[Freo-1]

I just picked up a pair of Signature III's, along with a Silver Screen center channel for the front speakers.   I've been after Legay speakers for years, as I think they are a great buy at their price points.  Was wondering if other people out there have listened to Legacy speakers? 


For now, will continue to use the Polk LSI 15's for the rear channels.  The improvemt brought by switching to Legay's will be signifigant.

[musicfan]

I have had the Legacy Classics for ten years or so.  I use them in one of mysecondnary systems.  I think they're great.  I bought them when Legacy sold direct.  Good people to deal with and they made, and probably still make, one fine speaker.

[Freo-1]

As it turns out, I'm getting the Signatures direct from Legacy.  You are right, they are great people to deal with. I expect to get many years of enjoyment from them.

[dflee]

I've had my classics going on fourteen years. Bought them new from Bill and had them checked out through a gentleman for accuracy and range when they arrived in my home. Through the sound test disc the speakers performed as advertised. I have done a few tweaks but overall love these speakers. I hope your Sigs arrive in as good a shape as they left the previous owner and I know you will enjoy them.

Don

[Freo-1]

Got the Signature III's and Silver Screen center channel today.  In a word, incredible sound!  These are a big upgrade from the Polk Lsi 15's and Lsi-C that I was using (and that is no reflection on the Polk's-they are fine speakers).

I am truly impressed with Mr. Dudleston's designs.  The fact they are so efficent also is a plus. 

I'm toying with the idea of getting a lower power class A amp just to see how that would work with these.

[Big Red Machine]

I'm toying with the idea of getting a lower power class A amp just to see how that would work with these.

Here's one:  http://www.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?ampstube&1276215132&/Dodd-Audio-8-watt-Amp-

[Freo-1]

Here's one:  http://www.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?ampstube&1276215132&/Dodd-Audio-8-watt-Amp-

Thanks!   Most interesting.  I have a ton of 5687 tubes on hand. They are awsome tubes.

I was also looking at a old Yamaha C1000/C1010 type.  They are a well kept secret, but a sweet amp once restored.

[bummrush]

 I have had Legacy Studious for years,One of the highest quality speaker company's ever formed,the products really are second to none.

[Keith F.]

I've had Signature III's for about 13 yrs. Love them also. They love power (driven with Van Alstine Ultra 550) and for awhile now, have had the Van Alstine Ultimate 70 tube amp hooked up. It's around 30 watts/ch. They do great with 30 watts.

[Freo-1]

I've had Signature III's for about 13 yrs. Love them also. They love power (driven with Van Alstine Ultra 550) and for awhile now, have had the Van Alstine Ultimate 70 tube amp hooked up. It's around 30 watts/ch. They do great with 30 watts.

Interesting.

I'm using a pair of Sony STR DA-7100ES bi-amped, which works very well with them.  I've got a modified HK Citation II, with a Bruce More type 5687 driver setup that I'm looking forward to trying out when I get a chance.  Was also curious about a lower power class A, a la Yamaha CA-1000 (about 30WPC at 4 ohms).

[dflee]

I use a Legacy four channel amp (made by Coda) and split out of the pre to each channel.
I talked with Legacy and they informed me when you take out the jumper, the speakers are no longer 4 OHM and more like 6 OHM. I'm not real knowledgeable about these things but wouldn't that be an easier load? Anyway have fun and please continue to keep us updated on your experience.

Don

[Freo-1]

I use a Legacy four channel amp (made by Coda) and split out of the pre to each channel.
I talked with Legacy and they informed me when you take out the jumper, the speakers are no longer 4 OHM and more like 6 OHM. I'm not real knowledgeable about these things but wouldn't that be an easier load? Anyway have fun and please continue to keep us updated on your experience.

Don

Thanks for that, Don. 

Impedance is nominal, it actually varies a lot depending on the frequency.   What it sounds like is by bi-amping, there is less of an effect at crossover.

[Rob Babcock]

I drooled over the Classics for many years before going another direction.  I'd still love to hear them someday.

[Delacroix]

I was a happy Sig III owner for 8 years or so, having bought them after visiting the showroom they used to have in Springfield Ill at the time. Definitely easy to deal with the company and they even installed an extra contour switch at the back for control a mid-bass boom I could not alter by placement but which they figured out a solution for by sending me testing kit. Then, while making the new pair, they left the first pair with me, taking them back with the same delivery team who brought the new pair, at their cost. I sold them on recently to the first person who came to listen to them in my house -- they really did sound that good.

I did power them at first with a Naim 30w integrated but I agree that these speakers really like a powerful SS amp to drive them and I settled on a BAT VK500 for many happy years of listening with some MIT biwires. MY wife still thinks of that combo as a reference point on quality. It's worth playing around with placement with these, as with any speaker. They work well almost anywhere but you can tweak truly good sound out of these by sweating the small details of placement, toe-in and contour settings in your room.

Some point after I bought mine, Legacy went through other partnerships with dealers and when I was upgrading it proved really difficult to obtain a pair. My plan had been to trade the Sig 3s in for Whispers but I gave up when the process became difficult. I am glad to hear they've got their customer interface back up. I thought the Sig 3s were out of production but I've not really checked out their lines since I moved on to Von Schweikert VR5s, which is what it took to really move up in my case. The Sigs really compete far above their price point.

