Thread: Legacy Audio?

Years back I had their Focus speakers for a while. Big, bold and musical. Good fit and finish for the day.
Have heard their stuff at the audio shows and it was always a pleasant room to visit.
Bill, the owner, is very knowledgeable and is always available for any questions.
They have a showroom in Springfield IL. if your ever in that neck of the woods.

A good friend has Legacy, he had the Focus SE for years and now has theV. I thought the Focus were outstanding for the money, meaning they could hold their own with other brands $20k models.

The V set up sounds great, the price is getting up there though but does include the Wavelet which offers DSP room correction, a DAC if needed and some other features, I'm not fully versed on that aspect. I believe it is the crossover too.

He has always had Lampi DAC's and Coda amps.

Those larger models through a huge soundstage, good imaging.

He also has a HT set up using the Silloette on-wall, that set up is nice as well.

I feel Legacy offer a good price to performance ratio

My good friend has the Focus SE and they are outstanding IMO. They are very balanced and work well with many genre of music. His house is the staple location for our local audio GTG and I never tire of listening to his system. I think they are a very underrated brand.

Originally Posted by nc42acc

My good friend has the Focus SE and they are outstanding IMO. They are very balanced and work well with many genre of music. His house is the staple location for our local audio GTG and I never tire of listening to his system. I think they are a very underrated brand.

If interested, get in touch with @SCaudiophile - he has the big Valors and has owned several of their different models over the years. He knows Bill well and can give you the skinny (and I'm quite positive he wouldn't mind me mentioning this).

Originally Posted by Hounddog

If interested, get in touch with @SCaudiophile - he has the big Valors and has owned several of their different models over the years. He knows Bill well and can give you the skinny (and I'm quite positive he wouldn't mind me mentioning this).

+1. Talk to Mark! Other than Bill, nobody is more informed about Legacy!

Originally Posted by crwilli

+1. Talk to Mark! Other than Bill, nobody is more informed about Legacy!

Thanks Craig,...just saw this and happy to help!

I'm a long term Legacy customer though I've had other top notch speakers (e.g. TAD R1 Mk2s along the way a few years ago);

Caliber (passive), the fully active version and the partially active version (like I ordered with dual 8" inside and outside firing drivers) all
get it done for sure. Only the Active and Semi-Active work with Wavelet as far as I know but Bill Dudleston may tell you different and he
should know :-)

I owned a killer combination of CaliberXDs, 2 Foundation monster subs, all actively crossed over and driven by Wavelet; for mid-$20K range
with Wavelet, it smashed speakers costing many multiples more (IMHO).

I own Valor with Wavelet now and could not be happier.

I've also owned Focus 20/20, Victoria LE, Studio HD, Silverscreen II and HDs, Mist IIs, Focus HDs, Focus SE and AERIS and almost
(an might yet get for a 2nd pair), Whisper XDS which is one of the best speakers on the planet (again IMHO). A friend has Vs as
well; have heard them and they are excellent but for my money, Valor is the ticket of the 2 for how I listen.

BUMP, I just sold my persona 7f and am considering the legacy Aeris with wavelet after listening to legacy at the last axpona. they are attractive in their way but how do they do with inner detail, midrange dynamics and low volume evening listening?

Originally Posted by steve59

BUMP, I just sold my persona 7f and am considering the legacy Aeris with wavelet after listening to legacy at the last axpona. they are attractive in their way but how do they do with inner detail, midrange dynamics and low volume evening listening?

I owned Aeris for a couple years and only sold them for personal reasons; it took TAD R1 Mk2s at 4 times the retail price (more now) to equal them
in terms of 3D imaging and soundstaging quality, extent, dynamics, top to bottom coherency, etc...AND I was still missing almost the entire bottom
half octave of deep bass (the R1s for me went beyond their spec in-room and with my cables) and I found myself missing the 10" midrange driver
on the Aeris. To your question as to how well they do at inner detail, answer is extremely well. For your question on midrange, exceptionally(!)
well and the TAD R1s did not equal them for midrange though the R1s were darned good in that regard.

I've got Valor now with the 14" midrange and midbass so inner detail and midrange is even better however you'd have to go a LONG(!) way
financially to truly beat the Aeris with Wavelet.

