Speaker recomendation

Quote:aalenik.."The Legacy Focus is a very nice-sounding loudspeaker. However, it is not in the same class as the Acoustic Zen Crescendo, which is an outstanding speaker and one of the few I covet.

If your choice is between those two.... well, you should hear them both and make your own decision, but I think I've made my feelings clear.

A better comparison would be the Crescendo vs. the Legacy Aeris. THAT would be a tough decision!" End Quote.

I'm not sure why you feel Legacy Focus SE's are not in the same class as the Acoustic Zen Crescendo. In MHO (and everybody has an opinion) the Focus SE's are a much better speaker both sound, looks and value for the dollar then the Zen..and a comparison between the Aeris and the Zen would be unfair, it would be like taking a knife to a gun fight...The Aeris are THAT GOOD.  

Since my last post was removed, I'll repost.  I'd go listen to as many speakers as you can of course.  That's for anything you purchase as we all know.  There are many different sounding speakers in this group.  Go listen to some live music and then audition speakers.  It's so much easier that way.  Listen to YOUR ears and not what we all post.  

Focal, Vandersteen, Wilson, Legacy, Proac, Maggies, even Harbeth and Magico's could be on that list.  Great tone will always shine through.  Coherency will too.  Sometimes the 'boring' audition is the best one over the long haul. If a speaker 'shines' in one area, then I'd be concerned as that can often be like buying teh 'brightest' TV on the shelf, only to realize that was a bad choice over time.  Fatigue is strange as you may not hear it in a 30 minute session in a store, but over time at home, it will make you want to change cables, amps, sources adn then speakers again in two years.  

I'd also look at resale values over 3 years incase you aren't happy.  I knew that I was going to upgrade after two years, so the Vandy's were an easy choice as they were SOOO easy to move onto another great home (Bob loves them and those who know me personally, realize that is important to me).

We all espouse our speakers that we own or that some sell, but it's room and system dependent for sure.  go find a dealer you can visit and listen.  Sometimes you may want to change the whole system to get the sound that you love.  I did this and continue to do so, but I have used a road map and budget that I set a few years ago, so it's not just willy nilly.  

JMHO and others do it differently.

@ctsooner Thanks for re-posting.  I completely agree, listening is the only source of truth, but listening in your own home is 100x better than listening in a dealer's room.   

No question.  The problem with speaker is that they are soooo difficult to audition in teh home.  Too big and bulky and it still takes time to dial them in.  If you live near a dealer that you trust and like, then it can be done.  That's why I get upset with dealers who don't care bout the acoustics of their rooms.  All too many dealers who sell out of their homes, don't have dedicated rooms and their acoustics are just not great.  Tons of excuses by some as to why they don't sound good, but everyone I speak with says the same thing.  Of course some will say that's not the case, but in reality it is.

I have also found store front dealers who's rooms sound terrible and many offer ultra high end gear.  I am amazed by this since they can easily solve these problems with only a bit of work.  

Basd on my jawdropping experience owning Emerald Physics KC IIs (with WireWorld OCC internal upgrade) I feel confident recommending EP top of line, which is about 10K