Beautiful advertisements and air brushed images of speakers.

Please see below.

I used to sell some of the aforementioned speakers. I had a chance to review the Legacy's at the same time. I believe the negative reviews that concern this speaker are written concerning the following: They have a tubby, coffin-like, mostly undamped cabinet that resonates as much as the speaker drivers themselves do. They use very nice veneers, though. If you tap on the cabinet of a DAL SC-IVa, for example, you hear a higher pitched "dink" versus the very low pitched "whonk" of the Audio Focii. Then you have to take into account that the drivers are NOT matched. This has an extremely deleterious effect on the music to anyone who has heard matched drivers used in a good system. Take from there the use of inferior electronics in the crossover networks, and glue them to the already vibrating walls and you have extremely muddy, peaky, bass. Now, don't take the time to align the drivers or electronics for any form of coherency, when you begin designing the speaker - this way, amplitude, pulse, and phase coherency won't matter. Amar Bose designs his speakers this way. Give the entire package a good look and some sweet air-brushed advertising, and you have the Legacy.

Hey. If you like the sound, buy them. I tell this even to people who like Bose and B&O. If you like it for whatever reason, then by all means, own them. To me, "No highs, no lows, it must be Bose." Likewise, the Legacies offer, "Tubby lows, shrill highs, no imaging, must be Legacy."

Horrible representation of high fi. I have, however, heard worse.

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Compared against Infinity OM-15, Cerwin Vega, JBL studio monitors, but not what I like to listen to.

Low distortion, wide dynamic range, beatiful to behold.

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If you want a full range speaker that does it all without a sub than this is the one for you. This speaker is not bright or bass heavy.
After I listen to music in my truck, at a high end audio store, or on my old system it's almost a relief to hear the first notes coming out of the Focus. Listen to them tied to top notch electronics and you'll be hooked!

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I have had my Focus speakers over twoyears and have used several differant amp combos ,both ss and tube. Currently using Bryston7b mono amps on them. Somewhat limited with my room size(12&14).I am able to easily move around the focus as i have them on wheels,placement makes a tremendous differance!! I use small speakers firing into the rear wall for ambience simulation(seperate volume control). Thinking of upgrading pre -amp next,as now using a Soundcraftsman. The trick to get the sound i like in my small room is the rear wall speakers!!! Anything will work ,only after low volume to "fill in "". The Focus low end really likes big power to get that smoothness!! The differance in source material really becomes evident with these speakers. Only complaint is nothing gets done around the house any more,only so much work that can be done in the "sweet spot"! Love to hear from other Focus owners!!!

I just took delivery on my Focus speakers after investigating speakers for nearly a year. I am amazed by the variety of different opinions expressed in these reviews, most of them good, however. I cannot understand the experience of the previous review since mine has been positive all the way (that's why I bought them!) I would really like to see some of the main stream publications especially Stereophile, Sensible Sound etc. do a review of the speakers in an obbjective fashion. (If Legacy's adds appear in them regularly, they should be worthy enought to review). This would either add some confidence to those of us who purchased the speakers and love them or address some of the problems that others notice.

A few months ago, I traded in my Legacy I's for a pair of FOCUS (after listening to several other brands of speakers). Nothing I listened to in it's price range (or far above it's price range) compared to the FOCUS. I like clear, accurate sound and a lot of dynamic range, and this is where the FOCUS are superior to just about any other speaker (regardless of price). The midrange is so clear and accurate, it sounds like you are there. And, the bass and treble aren't far behind. The bass and treble extension is phenomenal; these speakers will accurately reproduce any frequency that your system can process. The dynamic range on FOCUS is very large. They push out the sound effortlessly, reproducing the loudest passages smoothly. [For reference, my ampifier puts out 200 watts/channel into 8 ohms, 300 watts per channel into 4 ohms (which the FOCUS are), but has very little headroom.]
I think possibly the FOCUS aren't quite as good at imaging as some of the speakers I listened too. Although, when I heard them at Legacy's offices in Springfield, they imaged very well. I think my room arrangement doesn't allow me to get far enough away from the speakers to really let them "breathe." I think they would be fabulous in a larger room. Also, they definitely have a vertical "sweet spot" for treble. But, this sweet spot is at normal sitting height, so it isn't a problem. It's not that they sound bad when you're standing or laying on the floor. They still sound great, but they sound even better from the sitting position.

If you're reluctant to do business mail order, don't worry with Legacy. They are very easy to deal and will bend over backwards to help you. And, they will answer your questions honestly, without a lot of sales hype.

Overall, I rate these speakers 5 stars and Legacy as a company to deal with 6 stars.