Note: my comments are concerning the way mine were built,....internal amplification was installed for bass and subwoofer drivers only.

I had multiple sets of binding posts (for future flexibility) and ran with a single high-end stereo amp, the Esoteric A-02 driving the midrange and
treble externally with a full-range set of speaker cables into bottom set of binding posts jumpered up to the top posts with identical matching jumpers
to my speaker cables. I had them built to allow me to go to 4 channels of amplification to drive the mids and treble separate but never saw the need
with AERIS. I call out my config as the baseline for my comments as that is the 'semi-active' way to built AERIS and have Wavelet as a full external
crossover with Room Correction. As I understand it, Legacy will build them "fully active", i.e. all amps internal and other variants.

Happy to speak tonight via phone or anytime on Sunday or next week. Drop me a PM here if interested. I can also point to a couple of guys with
listening skills I respect and high end systems themselves who heard the AERIS on multiple occasions, the R1s after them multiple times and
the Valor since if you want listening impressions from guys who did not own them and as such have an owner-bias, but did listen many times at my place.

thanks for taking the time to post. The speakers come with the wavelaunch processor not wavelet my mistake. The speakers playing at axpona last show were seriously good and I can usually pick apart speakers in show conditions. The amplification will be a hegel h360 but with the 2 500 watt built in amps it should be plenty. trade in for the wavelet is $4100 and i'll be looking for recommendations in that regard within 6 months or so. I appreciate the offer to call and i'll probably pm for your# sunday.

Originally Posted by steve59

thanks for taking the time to post. The speakers come with the wavelaunch processor not wavelet my mistake. The speakers playing at axpona last show were seriously good and I can usually pick apart speakers in show conditions. The amplification will be a hegel h360 but with the 2 500 watt built in amps it should be plenty. trade in for the wavelet is $4100 and i'll be looking for recommendations in that regard within 6 months or so. I appreciate the offer to call and i'll probably pm for your# sunday.

Excellent...looking forward to the call.

When I bought AERIS, it came with a Xilica XP-4080. It was 1+ years later that Wavelet became enabled for AERIS so I bought the upgrade.

I know several people who have all bought AERIS in the last 2 years, all went with Wavelet...

Happy to help and talk more soon.

Well within a few days of contacting Legacy about a ‘b’ stock pair of Aeris a pair of Kef Blades came up locally that I was at least as interested in at the time. So it goes. Thanks all for your reply’s.

Originally Posted by Vinyl Valet

I've heard several Legacy models. Long story short, one of the best speaker values in audio. Pick the right one for your room/budget and your speaker search will end. Excellent customer service. Made in the USA. What more can one ask for?

Don't forget their excellent amplification:
Legacy Audio i.V4 Ultra multi-channel amplifier Review - Dagogo

Well said,...definitely +1 from me on all of this!

Originally Posted by Vinyl Valet

Most folks don't realize what an incredible value the made in USA Legacy speakers are. I've had a number of Legacy speakers in my home over the years. Currently Classic HD speakers with a pair Metro XD subs.

So true,...there is plethora of reasons I've stuck with Legacy and owned MANY of their models up the line for 2-ch as well as home theater models concurrently for over 17 years with the exception of bit less than a 2 year stint with a well past $100K+ top-10 world class speaker that incidentally was amazing and I enjoyed owning them, but they were not better than my current VALORs in my opinion and to my listening priorities and music taste. Over these years I've also heard 100s of different speaker models including the latest and greatest from very popular and prolific brands, many of which are in the $100K, $140K, $200K+ range and while they are excellent speakers they are not better IMHO than what is my living room right now. I'll skip models and brands so as to not stir up anger unintentionally. I've also heard a couple of the latest high class brand new models and while impressed, did not prefer them to what I already have.

Suffice it to say Legacy speakers compete, equal or better (depending upon model) their counterparts that often cost much more at each level.

What really drove this home was 4 days of listening in Munich at Hifdeluxe and High End 2019. I know, I know (to the naysayers...) "show environment" and all that. Several hundred speaker models in great setups, many reference level playback experiences, surprising great for a show. I did come away with a list of those that were equal or better as well as hearing what I consider my top 3 'other best' speakers ever (VALOR makes 4) however the speakers on that list other than VALOR started at something like $250K-$300K and went up from there.