[Freo-1]

I was a happy Sig III owner for 8 years or so, having bought them after visiting the showroom they used to have in Springfield Ill at the time. Definitely easy to deal with the company and they even installed an extra contour switch at the back for control a mid-bass boom I could not alter by placement but which they figured out a solution for by sending me testing kit. Then, while making the new pair, they left the first pair with me, taking them back with the same delivery team who brought the new pair, at their cost. I sold them on recently to the first person who came to listen to them in my house -- they really did sound that good.

I did power them at first with a Naim 30w integrated but I agree that these speakers really like a powerful SS amp to drive them and I settled on a BAT VK500 for many happy years of listening with some MIT biwires. MY wife still thinks of that combo as a reference point on quality. It's worth playing around with placement with these, as with any speaker. They work well almost anywhere but you can tweak truly good sound out of these by sweating the small details of placement, toe-in and contour settings in your room.

Some point after I bought mine, Legacy went through other partnerships with dealers and when I was upgrading it proved really difficult to obtain a pair. My plan had been to trade the Sig 3s in for Whispers but I gave up when the process became difficult. I am glad to hear they've got their customer interface back up. I thought the Sig 3s were out of production but I've not really checked out their lines since I moved on to Von Schweikert VR5s, which is what it took to really move up in my case. The Sigs really compete far above their price point.

Thanks for sharing your experience.  I agree about the powerful SS amp.  They sound great with the Sony digital amps. 

What do you think about them with a lower power Class A amp?   Since the are 93db efficient, I'm really curious to try something like a restored Yamaha CA-1000, which should about 30 WPC at 4 oms or so.   

[opnly bafld]

In my experience with Legacy speakers once you are above the recommended power (25w/ch in this case), current capability and damping factor become two of the most important things in choosing an amp.
With regard to Legacy's sensitivity numbers keep in mind they use "room" and volts (not 1w/1m).

From a Stereophile review of Focus 20/20s (Focus/Sigs/Classics all somewhat share this trait):

"its plot of impedance (fig.1) reveals that it needs to be used with an amplifier that can deliver high current into low impedances. Not only are there two minima in the bass of less than 2 ohms, and another of less than 3 ohms in the mid-treble, but there is an amplifier-crushing combination of 3.3 ohms magnitude and 60 degrees capacitive phase angle at 20Hz. Fortunately, it is rare in music to have high levels of energy this low in frequency. However, a good, beefy solid-state amplifier will probably work better than a tube design."

Several years back Bill sold part of Legacy to Allen Organ Co. and everything was moved to PA.
Bill has full ownership again and the company is back in IL.
The Signatures are not in the current HD line as far as I know.

Lin

[bummrush]

 I use a 100 watt counterpoint solid state,legacy's work great with this amp,tried a couple dig. amps with the legacy;s for me it was a no go,incompatible , i'm not sure ,sure the dig. amps were extremely powerful, and the bass, it was just way to much,the thing with dig, amps they  wow you at first,they sure did for me ,then reality set in ,they just did not work in my system,much happier with the old Counterpoint.

[Freo-1]

Hmmm, good feedback here.

I still think a Class A amp at 25-30 watts would work pretty well with the Signature III's.   For most jazz and small scale recordings, would think that the class A sound would be a match well suited for such an efficient speaker. 

Regarding the digital amps, I think the reasn the Sony works so well is the fact that it uses a large analog power transformer for the rails of the power MOS-FETS, and the MOS-FETs can source over 30 amps of current on demand.   

[richidoo]

I had Focus 2020s for my first hifi speakers. Loved them!! Great for all kinds of music, big scale, unlimited dynamic power, intimate and communicative, very musical. First amp was 50W Cary tube integrated. It didn't take advantage of the awesome bass potential and it's low power in clipping actually bent the ribbon tweeters according to Bill, but they really took good care of me. 100W tubes amps were enough power for me, boy that was a great sound. Of course big SS amps made the bass sound even better, but the high sensitivity begs for tubes.

I sold them to get more resolution, but learned the hard way that more resolution is not always a good thing, especially when amps good enough for hi res speakers are seriously expensive. Legacy gives you enough resolution to have your high end enjoyment, but not so much that you need $20k amps. They also understand the importance of scale and dynamics in enjoying music listening. Less expensive drivers with higher sensitivity is a great thing.  The Focuses were very well balanced, very powerful, very rewarding for music listening, especially symphonies turned way up loud. 

I miss those long nights of 4-5 symphonies one after another... I just might buy them again once I'm tired of the merry go round. I've still not heard the new Focus HD, I'm really looking forward to that.

[Freo-1]

What I really find about these speakers that is so impressive is their ability to deliver deep and accurate bass.  What a difference the bass from this speaker has as opposed to most speakers.  The bass has none of the port huffing that one normally hears.  It's more like what you actually hear at the symphony hall.  It's there, you hear it, but unlike most speakers, it's not going out of it's way to advertise it's presence.

I may experiment with tubes on the upper, and solid state for the bottom end.