Legacy Speaker Owners Assistance Request

Thanks for the reminder....shoot me an email if you like with a phone number and we can talk further. While I've not owned Marquis or it's HD successor, I have heard them and also have owned Silver Screen II and HD over the years...

Having reviewed the Helix, Focus/Focus SE and Whisper for Dagogo.com I have some familiarity with the brand. :)
I have used the Whisper in reviewing with a large assortment of amps including but not limited to Jeff Rowland class D, VAC Phi 200, Pass XA160.5, Pathos Classic One MkIII (two units in Mono mode; currently for sale), Cambridge Audio Azur 840W, and Wells Audio Akasha and Innamorata, etc. All of these have been reviewed; if you wish to see the character of them you can read the reviews. I have done two write ups of the Whisper which you may enjoy at Dagogo.com.

I am not hard core HT, but listen to stereo about 98%+ of the time, so my comments on setup are to be weighted. I do use different amplification for the surround system; I also use the Magnepan MGMW for the Mid and Rear surrounds. So, I do not have absolute consistency with surrounds in either amp or speakers. However, I watch a movie perhaps once a month, if that. I put the bulk of my money into the two channel experience.

If HT is critical to you I would strongly consider similar brand for all amplification, as the amps do carry a sonic signature and house sound. I would put the bulk of the money on the two channel amp and quite a bit less on the surrounds. The center I would put a good amp on since the nature of the human voice changes dramatically with a good center/amp.

The advice regarding the efficiency of Legacy speakers is true. I have used all kinds of amps with the Focus, Whisper, etc. If you go with tubes you may encounter a lot of tubes throwing off a lot of heat and longer term maintenance costs. Solid state would give you less issues potentially of biasing, tube replacement, etc. I have put together many systems with a tube amp, i.e. VAC, up front with the mains and solid state with all the rest. My perspective on this may conflict with some ardent HT fans, but once the system is set up and you get accustomed to the sound it becomes "natural" to your ears. I am quite sure the surround could be vastly improved, but with budget considerations and emphasis on the mains I am content with the "mix and match" system. However, as I said, optimally you will want consistency.

Note that if you do work with different brands/genres of amps you can massage the sound of the center/surrounds with cabling to suit. So, while I suggest that the optimum would be one brand/house sound of amp, you can do wonders in matching tonality etc. with cabling. I would strongly suggest you begin with one full set of cables if possible, especially for the center speaker and mains, and work from there.

Finally, the Wavelaunch processor will allow you to integrate the Focus and Whisper with ease in a fashion much more deft than simply putting two different passive speakers together. For instance, if there is a difference in output between the two amps you can adjust the level of the Whisper via the processor to match the Focus SE. No problem. You can even tweak the filters a bit to get the various frequencies to sound the way you want. It's one of the speakers which allows pretty much total control, so one is not as dependent upon the "perfect" matching of amps as with other speakers.

If you wish to converse further, perhaps considering your other system components, feel free to contact me. :)

HI Doug! First, thank you for the lengthy and informative reply. Honored that you have replied to my post!

50% of listening will be 2 ch and 50% HT/5.1 music(bluray only).
If I recall, in one of your articles you opted to use an AB amp vs an ICE for the W-HD!?
If so how did you find the comparison?

My intentions, so far, are to Mono the XD or Bi the HD.
Stereo amp the rear F-SE's and use bi-wiring.

The M-HD Centre has me a little perplexed as what direction to actually go as, you stated, it has a lot of relevance.

Room correction: Bill will be employed,directly,to set the system up, using his Xilica system for the LRF's.

Been looking @ Triannov, Dirac, XTZ pro etc. for others.

Also looking at 5.1/2 pre/pro's/server.
Memory Player 64u modded to 5.2 w/ B ray built in.
Krell 707 w/ modded Oppo 105
New Emotiva - not yet released
Any suggestions?

No analogue planned at this time but may look at adding a UHA R2R and associated gear later for 2ch listening only. I'll probably be lambasted for this but that is what I'm planning for now.

Amplification:
Been looking at Coda; 15.5(new) for XD's
33.0(5) for SE's?

