All that you hear about the Legacy products seems true for the Signature IIIs, as well. In fact, I don't see how the Classic, although it is almost certainly very nice, could measure up in many respects to its "big brother", the Sig III.
I am using the Monobloc amps with the Sigs -- possibly a bit much when the going gets loud and, say, low bass tones are punching out in sync with kick drum. but I am generally amazed at the clarity and definition sustained under heavy output. I am trying to drive a big room with these, and it works.

I have auditioned many expensive and high quality speakers. The quality across the frequency range is where these excel.

Aside from very flimsy plastic feet and horrible wood-screw mounting of these feet, the rest of the speaker is first class. I have to mention the feet because they are just a glaring inconsistency in the design. Legacy should put a maple base on these things and be done with it. Minor point, maybe, but a very weird aspect of the product...just plain weird.

Signatures have a number of key strengths: first is midrange. Unbelievable. Anyone who hears these is amazed by their reproduction of vocals. Second is bass. No need for a subwoofer; in fact, most subwoofers can't compete. Third, efficiency and ability to play loudly (or in large rooms) without strain. Finally, highs are crisp from ribbon tweeter. I prefer rear tweeter turned on, although speaker must be close to a wall or window for the tweeter to really work. I agree totally with the remarks about the plastic feet and wood screws. Fortunately you don't notice their low quality once they're installed. Should also note Legacy's willingness to customize speaker appearance. I had mine done in a red oak that's not even in the catalog, along with white grilles. They even put the special paint on the front baffle that they used to do several years ago. The only other speakers I would consider are Magnepans and Martin-Logans, both of which are better in some areas and worse in others. Choosing those means accepting some serious compromises that aren't acceptable for me, but may be for others.

I now have a wonderful rosewood finished pair of Sig 3s in my house, after months of speaker listening and some disagreement with dealers and manufacturers etc. Buying speakers is difficult for sure. It's been a long haul but fully worth it given the results. I bought these after making a trip to the Legacy factory, originally to hear the Classics but being seduced by the noticeable improvements gained by stepping up to these. They won over my then favorites of the Von Schweikert 3s (which are incredible for the price I think), Thiel 2.3s (which just seemed a little lifeless to me) and PSB Goldi's (which over several sessions came to impress me enormously and are highly recommended by me). The Sig 3s just seemed to make music sound the way I like to hear it - great bass, smooth treble and, as people keep saying, a wonderful ability to reproduce vocals and saxophone that everyone who hears them remarks upon. There is a sense of space and depth to the music with these that is much more like being near the musicians in a studio or venue than any others I heard. When I hear other speakers now they just sound locked in or compressed to me. I replaced Kef 103/2s (no slouches themselves) and the difference is huge.
I originally had a pair sent from Legacy that were faulty, and after much to-ing and fro-ing on the fax and phone, ( and email support on this site - thanks folks), testing them with several bass traps and wires, and the S'phile test cd2 (which has a fault of its own) Legacy's engineers built me a new pair and took the originals back at their cost for return shipping. I am convinced the first pair were damaged internally in assembly and the company's response was extremely helpful.OK, at the price they had better be helpful and I should never have got the bad pair anyway, but putting it right was made easy, and I was never made to feel like I was complaining. Furthermore, given my reactions to the basstraps and tests they had me perform, they customised the final pair at no extra cost so that instead of the usual 4 contour controls, I have a fifth, equally defeatable, which tailors the bass slightly to enable me to control the slight boom I had in my wood and brick, suspended floor room. The engineer I dealt with told me the Steridian would have a similar effect but he wanted to try and satisfy me without incurring the cost of this. Customer service was truly excellent, which is more than I can say for the dealerships where I tried the Von Schweikerts ( who sent me the wrong pair, packed them incorrectly incurring damage to the wood finish, and then blamed UPS!)

I do not use any of the contour switches save the extra one I had put in, but they do produce varyingly noticable differences depending on location of the speaker.I was origninally against the very idea of these switches but then figured it just gave the user some control of the circuit that the designer otherwise had. Anyway, to me the effects are quite subtle in my room and none seem needed other than the bass mod so I defeat them. ymmv.

I would encourage folks to go the a Legacy listening site and hear what these sound like with the rather ordinary front end and cables that Legacy use. OF course they look beautiful, but they sound every bit as good and though I really didn't want to spend over 3k on speakers, once I heard these, I knew nothing else would keep me satisfied. These are keepers and I can only imagine trading up to other Legacy speakers if and when I ever decide to revamp the system again.

Down side - the price, now increased since I bought these; the feet, horrible plastic strips that the owner must screw in; the weight....these make you sweat moving them about and unpacking (a 2 person job), and not a lot else.

There have been some strange comments about Legacy speakers on this list but I am confident that if and when Stereophile review the Whispers, the resulting review will lead to a lot more respect for the Legacy range.

I listen to all kinds of music, but mostly blues, jazz, rock, chamber, and irish. Associated equipment:

Parasound cd/b, DAC 2000 ultra combo
McCormack tlc-1, DNA.5 pre/power combo
Rega 3, mod squad phono stage
QED strand 79/Radio Shack Awg12 biwire run
MIT T3 Interconnects

Suggestions for good speaker cables with these welcomed.

I have had the Signature III's for about 4 months. I have auditioned a variety of speakers comparably priced and much more. Nothing near the price is competitive. The clarity and overall balance is amazing. As with any speaker, they take some patience to position for best sound. They also require enough well controlled power and the right cables to be at their best. Fantastic! I always listen with goose bumps.