IMHO, FWIW, YMMV and all that...

translation: If you don't agree with me and/or think I'm bonkers, nuts, deaf or otherwise FUBAR....."It Is Cool!!!"

I don’t know which model legacy speaker was on display at the last axpona but I do remember being surprised. I expect a speaker with 100 inches of speaker driver to move some air but they sounded good! Really good. Is the wavelet an external xover as well as dsp?

Originally Posted by steve59

I don’t know which model legacy speaker was on display at the last axpona but I do remember being surprised. I expect a speaker with 100 inches of speaker driver to move some air but they sounded good! Really good. Is the wavelet an external xover as well as dsp?

That's a consistent theme with their speakers,...will play any kind of music convincingly, no ear fatigue ever in all the years I've owned them and perform
well above what you would think from both their price and the (rather impressive but still understated) appearance. Also no fancy A, B, C, D, E materials,
nor heavy metals or other esoteric expensive thinks, just traditional speaker design and build, all assembled and built by hand including ever crossover
being hand-built and hand-wound in house.

Glad to hear that....the wait will be worth it!

Just jumping in here!

I am a great admirer of Bill and Legacy Audio. I started with the Signature SE’s with dual Metro subs. Then upgraded to the Focus SE’s with dual Foundation subs and then added on the Marquis center and Phantom surround. My latest upgrade is the Aeris, tri-amped, with the Wavelet DSP.

My current set up is just sublime. Recently bought a Lumin U1 transport and use the Wavelet DAC’s. The imagining of music is incredible. Separation of instruments with the mid bass and vocals centered, it has depth and wide soundstage. Low end is to be heard to really appreciate the design of the system. I love it but still want more! Eyeing the Valor and would love to listen to them in a home setup. I probably have enough confidence in Bill’s design, from my previous iterations, that I would buy the Valor without even demonstrating them.

Happy Listening!

Originally Posted by TheGiant

Just jumping in here!

I am a great admirer of Bill and Legacy Audio. I started with the Signature SE’s with dual Metro subs. Then upgraded to the Focus SE’s with dual Foundation subs and then added on the Marquis center and Phantom surround. My latest upgrade is the Aeris, tri-amped, with the Wavelet DSP.

My current set up is just sublime. Recently bought a Lumin U1 transport and use the Wavelet DAC’s. The imagining of music is incredible. Separation of instruments with the mid bass and vocals centered, it has depth and wide soundstage. Low end is to be heard to really appreciate the design of the system. I love it but still want more! Eyeing the Valor and would love to listen to them in a home setup. I probably have enough confidence in Bill’s design, from my previous iterations, that I would buy the Valor without even demonstrating them.

Happy Listening!

I have owned many models from Legacy since the early 2000s and upgraded through the line, took a break for a "top audiophile speaker", the TAD R1 Mk2s for a couple years (was extremely happy and impressed by them and was able to sell them to a good friend) and ultimately came back to Legacy in late 2018 then upgraded in mid-2020, this time to the Valors and have been continuously and newly impressed every week for the past 16 months as they keep showing me additional capabilities.

I see you live in Alpharetta; there are several of us in GA and SC. I live in the Greenville SC area. If you want to hear the VALOR and Wavelet setup, you are more than welcome for visit. Plenty of music here to choose from in nearly every genre that will either show the finesse this incredible speaker is capable or, of push the boundaries, quite literally, of the house around the system.

Just a music nut very happy with his speakers and having heard hundreds of others, these were meant for how I listen and all the genres I listen to.

Originally Posted by SCAudiophile

I have owned many models from Legacy since the early 2000s and upgraded through the line, took a break for a "top audiophile speaker", the TAD R1 Mk2s for a couple years (was extremely happy and impressed by them and was able to sell them to a good friend) and ultimately came back to Legacy in late 2018 then upgraded in mid-2020, this time to the Valors and have been continuously and newly impressed every week for the past 16 months as they keep showing me additional capabilities.

