VERY OPEN SOUND...EXCELLENT SPEAKERS....WELL MADE! LOVE THE TWEETERS!!!!

(MAYBE) LIMITED BASS. WITH A GOOD AMP IT'S BORDERLINE!

THESE SPEAKERS ARE HOT!!!!!!VERY OPEN AND THE SOUND IS GREAT. DO NOT BUY CHEAP AMPS/RX'S FOR THESE. I USE NAD AND THE SOUND IS GREAT....YEA...YOU PROBABLY NEED A SUB-W FOR THE BEST FROM THIS SET UP....OTHER SPEAKERS I HAVE OR LIKE ARE THE PARADIGM ATOM'S AND NHT SUPER ONE'S....IF YOU'RE ON A BUDGET THESE ARE A MUST BUY. THE NLY DRAW BACK IS DEALING WITH RADIO SHACK...THEY ARE DEAD IN THE SMARTS DEPT....THE STORE HELP HERE HAS THE PERSONALITY OF DAY OLD COLD COFFEE...IF THE HIGHER UP'S AT THE SHACK KILL THESE SPEAKERS...I REST MY CASE...RATING 4+ WITH SUB-w 5+

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BOSE (OH NO!)

Highs

Lower bass

I bought these a couple of months ago on sale $149/pair and I love them, very clear highs, not harsh at all. You need a sub with these people, no question. Overall the best $150 pair of speakers you will find.

Those amazing tweeters. The amazingly low price. Stellar imaging and detail for any speaker at any price, IMHO.

No low bass, but everyone knows that. Why would anyone expect any... get a subwoofer!

After reading the Audiophile review of these (they actually LIKED something under $1000 a side!!!) I had to try a pair. I ended up buying 3 pairs, and I use them now for my home theatre setup. While there isn't deafening volume (I'm too old for that anyhow), the sound is quite extraordinary, matched with 2 Boston THX subwoofers driven with a pair of honkin' BGW (yes, like in your old disco!) pro amps run in mono. I ended up buying their matched center channel (whatever the model is), which really does tonally match the sides very well. The overall package is very outstanding, for cheap. I love the musicality of the speakers, and really use them far more for music than for theatre. I like all kinds of music on these, but female voices, like Diana Krall's, really have life. Strings are rich & detailed. I'm a classic guitarist. The sound of a good guitar recording on these really sounds like the guitar is there in the room with you. The attack of a steel-string acoustic guitar is reproduced accurately. Even Jimi sounds great, though. Overall, an outstandingly rare value. Happy listening.

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Nothing ever so small, but dozens of pairs of speakers through the years, in fact I have probably 7 pairs of speakers in the house now. I've used large planars, old Altec Model 14 & 15 monitors (still have those), upgraded Advent Ones (ditto), Polk Monitor 10s (ditto), many, many others.

nice highs

bass reproduction not too good

i just replaced my old dbx soundfiels with these new rs spkrs and love the difference. highs are crisp and clear and coupled with my new cambridge soundworks basscube 8, the bass is great. i've got them hooked up as my mains with some brand new rs accoustimass knockoffs as my surrounds. all in all, the sound is perfect for me. and i can't argue with the price either...i bought them for 59.99 per spkr after i found a coupon on radio shack's site. catalog price is 149.00 per and the sale price was 75.00, so $59 is a great deal!

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none

Great sound!!

Heard a pair at a freinds house and was very impressed, sold my old speakers that had a 15" woofer 4" mid and 3" tweeter, when i got these the sound quality was tons better! Using it with a Yamaha Sub and a DD and DTS Technics reciever SA-DX930, Using them as my mains and they sound better without the center speaker turned on!! Great overall speaker.

Great full sound, tweeter is not "harsh" Built like tank. Very wide distribution of high notes but still images nicely.

Heavy for wall mounting (nit) (use good anchor bolts!)

I bought these from Radio Shack for my rear speakers. I already had the matching LX-8s (also a really great speaker) for front speakers and I'm really happy with those.

