The new LSA Signature 50 Monitor "Disruptive Product"

I agree that Walter's website could be better.  However, I can find what I need on it and he always returns calls.  He has given me lots of advice over the years and I think that our ears are similar.  I get that someone may not like one or more of his products.  However, I have several Audio GD pieces and his top line monitor as well as a Melco server/cd player ripper.  Very very satisfied with my purchases and his customer service website be damned.

The measurements are not very flattering. 

https://youtu.be/je15RBbhvF4

Funny to think that the organizers nor any of the attendees of the 2022 AZ AV Club Speaker Fest (about 150 attendees) noticed that the LSA Signatures 80s had a woofer disconnected. One person picked them as their favorite.

Nice try.

Just read the tone publication review of the LSA signature 80 and sounds like they are excellent speakers.

I rarely get involved in any chat rooms as I don't have the time but I would like to point out that the pair of Signature 80's that they got at the AZ speaker fest was our original and only design pair. When we got them back one of the woofers was not hooked up. Must have come loose as they were shipped 5 times before they got to AZ. It is a shame as they are wonderful speakers.

As to the website comments, I agree that it is poor but I work 70 hours a week, 7 days a week and have to talk to all customers as well as pay the bills and post products on the site. It just keeps growing over the last 23 years. It is not going to change until next year when we do a new site with click to buy.

I do not monitor these posts so anyone who has issues or questions can call me at my original 770-667-5633 Georgia number. It has not changed for the 23 years that I have run the business. I now live in Hawaii but we use the original number and still ship from our Georgia warehouse.

Walter

underwoodwally@aol.com

770-667-5633

I purchased from Walter ( underwood hifi) many times and I had excellent experience with his company. I love the fact that I can talk to someone over the phone and ask as many questions. Maybe I am an old school buyer 🤣

When dealing with Underwood, it’s best first to check out very carefully their return/non-return policy on new goods.

This is another area where Underwood is very different from Crutchfield, Music Direct, Audio Advisor, etc.

@grislybutter i was ready to buy their new integrated a while back,  but then saw how "weird" everything was. i went with a van alstine pre-amp instead.  i am curious as to how good these speakers are though. I'll probably never find out. anyways, happy trails. 

@shtinkydog

yes, when I wrote "online retailer" I thought: "and you can’t click on anything to buy it", you have to call and email your info and then wait for an email that arrives a day later that doesn’t confirm anything and then wait for an invoice, in the mail, a week later, separate from the shipment, another 3 days later, a very convoluted and scary process compared with ordering from a web site with clear instructions about the process, step by step, and complete transparency.

@grislybutter i get your point. i've always thought the same.  the site is a bit sloppy and redundant.  and there's no cart.  you have to call or email this guy to order anything.  you think that's weird?  look at his hours and phone number.  i think he is in hawaii but has a georgia phone number.  very confusing. im not bitching about his products, just his sloppy site. 

@misstl

No I didn't but let me clarify it for you. (although I spelled it out "the content and the menus")

design - I meant the look of any page - without touching it. In a web site, everything is "designed". What I talked about was not the LOOK but the content, structure,  navigation and consistency. So again, I didn't say a word about background, colors, fonts, images, all that. I wouldn't know where to start.

I had a lot more problem with the speakers than a wrote about. I went very easy on them by keeping it to what I said. They were scratched, (and the slightest touch would scratch them more) I couldn't return them, I sold them for less than half what I paid after a few months of trying everywhere and getting lowball offers. I lost 800 dollars. 

But again, you are right, they may have been fantastic speakers in another room, another amp, etc.

@grislybutter 

Weird... you say "let's put aside the design" and.....  then you complain about the design.

Sorry you didn't like the speakers you bought from them. You didn't say which model, but many of their speakers have garnered good reviews. But that just goes to show that everyone has their own opinions. Even the most well regarded items have their detractors. Pick any speaker brand -- Harbeth, Devore, Klipsch, B&W, Dynaudio, Magnapan and so on -- and you'll find some who love them and others who think they are overpriced trash.  No surprise that there is the same range of opinions about LSA.

@mlsstl

let’s focus on the facts:

this is an online retail store

let’s put aside the design.

the content and the menus look like a botched middle school project from 1997. I am no web design guru, but I’ve built a lot of web sites, it’s literally less than a day for a student to put together a site like this, in a user friendly format.

The lack of any standards, structure, navigation, formatting is astounding.

But you are right, if customers are OK with this, why change it.

One more thing: I purchased from them, a pair of LSA speakers. It was far worse than any other speaker I tried and for far more money than the competition in the same category. So for me, it does not add up. The money they save on design ($300 to be generous) does not manifest in added value for the customer.

