tower speakers advice

[greenzellybean]

I bet lot of folks asked this before...but here we go again..
I need some advice from audiophiles here...I am looking for floor standing speakers for my HT setup...I am planning on a projector with tower speakers setup...

couple of my friends have POLK RTi-12....they recommend LSi25...

any advice would be helpful...

thanks

[prerich]

Originally Posted by greenzellybean

I bet lot of folks asked this before...but here we go again..
I need some advice from audiophiles here...I am looking for floor standing speakers for my HT setup...I am planning on a projector with tower speakers setup...

couple of my friends have POLK RTi-12....they recommend LSi25...

any advice would be helpful...

thanks

Audition several different speakers in your price range and find the ones YOU like. You will be the person to live with them. I have heard good things about the LSi25's - I'm a vintage speaker person myself, but as I'm known for saying - its the users preference.

[kennyt]

$3,000 a pair gives you a lot of flexibility in speakers. Polk is a solid company, but you should be aware the LSi25's are 4 Ohm speakers, and I don't know what you use for a system, but many receivers will have a hard time and get really hot powering a 4 Ohm load, check your manufacturers website for this one.

I personally have been loving the new Definitive Technology Mythos ST's, while they just went up to $3,998 a pair, they also just released a slightly smaller version the STS's or SST's that sound the same, they just can't play quite as loud that retail for $2,998 a pair (don't worry, I clocked the ST's at over 110 dB in a very large and open room, volume is not an issue with these!) FWIW Sandy Gross, the head man @ Def Tech was one of the founders of Polk audio.

Prerich is absolutely right on about listening for yourself though, YOU will be living with them, YOU need to like them, and this means sonically as well as aesthetically. I would encourage you to go listen to as many different speakers WITH MATERIAL YOU ARE PERSONALLY FAMILIAR WITH (can't stress the last part enough, bring your favorite music and films, and try to use the same things for each system to best see the differences between them.

Look at speakers in your price range, some below, and as many above too. You are in the Chicago area so I am sure you can find some great audio dealers in the area, and many other cities are only a few hours away if you can't find something locally. Oh, if you do go to other cities to demo gear, call the store in advance, let them know what you want to look at and when you'll be coming by. It will save you the headache of a pompous salesman just blowing you off, and if you DO get that, then you simply grab the manager and tell him you even called to arrange this and are being treated poorly....... Sorry for the final warning there, but high end stores tend to miss the customer service thing a lot....

[deacongreg]

Wow kenny,


You said a whole lot right there. But prerich, kenny is right. Follow his instructions, and you should be fine. And enjoy the process while you do it.

[greenzellybean]

thanks guys, what's with the 4 Ohm specification?? I am a noob so don't laugh...

I am thinking of a Yamaha (Onkyo?? ) receiver with 7.1 and HDMI out (maybe 1080 up-conversion)

primary use 1 == movies, played on projector in basement....
primary use 2 == music for party's with drunk people...



thanks

[kennyt]

4 Ohms is the nominal (sort of baseline) resistance the speaker offers to the amplifier. This can and does change depending on the speaker and can go much lower, rarely higher.

Remember the old electrical equation..

V=IxR

Well, R is resistance, therefore for a given voltage more current is required for four than eight Ohms with the same voltage, so while it maximizes Wattage (VxI) it requires more I (current) for the same V (voltage) making an amp put out much more current, the very high end receivers are designed to handle this, but mid fi might not do as well.

In general, the lower the resistance of a speaker, the harder it is to drive effectively, and can cause excessive heat production and overload if the amp isn't designed to handle it.