Legacy Helix Reference Speakers

The Helix looks interesting but the additional amp cost makes it less attractive, my dad has the 20/20 and they are a really good value IMO the Whispers confuse me because the bass isnt near the depth of the 20/20....kinda left me scratching my head.

Thank you for your reply....(at least according to specs) the Helix is 16Hz-25Khz +/-2db while the Focus 20/20 is 16Hz-30Khz +/-2db. The Whispers are the ones (at least on paper) where the bass goes to 25Hz. In principal, this would seem to indicate that the bottom-end of the Helix and Focus 20/20 are close to if not identical being driven by the right amplication that is capable of pits-of-hell bass in the first place. There is however a discrepancy between the 16Hz bottom-spec on the website and the 22Hz number in the Helix manual PDF as posted on the website.

I was also taken aback by the apparent need for 6 channels of amplification however given the efficiency of the speakers and their optimal impedance of 4ohms, I found myself wondering if 4 high-quality amps (Edge NL 12.1
for example, does wonders for my Focus 20/20's) could be used with shotgun biwire of amps 1 and 2 for Treble and
Midrange and single conduit full-range use of amps 3 and 4 for Mid-bass...I will ask this of Legacy if they respond to my question as whether these speakers are still offered.

Thanks again for your comments!

I have heard the Helix, owned the Focus 20/20s and now own the Whispers. From my experience, the bottom end of the 20/20s is unchallenged by any speaker I have heard except for the Helix. For example, in my room the 20/20s began to roll off at around 16 Hz with no help from a sub [exactly as the spec indicates]. When I listened to the Helix, I remember on one demo track feeling my hair vibrate before I could hear anything…now that’s pressurizing the room! I have never experience that from any other home speaker.

I know what Chadnliz means about the Whispers though...I think he is referring mostly to the lack of deep bass. This is a bit odd when you consider it is up the model ladder from the 20/20s. Nevertheless, I like my Whispers more than my Focus 20/20s because of the improved imaging and sense of space. Things just got more real and believable with the Whispers. I have integrated some subs to get that bottom end back that I was used to with the 20/20s though. Doing it this way is much smoother and cleaner than turning up the Whisper Processor knob [IMO of course]. Now I have the 20/20s bottom end, and all the naturalness of the Whispers.

The Helix certainly seems more complicated and expensive to set up. I heard them in Macungie and they were fantastic...from my memory anyway. Besides the example above, I remember a huge, super wide soundstage that totally surrounded me [even behind me somehow]. Vocals just floated beautifully in the air. But this was in ’03. Not that anything has changed since then, but it is a long time ago to remember this sort of thing.

The Helix requires all the amps because it has an outboard crossover/processor. There are not the “standard” internal crossovers for the tweeters/mids/woofers found in traditional speakers. I believe they also use an aluminum sub driver [like from the LF Xtreme Subwoofer] that has its own internal amplifier. At least this is my understanding, I could be wrong.