And that’s what tricked me, originally, I thought they their products must be so good, so outstanding that they can afford to not care about the web site. I was wrong.

good learning experience

@grislybutter -- well, I'd agree that the web site design has a strong scent of amateurishness, but then I've seen endless numbers of web sites over the years that fall in that camp.  Underwood has been around for many years and seems to be doing well, and since they only sell on the internet, the amateur web design approach seems to work for them.  I'd guess their way of thinking is, if it works, why change it?  And, like any other retail operation, if you don't like it, you don't have to buy anything from them, do you?

@mlsstl 

the colors, the design, the logic, the missing info, the lack of structure, the redundancy, all that. I am not asking for much, just the minimum of consistency and transparency. 

@grislybutter -- explain what?  It's an online retailer that sells audio gear. Some of it is from other manufacturers, and some of the gear is their own house brand - LSA. 

The LSA Signature 80 was one of the poorest performers.

The ATC SCM11 and KEF R3 monitors tied for second.

The Triangle Comete monitor came in third.

The judging was done by the attendees, audiophiles and music lovers, not reviewers or forum shills.

can anyone explain the web site https://www.underwoodhifi.com/

?

I've heard that their Signature 80s were not so disruptive at the recent AZ AV Club Speaker Fest.

This one definitely seemed to be disruptive. Apparently smoked some very highly regarded competitors, many better than LSA.

Buchart Audio S400 MkII

@amorstereo Any update on the LSA Signature 80 review?

I received my Signature 50s today, and I have to say for the $499.99 I paid for these, I find it hard to believe they can manufacture these for anywhere near that price. The FedEx man asked me if there were in fact a pair of speakers in the box. When he handed the box over to me, I was shocked at the weight! Has to be about 55 to 60 pounds. Also, the pictures that have been shown in the various review, don’t do these justice. I will check back in after they are broken in, but thus far I am loving what I am hearing from these.

@passthedutchie Thanks for your post.  I have always been hesitant to plug ports and mess with speaker designers' original intent but I will consider it.  I currently have Tektons and KEFs in my house and really enjoy them both.

I have a pair of LSA Signature 50s that’s replacing the KEF LS50WIIs I’d grown unhappy with (because of their ultimately harsh/fatiguing top end). Of course the LSAs are passive so I’m driving them with a separate streamer/amp, an NAD C 700. It’s a very capable and enjoyable combo that easily bests the KEFs, at least in my room (home office).

@dlm110 Like the KEFS before them, I use the LSAs as desk-based nearfields, four and a half feet apart, three-plus feet from my face, and barely eight inches from the rear wall. After plugging the ports the wall placement is not an issue — there’s no boominess.

The LSAs are fast, surefooted, on the warm side of neutral, and seem to like almost everything I throw at them, from Michael Franks to Metallica, Yello to Rammstein. They can really rock, no Roon equalization needed. In addition to the LS50WIIs, I compared them side by side with the JBL L52s and the Monitor Audio Bronzes; I prefer the LSAs, not even close. I don’t know that I’d call them disruptive, but at $600 they sure are a sweet bargain.

If it matters, my tastes seem to mirror Terry’s (the OP) to some extent. That is, I too own large Tektons as my reference speakers.

I have had a total of five listening guests come over to hear the LSA Signature 50s. The setup is each is a "blind" listener in that they did not know the brand or price of the speaker, and brought their own music to audition the speaker.

Everyone thought the Sig 50s sounded great in their performance across all sonic parameters. They then were asked to visually examine the pair for build quality. I then asked them based on performance & build quality what they thought the pair would retail for. The lowest amount was $3000, up to $5,000! One of the listeners had owned a brick and mortar store at one time and was shocked that anyone could sell such a high performing and physically attractive speaker for pennies on the dollar.

I've had the pleasure of hearing the LSA Signature 50's at Teajay's.  They are an amazing value.  "Disruptive" is well said.

What resonated with me the most is how transparent they were and the ability to energize the room for their size/price.   Of course, they were backed with Teajay's impeccable, dead-silent electronics, but they did not seem like an obvious weak link in the chain.

I could add color around sound staging, imaging, texture, decay and the rest.... but simply put, IMHO, they do a great job across the audiophile-lingo-spectrum at mid-fi pricing. 

Aesthetics and build quality also deliver on the value equation.  The stands seemed solid and the set-up looked better in person than I expected.

The only downside I could point to is mixed feelings over the "Sonus Faber Copy" design, which some may have a philosophical difference with.

Overall, I can't see how someone could complain for the money.  

I should be getting the Signature 80's in for review next week. I'll post my first impressions when I have a chance to listen to them.

