• 11-17-2005, 08:01 PM
    J*E*Cole
    Never hear much about Legacy Loudspeakers
    I have never heard nor seen them except in pictures, and they look gigantic, though cool, and their specs are very resectable, anyone know much about them? How do they look, fit and finish etc..., and of course how do you think they sound, and are they worth their price?

    Oh, and do any other brands kinda sound like Legacys?

    Just wondering, I saw them in musicdirect's new catalog, which BTW is gonna cost me alot of dough...
  • 11-17-2005, 09:05 PM
    RGA
    Yes I have heard one of their more expensive speakers in the Whispers. They use very expensive drivers are physically pretty large and have a number of people who absolutely love them and they also have numerous detractors

    You'd have to decide if you like them -

    I was in a big thread about legacy way back -- don;t remember it don;t have time to post it so you can read if you wish http://db.audioasylum.com/cgi/m.mpl?...y+RGA&session=
  • 11-17-2005, 10:44 PM
    bfalls
    I have a pair of the Legacy Focus and Silver Screen center speaker. The Focus is a 7 driver 5-way tower with 3-12" woofers, 2-7" Kevlar midwoofers, 1.25" mid and 4" ribbon tweeter. Impedance is 4 ohm, frequency response is 16Hz-30kHz and sensitivity of 96db. It has extended well controlled bass, low coloration and detailed highs. Mine are custom "purist's" models without the eq contour switches. Mine are bi-amped using a Denon AVR-3300 for the midwoofer/mid/tweeter and a Yamaha M-65 for the 3-12"/channel woofers. The Silver Screen is identical to the Focus minus the 12" woofers.

    I purchased them on-line several years ago for less than half price ($2750) which included TEKNA Model C-10 Vibration Absorbers. I had traveled throughout the United States and listened to manyspeakers I'd read about in the pages of Stereophile, Stereo Review and several other magazines. I've listened to Snells, M&K, B&W Nautilis, PSB Goldi, Genesis, Wilson, Theil Artemis and many others and believe the Legacy's hold their own with the best of them. For the money they're a great bargain. You'd have to spend twice the money or more to get comparable build-quality and sound. The Whispers are also very good, but much more open with a diffent low-end. Although very excellent speakers, I don't believe they're as good a value as the Focus.

    Over the past few years I've seen many Focus on ebay averaging $3500. They're a speaker you can live with for many years and a beautiful additions to a room (good WAF). I can recommend them very highly.
  • 11-18-2005, 05:51 AM
    Jim Clark
    I sought out an audition in Springfield, IL when I was passing through. The factory used to be there until the company was sold several years back but they still maintain a small showroom in a dealer that seems to focus on cell phones and pagers. It was an odd experience to deal with a sales person who really knew his cellular business but had no idea at all what was going on with audio. From the botton of the line up the sound was impressive. By the time I got to the Focus 20/20 we had moved into the realm of breathtaking sound and exquisite cabinetry. Based on my lasting impressions the Focus 20/20 was easily a better speaker than the Focal Nova Be which is around 35,000. I found a pair of Focus 20/20 on Audiogon for about 3,800 in rosewood and made the guy an offer. Since he was in Kansas I offered to pick them up. He never responded which turned out to be a really good thing since these would have overwhelmed my room. They are simply to freaking big for my room. Legacy makes a fine product and is worth making an effort to try to hear.

    jc
  • 11-18-2005, 07:00 AM
    drseid
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by J*E*Cole
    I have never heard nor seen them except in pictures, and they look gigantic, though cool, and their specs are very resectable, anyone know much about them? How do they look, fit and finish etc..., and of course how do you think they sound, and are they worth their price?

    Oh, and do any other brands kinda sound like Legacys?

    Just wondering, I saw them in musicdirect's new catalog, which BTW is gonna cost me alot of dough...

    I used to own some Legacy speakers, and held on to them for about 7-8 years before moving on to my current speakers.

    When I bought them, Legacy was a phone/mail order direct company with most of the same speakers available then as now (with the primary exception of the $40K Helix). At the time I bought mine, I felt I got an outstanding value (they sold for about 1/2 of the cost now), but times and prices have changed significantly for the company (and primarily they have been for the worse). Legacy is now sold by dealers, and as such, there has been a steady rise in their prices to allow for dealer profit and overhead costs. Legacy is still a good value, but they used to be an *exceptional* one when they were sold direct.

    As for the speakers themselves, like RGA said, they use top-notch very expensive drivers from quality companies like Eton (and a lot *of* them in most models). The woodworking/fit and finish is also superb on all of their speakers, IMO. Crossover assembly can be a bit slipshod in my experience (I opened one of mine up and found some sloppy XO connection work), but Bill Duddleston definitely is a master speaker designer in my book.

