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Upgrade from Polk Audio LSi9's

Just trying to gather up some ideas. I currently have a set of Polk Audio LSi9 speakers hooked up to a SimAudio intergrated amp and fully modded Museatex Bitstream DAC and Museatex Transport done by John Wright. All wiring is Moray James, Kimber and Harmonic Tech's.

The Polk Audio LSi's have been a great pleasure but I'm starting to slowly outgrow them. They deliver a sweet sound and airy musical feeling when I listen. The lower bass is quite surprising, it's in a small room right now. And will be for quite awhile. What I lack in my music is that mid-bass and symbol smash. My music rangers from Bjork-Massive Attack to Nivrana, Alice in Chains, radiohead. I want to hear a bit more punch in the kick drums, a better definition of symbol smashes. All without adding harshness which is otherwise never there. My speakers basically disappear since adding the modded Museatex DAC and I want that to continue.

I have heard offerings from PSB, Paradigm, Energy and Monitor Audio. Quite honestly I don't think they can do what the LSi's can and I wouldn't consider this an upgrade. I would like to make the jump, and obviously listen on my own, but could I get a few ideas from people who have listened to better speakers. I'd like to keep it in and around $3k new or used. If somebody thinks they can do better then my existing speakers with less money then please fill me in. I would make the jump up (to higher then $3k) only if the speakers 1. would give me the ability to improve my sound from a small room and 2. would not outmatch my Simaudio intergrated amp. The Museatex stuff is staying.
lush

Showing 3 responses by tim916

tim916
52 posts
 
Since you are using a Simaudio integrated you might want to check out some Dynaudio's. I just recently aquired a Simaudio W-3 and it matches very well with my Special 25's. In comparison to my McCormack DNA-125 it is a bit warmer, yet more detailed and more dynamic at the same time. If you are using a small room your integrated should have plenty of juice.

I have had LSi7's, and while they are a good speaker for the money, anything in the Dynaudio Contour series is in another league. You also might want to look at Totem's, too.
tim916
52 posts
 
I actually aquired the LSi7's for a seperate home theater system but I did put them into my 2-channel system for a week or so just for kicks. My system at the time was a Denon DVD-3800 feeding a modded ART DIO DAC, Innersound preamp, and McCormack DNA-125. I found the LSi's to have a slightly warmer presentation (although, IMO, not as accurate) than the Dyn's but not as coherent and not nearly as engaging. The Dyn's would just suck me right in after a few minutes while with the Polks I would end up getting bored after a while. The Polks did have impressive bass for their size.

Now bear in mind that this was not really a fair fight when you consider the price differential between these speakers and the fact that the LSi's were not broken in.

The reason I originally bought the Dynaudio's was because I could listen to them all day. A lot of speakers were impressive for the first 15 minutes of the audition, and then would become fatiguing. The Dynaudio's were the opposite. Nothing about the sound stood out initially, but all of a sudden I would look at my watch and realize that I had been in the sound room for 2 hours. Try and find a dealer who will let you do an in-home audition, or one who will at least let you listen in the store for more than 20 minutes at a time.
tim916
52 posts
 
Lush,

I originally had the Special 25's in a smallish room (14x9') and I never found the bass to be out of control or boomy. I don't think that Dynaudio's are more likely to be affected by being placed near a room boundary than any other speaker (in terms of the bass response). It could be that those who found them to be out of control when placed near the walls might have been sitting in a room mode. As always, listening to a speaker in your own room is the only true way to tell.

I've not heard the Paradigm S2's that some of the other members are suggesting, but they certainly seem intriguing. I'll be the first to admit that Dynaudio's are expensive (with an approximate 10% increase coming 3/1!), but they are one of the few speaker companies who has virtually total control over the design, components, and manufacturing of their products and I do believe that plays a big part in delivering a superior product, albeit at a higher price than many of their competitors.
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