Legacy Audio Speakers - Page 4

I will be getting my signature's hopefully soon. If you are in the Atlanta area, come on over to audition them.

Hi! I thought I would post this group shot of Legacy Audio tower speakers in Black Pearl finish. Now you can see them all side-by-side, and get a sense of their size in relation to each other. The speakers are from Left to Right: Focus SE ($9,950/pr retail), Signature SE ($6,950/pr retail), Classic HD ($4,950/pr retail), and the Expression ($2,995/pr retail).

Prices are accurate as of February 2012 for the Black Pearl finish.

I'm looking forward to receiving a set of three Signature SEs, along with a pair of Phantom HD surrounds in March, and I'll post my comments once I get a chance to hear them in my room. I know a few of you are also anxiously awaiting your Signature SEs too, I'll try to keep you posted!!

They look sweet Dennis. A trio across the front will certainly be quite the setup.

Dennis, after seeing your photo's, I think I want my Sig's in Black Pearl now.

Ha, HA

Nice family portrait!

Unfortunately pictures cannot show just how beautiful that finish really is.

Thanks for posting those, Dennis.

Those do look great. But I refuse to now second-guess my "maximum bang for the buck" decision to order a pair of Sigs in the standard natural cherry finish!

LOL!! The Cherry finish is very nice too, and you get great "bang for the buck" from it - and probably higher WAF too, depending on the decor in your room.

Andre is getting his Sigs and Silver Screen center in Black Oak - another high value finish that gives you that dark look that's perfect for home theater.

I chose the Black Pearl finish for my trio of Sig SEs + Phantom surrounds. Since I will be using them for home theater and music about 50/50, and the screen will be up when listening to music, the Black Pearl seemed like the best choice for me. I can't wait to see and hear them in my room!

I plan to talk to Bill D or Doug B at Legacy today to see if I can get an update on the ETA for the Signatures. Hopefully they got another shipment of 10" woofers. I'll be in touch!

Dennis, I really do think the black pearl is the most appealing of the 3 "standard" finishes, although they are all very nice. Actually, I do most of my listening in the dark, with blinds open on one window in the listening room (to let in a little ambient light, be it moonlight or just the stars), and the black pearl would be great. The speakers would have even more of a tendency to "disappear"...

Yeah, I said it.

Anyone know which speakers Legacy will be demoing at AXPONA?

I have owned a pair of the Classic since 1991. I actually went to Spingfield, Ill. and auditioned the line that existed then and purchased the Classics right there on the spot. They provided me all the sound I wanted with wonderful full bass, clean and tight and a midrange as clear as can be. I still have them and measure other speakers against them. Oh, I forgot the high end is very clean.
I have run these with a 80 watt Yamaha and and 350 watt Carver amps. although satisfying with 80 watts the big amp sure makes them sing. Now I am not saying these are the best in the line but, at the time the cost vs performance couldn't be beat.
I still have them and they are still playing as clean as ever.

Just spoke with Doug Brown. He said they will definately be bringing Whisper XD, and Focus SEs. Also, they are tentatively planning to bring Signature SE, Studio HD, and maybe the new Expression HD too.

Bill and Doug are driving down to FL from the factory, so they'll be loadin' up the trailer with lots of Legacy Audio goodness!! :-)

Great to hear from folks who stay satisfied with a purchase for that long. Similarly, I have had a pair of Thiel CS3.5s for almost 26 years now, and have been very happy with them overall.

But, I am really anticipating these new Sig SEs now, too!

So ANDRE, do you have those new Sigs up and making (sound)waves yet??

PEOPLE WANT TO KNOW!...

Interalgs & Everyone, my apologies but I can not get off the couch and stop listening to my music. As I write this message, I am listening to Dire Straits, Brothers In Arms, SACD via my Oppo-95 and was difficult to get away even to write this.

