Too Big for Their Britches? LSA-10 Signature Bookshelf Speakers

When I first arrived at AXPONA on Saturday morning, I had no real clear chosen path laid out. I knew that I wanted to start on the top floors to see some favorite things, but other than that, I was trying to let the sights and sounds be my guide. Almost immediately upon arrival, in the lower exhibition hall, I ran into some friends from the Chicago Audio Society. We talked about what we’d all like to see that day, and what we’d seen on Friday already. One of the guys was very excited about a room occupied by a vendor from Hawaii named Walter. I was handed a card from Underwood HiFi with Walter’s info, and practically sworn to an oath to stop by that room. I said that I certainly would, as the product lines I was being told about were sounding very intriguing.

Amy and I on the AXPONA floor, ready to go.

The day went on, from room-to-room, and I had practically forgotten about my promise and this man Walter from Hawaii, until I happened into this room where a beautiful pair of bookshelf speakers were playing. I sat down, and just listened. They sounded big and full, and imaged well, even in a room that wasn’t the greatest, sonically.

Click to enlarge

“There’s no sub in here.”, said an older gentleman, on cue, even before introducing himself. Truthfully, I hadn’t even looked for one, but I could plainly understand why most people would. I was hearing great bottom end out of these rounded mid-size speakers. I continued to listen some more before getting up and finally introducing myself. It was then that I found out that I was talking with the man himself, Walter Liederman. We talked for a while about the speakers that I was listening to, the LSA-10 Signatures. He told me that LSA’s intention was to design a bookshelf speaker that would perform as well as a floorstanding speaker.

When my demo pair arrived a couple weeks later, my very first thought was of the poor UPS driver. The speakers came beautifully packaged in a single, large, 57-pound box, with each speaker bagged in cloth, the dome tweeter protected by film. The cabinets themselves were far more attractive than I had remembered them at the show. The rosewood veneer makes them furniture-grade and the curved boxes make for a stunning appearance right out of the box. They do come with grilles, but I set those aside.

It was recommended that I give the LSA-10’s a lot of burn-in time, which I did. During that time, I listened to them as they broke in. The bass opened up, as did the staging. They went from somewhat impressive to downright stunning in a matter of weeks.

2-way configuation

The unique thing about the LSA-10’s is that they are a passive radiator design, which I’ll admit, I have a real affinity for. Perhaps it harkens back to the days of my old Realistic Nova-10’s with their 8” radiators from when I was a teen (one of my many projects around here is to restore them). There’s just something tight and deep that you get from a speaker of this design, particularly when they’re done well.

Once the LSA-10s were burned in, I began to spin several discs on them, both for evaluation and out of sheer enjoyment. One evening, I was playing some Lyle Lovett while doing another review. It ended up drawing my wife into the room. At first, she wasn’t sure which speakers she was hearing, she found the staging to be that wide. Then she asked which sub I was using. I echoed Walters words: “There’s no sub in this system.” She was floored.

To seriously review the LSA-10 Signatures, I grabbed Pink Floyd’s “The Endless River,” specifically to hear that deep drop at about 50 seconds into it. The 6” woofer, along with the 4×6” radiator came together to give me all the depth that I was looking for. I ended up getting drawn into the entire album. As the disc progressed the bookshelf speakers showed me that they could really sound like a couple floorstanders.

The passive radiator

However, bass is not their only trick. While I do praise their low end, it’s the staging that I feel I must go back to. Yes, they sound big, and that’s wonderful, but they also make the room sound big, as well. The LSA-10’s have great, almost holographic, dimension about them that became even more impressive to me. When placed correctly, the walls behind them seem to disappear, and they paint huge, lush images of sound. Instruments move in the sound field fluidly, with a soundstage much wider than the stance of the speakers themselves. The 1-inch dome tweeter created well-defined sound and crossed over very smoothly with the woofer. Even the piano, probably the hardest instrument for a bookshelf speaker to reproduce well, sounded wonderfully natural.