@amorstereo cool review. I am on the lookout for a stand mount below $2000 for my Lyngdorf TDAI-1120, after sending my Buchardt A500’s back after evaluation ( just did not resonate with me, lacked sparkle). I look forward to your review of the LSA 80’s. The other speaker I am considering is the Ascend Sierra LX.

The designer of the LSA 50/80/Statement has some links to measurements and his small YouTube channel on DIY Audio where he’s a pretty popular member, but seems this is a new designer and not the one who did the LSA signature line. Frequency response for the 50s was pretty even from the graph he shared, 80s seem to tip up in the treble a few dbs to give a more  refined or detailed sound I imagine.

@amorstereo looking forward to some early thoughts on the 80s once you receive them.

Thanks again amorstereo.  I will probably pass on the LSA 50s for that application but I have been curious for a while regarding the whole line.  I hope Underwood considers producing an LSA center channel for those of us who have multi use systems.

Dave

Hey Dave,

As I stated in my review, you need to give them at least two or three feet off the front wall because they have deep, taught, accurate bass extension that could be muddled if placed to close the front wall. Remember, you could always try, Underwood Audio has an excellent return policy, if they would not work out in your placement situation.

@hilde45 the Klipsch RP600M is $399.00 so you save $100.00 buying the 600M

These may not be giant killers, necessarily, but given what people spend on, say, the Klipsch RP-600 M, these are killers of some kind.

I am in the market for some new bookshelves but I have a limitation (room and wife driven) where they would be about 10" from the back wall.  So, I have been limiting my search to sealed and front vented.  Anyone have any thoughts about how these would do that close to a wall behind them?  Thanks.

Dave

Hey cd45123,

If you do purchase the Signature 50s please let us know what you think of them on this thread.

Thanks for thumbs up on my review.

@amorstereo really enjoyed the review and looking forward to your take on the 80s.

For $600, I’ll take a spin. 
 

Hoping someone at Stereotimes will review the new LSA tube integrated, too.

@amorstereo Looking forward to your review.  I think you have the Statement-20s? — and if so it’d be very interesting (bass extension aside) how the new monitors compare, especially from the mids on up, imaging/soundstage, ya know — the good stuff.  Keep up the good work!

86 db sensitivity may be a significant factor in years past but need not be an issue with modern amp technology.  You just have to be smart and use the facts and not your emotions when buying. 

Hey @soix,

I will be getting the Signature 80's in for review next week. I'm very curious about how different they will sound then the Signature 50's. Very different materials used in the drivers and double the price. I'm sure they will present differently, but "better" we shall see.

Teajay

It looks like the 10’s are no longer listed on the Underwood website. 
I’m curious about the upcoming Signature 80’s… Cabinets look similar to Legacy Studio. Moving from the rear radiator to a more conventional rear bass-reflex port is interesting, as is the ribbon tweeter.

@soix 

I will say the review leaves me wondering if the Sig 50 makes the Sig 10 almost superfluous at least sonically?

“Never head them but they look like slavish knockoffs of Sonus Faber in terms of build/appearance”

I honestly thought that they were SF’s when I first saw them

SG got his points across, but shouldn't have taken 17:51 in which to make them. More details would've been appreciated. 

Maybe Steve Guttenberg was just being brutally honest. Terry London also claims cheap Tekton Double Impacts could beat stratospherically priced super speakers. 

Just say'in...

For what it's worth, here is Steve G's take on them:

First, somebody get that guy a decent meal.  Pretty lame review IMHO.  He harps incessantly on the bass and speaks very little about the all-important mids and almost nothing on treble.  Also very little said about imaging/soundstage, and these speakers were crying out to be pulled out another foot or so from the wall but guess that would’ve been too much work.  Sheesh.  This is more helpful as a music review than it is as a speaker review. All in all another fairly useless Steve G review except for the somewhat helpful but pretty limited comparison to the Klipsch he had on hand.  He sure is a happy fella though. 

Have done some transactions with Walter, he’s earned his rep ; and a soix stated above "kudos to Wally for continuing to push the price/performance bar ever higher. "

Appreciated the direct comparison comments offered in Steve's review

For what it's worth, here is Steve G's take on them:

86 db sensitivity…..I’m out….

Most monitors have a sensitivity at or around 86dB. I will say the review leaves me wondering if the Sig 50 makes the Sig 10 almost superfluous at least sonically? As a consumer all I can say I’d kudos to Wally for continuing to push the price/performance bar ever higher. No affiliation BTW.

86 db sensitivity…..I’m out….

Not questioning the review, but it would have been interesting to read specific comments comparing the sound of the LSA and the 3 other standmounts (whatever they are) in the $1700 - $3500 with the same tracks for further context & perspective.

@jond I can see why you'd say that. What is the price of a SF for a comparable speaker?

Never head them but they look like slavish knockoffs of Sonus Faber in terms of build/appearance.