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Good question, lots of answers.

I've owned a pair of Legacy Classics for over 5 years now and have no intention of 'upgrading'. Granted, they are large (110#) but they are full range and ruthlessly accurate (no more than down .2db @ 22) but rewarding as ever when good source materail is used. Sometimes they even 'dissappear', which is a hard act to do. Once you've listened to a good, full-range system, its hard to go back to anything that doesn't convey the full intent of what the artist originally intended. I hope that doesn't sound elitest, just truthful. They now cost about $700 more than what I paid but you may be able to find someone who can audition them for you. I was lucky enough to do just that before I bought mine: the guy had a CD of Nat King Cole that was accidentally remastered without the trademark 'echo' used at the time and it seemed that he was actually in the room with me, crooning away. It sent chills down my spine and I was sold right then and there. Granted, some old 20 watt Macs were driving them effortlessly so that helped in creating the illusion but man, o man. What glorious sound. On an aside, the recording engineer (I forget his name) bought a pair of Legacys himself once he heard them and he's been around a long time (Eagles, Steely Dan, etc) and now he remasters. Hope this helps.
128x128nonoise
warrenh's avatar
warrenh
2,299 posts
 
Obviously, one cannot depend (unless they are familiar with the said audiophool's listening referrent) on just that one listening experience. This is not the first time I've heard this (inaccuracy) about Legacy. I suppose the power and "accuracy" of subjective opinion lays with the quantity of similiar, subjective listening experiences. If I heard the Legacy and came off with the same experiences as Noniose, I'd start to feel a little insecure, after reading countless experiences like Seans. I tend to feel, that the cream comes to the top, and down the long audio highway, the strength/sound etc. of an audio component becomes self evident. I hope this makes some sense. peace, warren
BTW Nonoise, that was a mini review, not a question, correct?
nonoise's avatar
nonoise OP
10,887 posts
 
Warren: You are correct sir! You should be an arbitrator. As for the rest of the crowd: don't be hatin' man! Not everyone can afford the cost into High End and the Legacys take you to the door. Sure, they're not perfect but the 40+ reviews at audioreview.com can't be ALL wrong. Everyone from Joe Average to musicians and engineers love them; even the critical ones give high marks. As for measured reviews, if one were to rely on those alone, there wouldn't be alot of tube sales, would there? They measure poorly but seduce nontheless. I started this thread by mistake hoping to help out some guy who was deciding on Legacys (full range) and B&Ws (monitor). Just from that it seemed to me that he wanted a full range speaker but the price of the B&W was just too dear (surprise-the same thing happened to me). I, too, have heard of inaccuracies in Legacys and seen people grudgingly damn them with faint praise at audio shows saying something else was wrong once they heard them but they couldn't say just what it was. Maybe not as exclusive as others. Who knows? The B&W didn't get great reviews in The Sensible Sound and Peter at The Audio Critic wasn't impressed either. Somewhere in between the glossy rags of Stereophile and Absolute Sound at one end and The Audio Critic at the other, lies this sensible solution: trust your ears. As for me, I have to get some sleep and decide if I want to get that darling TAD-cayin TA-30 or the TAD-150 and keep my SS amp. If anyone has some good ruminations on the subject, fire away!
sean
6,231 posts
 
Given that the Sensible Sound has raved about Legacy's for 20 years, it is no surprise that they didn't really like B&W's. If one has a preference for speakers with heavy bass output and a shrill and peaky treble response, using a speaker that is slightly lean to neutral in the bass region with a reasonably smooth treble response will obviously not be to their liking. As i've mentioned in other threads, the Signature III doesn't have the "over the top" brightness that other Legacy designs do, but it does suffer from bloated low end response. Sean
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