Mine are under the RCA name called PRO LX-55. I compared these to the JBL NSP-1 system, Bose, etc. I think these sound much fuller and without the harsh and piercing tweeter sound that many tweeters produce. Money talks, and I bought these for $50 each (WOW!)on clearance and I got the matching wall brackets on close-out for $5! in fact, when testing these, I had about five other types of speakers side by side with the LX-55s and there was no debate that the LX-55s sounded the best. I have them mounted on the rear side walls in my 12 x 16 rec room. They are more than adequate for home theater and 5 channel stereo applications. I originally had them coupled with an 8" subwoofer but took the 8" sub back because my 12" sub overrides the 8" (obvious, I guess, but I wanted to try it to see what I was missing).

The LX-55 provides a very tight sound. It doesn't break up or distort, no matter how loud I crank it up. The separation for the rear channels is really great. Some people might not like the Linaeum tweeters. I like them because they are not "harsh" sounding like many other tweeter systems. The tweeters really spread out the sound but still keep a nice stereo image - this is really important if you have a bunch of people spread out in the room watching a movie. The book says that the frequency response goes down to 70 Hz, which is really amazing for a small 5" speaker like this - they definitely have a dull sound for their size. Obviously, these are not the best choice for front speakers, but they might be OK for a small room. Also, these speakers have a polypropylene woofer, which, in my opinion, should last a lifetime (same as the LX-8s). They won't rot or crack nearly as quickly as paper fiber cone woofers.

I listen to all kinds of music and watch all kinds of movies, so they are very versatile, at least to my ears. I also have the matching center speaker RCA PRO CS-550 (dual 5" with matching Linaeum tweeter)and an RCA 200 watt 12" subwoofer, RCA PRO-SW220P. My receiver is a Yamaha HTR-5450. This speaker combination, in my opinion, blows away the JBL NSP6 system (which I really liked but was just "missing" something in the sound). I have some classical music that is set to nature sounds (birds chirping, bees buzzing, falling rain, etc.) These sounds are really subtle and delicate and the LX-55 really brings them out (I think it is the tweeters). When I put in Van Halen or other heavy music, they really handle it. I also play/record classical guitar and these speakers do a great job at reproducing my acoustic recordings.

The speakers are quite heavy for their size. I don't think you would want to wall mount these without the factory wall brackets that I am using. The brackets themselves weigh a couple of pounds and you really have to torque them down to prevent the speaker's weight from twisting in the ball/socket connection. FYI, for wall mounting speakers, Home Depot sells thin white plastic sleeves for hiding speaker wire in corners and along baseboards - it makes a really professional looking installation.

All in all, a really great bang for the buck (I would have paid $100 each for these and been just as happy with my purchase). They sound good, look good, and are probably indestructable. I've been using my matching LX-8s for about 4 years now and they still sound just great. I highly recommend these speakers and all the Radio Shack speakers that feature the Linaeum tweeters (but I think they are dropping these product lines rapidly - bummer).

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Bose, JBL, KLH, Pioneer

The tweeter is sweet.

No bass, definately needs a subwoofer

If I removed the optimus tag and replaced it with a bose one people would pay $500 a piece for them. Folks, this speaker has a ribbon tweeter, enough said.

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bw302, PSB alpha, NHT model 1.1, Paradigm Atom

Nice soundstage, not too bright. Nice cabinet quality.

Flat sounding mids, availability

Like Rob belows says, for the most part. These speakers have some nice qualities thanks to that wonderful dipole; they definitely put out a unique, pleasing sound. Too bad the Shack didn't put some more work into the cabinet acoustics and the other driver. These are -not- a very dynamic speaker, which I think makes them unsuitable for L/R mains by themselves. You definitely need a sub, though even that doesn't fill in all of the gaps. In my opinion, the Pro-88's are a better choice, even though they're more directional.

However, for rear surround use, I think the LX-5II's do a great job.

At $150 each, and if you like "the Linaeum sound", I say give the Pro-88AV's a listen first before you buy (if you can find them), or, look elsewhere. At $75 each, they're worth considering (with a sub) in spite of the shortcomings. I bought my pair for $127 (thanks to a RS coupon), placed them in the rear, and added a pair of outboard dipoles (same tweeter as the LX-5II) to complement my ancient Advent floorspeakers. That gave me dipoles all the way around, with the Advents easily providing room-filling bass & midrange, not to mention dynamic range. So far, I'm pleased with the result.

