Anyone have Legacy Focus experience,opinions please

2bigears · « **on:** 20 Jan 2006, 11:23 pm »

starting to look for a high db spaeker to go with a 30W tube amp.is the Focus a good buy???? or are there many alternatives,like a monitor with very smooth and rich mids and two active subs???? my player is Sonic Frontier with their Line2 pre amp. any help very much appreciated.

Tweaker · « **Reply #1 on:** 20 Jan 2006, 11:55 pm »

Lots of high praise for these on the forum here:
http://www.zucable.com/druid/

Brad · « **Reply #2 on:** 21 Jan 2006, 02:23 am »

Even though the Focus is relatively high in efficiency, they need a lot of current, which is typically the province of solid state. They have a lot of drivers and a pretty complex crossover which will eat a lot of power.

But, if you don't listen at high volumes, it might prove a good match.

You must have a fairly large room if you're looking at a big speaker like the Focus.

2bigears · « **Reply #3 on:** 21 Jan 2006, 02:44 am »

thks for the insight.with the big bass drivers and the two x-overs,the little tube will never drive them.i am starting to think a mid rich set of monitors with driven subs,as my room is on the small side.thks

Val · « **Reply #4 on:** 21 Jan 2006, 07:32 pm »

I listened to a friend's Legacy Focus at length years ago, so I don't know if my opinion applies to more recent versions. In short, slamming, realistic bass of the kind that only big woofers can reproduce and a natural midrange, but also a skewed tonal balance with lots of bass, less midrange and even less treble. I also remember the cabinet not being well braced.

SWG255 · « **Reply #5 on:** 21 Jan 2006, 07:42 pm »

I listened to the Legacy Focus when I was auditioning speakers at the end of 2003. I thought the Focus pretty good, but it was clear that it needed a high-current amplifier. I also thought it had excellent mid-bass and was not a fatiguing speaker. It was a bit Incoherent though, and didn't match the VMPS RM40s I ended up buying for imaging, natural timbral balance and "coherence".

Just my two-cents worth.

Marbles · « **Reply #6 on:** 21 Jan 2006, 08:05 pm »

ehider (you can PM him here) has a pair of Whispers. While he hasn't advertised them as for sale, he has them in the back of his cavernous room, not hooked up.

He currently has Epiphony 21/20's (think of Pipedreams with better drivers) and Ridge Street Audio Sassons that he seems to like better than the Whispers.

If your interested in Legacy Whispers, I'd give give him a PM and see what kind of a deal you can make. I bet it would be a pretty good one. I'm sure these used would be cheaper than Focus new.

2bigears · « **Reply #7 on:** 22 Jan 2006, 03:09 am »

thks all,Marbles-- are the Whispers the big boys???? i would think they need big power with a large room.thinking i will go with Druids to start with.thks

Marbles · « **Reply #8 on:** 22 Jan 2006, 03:26 am »

Quote from: 2bigears

thks all,Marbles-- are the Whispers the big boys???? i would think they need big power with a large room.thinking i will go with Druids to start with.thks

They are the TOP Lagacy speaker and appear pretty good size. I can't say on the power. I think a bigger room would be better for these speakers than a smaller one.

robertwb · « **Reply #9 on:** 22 Jan 2006, 07:37 pm »

Quote from: Marbles

They are the TOP Legacy speaker and appear pretty good size.

actually they are #2 now - the Helix is the current top model...and priced accordingly

gonefishin · « **Reply #10 on:** 22 Jan 2006, 07:53 pm »

Hi guys,

The only time I've heard Legacy speakers was to a pair of older Legacy Focus speaker. The sound was really unacceptable across the board. I know the quality was supposed to be improved upon some time ago. But I was still surprised that they sounded as bad as they did...considering the "somewhat" good reputation.

Go CE

Go Philips, Legacy Focus and lamp cord

They are teh best!

take care all,
dan

MaxCast · « **Reply #11 on:** 22 Jan 2006, 08:27 pm »

Quote from: gonefishin

Hi guys,

The only time I've heard Legacy speakers was to a pair of older Legacy Focus speaker. The sound was really unacceptable across the board. I know the quality was supposed to be improved upon some time ago. But I was still surprised that they sounded as bad as they did...considering the "somewhat" good reputation.

Go CE Go Philips, Legacy Focus and lamp cord They are teh best!

take care all,
dan

He He, forgot about him.

ehider · « **Reply #12 on:** 22 Jan 2006, 11:59 pm »

To answer about the Legacy Focus speaker:

IMHO they are a fairly decent value if you are looking for over the top bass performance and VERY LARGE scale power levels that only huge speakers will typically provide. The designer uses pretty expensive drivers and is "focused" on providing world class ultra low distortion levels in a truly full range configuration (that will reach below 20 Hz). For quite a while in 90's there wasn't another offering from darn near any other loudspeaker manufacturer who could match what Legacy was offering with their Focus model (when it comes to full range, over the top bass, high SPL sound under the $6k price point). As of today, circa 2006 though there are now quite a few very decent sounding extremely inexpensive drivers available to other speaker companies that allow others to match Legacy’s achievement, i.e. Legacy isn't the only game in town anymore.

