LSA 20 Statement Speakers
I do not wish to sound negative about LSA speakers, but I recommend not purchasing them. I owned LSA 10 Statements a number of years ago and while they sounded good I later decided to purchase a pair of Harbeth P3esrs. The Harbeths were far better speakers. I do not have any experience with the LSA-20s, but I recall telling myself to never buy LSA speakers again. I would look elsewhere; with the other equipment you have, the LSAs may not be to their standard. I realize the professional reviews on these speakers are superlative, but so were the LSA-10s. After I had the speakers for a while I did agree with the reviews. |
never saw or heard them, my only reservation, I'm no fan of rear ports, so consider how those ports will work in your space, discuss it with underwood prior to purchase direct from underwood correct? great price, 30 day trial, if not tempted by something else, try them! ad here actually https://www.audiogon.com/listings/lisa7j50-lsa-group-lsa-20-signature-year-end-sale-save-1700-00-a-p... https://www.underwoodhifi.com/products/lsa-speakers |
I owned LSA 10 Statements a number of years agoThe newer Underwood LSA speakers haven’t been out that long. Maybe you’re thinking of the older LSA1? They are just another dynamic floor stander. Nothing special. If you want special get Sound Labs 545's. If you can't afford those get Magnepan 3.7i'sThat’s just uninformed ignorance from someone who has no idea who’s behind the development of these LSA speakers, and the Maggies are twice the price so another useless recommendation. @mbennes — given what you’re looking for I think you’ll be thrilled with the LSA-20 Statements or even the Signatures. They should be significant improvements over your RS6es in virtually every parameter. I’ve spoken with several people here who’ve bought them and every one of them has been shocked with how good they sound, and member Teajay bought the 20 Statements after reviewing them for Stereo Times. As a reviewer myself I can tell you we don’t buy review samples unless we’re seriously impressed — it’s the ultimate recommendation. Anyway, best of luck and do keep us posted on whatever you decide. |
The RS6 is a good speaker, neutral and revealing, so your other equipment and cables will determine what comes out of them. You can match a new set of speakers to your other gear or maybe replace your speaker cables with with something that will match better. I never heard LSA 20s, so I don't know much about them. |
@mbennes I was looking for a pair of speakers for my secondary system and considered the LSA 20's along with the Tekton Electron SE's. This system did not allow me to get the speakers as far off the front wall as I would normally prefer. Terry London was kind enough to speak to me. He clearly was impressed with the the LSA's (why else would he buy them?!). He is of course an authority on Tekton as well. After careful thought he did think that The LSA's might sound compromised in the quality of it's bass response with the rear of the cabinet and all those PR only 18" off the wall. So I went the the Electron SE's and am very happy with my choice. Not trying to steer you in a different direction--just giving some info on placement of the LSA's. I very much respect Terry London's opinion and given he actually bought them, they have to be an exceptional speaker. Not "just another dynamic floorstander". And I have to believe they would be a clear upgrade from your current speaker. |
I have a pair of Monitor Audio Studio 6s which could be bright on the top end sometimes and didn't have a lot of bass, but it depended on the the recording. With well recorded music they sounded great though. If there was weak bass on the music it wasn't there, but if there was heavy bass it was there and the same with the high end. So, the equipment and music you play is what these speakers give you. |
When I was looking to buy new speakers I too looked at LSA. I spoke with many of the reps from amp to pre-amp and dac producers. They all said the same about LSA. They are great speakers that are mostly designed and used as studio monitors. My first thought was that sounds good I want the speakers that the engineers use to dial in the final product why not be able to listen to the source sound. Then I ran into and old friend who was the drummer for the band I ran sound board for way back (he quit to go to Berkley music school Boston). He and I started talking about things and got to my speaker search and this is what took LSA off my list. He to said great speakers for monitors buy they are not forgiving, and will reveal everything. He said if the music you are listening to is pristine and produced great they will sound great, but if you have a poorly recorded or produced song they will reveal that poor quality and it will sound bad. Then he said you have to remember that most recordings had to be produced to sound only ok to account for all the sources people receive their music from. The producers had to make many compromises and sacrifices in the end product and LSA speakers will reveal all of these compromises, they will also reveal any of the nuances in your equipment. LSA speakers are in a way almost too good for consumer applications. I ended up buying Vandersteen 5’s and am very happy I did. |
