customer Service

Customer service was great. Quick friendly service......

Rich full sound, very detailed and precise in the midrange.

Bass is a bit weak will probably add a subwoofer. Nevertheless the speakers perform surprisingly well given their size.

Very pleased. These bookshelf speakers offer incredible clarity in the midrange and decent bass response. They are attractively finished.

Customer Service

Ordered from www.acousticsounddesign.com. They shipped promptly and double boxed, responded immediately to email questions before and after sale, and offered the best price by a significant margin on the web.

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Polk SDA 2B.

The little speaker that could...sound as good or better than speakers costing 3-4 times as much; and doing it in a size that is remarkable. Top to bottom, fit and finish, this speaker is the real deal.

Unfortunately...and I hate to say this, I fear many people will foolishly dismiss the LSi line because of Polks mainstream appeal. Please...don't let that be a reason to at least audition these speakers.

While I don't consider myself an audiophile, I have owned many fine speakers over the years. Of all those I have owned, I have never been more impressed than I am with this small package from Polk.


At barely 15" tall the sound that comes from these speakers are amazing. Detail, depth and soundstage are delivered in spades...while I have never heard a speaker this size deliver such incredibly deep and tight bass.


I've now got these speakers temporarily sitting on a pair of Paradigm Ref 100v2...and other than the most deepest bass notes, you'd be hard pressed to pick which one was playing. In fact, from the mid-bass on up, these LSis deliver a presentation that is transparent in comparison.


Listening to them next to my older Infinity Renaissance 90's reveals many of the same attributes that I love about that speaker; great detail and clarity at the top-end without any grain or harshness. While again, lacking in the very bottom end compared to these towers, the LSis make up for that with a soundstage that adds incredible height and depth to the presentation. Even at retail, these speakers are a downright steal.

Similar Products Used:

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

Downright cheap speaker price for the quality.

Impressive dynamics, terrific soundstage.

Heavy, well damped, and albeit beautiful cabnets. Look far more expensive than actual cost.

High quality components, drivers, crossovers, wood sides.

Musical, satisfying sound. Awesome set up would be an all tube pre with a solid state power plant.

It would be a sin at these prices.

With a street price of $649 to $899 at the time of this writing, I don't think there's any serious competition for the LSi9 when all things are considered.

Irrespective of price, if LSi9 isn't an audiophile grade speaker, I sure as hell don't know what is.

Pop the grills off the LSi9's and you'll be greeted with a very high tech look and it isn't just fancy cosmetics. Most companies do a good job with cosmetics and hide the cheapiness of their products inside. I wanted to see inside for myself so I popped off the cone drivers and let me tell you did I have a wide grin when I saw those little 5-1/4" rubber wrapped cones nestled in beautiful cast metal baskets.

Other than B&W, I know of no other loudspeaker manufacturer that has mentioned laser interoferometry testing or similar such testing of their drivers. Folks, judging by the Polk website and reviews here in, iit appears to me that Polk did their homework on this model and I was really curious to delve deeper into these speakers.

Then I popped the ring radiator tweeter, that was a beefy and well made component as well. Now with the help of a LED light, I could see inside very well and I wanted to get a look at that crossover.

Removing 4 screws at the rear released the terminal housing and with a little figgeting, out popped the crossover. Another sh-- eating grin! I don't know much about electronics, but the circuit board was thick and attached to the other side of the terminal plate by 4 screws affixed to integral posts on the terminal housing. I saw some fairly large caps and coils in there symmetrically layed out. The workmanship and quality of components looked exceptional. Even the wiring was impressive, thick clear jacket and braided copper wiring. Nice!

The other thing I noticed was poly sheet, approximate 2-1/2" thick lining the top and bottom of the cabinet. Internal bracing was achieved with triangular wedges. Suffice it to say I was fairly satified that judging from the internal view of the LSi9, this wasn't just another pretty paper tiger.

With everything back in place, the drivers went back to the D'Appolito configuration with the tweeter sandwiched between the drivers. You'll see similar configurations in some of the very best speakers out there. NHT T5 and T6 monitors for example share a similar layout, in fact the T6 with subwoofer modules earned a Stereophile Class A rating as the lowest price speaker system in a catagory dotted with speakers in the like the Willson's Maxx 2 at $45K.
You'll also be pleased to see the LSi9's ring radiator tweeters on some much more expensive loudspeakers as well. Man was I stoked!

I broke the speakers in extensively at low to moderate listening levels for about 50-60 hours and approaching concert levels for maybe 50 hours, though not continuously. Meaning, I'd play them loud for a couple of songs, then tune down while I made another CD selection. Initially, I think it's importmant that you just run current from your amp through them, and less importantly how loud their playing. If you're wondering how loud to play them during breakin, I'd suggest you should not overpower them to the point where they'll pop and certainly don't play them louder than you'll listen them at their loudest. You can't enjoy music if you destroy your hearing.

With the grilles, those piano black tops and cherry wood sides not only give the LSi9 a "this is an expensive speaker look", but they look pretty cool with those bass port diffusers in the rear. Also the wood grain varies from pair to pair, so you're not getting a pair that looks exactly like everybody else's. That's important to me.

Finally the time to listen came. I set the LSi9's approx. 8 feet apart on center sitting on Atlantis reference stands, wife out shopping, kids at school, I was ready to blow some dust around my basement hideaway (my secondary "B" system so to speak) with the LSi9's.

Like many of the previous revewers, I find the LSi9's to possess an excellent soundstage, both wide and tall. Lots of speakers have a wide soundstage, but the musicians sound like their 4 feet tall. Not so with the LSi9's. The musicians and instruments are spaced and presented in tagible terms and I certainly did not notice any congestion or soundstage implosions at high volumes.