For three weeks I had my Emotiva XPA-2 & -3 amps, Oppo-95 and the pro/pro Onkyo SC5508 waiting for these speakers. This equipment just sitting there looking at me not hooked up to any speaker system and just waiting for the Legacy delivery. Night after night it was killing me, imagining what the system would sound like. Finally my Sig's and Silverscreen (SS) finally arrived last Saturday. Man, from the moment that I unwrapped the Sig's from the box container and uncloaked them with the velvet protective cloth, I saw the quality of the materials and finish. From the visual, my expectations were exceeded! All this equipment that I mention above is new not played yet so I had to set everything up and it was a little complicated at first but reading the manuals, multiple times, I got it. Hooked up the speakers and man I was off to the races. First CD I played was Sting's "Nothing Like The Sun". It was heaven : ) A great CD recording. I got to the cut "Little Wing" and gradually increasing the volume level as the song got deeper into it. Now writing is not my strong suite (mathematics is) but I was lost for words and adjectives. The XPA-2 amp provided headroom and the Sig's handled it with no problem. The mid to upper frequency's were clear and mellow and the base extension very tight just like I like it. From this point on, I knew I made the right choice with the speakers (although the back up equipment isn't to bad as well). From there I went through my CD collection one after another and then came upon Stanley Clarke's "East River Drive" (awesome studio recording) cut "lords of the low frequencies". If you like low bass, this is a must hear. I cranked up the volume past 82 (THX Reference) on the SC5508 and the the sound was incredible. No distortion heard. Unbelievable! I can go on and on.

Now my spouse was against this whole new revamp of audio system I just got. she didn't see the value in higher end audio My budget was much lower that what I actually ended up spending, currently $11K, and still need a few more things like the Legacy Metro sub. But when I played Chris Botti (who she loves) DVD live in Los Angeles in multi channel format and the now pouring in of SACD music, she was impressed and is starting to appreciate the extra money being spent. Tonight I will surprise her with just received Chris Botti Blue Ray "live in Boston". Can't wait!

As far as the SS speaker and multichannel format. The SS is bigger than I thought but when I played Sherlock Holmes in Blue Ray again the "wow" factor. That SS speaker is awesome and with the whole system calibrated with the Audyssey XT32 correction man the front sound stage is like I have never heard to this point in my life.

In conclusion (I know I am rambling on), I am so delighted with the Sig's and SS (and also back up equipment). This system will keep me very happy for years to come. If anyone is in the Atlanta area and would like to audition the Sig's and SS, please email me and we can set something up, no problem. Legacy has made me a loyal customer for the value and support of their products. Now that I have these Sig's, I wonder what the Focus SE's would sound like in my house?

P.S. I will post some pic's of the Sig speakers when I get a chance to get off the couch again.

Andre58

Sorry lateralgs, I misspelled your name.

Andre, Thanks for the great update! I am very happy that you are thrilled with your new Legacy, Oppo, Onkyo, and Emotiva system. That is one great system!

Are you running any subs at all right now, or just the Signatures & Silverscreen, fullrange?

I would seriously recommend 2 subs to help even out the frequency response in the room...

Hahahaha! The curse of the audiophile. Great writeup Andre.

Andre! Congrats man!! I am happy for you that you are getting such a big kick outta' all the new equipment, especially the Sigs, of course!

Funny you mentioned Brothers In Arms, Sting/Sun, and Stanley Clark, as I listened to all 3 of those discs today! Unfortunately, I was forced to listen on a $35 portable player because we are on a working weekend in the boonies away from home. But the good thing is, no TV so it's all music all day long!

Anyway thanks for the first report on the Sigs. Can't wait to add my own impressions soon. Sorry for the brief reply, am accessing the site via iPhone and very slow service. Enjoy those Sigs and we'll talk soon...

One more brief shout-out...if any of you are interested in buying any Legacy Audio speakers, you should visit with DMark1 aka Dennis before buying. Dude knows his Legacy stuff for sure and he's tuned in with what's happening in Springfield. Heckuva nice guy too. And I've never seen him mention it (maybe he has, I don't know) but he custom fabricates some really fine drum kits, too. Ask and he'll probably turn you onto his web site...some fantastic eye candy there for anyone who can appreciate fine craftsmanship.

I was so impressed that I bought a T-shirt! :^))

Steve, thanks for the positive comments. I'm available to help any AVS Forum members, and happy to do it. The drum website is here for anyone who is interested: Markley Custom Drums

I just got an email from Doug Brown that they are working on my new Signature SEs and Phantoms right now! Shouldn't be much longer now! :-)

Sweet. Good stuff Dennis. I can't wait for you to get them. Your system should be very potent. Then with that great projector you have, you are really cooking with gas now .

