Legacy Classics and bottom end?

Legacy tower speakers have always suffered from room placement where the bass output is increased to a point of negitive. I have always woundered why they do not have one of the switches on the back "adjust" for what seems a common problem. They even made a Steradian unit to buy to do just that. But I think a simple switch (or 2) would be the best. No one I know who likes the Legacy sound has ever complained about the top and midrange. In fact.... this is why I love them so much. I have never heard any better. Bottom end> low/sub bass sound is the only .... non user friendly part. My Classics are 1997 issue and I would like to know if some new Classic owners have less of a bass issue. I also wounder if I may have some driver issues I am chasing? Plus.... what I have is not BAD.....just there. And as some of you may agree..... you just want it "right". But I have a new amp....ordered new cables, power cords and interconnects. I need time to set things up......give some "burn in" time for things to set.... and I will post an up date. Let me say this..... my room is big and my sound is almost there..... but almost is why we all strive for a great set up.

sean.... I plugged the ports. I called Legacy and they said it would not harm the speakers. I am going to give it time as you suggested. I have also ordered a burn in / work out cd to see if that will "speed up" the process.

The original Legacy 1's had a switch that controlled the upper bass region. This came into play at about 180 Hz if i remember, which was too high to do any good. Most of the larger Legacy's have a big peak centered at appr 100 - 110 Hz, save the Whisper. It is this huge peak centered quite high in frequency that makes them sound bloated. Then again, without that big peak, the speakers would not have anywhere near the extension ( -3 dB point ) that they claim.

Out of curiosity, what did you use to plug the ports?

As to the treble response, it isn't all that great either. Most of them have a large peak ranging from somewhere around 8 KHz to 12 KHz or so. The thing is, without this peak, the speakers wouldn't sound balanced due to the tremendous bottom end bloat. In effect, Legacy has built in somewhat of a "flying V" type equalization i.e. boosted bass and treble without having to use tone controls or equalization devices. This keeps the "audiophiles" happy because they aren't using "tone controls", yet they get all the boom and sizzle that they desire without having to resort to Cerwin-Vega's. If you doubt this, look at the Stereophile review of the Focus 20/20's and you'll see both the bass and treble peaks that i speak of. The Classic's, Legacy 1's and Signature's also share a similar bass peak with the Classic's and Legacy 1's sharing a similar treble peak. The Signature's are noticeably softer on top.

Some of the "sizzle" comes from their choice of drivers, oher parts come from how the drivers are mounted on the baffle. What i could never figure out is why Legacy would countersink ( "flush-mount" ) the woofers and lower mids but not the upper mids and tweeters, where it really counts. As such, one can typically help reduce the "shouty" treble response of these speakers by covering the upper baffle area with felt and double sided "hem" tape. Both the felt and hem tape, which can be found at any local fabric store. Simply cut the felt to shape around the drivers and tape it in place on the baffle. The improvements in treble clarity, imaging and focus should be instantly noticeable. Sean
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sean....I pluigged the ports with hard foam. I have not had the "sizzle" you had or the flying V effect. What I do and have is room/speaker placement .... sub effect increase. If you remember the old B&W 801's they suffered even more than my classics......and for total sound the classics "to me" fit my liking. My classics do have a bass switch. But not one I think is "enough" of a change. I love my speakers and I am only talking about a 5% "desire" to make them "right for me". Plus I have never been in a high end home or store. So I am limited. I do use Genelec near fields and adjustable sub in my home studio. I have also been to a high end studio. So I have some "idea" what I am after. I also think? sub sound 80 and below are a pain to fine tune.

Take a thick wool sock, ball it up and then completely wrap it up in cellophane wrap aka "saran wrap". Shove this into the port with the open side of the saran wrap firing out of the port. The thick foam that you are using will only change the port tuning, not seal it. The saran wrap will act as a more efficient air-tight seal and the sock will provide enough mass to keep the woofers from forcing the seal out of the port via internal pressures. If you don't get it wedged in there tight enough though, the pressures within the ports can launch the plastic wrapped sock out of the ports much like a cannon launches the load placed within it. Sean
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