I once thought I wanted Vandersteens 3as--and later Thiels 3.6s. However, afterlistening to Legacy Focus speakers I was sold. I found a 3 year old pair for
under $3,000. The Thiels are clean, but lack deep bass and impact. The Vandersteen 3a's were not as clean as the Thiels or Legacys, but have good bass. Even my non-audiophile wife noticed the difference and preferred the Legacys. The Focus speakers are efficient, dynamic, revealing, and clean. Bass is very solid and tight. I love them.
I did run into a problem. I use them in my home theater. Since I have a family room with fireplace, the 35" TV sits to the left of the fireplace and right next to the left Legacy speaker. The Legacy is not shielded and affected the TV picture. I had to separate the speaker by 12" from the TV before the distortion was minimal. The previous ESS AMT-3 speakers with two 10" woofers did not affect the TV even when there was no distance between the TV and speaker. The Focus must have powerful magnets.

They work with any style of music I throw at them.
Great frequency response, both top and bottom.

I just purchased these recently used and am still getting them tweaked for their best sound. That said even without having finalized their placement they sound wonderful. I have listened to them with reggae, rock, jazz, classical, electronic, punk, folk, rap and they all sound great. I had auditioned them against a number of different speakers and wound up choosing them because of their bottom end. I have played the bass guitar for about 14 years now, and listen to a lot of reggae, so I really notice when the drums and bass aren't being reproduced well.

I am driving them with an old Denon 3030, which produces about 110 watts per channel into 8 ohms. Initially, my biggest problem was that they were somewhat boomy and had poor attack, just sloppy sound in general. I biwired them and voila, the sound immediately improved. It tightened the bottom end and improved the attack incredibly. In addition, the bottom end tightened right up. With the biwiring, they sound much better than they did in the system I auditioned them in, which had better components than mine all the way around.

The spousal acceptance factor is strong too, I have the golden oak finish and the cabinetry is beautiful. Highly recommended!

Used to own a pair of Classics, had to sell them due to home redecoration.
Overall excellent sound, deep, well-controlled bass, extended and airy highs. But to me, their mid's were killer, amongst the best I've heard. The Kevlar mid version (only one available now) did incredible justice to piano dynamics !

This speaker system is big, too big for my main listening room (14' sq, weak walls and floors), but it shone in my living room. This was even driven by a Harmon Kardon AVR25Mk II receiver (not a bad piece soundwise, as I found out).

Top to bottom a great speaker. Very coherent, drivers well matche dand the crossover good enough to make it all sound like one drive unit unless you were pretty close. Incredible woodwork, too.

I think there are better speakers out there, I've heard a few I'd rather have (Gallo Ref and Ref II's, Von Shweikert's, the bigger Maggie's), but at their price point, these are extremely good values. An overall 4-star speaker in absolute terms, IMO, but in their price range, 5-stars.

Deep bass-high quality finish-high output-high sensitivity

Speaker placement, selective equipment matching, and room sensitivity

I have owned multiple speakers from Legacy and have noticed the similarities in their sound. I would assume that this is not surprising due to the use of the same drivers for the midrange and highs. If you are considering upgrading from the Classics you might notice some improvement in the midrange and bass. However, you will still get the Legacy signature sound of being detailed from the lowest lows to the highest highs. It might be lacking in warmth and the musicality of other speakers but it still delivers a true high end experience.
Room placement can be a problem with most of the large speakers from Legacy except for the Whispers. I still do not understand the philosophy of having a bass driver mounted on the back of the cabinet which fires directly into the back wall. This might give plenty of boundary
reinforcement but a challenge with room selection and speaker placement,something a lot of folks can not afford to provide in their living quarters. I would prefer all of the bass drivers to be placed in the front of the cabinet to reduce problematic bass which can occure at moderate to high volumes especially with the Focus.
The Legacy Classic is a well integrated speaker and a well balanced speaker. I have noticed the Classic's off axis response is actually better than the Whispers and Focus. This might be important for the HT lovers. I would give the Focus 4 and Whispers 3 stars for value compared to the Legacy Classics.

Similar Products Used:

Whispers and Focus

Massive soundstage (WOW!)

haven't heard any yet.

I was drawn to Legacy by the excellent reputation it holds as a factory direct manufacturer. I decided, after being into stereo equipment for so long, to get serious about my obsession, so I went ahead and bought a set of these babies. I figured a good set of speakers was the best place to begin my stereo overhaul. My system is far from state-of-the-art, but I have high hopes for it in the future. Anyway, I ordered the classics in the less popular walnut finish (I have no idea why it isn't the MOST popular); it's breathtaking. Legacy continues to maintain its high quality fit and finish. My first impression out of the box was "wow, what have I been missing!" my old speakers (dare I even say it) bose 701's couldn't touch the classics in any respect. I'm glad that I began my overhaul with speakers because I can now build my system around these fine instruments. I noticed some harshness in the upper register at first, but its mellowing already, and I suspect that it will disappear in a week or two. Excellent speakers even with standard equipment. I am looking foreward to hearing the full potential of these speakers.

Five stars without a doubt. If you want a great sounding product at a very reasonable price, look into the Legacy classics, your ears will thank you!

-----system-----
sony str-de 935 <--receiver
technics sl-pd-887 <-- five disk cd changer
Monster cable M1.2s <-- speaker cable
Monster cable M550i <-- interconnects

Similar Products Used:

nothing