Review of Legacy Focus XD

INTRO:

Well, I been an audiophile for about 12 years and through my journey I’ve experienced and encountered many number of speakers manufacturers, so I’ve learned a lot about speakers and these legacy focus XD at 12,600$ dollars a pair need to be heard in order to be understood.

In this review I’m going to attempt to describe the sound and benefits as best as I can. Speaker tones are subjective and you might have a different perception on how to describe the sound that coming out of these beautiful speakers.

Before I get into into my review I want to share my experiences shopping for my perfect pair of speakers. I called Audio Doctor In NJ and I told him that I wanted to demo legacy audio so I made an appointment with him, even on the phone I could tell that Dave is a super acknowledgeable guy with a level of professionalism and customer service that put to shame a lot of High End Stores I’ve been in the past, he is not the typical salesman that don’t really know what they doing or talking about, this guy knows exactly how to maximize your budget to get the most out of it, so I was already super excited about going to his store to demo few speakers.

My experience visiting the store was everything I was expecting to be, this Guy really knows his stuff and Woww I never seen so much High end gear in any of the other stores I’ve been here in NYC, this guy really have a huge selection of state of the art electronics and speakers that will blow your mind, also the rooms are properly setup and everything sounded great.

What I really love the most about going to audio doctor is how effortless the interaction was, there was never pressure to buy anything, he just let me explored the store, listen to different speakers and after like 3 hours of listening I ended up placing an order for the Focus XD and I’m so glad I did so here is why.

PERFORMANCE:

The Legacy Focus XD are a true full range reference loudspeaker that delivers a sonic and believable presentation, rated at +/-2dB from 18Hz to 30kHz. The speakers deliver a level of transparency that is crystal clear, naturally open, but yet non-fatiguing and never bright. these speakers are quite convincingly one of the most tonally balanced speakers I ever heard, that delivers a big sense of accuracy in my listening space. The mid-range is well anchored, with substantial body that’s not been heard at this price point.

The bass is something truly special and I’m not even using my Dual rhythmic F12 subs. I don’t think I will ever miss them either, the bass is controlled, smooth, while having 2 x 12” at the bottom, never overpowering against the mids and highs and presents a level of balance and linearity that seems unique as a large speaker.

I noticed, despite my seating distance from these rather large floor standers, the bass does not image where the woofers are, but at the height where the mid bass drivers and tweeters seem to appear. Other speakers I’ve heard that are much more expensive suffer from that issue. Not these Legacy speakers. These speakers are the epitome of coherence, and are stellar example of multi-driver integration.

The breathtaking dynamics combined with the tonal quality suggests that this pair of speakers can truly deliver live-like performances in my room, giving high resolution to the sound, impact dynamism of drums and the instantaneous hit to the snare.

In my sweet spot, the separation of instruments is like having a live band in my presence, nothing more nothing less. They play every note with unprecedented clarity, detail and a real sense of spaciousness in the soundstage. I can even visualize in my mind the space between the musicians, more convincingly than ever before.

All the instruments and vocals sound real and natural, these speakers don’t really add or take anything away from the music, they are extremely revealing with great delicacy and neutrality. They play virtually every genre of music exceedingly well. From R&B, Pop, Rock, Classical, Big Band Jazz, or small jazz ensembles.

The music can never be too complicated or messy with these speakers. Always keeping their composure remaining free and effortless. Seemingly linear throughout volumes, soft to loud, the details from bass to highs never seem to wane, turning up the volume doesn’t bring the sound stage forward and at low volumes doesn’t bring the soundstage backwards. Even at very low listening levels I still can appreciate a huge soundstage and I can hear the smallest details with stunning clarity and pristine definition.

BUILD QUALITY:

The build quality and finish looks very clean and absolutely gorgeous. I chose white. A clean, and pure color, much like what the Focus XD is to me, clean and pure.

COMPARISON, BUT NOT IN A WAY YOU WOULD THINK OF:

Objectively, the Focus XD does everything right. Image height, sound staging, wide frequency response, great choice and implementation of drivers, composure in varying volumes, great dynamics, provides a full pipe organ deep response right up to the top range of harmonics of piccolos, reveals all the airy goodness and flaws in each recording, ability to separate sound stage and instrument groups with stunning definition, anything you can think of in the objective judgement of the speaker, it does it all, and in an exceptional manner.

The reasons anyone wouldn’t like these pair of speakers is probably due to personal preferences such as, aesthetics and tone.

VALUE:

In my opinion these speakers are the true definition of what high end audio should sound like, yet without costing an arm and a leg, in comparison with countless manufacturers. Having listened to many other outrageously expensive speakers from the competition these seem like the best value in the high end audio industry. They push way above and beyond their price point for much less.

Even though I couldn’t find any flaws, popular consensus is that there’s no such thing as the best speaker in the world because sound is subjective and everyone has their own degree of preference.

It is my humble opinion that these speakers belong among the very very best regardless of price.

CONCLUSION:

I’m glad I went with Legacy Audio. High-priced speakers are not the definition of High-Fidelity sound reproduction. There’s much less compromise, and so much more to re-discover and re-connect with my music. Every detail, nuance, and pleasure is uncovered. They certainly build some of the finest speakers in the world.

These legacy focus XD are a great choice for a loudspeaker, a product that has the capabilities to impress even the most ardent critic, because the level of finesse, speed, impact, refinement, balance and clarity is something really special that I’ve never heard before from a speaker, more so, in this price range. To my ears, they produce this organically gorgeous and elegant sound that makes me want to listen for hours and hours.

I believe it’s very rare to find a speaker that can do everything right, specially at this price point, and these speakers leave nothing to be desired for.

The Focus has been in production for over 25 years and every year Bill Dudleston is always looking for ways to improve upon them even though they seem to be near perfection.

The Legacy Focus is a magnificent masterpiece that delivers world class state of the art performance at a very reasonable price so they are most certainly keepers, with that being said, I’m looking forward to many years of listening enjoyment.

Bravo Legacy Audio.

If you are in New Jersey or NYC area and you looking to buy some high end gear I strongly suggest to give Audio Doctor a call, dealing with him was a great experience and I’m 100% satisfied and happy with my purchase.