The ring radiator tweeter is very detailed though not harsh and these speakers are a joy to listen to for extended periods. With the grilles on, those piano black tops and cherry wood sides, the cool rear bass port diffusers, everything in total gave the LSi9's a "yeah dude, this are really expensive speakers".

If you've stumbled upon this speaker by accident as I did, it'll certainly get you off the speaker merry-go-round for a while. At the very least until you have a couple of grand burning a hole in your pocket. My personal opinion, the LSi9 is destined to become a sought after classic by collectors. Certainly a keeper in my book.

Forsure use speaker jumpers or biwire these! I made my own jumpers, but Cardas makes some great ones and reasonably priced.

I'm using the LSi9's with a collection of gear that was just sitting around and not being used, most of it purchased in 1991. Amp is a Carver TFM-45, Parasound PHP 850, Cambride Audio Azur 640 CD player, Mint Carver Tx11a Tuner (ebay), Carver TD-1500 Cassette, Musical Fidelity Tube Buffer, Audioquest Diamondback interconnects, PS Audio X-treme Plus Cables, Jumpers made from KnuConcepts Silver Plated Copper Cable and Monster bananna plugs, Warfdale 10" 100 watt floor firing sub (close out at $99) with the driver facing the rear of the room and tilted up 30 degrees on auralex monitor pads. Power conditioning ONEAC 16 amp conditioner for amps feeding into an older APC unit powering the CD, Pre, etc. A low buck system to be sure, but very satifsfying and musical sound with ample testosterone.

Customer Service

Crutchfield is outstanding in their commitment to customer service.
Having a 5 year manufacturer's warranty and serial numbers for the products I purchased was well worth the extra cash for me.

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Use your own ears and tell us about it!

Size and crisp clean highs as well as deep lows.

None

These are great speakers. They sound like the top of the line floor standing speakers yet are nicely hidden. Great value!

Customer Service

GREAT!

Similar Products Used:

None

Very suprising and satifying musical presentation. Sounds right from top to bottom. Detailed, crisp, light, yet sufficiently smooth thanks to the ring radiator.

They keep the stage together at higher levels.

Spooky to think that the interconnects in my "B" system cost more than the LSi9's.
Truly a bargain.

Quite a few people will want to get better gear upstream to take full advantage of the LSi9's and that'll take you back a few bucks.

More fun with a sub., speaker stands ran me about $400.

No kidding, these little speakers are all killer and no filler. Cabinet construction is extremely solid and heavy. No qualms about fit and finish either. I've got the cherry sides on mine and they look like damn expensive speakers.

Wide and stable soundstage that extends behind the speakers and outside the speakers as well. Much wider sweetspot than typical tweeter over woofer designs. Lean back in your chair, tilt your head to the side, the instruments and vocalists stay put.

If you're an audiophile and looking to build a second system with the extra stuff you've got lying around and don't want to break the bank, seriously, check out the LSi9's.

How do the LSi9's compare to my $4,500 monitors with a similar driver arrangement? Let me put it to you this way, I don't think there's another bookshelf anywhere near the price tag of the LSi9 that gives you a taste of what's possible in high end 2 channel audio.

Some people have mentioned that you need to give them more volume so that th midrange comes alive. Honestly, to some extent it's the speakers, but I think that may also have something to do with the pre-amp as well. Some pre-amps really don't open up the midrange very well at low listening levels.

I'm still in the process of breaking them in. I'm gentle with the break-in starting at about 10 hours a day 1-5 watts for 30-50 hours then up to 16 watts for same, and so on. My opinion is that I think speakers sound better if you slowly temper the voice coils as opposed to jamming them at high levels right off the bat. The surrounds will loosen at virtually any volume level, but it's the voice coils that move the cone and create the sound. LIkewise, if I'm going to any jam any speakers to concert levels, I like to give them at least half hour to an hour or so warm up time to loosen up. Can you hear the difference?

Don't advise using a receiver as these are 4ohm and not the most efficient speakers on the market.

Exceptional speaker for the money. A truly enveloping experience. Clean and crisp highs, with punchy bass. These put every $1000-$2000 speakers to shame I've auditioned to date. Word of caution....these need amplification most receivers do not have. I first tried these with a very robust receiver (not naming names) at 120w/channel. These just did not open up and I felt something was wrong. I sensed it was the receiver and not the speakers, though. I was right once I added a separate processor and amp to the mix. These speakers opened up in a way I simply cannot describe other than "who removed the blanket". Goodness, these are great speakers.

Amazing bass, great midrange.

Excellent speakers, especially given their size. Amazing bass for bookshelf speakers, great midrange. Sound as good as speakers costing twice as much. Great price at AcousticSoundDesign.

Everything

Have found none something i can't say about lots of speakers priced 5 or 6 times more.

The LSI9'S are unbelievable especially for the price. I have auditioned for hours much higher priced products such as theil, def tech, and B&W and would put the Polk LSI9's up against any of them with no problem. These speakers can handle everything you throw at them and my Brystons have been there and done that and the LSI9's still perform exceptionally. The warmth of the midrange and tingling of the Highs are non-fatiguing and what has shocked me the most is the Bass these little guys put out. Great Product and a super steal for the price!

Similar Products Used:

B&W, Theil, paradigm, and Definitive Technology

Crisp Sound Strong Bass Beautiful Cabinet

Low Impedance requires careful selection of receiver/amplifier.

Had this pair for about three months now, powered by a NAD C320BEE and they are just fantastic. Very clean mids and highs. I am continuosly amazed at how much bass comes out of these bookshelfs. I got a good deal at www.acousticsounddesign and plan to buy another pair along with a Polk LSiC to complete 5.1. I am really glad I bought these speakers.

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Polk Monitors Bose Klipsch