Legacy also has a stellar reputation of matching their speaker pairs in terms of frequency response (they null each speaker pair against each other just to make sure). The Focus do lack some transparency as compared to say a great speaker design such as the GR Research Alpha (for example) due to that speaker having the absolute "best of the best" crossover parts comparatively, which really improves overall transparency of any speaker in my experience.

The other poster has a point about the "Legacy sound" with their Focus model. Based on my listening to their entire line (I've visited their factory many times) I think that Legacy has purposely chosen a house sound that will work with lesser electronics so they can sound better in those set-ups (quite a few Legacy's core customers demand very loud, clean SPLs and don't always have high end electronics hooked into their Legacys i.e. their chosen "house sound" of being a bit forgiving to lesser electronics.)

In terms of my Legacy Whispers, they will be for sale in the spring time. They are a quite a bit different than the Focus though (and much more of a "high end speaker" IMHO). The Whisper is designed to perfectly mimic the inverse dispersion of a cardoid microphone and present the listener with a sound field that is less room dependant than any other speaker you can buy. Quite an interesting design IMHO and definitely an engineering marvel in the speaker world....but definitely eclipsed by my 42 drivers in my 7 foot tall Epiphanys!

For a lot more green backs, mind you

SWG255 · « **Reply #13 on:** 23 Jan 2006, 08:07 pm »

Quote from: ehider

To answer about the Legacy Focus speaker:

IMHO they are a fairly decent value if you are looking for over the top bass performance and VERY LARGE scale power levels that only huge speakers will typically provide. The designer uses pretty expensive drivers and is "focused" on providing world class ultra low distortion levels in a truly full range configuration (that will reach below 20 Hz). For quite a while in 90's there wasn't another offering from darn near any other loudspeaker manufact ...

I thought Tony Cordesman gave the Legacy Whispers a fair review in TAS a couple years back. He felt they were virtually state-of-the-art in terms of imaging, but weren't as transparent as his current reference speakers. At the time I was shopping for speakers the Whispers were out of my price range and the local dealer didn't have any to audition anyway, but i remain curious about them. I suspect that Marbles is right though, they probably need a fairly large room to sound their best.

2bigears · « **Reply #14 on:** 23 Jan 2006, 09:43 pm »

thks all,i am in the hunt for Druids or used Definitions or maybe DB99'S.still trying to pick a speaker that will work with the VAC30/30

SWG255 · « **Reply #15 on:** 23 Jan 2006, 10:26 pm »

Quote from: 2bigears

thks all,i am in the hunt for Druids or used Definitions or maybe DB99'S.still trying to pick a speaker that will work with the VAC30/30

Aren't the Von Schweikart DB99's a bit pricey? I heard they were around $10,000. They're another intriguing speaker, but again, I doubt they'd sound great in a small room. They look like one would have to get some distance from them in order for their drivers to integrate properly.

2bigears · « **Reply #16 on:** 23 Jan 2006, 10:46 pm »

255,you may be right on the room thing,my room is 11/17 with the option of making it wider if needed,easily done.i have the not so easy task of picking a speaker sound unheard,remote location.

zybar · « **Reply #17 on:** 23 Jan 2006, 10:54 pm »

Quote from: 2bigears

thks all,i am in the hunt for Druids or used Definitions or maybe DB99'S.still trying to pick a speaker that will work with the VAC30/30

A nicely used pair of Silverline Sonata II's (95db's and a friendly load) would sound mighty good.

And I just happen to know where you can get a pair

George

gonefishin · « **Reply #18 on:** 24 Jan 2006, 01:16 am »

My gosh Zybar...you've still got them

I've recommended your speakers in a few forum, to people looking for a nice sounding speaker that mates well with tube amps.

Hopefully someone will pick them up soon, for ya. I'd love to help you out...and use them as a second set of speakers...but you would have to lower the price WAY below your asking price.

I still can't believe these things haven't sold yet...especially when their priced to sell.

Good luck!

dan

gerchin · « **Reply #19 on:** 29 Jan 2006, 03:17 pm »

I've owned a first-generation pair of Focus for over a decade. When I bought them I thought that they were the best sound that could be found for under $10k. I haven't kept up with recent developments, so I don't know if that true any more, but I can say that I have never regretted purchasing the Focus.

I run mine biamplified with a Conrad-Johnson tube amp above 180 Hz and a Threshold solid state amp below. Doing this really tightened-up the bass, because there is a huge inductor in series with two of the woofers, to start their rolloff at 60 Hz, which I eliminated in my biamp setup in favor of a bit of EQ. In the 5000 cubic foot listening room that I had at my old place, that ~40 Watt cj amp provided a measured 107 dB SPL, which was plenty loud for me. I ran them on the 4 Ohm taps and the amp had no trouble with the load.

The one problem I've encountered is that the Focus really do not like small rooms. The bass just gets overwhelming.

Greg