The LSA 20 Statement Speakers must designed to provide accurate musical reproduction. It sounds as though Walter Lederman has changed important aspects from the original speaker line. I have a question from someone who owns the new 20 Statement Speaker....with those three woofers positioned in the back cabinet, what happens to the bass should the speakers be positioned closer to a wall? |
@soix , the LSA 20s are nicely made and that is about it. The engineering is very basic. Even you could probably master it. They are nothing special. This design has been drilled into the ground. The form factor is simply to please women as it seems they are not offended by it as much. Any improvement you can make would be marginal at best. Because they all have different diversions from a flat frequency response curve they all sound different. What people are doing is choosing the error they like best. |
@mijostyn — the LSA 20s are nicely made and that is about it. The engineering is very basic. Even you could probably master it. They are nothing special. This design has been drilled into the ground.Really? And what design is that? Dynamic drivers with a crossover in a box? Perhaps you could dazzle us with your deep understanding of exactly how the crossover in the 20s is designed? I won’t hold my breath. Because they all have different diversions from a flat frequency response curve they all sound different.Well welcome to the real world! Maggies and Sound Labs don’t measure flat either Einstein. And any speaker that does would sound like crap in a real room, so you’re just chasing your tail in fantasy land there chum. You don’t like box speakers with dynamic drivers — we get it. But overgeneralizing the sound of the design and saying any improvements will be marginal is just ignorant and silly and provides no benefit to the OP or this thread. |
@mbennes Probably the safest upgrade bet, how about moving up the Monitor Audio speaker line starting at the Silver 300, or maybe purchase a Gold 200 or stretch to a Gold 300? You may move even farther up the Monitor Audio line if you buy used. A comparison review: https://theaudiophileman.com/gold-200-floorstanding-speakers-review-monitor-audio/ Based on the quality of reviews, the LSA 20 seem like a price/performance bargain. Ideally you'd like to demo them in your own system. However, without listening first you won't know if you prefer the LSA over the Monitor Audio sound - it's a risk. |
We had the Bookshelf bottom end LSA 2019 speaker. I can not recall if it was the signature or the statement model but it was the cheaper one. Our club had 10 speakers. The only pair that someone wanted to buy was the LSAs. I had them at my home for a week and not only loved the looks but the sound was excellent too. Not sure what your budget is? Or if you are buying new or used? So it is hard to make a suggestion for comparison. |
@mijostyn “The engineering is very basic. Even you could probably master it.” I know Dan Wiggins was part of this design team. I made the acquaintance of him before he even launched Adire, and his low frequency drivers are exemplary. The engineering in this speaker is FAR from “basic”. @mbennes Ive been close to pulling the trigger on these too. But for MY listening preferences and content, I am leaning to Maggies. While room is relatively small (12.5 x 22), up to 3.7’s can work well, and room is dedicated, so their somewhat imposing aesthetic is not a problem. My concern is missing the next (low) octave - happy enough or need to try to integrate a sub. But I am considering a comparison home trial if I can get the same trial period for the Maggies.. |
Appreciate your input...thank you! Our son is expecting their second child. Following that and our visit I’m pulling the trigger. Leaning toward the LSA 20 Statement, but the new Elba 2 also looks promising. Talked to Wally regarding a Statement purchase. My room size should work if I can place the back of the speakers a couple of feet from the wall. From what Photographs tell me, they are Beautiful Speakers. |