    As for sentiment, it definitely is a "love em or hate em" affair in most circles. I would argue that most Legacy haters have not even heard the speakers, but rather they hate a certain pro-Legacy poster that used to be on this site and Audio Asylum years ago. He was *extremely* annoying even to the strongest Legacy supporter you would meet (I left Audio Review for years due to his inane Legacy ramblings, and I was an owner). As a result of this, the negative feelings toward the brand have not disappated for some, and that is truly a shame.

    All of that said, with the continual price increases Legacy has imposed over the years, I would still have them on my list of speakers to consider new, but there are better values out there nowadays, IMO. Used, however, you can find some tremendous values. I have seen a pair of Whispers sell for the 6K range on Audiogon, and a pair of the original Focus speakers (not the 20/20) sell for 2.5K within the past year (and there is not much difference beween the 20/20 model and the old one)... At those used prices, I would not hesitate to buy either.

    ---Dave
  • 11-21-2005, 07:52 PM
    dmb_fan
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by J*E*Cole
    I have never heard nor seen them except in pictures, and they look gigantic, though cool, and their specs are very resectable, anyone know much about them? How do they look, fit and finish etc..., and of course how do you think they sound, and are they worth their price?

    Oh, and do any other brands kinda sound like Legacys?

    Just wondering, I saw them in musicdirect's new catalog, which BTW is gonna cost me alot of dough...

    I listened to a pair of used Legacy Classics for a couple hours in a local dealership a year or so ago. I had narrowed my search down to a select few speakers and the Classics were on the list, so I jumped at the chance for an extended audition.

    The room was pretty big, maybe 20' by 15' with an 8' ceiling. I tried them with a couple different amps of various power and with a wide variety of music.

    The verdict? Beautiful construction. Crazy power and clarity. A forceful presentation that never felt strained. If you like your music loud, these speakers will knock the hat right off your head if you turn up the volume. And the bass was close to the best I've ever heard at any price level--we're talking Velodyne bass here from floorstanding passive speakers! Crazy!

    But they weren't for me. I showed up with cash in hand and really wanted to go home with these awesome speakers, but they were never able to dissappear and create the illusion that I was actually listening to live acoustic instruments. I think they'd be awesome for home theater, where 50% of the illusion is visual, but for me in the type of listening I do (lights off, two-channel, jazz and well-recorded pop), they just weren't going to work for me.

    If it helps at all, I settled on a pair of Thiel CS3.5's. Which, aside from being floorstanding loudspeakers, are about as far away from the Legacys as you can get in terms of design principles (1st order crossovers, small drivers for wide dispersion, time and phase aligned, electronic equalization etc). I mention this because there are plenty of Thiel haters out there. So if Thiels aren't your cup of tea, then my review should be taken with a huge grain of salt.

    I once read that Bill Duddleston(sp?) doesn't design speakers for audiophiles, he designs speakers for folks who love to listen to music. That sorta makes sense to me. Not everybody sits in the sweet spot and freaks out about the precision of the soundstage. Some folks just like to listen to music without getting all geeky about it. If your'e the latter (and perhaps if you're the former) Legacy speakers might be perfect for you.

    If I win the lottery, I'll have Thiels in the living room and Legacys in the home theater.

    -Adam
  • 11-22-2005, 04:49 AM
    bubbagump
    worth a listen..
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by J*E*Cole
    I have never heard nor seen them except in pictures, and they look gigantic, though cool, and their specs are very resectable, anyone know much about them? How do they look, fit and finish etc..., and of course how do you think they sound, and are they worth their price?

    Oh, and do any other brands kinda sound like Legacys?

    Just wondering, I saw them in musicdirect's new catalog, which BTW is gonna cost me alot of dough...

    After casually searching for a about a year and a half, I bought a pair of Classics and a Silver Screen almost ten years ago. I didn't have the budget for the Focus at the time but I found the Classics to be very similar with less output than the Focus. Bottom line is that I haven't had a significant upgrade urge since. As one of the posters noted below, Legacys could be characterized as speakers for music lovers, not necessarily audiophiles. I've never had the patience to be the third leg of a equilateral triangle in an attempt to achieve perfect imaging - at least not for long periods. What Legacy Audio does etreme well is reproduce lush, room filling and accurate sound. The low end from the Classics and Focus is something that has to be heard to be appreciated. Not that you can't achieve the same low end numbers from other brands but the Classics and Focus do a superior job of integrating the sound from the bass drivers so that the overall presentation has to be heard to be appreciated. Very clean and tight if set up properly. Room accoustics are something you'll want to pay attention to. The Classics and Focus have 'breath' in spades. If I was in the market for speakers, I would definitely look at Legacy but would look in the used market. The retail prices have crept up considerably over the years. The cabinet construction and the quality of the components of Legacy Audio product is such that I wouldn't hesitate to buy ~10 year old Classics or Focus as long as the price was right and they were reasonably cared for. Lastly, Bill Duddleston bought Legacy back from Allen Organ and will assume control as of January 1st. I don't know the circumstances but would guess he was unhappy with how the brand has been marketed since he left. They are going back to direct selling which will hopefully reign in the price and bring 'focus' back to the brand.