Well fellow Legacy fans, I received my pair of new Signature SEs yesterday, and I must say, they are BEAUTIFUL in the standard Cherry veneer. A much richer veneer, tonally, than what the pics can depict. Very happy with the fit 'n finish.

I cannot yet report on impressions of sound emanating from those beautiful drivers, however, as I have the speakers set up face-to-face and under wrap, with one speaker wired out of phase, continually running a Telarc demo disc and a Stereophile test disc (with a burn-in track included). I'll continue the initial run-in for at least 4 days solid, and I might actually make it a week, if I can wait that long!

I'm a little surprised Andre hasn't posted any more comments on his own Sigs. Maybe he just hasn't gotten up off the couch again yet...

Lateralgs,
From my experience when I had my Focus SE's I did not have a large break-in. They sounded amazing right out of the box. Please post a picture of your speakers, I would love to see how they look and SOUND. Thanks

Jason

Hello Everyone, I'm fresh off the couch and can get away for a few moments to post this blog. The past week I have been tweaking speaker position, customizing audio / video settings etc. and running through my endless CD collection. The Sig's and system really sound awesome ( I do not use this adjective often). I can not get enough of it and how pleased I am with the quality of the sound and build from Legacy. My wife is getting frustrated with me now since all I have been doing is listening to music and watching movies ( I'm sure this will pass but when?).

lateralgs, I hope you are enjoying those Sig's as much as I am. I did not break in the Sigs as you are but I hope I'm doing the right procedure just running any kind of music through them. I LOVE the TIGHT bass extension on these speakers.

I originally had the Sig's on my wooden floor with the rubber feet not realizing the spikes screw into those rubber feet. Don't know this for a fact but I think there is a technical reason and advantage to put the speaker on spikes. Also, the manual suggests having the speaker 4-5 inches above the ground or floor. I currently have them 2.5 inches off. If any one could add to this, it would be appreciated.

I have not given enough kudos to my Legacy SilverScreen HD center but the timbre match is excellent with the Sig's. I love,love that SS when I watch movies / TV. Deep bass and projects the voices realistic and better than being live. To complete my Legacy purchase, I'm probably going to get the Metro HD subwoofer. I have not heard it but I feel confident that it is Engineered and designed properly from my experience from the Sig's and SS.

Other than this, I have my Sirius radio up and running and I am impressed with the sound quality via the Onkyo 5508 (HDMI). WAV 16bit / 44.1 Khz , CD quailty. Listening to Pandora via my Oppo with analog balanced inputs / outputs, some tracks sound better than others (probably recordings) but would anyone know if there is an audible advantage to the upgrade audio package on Pandoroa, $36.00 per year, for the 192K bps feed versus the 128K bps feed which is standard? Wondering if the cost was worth it.

Thanks everyone!
Andre

Great post Andre! Do you have any pictures of your setup that you could post??

You'll be fine breaking the new speakers in by just running music through them at a normal listening level. They'll loosen up naturally with time and use - it may just take a little longer at lower volumes, that's all. If you want to speed up the process, I would suggest using program material with a wide frequency and dynamic range to really exercise those drivers. Just put a disc in the player, hit repeat all, turn it up to a normal or slightly more volume, and go do something else for a while.

Using the spike kit usually will tighten up the bass response of the speaker a little, but if you're already happy with the tight bass from the Signature SEs, then you don't really need to use the spikes.

I haven't seen the Signature SE manual yet, so I'm not sure what is in there about raising the speaker off the floor. Right now, I am of the opinion that using the factory rubber feet (with or without spikes), is the proper height for the speakers. I know Bill calculates the height of the woofers off the floor to compensate for floor bounce (reflection from the floor), so I wouldn't mess with the speaker height very much. Audyssey XT32 in your Onkyo 5508 prepro would probably adjust, but, you shouldn't have to mess with raising the speaker, unless your seating was much higher than normal and you wanted to raise the tweeters to ear height or something.