These speakers exceeded my expectations and I have no regrets. Coupling the LSA-20 Statement speakers with your Pass gear and VPI turntable will indeed give you musical pleasure for years to come. My baselines for speakers include Vandersteen, Totem, Quad, Aerial, B&W, Dynaudio, and Wilson. I have owned B&W, ADS, and Vandersteen speakers, and the LSA-20 Statements give me everything I loved about these speakers, but they do it much better. I recommend these to you without reservation. You can see my Audiogon Virtual System post at https://systems.audiogon.com/systems/9586. Happy listening! |
The LSA 20 Statement Speakers remain my next audio purchase. Your familiarity with a number of high end audiophile Speakers provides more incentive to make the purchase. Having just returned from a visit to North Carolina to hold our new granddaughter, we discovered the central air in our home needs replacement. For now my purchase will be delayed....but not for long. I noticed those platforms under your LSA 20 Statement’s. Are they a MapleShade product? My Pass equipment, Music Hall CD player and VPI turntable are positioned in MapleShade Turn Table stand... three four inch solid maple shelves. Extremely solid and very attractive. Thank you again for your encouraging insight.. |
A relative has a pair of these. I have spent some hours listening to them via CD. I thought they sound quite nice-smooth with a lot of detail. Nothing wrong with them but somehow the more I listened to them the less I liked them. I can understand why many people would buy them but there was something generic about their looks and sound that put me off. Must admit that I would never buy a speaker made in China when there are so many other choices these days from non slave labor countries so take that in account when reading my comment. |
I have three sets of LSA speakers. Original bookshelf .5, upgraded crossover bookshelf 1's and original LSA 1 towers. The LSA 1 bookshelf speakers and the towers can both be bi-amped. I was using an older Music Hall Maven with the LSA 1 bookshelf bi-amped. I thought this sounded good but something was missing. I found a NAD M2 locally. I am using the NAD M2 to bi-amp the LSA 1 bookshelf speakers. The bi-amping brings out the midrange of the speakers. Vocals are clearer. Instruments you think may be in the song are now clearly heard. The Music Hall was good but the NAD M2 is light years better. The NAD M2 is not a fair comparison to the Music Hall. The LSA 1 bookshelf are still bookshelf speakers. Bass is there but not extended. The towers have the same tweeters with the additional midrange. The Towers are front ported. The towers and the bookshelf sound similar in the midrange and tweeters. The difference is the bass. The bass can be overwhelming depending on the material. The towers showed me how much is missing from any bookshelf speaker. As far as if you are going to like LSA speakers I cannot tell you. I think it depends on the type of music you listen to. I listen to a variety of music that the LSA produces very well with the NAD M2 driving them. Comparing Harbeth to LSA is again not an honest comparison. The LSA 1 bookshelf is only rated for about 100 watts. The NAD M2 brings out the best in these speakers. Of course YMMV. |
I've said this before in another similar thread. Somewhere in China there is a factory that cranks out hundreds of thousands of these curved enclosures and anyone who orders a sufficient minimum quantity can customs-spec the cut-outs. Baltic Birch ply? Not a trace. High quality MDF? Nope. The material used is cheap chipboard. How do I know? I know because I used to own a pair of Acoustic Zen Adagio's made with a variation of the same enclosure. Same exact automotive spray paint finish. With the Adagio's, unlike with this speaker, all one had to do is peer into the front-facing port to see the rough finish work and nature of the materials. I also experienced the cheap chipboard when I resorted to rocking the top heavy gangly speakers on the outriggers that I had installed. The threaded inserts broke out of the bottom of the enclosures revealing more crumbly chipboard. There are lots of stories to be found if looked for of how vulnerable these enclosures are to moisture-they will essentially decompose if exposed to water, not that water is healthy for any loudspeaker enclosure. Btw, John of Van L Speakerworks in Chicago makes his own line of loudspeakers using the same enclosure. There is a concurrent thread right now in this forum about the difference between very expensive loudspeakers and moderately priced ones. This is one of the key differences. Does cheap enclosure construction have a significant impact upon ultimate sound quality? Probably not. Until the drivers work themselves loose or they get subjected to any significant trauma in shipping or otherwise. I don't fault Walter or Robert Lee or John L or anyone else who uses this enclosure to render best bang for the buck loudspeakers. But don't be fooled by the fancy curved exterior and paint job. This is not artisanal work by any stretch of the imagination. |