M-HD has me perplexed as to which is most suitable considering it can handle up to 400w, and to attempt to match it (timbre) to the XD/HD LRF's.
Definitely looking to use the same brand throughout!
That said, I welcome any recommendations!!!

As previously mentioned my room size is Mod-large (10,800 cu/ft) w/ a high sloping cieling. It has an Equi=Tech 150A (220 stepped down to 110)dedicated service and Cardas wire to Maestro outlets. Two separate grounds: 1 for Electronics and one for Amps etc. Each (floor)outlet is within 3-4 ft of the proposed speaker/sub placement and 2/20A outlets proximal (3-4/ft) to the electronics etc.
I have done this to reduce wire length (read;costs) requirements for each component.

Appreciate any additional input for sure!!!
Kindest Regards,
Tom

Tom, in my use class D amps have been superb at transients and clean, but lacking somewhat in fullness and tonal richness that good Class AB amps have. I requested specifically that the Whisper I have not use internal Class D amplification so that I could use whichever amp I chose to drive the bass. I have never regretted that decision. I recommend to anyone considering the Whisper that they strongly consider an outboard amp for the bass. Bill D. prefers the convenience and ease of setup etc. of the Class D internally, especially since some customers do not want to mess with yet another amp/cables for the bass. But I wanted complete control over which amp I used for the entire speaker and I am very happy with the results. I spent enough time with the Helix and its onboard Class D amp for the bass that I felt I would prefer the flexibility of my own amp choice for the bass with the Whisper. Some individuals are not so senstive to the nuances of the lowest bass, but I always wish to have complete freedom in working with all frequencies when system building.

You're doing a lot of 5.1, so you will definitely put much more emphasis on continuity of the amps with the surrounds/center than I have. With that much surround play I would attempt to get same brand for amps for all channels.

Conducting direct comparison with my Whisper DSW between passive X-over mode and active x-over/processor mode the fully active speaker is superior. It costs a fair bit more to realize its full potential, but you can start with relatively inexpensive multi-channel amp or a couple stereo amps (if you use the internal class D; if you opt for external bass amplification like me, then you're looking at 6 channels of amplifiction) and upgrade them over time.

The HD will be a relatively plug and play thing if you don't want to mess with the processor much, and it will cost less. To push the speaker to ultimate perfomance you will need to do the active speaker top to bottom and more channels of amps. If I recall correctly, I was able to get as good or better sound with less expensive amps from the fully active mode. I would not obsess overly about Mono/Stereo as the quality of the company's amps is at least as important, and often more important than if the amp is mono/stereo.

You may wish to hold off on the room correction for all the other speakers until you run the rig for a while. You may find that you are content without it all. I have heard some correction which left me thinking it was not so impressive.

I haven't heard Doug D.'s latest Coda amps in my room, but they sounded quite nice with Legacy at shows. The Wells Audio Innamorata (and the lower cost Akasha for the price point) have sounded excellent on a variety of speakers including the Whisper.

Currently I'm using a Musical Fidelity CDT-1 Transport- I asked MF to demo it and ended up buying it - with the Eastern Electric Minimax DAC Plus (reviewed), which I have rolled discrete opamps from Burson and DEXA's NewClassD offerings (I wrote an Audio Blast article about discrete Opamp rolling). This flexibility has allowed me to take Redbook and Sonos sources and obtain very high sound quality. I can adjust any components and speakers to suit my taste. Adding in power cord and digital link selections I have a dozen ways to present digital signal to the rigs I build for two channel.

There's a hundred ways to do digital!

Hi Doug! Thanks again for the detailed input.
Much appreciated.
Since the bass section of the XD's have 2 500 ICE amps...what AB amps for the bass have you tried?
I'm going to only converse on two channel and the Whispers.
Since I already have the power supply installed near each XD/HD placement I would like to Bi them since I have incurred that expense in room/system preparation.
I know that there will be extra expense to the Whispers but I want the flexibility, as you stated, to dial them to the material and sound for 2 channel playback.
Did you run the Innamorata with another amp (AB or?) for bass?
May I also ask what speaker cables you use(d)?
Regards
Tom