Adding a subwoofer will take you to the next level, by taking some of the load off your other speakers and amps, and increasing your bass extension in the room. Like I said earlier, there is a definate benefit in smoothing the bass frequency response in any room by using 2 (or more) subs - even if you use Audyssey. If you go with the Metro, you can start with one, and add another one later, as finances allow. Whatever you do, you should get matching subs, don't try mixing and matching, as it usually doesn't work too well.

BTW, I'm wondering the same thing about upgrading to Pandora One, after I just got a Roku2 streamer box. As I looked into it, yes, 192k is better vs the standard (free) 128k feed, and it will be slightly clearer, but it is still compressed audio from what I've read. I think the advantage of upgrading to Pandora One for $36/yr, is mainly to avoid the commercials, and be able to have unlimited streaming.

I'm really happy that you're enjoying your new Legacy speakers! BTW, Bill D. emailed me over the weekend that he finished fine-tuning my Signature SEs on Saturday, so I am hoping they will be shipping out to me sometime this week!!!

Hear Legacy at AXPONA 2012 - March 9, Omni Hotel in Jacksonville FL.

Legacy is bringing their award winning line of speakers to Jacksonville, Florida for AXPONA 2012.

Come to the Omni Hotel, March 9th, to hear the Whisper XD (Speaker of the Year, Best of CES) and Focus SE (2012 Editor's Choice The Absolute Sound, Best of CES).

Also listen to the new Signature SE speaker, which sets the new perfromance benchmark for a speaker of its size.

Bill Dudleston, (Owner and Designer) and Doug Brown (Director of Marketing) will both be at the AXPONA show to answer your questions.

If I am not mistaken, Legacy will also be in the new show this year that is being brought back to NYC in April. Hopefully I will be able to make that show and if I do, I will check out Legacy again like I did at CES.
EDIT: Just did a double check and yep, they are going to be there. Show dates April 13th, 14th, 15th.

Hey, Jason:

I was probably being a little over-indulgent to my more "formal" side in performing this initial run-in exercise, but hey, it's all part of the fun of a new piece of equipment.

I only have lo-rez phone pics at present, and I will try to get some better digital shots of the speakers in their new home later this week and will perhaps post one or two of those with my initial listening impressions.

I DID get down to some listening late Saturday (up until 3:15 a.m. Sunday!), and Sunday afternoon and last night. Suffice it to say for now that I am happy with what I'm hearing...very happy overall, in fact. More to follow...

Steve

Steve,
WOW!! Those look amazing. I had a pair of Cherry Focus HD's, Focus SE's in Rosewood and currently have Studio and Silverscreen in Black Pearl. It is funny how I keep on coming back to Legacy. As much as I love the Black Pearl I get nervous anytime anyone is withing 3 feet of them. They are truly gorgeous but I have to tell you, that Cherry looks great.

Thanks for the eye candy and please post your impressions when you get some time. I am very curious if you notice that much of a sound difference from new to broken in. Can you also let me know how the bass is. The Focus SE's are ported and where just too much for my little room (11 x 17), but the sealed Sig SE's just might be the ticket. Thanks again and enjoy them.

Jason

Hey, Jason:

Yes, I was pleasantly surprised by the standard cherry veneer. Many of the pics I've seen of that veneer, including some at Legacy's own site, are really not representative of the "in person" tonality, at least not for the pair I have! In other pics, the cherry tends to look "washed out," yellowish, or even pinkish. Not attractive at all. So I was very happy to see the significantly more "lush" tonality and graining in the veneer. Very nice really. And the main reason I purchased the Sigs with the cherry veneer was pure cost! I do like the look of the other finishes very much as well. They do a good job at the price points for their speakers.

I will note, however, that the low-rez pics I posted above do tend to make the finish look slightly warmer than it really is. I'll get some better pics posted as soon as I can.

Also, one final word about the pics. The frontal images are a little distorted proportionally by the lens in the phone. The speakers are actually significantly more slender in frontal appearance than they appear in those shots. Less substantial looking, yes, but also a tad more graceful looking, too, much the same way a gazelle looks more graceful than a tiger!

My listening room is a little smaller than the dimensions you listed. It is almost 14' by 12', but has 9' ceilings with a truncated and vaulted ceiling and a 16" x 6' recess in the middle of one short wall, which is where I have my equipment rack, set back a bit and between the speakers. I estimate total room volume at around 1,600 cubic feet.

