Legacy focus 20 20 speakers

Douglas, and Community... It is true, he is not paying me to say these things. (Interesting idea though) I hope by those comments the community doesn't think that the only opinion that matters to me are those of Douglas schroeder. What I meant was that not knowing the backround of a person can make it hard to know what their version of good or great is. It may be that the best listening experience they've ever had was through a pair of Fisher floor standing speaker's, the ones with those big ol 15" woofers. Of course they would be impressed with the HD's, even if they weren't any good. (By audiophile standards) So their opinion would not be of much value to me. Of course, I would imagine that most people with a Fisher quality sound system dosen't wake up in the morning saying to themselves "You know, I really have to get around to auditioning those $7000 Legacy's some day". I doubt many of them would have an opinion to share in the first place. So by that logic, the community could argue that I never could have been referring to them, and therefore, must have been referring to the community when I made that comment. I assure you I wasn't, my mistake. The fact that you belong to this community in the first place tells me you have an interest and therefore a knowledge thats above the average person. So I would consider and value everyones opinion here. By the way, I have nothing against people with lousy sound systems. Maybe they cant afford it, or it just isn't their thing. Either one doesn't make them bad people. I can certainly relate to the "can't afford it" part. Considering my first speaker upgrade took place at around the age of nine, (That was a beauty) and now some forty years later I've moved all the way up to the Altec's. Wow! With that kind of progress I could have been in Congress. Of course I always wanted to upgrade quicker, just couldn't afford it.

I can definatly understand your frustration with the imigration issue. Now it looks as though there will be some kind of immunity for those that are here illegally. It is a complex issue, but if they do that, it would be like punishing those like yourselfs who have gone through the trouble and expense of doing it right, and rewarding those who didn't.

"Can a speaker create an emotionally equivalent feeling of experiencing something of tremendous beauty in the sonic realm?" (You ask) Absolutly. Of course it depends on what your feeding it. It's the music that really creates the magic. Most of the garbage being written today that I hear on the radio certainly wont get me to Lake Louise, no matter how good the system. And I'm telling you if that stuff were the only music available for me to listen to, I wouldn't spend so much as $50 on a set of speakers. But no problem, there's loads of music out there that can take you to Lake Louise and wherever else you want to go, you just need a system that will allow it to do so. The greatest music in the world isn't going to transport you very far if your hearing it through a 1960's vintage Global, model GR-711, transistor radio. Don't get me wrong, I love my Global model GR-711 transistor radio, with metal grill, revearse painted plastic, and emergancy civil defense marking's on the dial. But it isn't going to get the job done.

Before I was made aware of the Legacy speakers, I was considering buying a Valodyne Digital Drive DD-18 Subwoofer, to deal with the issues I'm having with my lack of Bass. It probably would have done that, but at a cost of around $5000, and I still would be stuck with the Altec's. How great would it be if the Legacys, for a bit more money, could solve not only my bass problem, but the rest of the spectrum as well. Mind you I'm still aware of the serious room problems I have, and the benefit that better components will give me. I hope to give the Legacy's a listen this week

Just listened to the Legacy HD's. Used my own source material that I'm very familiar with. After 2 hours of listening, I wound up with mixed feelings about what I had heard. The bass for instance. During the opening passage of "Pictures at an Exhibition" there is some pretty hefty bass provided by the bass drums that the HD's handled extremely well. But when I put on Marrilion's "The Thieving Magpie" a c-d loaded with alot of deep bass, alot of it didn't seem to come through as well as it did on my existing system. (When I had a subwoofer) Did the HD's forget how to produce bass in between the "Pictures at an Exhibition" and the Marrilion c-d. Of course not. So what happened? Room acoustics? It could be they weren't set up the way they were meant to be. Not sure how fussy they are about that. The room was 12' wide and about 30' long. The speakers were about 2' off of each wall. The listener was seated about 10 in front of them. They were towed in so the inner side of each speaker was just visable. When I listened to the opening heart beat of Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" I turned it up a bit to see how they could handle it. There was so much in the room that was vibrating, including the drop cieling, it was hard to concentrate on the sound coming from the speakers. These things could definitely move air and shake the room. Why so much of the music I played did not come through with the audible deep bass I was expecting, I dont know. Another critizism I have is in the upper region where some of the music seemed to come through as being a little hard, or strident. One example was a rather loud choral segment on one of the test c-d's I brought with me. I played it at a rather loud level, but soon turned it back down because it was somewhat irritating. Was the room to lively? The walls were all dry wall with some treatments. When clapping you could hear a slight echo, but it decayed rather quickly. There was a large on the wall tv screen in between the speakers. May that have had an effect on them? The speakers were broken in for about 100 hours. Is this enough time? Is there a proper or prefered way to break them in? Is there a wrong way to break them in? All questions I dont know the answer to. I am not giving up on these yet. I did hear alot of breathtaking sound coming out of them. And I've heard nothing but high praise for them, from well respected people and magazines that have heard and reviewed much better equipment then I ever will. There is a Legacy dealer in Long Island that I will at least call, and perhaps go out there to listen to their setup. I should also mention that the associated equipment at this audition was good stuff, but not extremely high end by any means. I should have taken notes, but if I recall it consisted of a Pioneer Elite C-D player, B&K preamp, and a Legacy monoblock Amp. Not sure about the make of the interconnects or speaker wire, but they seemed to be of a high quality. Of course it that doesn't mean they all work together well. If anyone can shed some light on this, I am all ears. If it really is a room environment issue. I would do whatever it takes to make them work. I was hoping I could audition a pair at home with the option of returning them if not satisfied, but the dealer said that really wasn't an option since they are a made to order speaker.

Ghoepher, looks like the Legacy speakers have not changed all that much from what you describe and my long term experience with the 20/20.........now try the Vandersteen Quatro and see what real bass and a speaker that doesnt bark at you sounds like..........you love them!

I hope a dealer is close enough that I can check them out.

I've been standing by on this one. But, I must chime in. I've never in 30 years of this audio journey heard any speaker that didn't benefit from a sub. Exceptions being Vandersteens or some other powered bass speaker and even most of them still need that last little bit of extra that only a sub can do. The sub just pressurizes the room a little better. It's not so much of what you hear but,what you feel. Now, I'm sure that in small rooms, with large speakers that some sub/speaker combos can be too much. I'll have to admit that my experiences have been in larger listening rooms (at least 17X 20). Also, in defense of the Legacy's that you heard, 100 hours is just the beginning for speakers. I wouldn't judge any speaker until they had at least 250 hours minimum. The bass is always,IMHO,the last thing to come around.