Polk LSI25 VS ADS L1290

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Nolansm

New Member
Do I have these polks hooked up correctly? Or are they really just this shitty?

I feel like I could a $200 pair of Klipsch RM-15s with a 24-C center from Best buy and they would sound better than these Polk LSI25s.

I'm mostly ranting out of disappointment here, but the pair of ADS L1290s I have seem to sound better even when hooked up to a terrible receiver with no amplifier.

Perhaps I don't have enough power for the polks?

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The ADS are quite good. Can't blame the others for falling short. Much. ; )

The Polks, if new, may benefit from some break-in. Let them run at low to medium volume for a couple of days. Perhaps the surrounds are tight.
 
My guess is that I'm not driving them with enough power. Currently just driving them with an Onkyo TX-777 receiver.

I was playing with them earlier, and noticed that accent notes on solo piano aren't audible. The sound is flat throughout entire pieces. I can even hear such accents with cheap headphones.

Im sure my early frustration is a little uncalled for. But, it is interesting that accents can be clearly heard on ADS L1290s with 1/2 the power going to them.
 
Yes!!! My issue is indeed the same as his. I also have to turn the bass nob half way up and am experiencing the same things. I guess I better dig in to that online polk PDF. thank you!
 
Ok, since you bought them used there could be any number of problems, so it's hard to understand why you didn't consider that first.

Let's start with your AVR. It isn't rated to handle 4 ohm loads, which means it has a weak power supply, which means you need something else to drive the 4 ohm nominal LSi speakers.

From what you've described so far.....there is a 5 watt resistor in series with the tweeter that is known to fry as a result of excessive volume from a crappy power source. If you find that issue replace it with a 10 watt resistor. In addition, you may have bad plate amps.
 
Having difficulty uploading images which is a shame.

However, my receiver is currently on a 2.1 setting 4ohm Independence setting, (i can choose from 4, 6, and 8 ohms).

The back of the speaker actually has 1 wire on each side connecting the 4 plugs. One for the positive side, and one on the negative side. However, from pictures it looks like this is stock standard for these speakers. The manual does have various setups that involve RCA cables when using receivers with subwoofer outs, which mine has. I went ahead and purchased 2 RCA cables to try one of the configurations it suggests. (1 for sub left out, and 1 for sub right out, to plug into the sub ins on the speakers)
 
The specs for the TX-NR777 and TX-DS777 show they are rated for 6 and 8 ohms only. If you have the ability to select a 4 ohm setting what that does is limit the current to save the AVR from damage. Limiting current is exactly what you do not want to do.
 
Oh ok. That makes sense. It actually sounds a tad better when set on 6-8ohm so that makes sense.

Looks like I'll be purchasing an amp to feed these suckers more juice.

F1nut thank you for your help. If it were you and you had roughly $500 to spend on an amp, what would you purchase or look out for on eBay?
 
Nolansm said:
Oh ok. That makes sense. It actually sounds a tad better when set on 6-8ohm so that makes sense.

Looks like I'll be purchasing an amp to feed these suckers more juice.

F1nut thank you for your help. If it were you and you had roughly $500 to spend on an amp, what would you purchase or look out for on eBay?
Click to expand...

In that price range you're looking at Adcom, B&K or Parasound.
 
You know, I'm probably not pulling the best quality out of these speakers, but simply switching the subwoofer amp switch in the back from auto to ON, made all the difference in the world. All accents across all ranges are now clear, and symphonies sound more as they should.

I'm sure more power would still do some good, but something was definitely WAY off.

(Exiting audiokarma out of shame)
 
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