Has anyone listened to Legacy speakers?

You will read both positive and negative comments about Legacy speakers. I own several different complete systems from mid hi-fi to hi- Tec. I also own two pair of Legacy speakers by choice, (Studio and Signature III). In my opinion not only does Legacy make beautiful cabinets, but they also use quality components and you get a lot of bang for your buck. In order to get the correct sound from the Legacy speakers one must use a good hi current amp, the bigger the wattage the better (200 watts or more for solid state in order to really make the speakers sing). What branch of the military are you in and where are you stationed?

They are a fantastic speaker. I own the Focus, and they are awesome. Vegasears had a bad experiance, but that sounds more like a sales problem than the quality of the speakers. If you can aquire a listening demo of the Focus, do it!

Whoops, experience.

i have owned the legacy classic since march of 1996 and have never had a single problem. the build quality is flawless and the sound is super. the bass has put to shame many other speakers i have compared them to. i run them with a bryston b60 and even with only 100 watts(into 4 ohms)the sound staging and stereo seperation and imaging are most impressive. i use the steradian bass correction room device fom complete low range control and am happy to report the stereo seperation of even the lowest frequencies in very tight and tuneful. the midrange is second to none and i have listened to theils,hales,soliloquy and b&w to mention a few. the only set up i ever heard that made me want to own something different was some mark levinson/revel equipment. of course the cost difference was easily a factor of 7 to 8 times the cost of my little bryston/legacy set up! in adddition i have seen/heard all of the legacy speakers from the whisper to the classic and the entire line has value and musicality for someone who wants to own quality speakers and still have bucks to spend on other pieces in a stereo system. i have complete satisfaction in my ownership of my classics. hope this helps.

Lak has probably got the two best models that they build ( in my opinion ). The Studio uses the same "mid-woofer" that the highly reviewed ( and excellent sounding ) $4000+ two way Legend mini-monitors use. As to the Signature III's, they use a completely different bass alignment than any of the other models use. As such, i think that this results in MUCH better ( and tighter ) bottom end output and control.

Contrary to popular belief and even though the cabinets look very attractive, the internal build quality on these speakers is NOT as good as one would hope. I have worked on and repaired a few different Legacy speakers, each time finding various design / construction flaws. Let's just say that "consistency" is not one of their strong points. They do use very good quality drivers though and the prices compared to other speakers using similar drivers is very reasonable.

Given this information, a "tweaker" can take a pair of these and REALLY go to town on them. I am referring to internal wiring, tightening of connections, proper placement and amount of damping material, re-alignment of ports / port size, etc... The results should be very good if done properly since you're starting out with good quality drivers and a nice looking cabinet to begin with.

As such, i will state that these speakers in stock form are VERY system and taste dependent. You have to work with them quite a bit in order to squeeze the best performance out of them. They are MUCH pickier than some other brands. While this won't make me any "brownie points" with Legacy owners, there is a reason why they have the reputation of being the "hi end version of Cerwin Vega". They are relatively high in efficiency and tend to "boom" and "sizzle". HIGH current amps are a must to help control the bottom end on these speakers. On top of that, something that sounds "laid back" or slightly soft on top would probably help things out in terms of the "hot" high end that these speakers typically produce.

The larger models with open air woofers might be a different story in terms of the bass response. Due to the overall lower Q of this design, they might actually come across as being "lean". Sean
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PS.... Please don't hate me for sharing my honest opinions and experience. After all, if we all liked the same thing, there would be no need for this forum or multiple brands of gear. If you disagree, please share your opinions and findings. After all, that is what the poster is looking for: feedback and multiple points of view.