Hi!
I tried a pair of the F-12's when I was using a pair of Zenith's 873's which are also 12 inch full range speakers. I was hoping at the time for
a warm more detailed sound, but to me the F-12's lacked the warmth I was looking for. Granted, I did not listen to them for an extended
length of time, because at the time Lii offered a return period, and I desired to get them returned quickly. They had good detail and resolution,
but for me, they sounded too sterile. Take that with a grain of salt, because audio is so subjective.
The Lii Audio speakers have a definite sound character, but I prefer the warmer sound. It makes it harder when you can't audition before you buy,
but I wish you a great adventure! Are you planning to use the F-12's in an open baffle? That is how I was using them. In an enclosure, it is a whole
different ball of wax to consider. Lii has plans I believe on their site for a suggested enclosure for them.
I tried a pair of the F-12's when I was using a pair of Zenith's 873's which are also 12 inch full range speakers. I was hoping at the time for
a warm more detailed sound, but to me the F-12's lacked the warmth I was looking for. Granted, I did not listen to them for an extended
length of time, because at the time Lii offered a return period, and I desired to get them returned quickly. They had good detail and resolution,
but for me, they sounded too sterile. Take that with a grain of salt, because audio is so subjective.
The Lii Audio speakers have a definite sound character, but I prefer the warmer sound. It makes it harder when you can't audition before you buy,
but I wish you a great adventure! Are you planning to use the F-12's in an open baffle? That is how I was using them. In an enclosure, it is a whole
different ball of wax to consider. Lii has plans I believe on their site for a suggested enclosure for them.
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I've heard the "Fast 8" and the F-15s, but not the 12s.
They're both owned by a friend and he maintains that the Lii Audio drivers have a long break in time of at least 100 hours.
I currently have his "first attempt" F-15s on permanent loan. They are just barely over the 100 hour break in period. I really enjoy them and have listened in medium to small listening rooms (15 feet by 10 feet; 10 feet by 10 feet). You can drive them to ear-splitting volumes in those rooms with a 45 SET.
To me, the sound is very "live." Guitars, brass, woodwinds, vocals are all stunning. Low and high end are lacking, though unless you A/B compare with speakers that can bring those qualities, this may not be a big deal. However, my friend who likes the Liis uses subwoofers and tweeters in conjunction with his own F-15 setup. He can deactivate the tweeters and subs with a couple switches and, when both are off, the sound is disappointing.
When I just want to enjoy some music in my home and don't worry so much about everything I might be missing, I've really enjoyed them. For the price they're a great deal.
Which leads me to my last point. I recently did a small listening shootout with my friend who has a range of sources, a preamp, and a Bottlehead Kaiju 300B. I brought over my JE Labs SE 2A3 Deluxe and a DAC. I really expected that among all the variations (vinyl, DAC, CD, Kaiju, SE2A3DX) we would hear great variations in sound but honestly it was tough to really spot any. I suspect that, as dfoulk mentioned above, the Liis have a "a definite sound character" such that they are not overly sensitive (read: faithful?) to the sources connected to them. As such they may not be a great investment toward a system that strives for the ultimate in transparency.
Disclaimer: I don't have a great listening room or a great set of "full range" speakers. Don't have a lot of experience with different speakers or speaker setups. (Lincoln, Nebraska is a bad place to be an audiophile!)
Consider checking out glowinthedarkaudio.com. Great website; he has write-ups on some Lii speakers there.
They're both owned by a friend and he maintains that the Lii Audio drivers have a long break in time of at least 100 hours.
I currently have his "first attempt" F-15s on permanent loan. They are just barely over the 100 hour break in period. I really enjoy them and have listened in medium to small listening rooms (15 feet by 10 feet; 10 feet by 10 feet). You can drive them to ear-splitting volumes in those rooms with a 45 SET.
To me, the sound is very "live." Guitars, brass, woodwinds, vocals are all stunning. Low and high end are lacking, though unless you A/B compare with speakers that can bring those qualities, this may not be a big deal. However, my friend who likes the Liis uses subwoofers and tweeters in conjunction with his own F-15 setup. He can deactivate the tweeters and subs with a couple switches and, when both are off, the sound is disappointing.
When I just want to enjoy some music in my home and don't worry so much about everything I might be missing, I've really enjoyed them. For the price they're a great deal.
Which leads me to my last point. I recently did a small listening shootout with my friend who has a range of sources, a preamp, and a Bottlehead Kaiju 300B. I brought over my JE Labs SE 2A3 Deluxe and a DAC. I really expected that among all the variations (vinyl, DAC, CD, Kaiju, SE2A3DX) we would hear great variations in sound but honestly it was tough to really spot any. I suspect that, as dfoulk mentioned above, the Liis have a "a definite sound character" such that they are not overly sensitive (read: faithful?) to the sources connected to them. As such they may not be a great investment toward a system that strives for the ultimate in transparency.
Disclaimer: I don't have a great listening room or a great set of "full range" speakers. Don't have a lot of experience with different speakers or speaker setups. (Lincoln, Nebraska is a bad place to be an audiophile!)
Consider checking out glowinthedarkaudio.com. Great website; he has write-ups on some Lii speakers there.
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I heared them in an OB, and they are bright and shouty on axis, off axis it's a bit better but i would not call it hifi. There is a following who like that kind of sound. I would compare them to Audio Nirvana drivers who are similar.
Don't expect a lot of bass out of them because they are big, they have no xmax at all.
Smaller fullrange drivers are in general more balanced. But if you want a big one i would rather recommend the Fane Sovereighn 12-250TC. They are also a bit bright, but more controlled (so easy to filter) and have some real xmax. I have a pair in big ported boxes and they easely get to the low 30's in that config. They don't look that fancy altough and are originally ment as floormonitor drivers, but perfectly usable as hifi speakers also when used right.
Don't expect a lot of bass out of them because they are big, they have no xmax at all.
Smaller fullrange drivers are in general more balanced. But if you want a big one i would rather recommend the Fane Sovereighn 12-250TC. They are also a bit bright, but more controlled (so easy to filter) and have some real xmax. I have a pair in big ported boxes and they easely get to the low 30's in that config. They don't look that fancy altough and are originally ment as floormonitor drivers, but perfectly usable as hifi speakers also when used right.
Nice drivers, I'd love to hear them. But I keep seeing examples of them used on OB with no compensation for OB losses. They sure aren't going to sound balanced like that. Give them a fighting chance. As Nelson says:
For sure on OB, they'll need it.
Just found some in Norway @ appeox 250€. Perhaps my F2 can balance them in the midband, and papas FR EQ take care of the highs. Perhaps a better chance than succeeding with my tanns in ob?
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