Value rating is for the =sale= price that I paid...

My system? Definitely average, mid-fi:

Yamaha HTR-5150 DD 5.1/DTS receiver
70's Advent "Large" L/R mains (with Optimus outboard dipole)
Optimus LX5-II L/R surrounds
Optimus Pro-X88AV center channel
Toshiba SD-1200 DVD player
Technics SL-23 turntable (also from the 70's)
JVC KD-65 cassette deck (ditto)

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Pro-X88AV

Unique dipole tweeter; small size; reasonable price (when on sale); on clearance now until...?

Mk.I version needed owner intervention to sound good (see below); Mk.II version better but not the most small speaker for the money; being discontinued

If there were other dipole-tweeter speakers in this price range or anywhere near it, it would be much harder to recommend the LX5, even the Mk.II version, without reservation.. but there aren't, so I do.

The Mk.1 sounded good, but most of what people liked about it was the sound of the dipole tweeter, which, to oversimplify, gives the sound a "roundedness". It's the quality of sounding more like plausibly real objects making noise in a room rather than sound being played over speakers. Oddly, one of the best ways to test for this plausibility effect is to leave the room where the speakers are playing, go outside and then come back in. Don't take my word for it, just try it sometime. The difference you hear, compared to most speakers, is due to the peculiar way a dipole puts its sound into a room. Ask any Magneplanar owner.

That aside, there were problems with the Mk.I, mostly due to Radio Shack's use of a woofer that needed a bigger box and a steeper crossover. It was otherwise a pretty good mid-woofer, but many people grew to hate the bass hump at around 100Hz and the uncontrolled 5KHz breakup-range peak that made the Mk.I difficult to live with over a long time. Some people just ripped the woofers out and replaced them with ones that cost more than the whole LX5, a Pyrrhic victory. Others of us simply lined the cabinet with dense fiberglass mats. Others designed and installed crossovers with steeper slopes than the 6dB/octave one that came standard. The best solution was to buy the Optimus passive subwoofer for $75, stuff socks in its port, and run the LX5s with everything below 200Hz lopped off and sent to the sub.

The Mk.II? It has a bigger cabinet and a different woofer, and it sounds pretty darn good right out of the box-- when price and uniqueness are considered. It could be improved or tweaked and sound even better.. but that goal is more easily attained by buying the tweeter assembly (also on clearance at $20) and plunking it down on your existing speakers, as mentioned in other reviews.

If you need something small, and you live in an apartment and deep bass is a liability rather than a virtue, get the LX5s while you can. They're cute, they reward careful placement, they're just a whole lotta fun. There's nothing else like them, unless you consider the stand-alone tweeter.

Remember, the whole trick to Radio Shack stuff is buying it, knowing that you're going home with the cockney girl who will, under your tutelage, turn into an audio fair lady. Think Pygmalion. Or Cinderella, if you will. Even without the tweaking, the Mk.II is something you'll probably grow to appreciate as time goes by.

By the way, the cutest touch is that the Mk.II uses a nightlight bulb as a cheap, effective input limiter. Turn off the lights, turn up the music and watch the ports dimly glow.

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ESS Heil-tweeter speakers, KLH 911B

bang for the buck

Well, bass--but what do you expect?

I've only been able to listen to these for a week or so, I bought 4 LX5's and am using the Radio Shack center speaker, and a homemade 10" driver transmission line sub. So far they sound fine for movies. (Onkyo 575 and Tosh 5109 DVD--and soon to be delivered Pioneer SD582HD5)The jury is still out on their use for my main stereo speakers (with Adcom separates)--more listening comparisons needed.

The best part...I have a friend at Rad Shack that got them for me at an additional 25% discount--so about $55 each for all 5 speakers. Now that's a deal!

I needed something reasonably priced after dropping a major load on the RPTV, DVD player, and receiver...these will fit the bill nicely until I can afford an upgrade--then they'll be great satellites for other rooms.

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homemade LS3/5a clones with KEF drivers and Falcon Acoustics xover