LSA models

According to LSA, the firm’s speakers require a good 100 hours of break-in time before they loosen up and sound their best. As this blog is written, I’ve not yet reached the magic 100-hour mark, so please take that point into consideration (and stay tuned for the full review, which will—of course—be written after break-in is complete).

First impressions: straight out of the box, the LSA’s sound not bad at all, but perhaps just a little “stiff” and “congested”—almost as if they want, in a figurative sense, to clear their throats and sing. As break-in hours mount up, though, their sound is becoming more and more open, transparent, and texturally refined. I think they’re going be really good when break-in is complete.

Imaging, as noted above is already a strong point, as is driver integration—two qualities in which LSA takes particular pride. The owner’s manual for the Model 2 concedes that the speaker’s drive units may not look special, but that the sound they achieve is. As it turns out, this appears to be pretty much a statement of fact—not fanciful marketing hype.

The LSA Model 2 is a very capable floorstander for its price, and it features—among other things—a somewhat unusual rear-firing “ambience” tweeter. I haven’t yet settled on the optimal levels for the rear tweeter, but it definitely adds a subtle but welcome touch of spaciousness without significantly affecting the speaker’s generally neutral tonal balance.