As for the differences between initial sound and after my 72+ hours of break-in, I can't say, because I had them covered up and facing each other and wired out of phase during that break-in period.

I can tell you I generally prefer acoustic suspension ("sealed box") bass over ported ("bass reflex") sound. And I do mean that very generally. Well executed designs of either type can sound excellent of course. It's just that in my experience I have heard the type of bass I prefer more often in acoustic suspension designs than in ported designs. I have not heard the Focus SEs at all, but I have read about how good their bass is. In my room, the Sigs (which are acoustic suspension of course) are fine and do not overload the room at all. I think the irregular shape of the ceiling and the basic dimensions of the room help in avoiding peaks and nulls, generally, as the bass performance in this room seems fairly consistent as you move about the room.

That said, if it's in the recording, the Sigs will reproduce it, albeit for the very very lowest few Hz or sound effects perhaps. The bass reproduction can be powerful, punchy, deep, and controlled. Having said that, I imagine those who are accustomed to truly great subwoofer performance and who listen to a lot of heavy bass content or explosive sound effects might find themselves wanting more, and it's true good subs can provide an overall sense of ease to the sound. But I can tell you that in my smallish room and listening only to music, I don't feel I'm really missing anything I want or need in the bass with these Sigs.

The other night I listened to the "Demon Days" disc by Gorillaz, expressly to see how the Sigs would handle the relatively prodigious bass content in some of the cuts thereon, including "Feel Good Inc." and "Kids With Guns." Reproduction was very very respectable. At a volume that was nearly all I could take, it was deep and punchy and very well controlled. I thought I could just begin to hear a little stress but it was difficult for me to tell if it was my amp or perhaps the 7" mid-woofer driver. I might have even been imagining it. When I sat in the middle chair (a true, finely adjusted sweet spot, as in that chair your head is around 7.5' to 8' from the speaker fronts), I didn't notice it at all. When I moved to the right chair, more nearly in front of the right speaker, to allow my wife to have a listen, is when I thought I MIGHT have heard that tiniest bit of distress. But again, I'm not really sure anything was there, or whether it might have been on the recording itself, etc. And to really stress the point, although I often listen "loud," this was at a level that I would not listen very long at all, and the rest of the reproduction was absolutely pristine. With these things, when you crank the loud knob, all you get is more sound. There isn't a change in character to the sound, it just gets louder.

On the other end of the volume spectrum, I am very pleased so far with the performance of the speakers at lower levels as well. Microdynamics are very good and reveal a lot of detail in a very informative yet not at all edgy way, at any volume, actually, at least not in my system. The ribbons are just silly quick, and you benefit on trailing edges of dynamics as well as leading edges as a result of that quickness.

For the record, I'm running a McCormack UDP-1 universal disc player as my main source, through a Wyred4Sound STP-SE preamp, feeding a vintage PS Audio 100C dual mono stereo amp rated at 200wpc into 4 ohms.

The response is very smooth but also very transparent and detailed. I replaced a pair of Thiel CS3.5's with these Sigs, known for their transparency and rendering of detail (some have called them "etched" and "bright" but I have found this not to be the case with my electronics). The Sigs are superior in rendering of detail and in their transparency, but remember my Thiels are about 25 years old, and all original! And they still sound very good. It is high praise in my book that the Sigs can best them in these particulars.

Dynamic swings with the Sigs are just a joy. Listen to Stanley Clarke's 2007 release "The Toys of Men." He plays several solo cuts on the stand-up bass as well as some nice punchy electric stuff. On one of the acoustic solo cuts, he gets into some serious plucking and string slapping on the neck of the bass, and the dynamics will make you jump! Very impressive.

I have heard more detail in things like the resonating of a glass slide on an electric guitar's strings where the slide is not completely compressed against the neck, or in the leading attack of a drumstick head striking a symbol or the head of a snare, etc, than I could ever make out with the Thiels. Again, in my book, that's high praise.

I could go on (and probably will as I listen more!), but you get the drift. At the price for these, they are very impressive indeed.

I will say, however, I am impressed enough with them that, perhaps a little like Andre, I am now wondering how long it might be before I get an itch for the Focus SEs!

Cheers,
Steve