
Integra 7.9 AVR
Bryston 14SST driving the mains.
Seaton Submersive HP+ and Slave
I use layman in the title because I personally do not hold myself up to the level of many here who have much more experience in not only actually hearing and owning a lot more speakers of this level than I have but are a little more adept at authoring a review like this but I'll give it a shot.
I am mainly a 2-channel stereo guy so I'm always leaning that direction when I evaluate.
I had three people over. One brought his measuring equipment and we went through Audessy and did the room check with his omni-mic and software. He is a Triad Platinum home theater owner so he has a better feel if things are setup right or wrong. We all agreed that my room wasn't optimum but it was what I had. We dialed the Plats in pretty well with the Seaton HP+ and Slave subs.
I did not change out the center. We used the Legacy Marquis. The main reason for this is I was only interested in 2-channel and the center was not going to sway me either way. The centers are bears to move around.
The Triad Platinums were no slouches. We actually spent most of the time listening to them. The big comparo that made the Leagacy AMT stand out was listening to Nils Lofgren's "Keith Don't Go" track. When he hits those super high string notes the AMT's just sing and do it loud with ease where the Plat's seemed to reveal some strain at the higher levels. The other thing I noticed about the Legacy's is their ability to hit loud snare type drum hits with power and precision with their dual 12" spun aluminum woofers, where the Plat's needed to spread some of this over to the subs. I think a little dynamics gets lost in that spread.
We watched a bunch of movie material later ... all with the Plats. They were flawless, loud and precise in this particular mode. Movie material is just so varied especially when you add all the surrounds and center.
After hours of listening, I still maintain my opinion that the Legacy Focus SE's simply could not be bested in terms of sound stage and tweeter "airiness". That AMT setup is just the cats meow. I also like the fact that the Legacy's are full range. They have less of a transition between tweeter/mid/woofer and sub drivers.
Triad InRoom Platinum:
+ Strong, precise, superbly damped... gives them a super quality sound. Smooth as velvet. Lots of punch and refined highs. A welcome sound after listening to compression tweeters a while back.
The look, fit and finish of the Platinums is pure professional high end quality. Well designed, contemporary style. Designed specifically as a true high end home theater LCR requiring subs which allows them to concentrate on everything above 80hz. The tweeter design is probably at the high limit in quality of high frequency production for a domed design. Precise and easy on the ears.
- Although you can push them hard, they tend to show signs of strain in the high end at "too loud" levels. You can take that with a grain of salt as most don't listen to their systems that loud. Price point a couple of g's more than the Legacy's per pair.
Legacy Focus SE AMT:
+ The AMT upgrade made a huge difference from the non-AMT set I had last year. Sweet spot is quite a bit larger. The airiness of this tweeter system is I believe, a benchmark. Since this is a full range system, you really don't even need a sub but with a sub, WOW, what a nice continuum in lower bass. Dual spun aluminum woofers really pop with drum solos.
The finish quality of the cabinets are way over the top at this price point. Absolutely stunning.
- Some material can make these guys have a slight harsh edge. Not as refined, at times, as the Triads.
Integra 7.9 AVR
Bryston 14SST driving the mains.
Seaton Submersive HP+ and Slave
I use layman in the title because I personally do not hold myself up to the level of many here who have much more experience in not only actually hearing and owning a lot more speakers of this level than I have but are a little more adept at authoring a review like this but I'll give it a shot.
I am mainly a 2-channel stereo guy so I'm always leaning that direction when I evaluate.
I had three people over. One brought his measuring equipment and we went through Audessy and did the room check with his omni-mic and software. He is a Triad Platinum home theater owner so he has a better feel if things are setup right or wrong. We all agreed that my room wasn't optimum but it was what I had. We dialed the Plats in pretty well with the Seaton HP+ and Slave subs.
I did not change out the center. We used the Legacy Marquis. The main reason for this is I was only interested in 2-channel and the center was not going to sway me either way. The centers are bears to move around.
The Triad Platinums were no slouches. We actually spent most of the time listening to them. The big comparo that made the Leagacy AMT stand out was listening to Nils Lofgren's "Keith Don't Go" track. When he hits those super high string notes the AMT's just sing and do it loud with ease where the Plat's seemed to reveal some strain at the higher levels. The other thing I noticed about the Legacy's is their ability to hit loud snare type drum hits with power and precision with their dual 12" spun aluminum woofers, where the Plat's needed to spread some of this over to the subs. I think a little dynamics gets lost in that spread.
We watched a bunch of movie material later ... all with the Plats. They were flawless, loud and precise in this particular mode. Movie material is just so varied especially when you add all the surrounds and center.
After hours of listening, I still maintain my opinion that the Legacy Focus SE's simply could not be bested in terms of sound stage and tweeter "airiness". That AMT setup is just the cats meow. I also like the fact that the Legacy's are full range. They have less of a transition between tweeter/mid/woofer and sub drivers.
Triad InRoom Platinum:
+ Strong, precise, superbly damped... gives them a super quality sound. Smooth as velvet. Lots of punch and refined highs. A welcome sound after listening to compression tweeters a while back.
The look, fit and finish of the Platinums is pure professional high end quality. Well designed, contemporary style. Designed specifically as a true high end home theater LCR requiring subs which allows them to concentrate on everything above 80hz. The tweeter design is probably at the high limit in quality of high frequency production for a domed design. Precise and easy on the ears.
- Although you can push them hard, they tend to show signs of strain in the high end at "too loud" levels. You can take that with a grain of salt as most don't listen to their systems that loud. Price point a couple of g's more than the Legacy's per pair.
Legacy Focus SE AMT:
+ The AMT upgrade made a huge difference from the non-AMT set I had last year. Sweet spot is quite a bit larger. The airiness of this tweeter system is I believe, a benchmark. Since this is a full range system, you really don't even need a sub but with a sub, WOW, what a nice continuum in lower bass. Dual spun aluminum woofers really pop with drum solos.
The finish quality of the cabinets are way over the top at this price point. Absolutely stunning.
- Some material can make these guys have a slight harsh edge. Not as refined, at times, as the Triads.