The series, targeted to ship in January, tops out with a four-way floorstanding tower at a tentative $4,000/pair, up from the LSI series' current top-end $2,500/pair. The series will also include a second four-way floorstanding towers targeted at $3,000/pair, two three-way center-channel speakers, a three-way bookshelf speaker, a three-way bipole surround, and a subwoofer.
Engineering VP Stu Lumsden cited multiple reasons for the ground-up redesign, including the improved quality of prerecorded source material, demand from existing LSi owners, the availability of new engineering tools to step up performance, and a desire to offer a "gateway" for consumers into the high end.
The development effort, added product management VP Mark Suskind, will deliver speakers that perform like models at twice the price.
To achieve that goal, Polk incorporated multiple new elements, including flat-diaphragm racetrack (or Cassini oval) subwoofer drivers in the four-way towers to boost bass performance while delivering a narrow-cabinet design. Other enhancements include separate downfiring ports for each of the woofers, 1mm-thick zero-diffraction magnetic grilles, new crossover designs with as few components as possible to minimize sonic artifacts, and new cone material, called Super Cell Aerated polypropylene, to deliver higher stiffness with lower density and improved damping.
The LSi M series will be targeted to independent retailers and installers and some larger retailers capable of demonstrating and explaining the products, Newhall said. "It's not a national retailer type of products." Distribution might be more restrictive than current LSi series distribution, he added.