I see you live in Alpharetta; there are several of us in GA and SC. I live in the Greenville SC area. If you want to hear the VALOR and Wavelet setup, you are more than welcome for visit. Plenty of music here to choose from in nearly every genre that will either show the finesse this incredible speaker is capable or, of push the boundaries, quite literally, of the house around the system.

Just a music nut very happy with his speakers and having heard hundreds of others, these were meant for how I listen and all the genres I listen to.

SC,

Thank you for your reply and offer. I will definitely take you up on your offer and would love to see, hear and share what you have been building the last 20 plus years so I can learn from you. I do travel to the Greenville, SC for business and I will PM you when I will be in the area next. Looking forward to it.

Andre

Originally Posted by TheGiant

SC,

Thank you for your reply and offer. I will definitely take you up on your offer and would love to see, hear and share what you have been building the last 20 plus years so I can learn from you. I do travel to the Greenville, SC for business and I will PM you when I will be in the area next. Looking forward to it.

Andre

Same here...travel both US and international for my work is showing signs of returning but all listening get togethers are possible with a bit of notice. PM me when it looks likely for you!

A visit to Mark/s is not to be missed. The sound system is incredible, but the volume and breadth of physical media (spinning silver disks) is unbelievable.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

Originally Posted by Hounddog

A visit to Mark/s is not to be missed. The sound system is incredible, but the volume and breadth of physical media (spinning silver disks) is unbelievable.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

Thank you very much Jim!

I just listened to the Aeris at axpona 2022 and again am smitten. I asked the demonstrator if the demo pair would be available at discount and 'surprise' I wasn't the first person interested in that pair.

Here's my concern, My listening room has 7' ceilings and a total of 3200 cu/ft listening space and the speakers are large really big. also the new Aeris is fully active and comes with the wavelet 2 processor.

Were the speakers damaged in transit? That could happen with any company. I totally get your frustration with that. I would be picking them up at the show(if they are still available) and my concern is they will be to large for the room.

Originally Posted by steve59

I just listened to the Aeris at axpona 2022 and again am smitten. I asked the demonstrator if the demo pair would be available at discount and 'surprise' I wasn't the first person interested in that pair.

Here's my concern, My listening room has 7' ceilings and a total of 3200 cu/ft listening space and the speakers are large really big. also the new Aeris is fully active and comes with the wavelet 2 processor.

Aeris can be built fully self-powered (full active) or with a mix on internal amps for bass and sub-bass and then either 2 or 4 channels needed for either mids+highs externally amped together or mids+highs externally amped separately.

Your room volume is no issue as I've owned AERIS with the initial DSP (XILCA 4080 studio DSP) and later with Wavelet in 2 rooms, one with less volume and with a 2-300 cubic feet more volume.
I think Wavelet will help you contend with the effects of the 7-foot tall ceiling though you might have a couple of other tweaks to make in that regard in parallel (and I'm not an acoustic engineer so I cannot suggest concrete answers).

I've also heard AERIS in 2 much smaller and 2 much larger rooms than what you have. Again,...I think they will work well.

Originally Posted by dznutz

I will never buy another pair of Legacy’s. My first pair arrived in absolutely horrific condition, Took a couple weeks of Legacy trying to blame the Carrier before they finally agreed to replace them. Well, ended up I had to pay double the shipping and clearance fees through no fault of my own. Word of advice, stay away.

I also understand the frustration with receiving damaged things of all kinds (non-audio and audio) and the disappointment of that "sh#$%^&" day #1 experience when
all you should have had was a great day after no doubt waiting many weeks and possibly 1, 2 or more months given all the challenges in the world.

You aren't being specific at all here as to what the damage was yet you are damning an entire company of good people on a world-wide forum with no context.

I don't work for Legacy (or any other audio company) though I am a long-term Legacy owner so I have no dog in this fight.

I have had 2 shipments over 17+ years with issues, one speaker and one processor, other than that, many pallets of speakers for HT as well as 2-ch back and forth
had no issues; they always made it right. I've had other issues with other brand's amp and other shipments; they all seem to react the same way when there is shipment damage, first blame or at least get the carrier involved. Not optimal and comes off all wrong (i agree).

If there was something sufficient for them to put the carrier into the process as an issue then I'd point out that every manufacturer of audio gear (and furniture,
appliances, for that matter) would do the exact same thing.