Sound quality and build quality for $$$

I have attended many shows throughout the years, and am noting on only one thing. I am VERY surprised to see anyone in these reviews complaining of the build quality of either the cabinets, or electronics of the Legacy Focus. Get a life, people, these things are ONLY $5000! The quality of these speakers in every aspect far outreaches their price point. I believe I remember someone mentioning lack of component matching. Give Bill Dudleston or any of the employees at Legacy a call. They will gladly explain to you the rigorous process the company goes through to ensure component matching. The sound quality is fabulous. Not perfect, I've yet to hear perfect, but close enough. Especially for 5 g's. If these speakers were ten thousand dollars, I wouldn't give them 5 stars. But they are not.

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Well made and inexpensive for what you get

Idiots like John below

I haave used these spkrs for about three months with good results. (got them from a friend). Whats with this idiot John who posts the same negative review four times?? We heard your line of crap the first time you posted. Give them a listen and decide for yourself!

Finest sounding cone speaker I've auditioned.

Service department appears to be flawed.

I have had the FOCUS speakers in my system since the Spring of 1993 which means that these speakers have a little over seven years of age to date. They are the finest cone speakers I have ever heard. Of course I haven't spent the last seven years of my life comparing them with other speakers in blind A/B tyme tests. When I bought them I set them up in a 17 foot by 25 foot room, which is probably approaching the ideal room size for speakers of this size. I've since moved. They are currently in a 15 foot by 15 foot room. The larger room certainly seems to be the better size for the FOCUS. However I do not intend to get rid of them for that reason.
There have been times when I thought of getting rid of them for other reasons. I only had them for a couple of months when one of the big woofers went south on me (voice coil). A friend visiting from Springfield, IL at the time took it back to Springfield and literally delivered it to the folks at Reel to Real. Within a week I received a replacement woofer (with tons of dust on it). However the replacement worked fine and continues to. At the time I wondered, "Only two months and already a breakdown."
A couple of years later one of the upper midranges or lower tweeters (their literature calls the 1.5 inch softdome either) went bad. When I took the suspected driver out of the system I noticed a huge resistor had been epoxied to the back of the driver. It looked like something that came from the experimental shelf in the shop. The properly operating driver had no such resistor. The leads had been cut. So I sent it in for repair. Twice the same speaker came back. This all took place over a few weeks. Finally I sent it back registed mail to Bill Duddleston. I received a new driver with new voice coil. Audio mirvana again!
A few months ago one of the same drivers (1.5" soft dome) went out again. I sent the defective one in for repair. It came back -- same problem. This took only a couple of weeks. I called service. I sent it back at their request. Again the same unit came back with (according Legacy's service department)a new voice coil -- same problem. This took about three weeks. Now I'm steamed, because in addition to all of the down time I've had I've been paying for the shipping. I suggested that they send me a new driver. They did after a week. The old ("repaired? driver") supposedly had a new voice coil attached. It didn't. In the mean time, thinking that the voice coil of this driver was the weak link I went ahead and purchased a couple of voice coils -- especially since I was aware of the fact that my warranty would be running out in a few years. The new driver does not (can not) fit in the new system. Therefore I took the voice coil off the new driver and placed on the old driver. Audio nirvana again. I still have the new driver with defective voice coil -- a new driver that cannot fit into either of my FOCUS speaker systems. Hell of a 10 year warranty -- replacement parts can't fit. I'm suprised that I haven't been billed for it. I'm certainly am not going to send it back at my expense. Anybody out there frustrated with Legacy's service looking for a 1.5" soft dome w/defective voice coil that might fit your system?
When communicating with Legacy's service department by phone I get the feeling that they think I'm the Village Idiot. It takes a village to raise a village idiot. Thank God I was raised in St. Louis where they grow "City Idiots." It wonder where the village idiots in Legacy's service department come from?

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None currently.

Dynamic Range,Articulation,Clarity,Openess

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One of the most awesome sounding speakers I've ever heard. From voice to jazz and everything else in between.Bill D keep it up. When are you going to come out with a dvd/cd player.

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Magnepan 1.6's

Efficient, revealing, transparent, effortless

What Tripod said about adequate room size

There is enough input on the sound and finish of the Focus so I'll just address the rediculous review John submitted 4-5 times . . . at a 1 star rating. John either doesn't have these speakers set up correctly, with components of matching quality, in a large enough room, and/or has an axe to grind with Legacy. Bose may get away with selling crap to the uneducated masses based on 'Hype' but a high end company selling $5,000+ speakers would be out of business in this extremely competetive industry if they didn't deliver. Legacy has not only survived but has grown, evolved and produces a wide range of speakers ( and quality components) but the Focus is still in production after 7+ years! If they were mediocre and overpriced don't you think they would have changed their "Hype" by now? John's review of these speakers is simply not credible.

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