I moved to something a bit mellower- Mark Knopfler’s “The Ragpicker’s Dream.” Again, I got that deep bass, the sound of bigger speakers, but I got some really fun imaging here. The LSA-10’s are very good at making a mural of your listening wall. If I could have typed and closed my eyes, I would have. The instruments were almost evenly spaced across the room, as if coming from individual cubes of my Ikea Kallax. It was quite interesting. Percussion was popping through the mix in such a lively way that it drew my wife back into the room again. It was hard to sit still.

Furniture-grade

The LSA-10 Signatures are absolutely the speakers that belong on your short list to listen to  and try out.

Now through August 31, 2019, mention “Shoestring Audiophile” and get a pair of LSA-10 Signature speakers for $1799.00, delivered.

www.underwoodhifi.com

Associated Equipment

Cyrus One HD integrated amplifier

Pioneer Elite DV-45A CD/SACD player

APC power conditioner

Audio Art SC-5 speaker cables

Triode Wire Labs Spirit II interconnects

8 thoughts on “Too Big for Their Britches? LSA-10 Signature Bookshelf Speakers”

  1. Hello my name is Greg and I liked your review of the LSA 10 Signature for my very budget system. I bought a set of bookshelf Opera Callas speakers from Walter back in 2003. Still have them and love them. However with some new technology I was looking at the LSA 10 Sig. Walter was willing to buy my Opera’s back and the LSA 10 for $850. good deal. In your opinion I was wondering if you think any floor standing speaker in the price range $1200. or less would be better? I’ve not herd the lsa’s so after your review I thought you would be a good person to ask. Thanks Greg

  2. Wanted to let you know this is Greg and on previous comment I sent to you on the LSA’s 10 I only listen to music no surround sound. I have an Outlaw receiver I bought from Walt. Also NHT sub. and Pioneer Elite cd player.
    Thanks,
    Greg

    1. Greg,

      Not sure in the $1200 range, but if you can go a little higher, I might suggest looking at the MartinLogan Motion 60XT, if you’re really set on floorstanding speakers. You can see my review on their little brothers a couple articles back. However, you really can’t go wrong with the LSA’s, and if Walt has a buyback program, that’s even better!

      Michael

      1. Michael,
        Thanks for the information on your thoughts on the LSA 10 speakers. Walter has always been straight shooter when it comes from doing business with stereo equipment. After 15 years I looked up and found his website. Then gave him a call and decided to do a little upgrade with out breaking the bank. I will look at the Martin Logan’s but I think this deal is hard to pass up. I’ll let you know after I brake them in.
        Thanks for your input,
        Greg

  3. Mike,
    I’m the guy that got your review on the LSA 10 speakers and I did purchase from Walter. I will say that after a few weeks I love my speakers and sound. They met all my expectations and more and with trade in a great deal. I think you said you like Lyle Lovett I do also. Not sure if you ever herd of Chris Stapleton, but he does have a very good CD out called Traveller. ASgain thanks for your help. Greg

    1. Yes, I do need to check out more of Chris Stapleton’s music. I’ve always liked what I’ve heard. Glad you like your new speakers, they sure sounded great in my listening space!

  4. Hi: Nice review. LSA somehow make excellent stand-mount loudspeakers that appears to elude competitors. The first time I heard of/a LSA was back in 2008 -back the company had a $800/pr. model -the 0.5’s? It was an impressive compact loudspeaker that ‘scaled’ impressively when fed a higher resolution signal.
    I see that things have not changed, but rather continued to improve -although at a price. At the advertised $2,500/pr. (USD), there is some serious competition from well-known brands including Spendor, Monitor Audio, ATC, Revel, Reference 3A, Tannoy, Wharefdale and KEF to name a few.

    Although LSA’s website describes the main driver in detail, scant else is spoken to regarding cabinet construction, parts quality or further x-over details. I’d think that a small-scale manufacturer would feel compelled to discuss these details further seeing as they don’t have the big-name of its competitors. Whether $2,500. or $3,500/pr. it remains a fair chunk-of-change.
    Providing further loudspeaker details may serve the company -certainly the consumer- better.

    Nice review,

    peter jasz

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