I have also had loose connection issues on 2 terminal plates that got shaken loose with both speakers with a speaker pair and other issues with loose connections
in another brands quite costly amps....these things, do happen and frankly sucks when it does.

There's no good answer here and I'm sure you probably dislike this reply possibly quite a bit.

My suggestion, give them a chance to make it right. If the communications were not as they should have been in response to you, a customer reporting
a critical issue (to you as well as to them) on day #1, I would (and have) written calm, constructive feedback after the issue gets resolved.

Respectfully...

Originally Posted by dznutz

Mark, to be honest I was never intending to make this public, but perhaps it should be. Highlights of my top 3 issues, out of many cosmetic ones...

1. Crossover was not secured inside one cabinet. You could hear it banging around inside while handling the speaker so I opened it up. One screw was barely holding and the other one was simply missed.

2. Crossover components were glued down... over a layer of saw dust... so the glue was doing nothing.

3. One of the grills was falling off the top of the cabinet, the grills are secured by brad nails and one of 3 had completely missed its mark. I attempted to reposition it, thinking that it was removable and the whole thing came off with no way for me to reattach it.

Ill post a couple videos when I can.

EDIT: Looks like there's no way to attach a video, so you'll just have to trust me.

It's good they are going to make it right for you and if these happened to any of us / me, I'd be unhappy as well. That stated, I'm
also surprised as I, nor anyone of alot of customers I've met over the years has had such issues (and they should never have
happened to you either).

I hope you get them resolved and the speakers you are meant to have so that you can enjoy them.

So did you get them? If not and buying new, get them as passive as possible. I know Mark will disagree but I do not like the sound of the Legacy Class D amps. I heard the Valors at Legacy and at the show, both underwhelmed me by comparison to lesser models I've heard with other amps. I do agree the room should be fine.

I too am surprised a Legacy product wouldn't show top notch craftsmenship. I have heard there is a Legacy employee that is not exactly customer friendly, so if not talking to Bill on an issue it may be worth elevating it to him

Originally Posted by steve59

Were the speakers damaged in transit? That could happen with any company. I totally get your frustration with that. I would be picking them up at the show(if they are still available) and my concern is they will be to large for the room.

Originally Posted by Mr Peabody

So did you get them? If not and buying new, get them as passive as possible. I know Mark will disagree but I do not like the sound of the Legacy Class D amps. I heard the Valors at Legacy and at the show, both underwhelmed me by comparison to lesser models I've heard with other amps. I do agree the room should be fine.

I too am surprised a Legacy product wouldn't show top notch craftsmenship. I have heard there is a Legacy employee that is not exactly customer friendly, so if not talking to Bill on an issue it may be worth elevating it to him

I like my semi-active setup,...takes 4 channels of external amps but that's opinion and you know what they say about those LOL; not sure I could find a way to make room for any more channels of external amplification or cables than I already have (it would take 10 channels externally to have a fully passive Valor as what remains in the way of internal amps in the Valor pair I have is still 3 amps so times 2 for both speakers and that rolls up to 10 full channels, 5 per side.

Aeris could be done with either 4 external channels (2 per side) or 6 (3 per side); as a matter of fact I had my Aeris wired in that way years ago just in case I wanted to experiment. I never found it necessary however that doesn't mean it wouldn't sound amazing, just never got to it.

Originally Posted by dznutz

I guess I'm just that lucky, then again, I spend more on this hobby in a month that most do in a year. So I'm bound to experience issues, but in all honesty, this was my worst experience... by far.

I'm sorry to see what you've had to go through and truly hope that what I and others have experienced is in your hands and you can get to enjoying them ASAP.

It appears someone beat me to them as I never heard back from the demonstrator. He did tell me someone had already asked about buying them at/after the show. They were fully active with 1400 wpc per side so thats how I would have gotten them.

Originally Posted by steve59

It appears someone beat me to them as I never heard back from the demonstrator. He did tell me someone had already asked about buying them at/after the show. They were fully active with 1400 wpc per side so thats how I would have gotten them.

Sorry to hear that....Here's wishing you can obtain a pair either built new or as you want them and from a good source as soon as possible after this show.