Heard for the first time in Atlanta two weeks ago. My wife and I went to audition them. First off, they are beautiful to look at more than I can say for Magnepan, Alon and B&W. Their imaging was the best I've heard except for the Sonus Faber Grand Pianos. The bass was awesome. The midrange and highs clean and lively. We demoed these and the Focus. Decided on the Sig 3's and will spend the extra cash on the Marquis center channel. My wife is not an audio expert by any stretch but this was the first pair of speakers she has heard where she said she could close her eyes and feel that the musician was sitting in the room with her, I concur. Give them a listen.
Frank Robison

Neutral, can reproduce very deep bass and clear midrange

Soundstage not as wide/deep as some other speakers that I have listened to

I bought these speakers after listening intensively over several months to a wide variety of speakers (about 40 pair)from about 2-6K and slightly above. It was an interesting education as I had been playing 25 year old Advent loudspeakers prior to this (yes, I do believe in running things into the ground).

Almost all of the speakers above had some merit and I now believe even more that much of this is subjective. I also particularly liked the Dunlavys (amazing soundstage and bass reproduction), but there was a significant price differential which did not seem worth it. I also thought that new Energy speakers and KEFs were quite nice and that the Paradigm 100s were a very good deal, particularly if you travel up to Canada where exchange rates are great.

I purchased the Legacies however because they seemed to do everything very well, and had no major faults. They are very neutral and play everything including metal, rock, jazz, classical, and folk without hesitancy. They are truly full range and a very good deal to boot. I found it somewhat discouraging to find that some of the music that our family likes to listen to was truly unlistenable on some high end speakers--and I must say that I also grew tired of the audiophile shops which sniff and comment upon how bad the recordings are...

The folks at Legacy are very nice and easy to do business with. My speakers were produced on time, but had a minor finish defect beneath the grill area. I was offered the option of waiting for another pair, or accepting these at significant discount; this certainly proved worthwhile, as their finish standards are very high and these cabinets with minor defects are far superior to most of the cabinetry that I had seen on other speakers (these are afterall large pieces of furniture and needed to be placed in family room).

Great product from a small company with a relatively long history. I am not sure how they will fair in their efforts to distribute their products in more conventional mainstream channels. They will however have to change their own apparent reluctance to have their products critically reviewed in the press if they hope to succeed in more conventional retail environments.

Similar Products Used:

Paradigm Ref. 60/80/100, Variety of Klipsch models, Boston Acoustics, NHT 2.9, Vandersteen 2.3, Various Martin-Logan, Audio Research, Krix, Monsoon, Dunlavy Cantata, B&W 802,803,804 PSB Stratus Gold/Silver, VonSchweikert VR4, Energy, KEF 3, Revel 30, too many others to mention.

I BOUGHT MY SIGNATURE III'S LAST SUMMER, AND HAVE BEEN ENJOYING THEM EVER SINCE. I HAVE WAITED UNTIL NOW TO SUBMIT THIS REVIEW BECAUSE I KNEW I WOULD BE GETTING NEW AMPLIFIERS THIS YEAR AND I EXPECTED THE SIG III'S TO SOUND EVER BETTER WITH THEM. I WAS NOT DISSAPOINTED; THE SOUND IS SUPERB, WITH GREAT IMAGING AND DETAIL. THE ENTIRE FREQUENCY RANGE IS WELL REPRODUCED. I AGREE WITH ANOTHER REVIEWER, THAT YOU DO NOT NEED A SUB WITH THESE! ALL KINDS OF MUSIC, CLASSICAL, JAZZ, ROCK, OR ANY OTHER JUST SOUNDS LIKE GREAT MUSIC. I HAVE BEEN LISTENING TO MUSIC ON VARIOUS SYSTEMS I'VE OWNED AND AT AUDIO SHOWROOMS OVER THE YEARS, AND THESE ARE AS GOOD AS I'VE EVER HEARD. THE FIRST TIME I AUDITIONED THEM IN SPRINGFIELD, IL, I KNEW I WOULD GET A PAIR. THE SAME IS TRUE OF THE AMPS I GOT: MONARCHY MODEL 33 DAC/PREAMP AND SE 100 MONOBLACK CLASS A POWER AMPS. THE SOUND OF THE MONARCHY-LEGACY COMBINATION IS SHEER MAGIC.
GIVE THESE SPEAKERS A 5.

Balance, build quality, long term value

Weight (actually a positive, but they are hard to move around for optimum positioning.

I have certainly not listened to every speaker made so I will not try and convince anyone otherwise.
Of the many, many speakers I have listened to, the Sig's provide the most balance. They surely outperform most at 3x the price. There are some $7-10k speakers that hit harder in the botton octaves and some electrostatics are a little cleaner overall in the upper frequencies, but I find the Legacies to have the best overall balance by a respectable margin. The imaging never ceases to amaze me.

Other attributes are the build quality which if not the best, I would like to see what improves on Legacy cabinetry (I have the rosewood finish and it is beautiful). The Legacy people are first rate and will talk for hours if this is what you need to make a decision. Another very positive issue is that Legacy does not change models every year. This maintains the long term value. Not that improvements are not implemented by Legacy, but they are few and usually very subtle.

Legacy products are not reviewed as often as some brands and I have questioned this with several reviewers. Only one response was offered and out of respect for that person I will not give a name, but this is a well known reviewer from a major magazine. I was told that Legacy was asked for review samples but did not respond to the request. If true, dissappointing. However, we should remember that when Legacy is reviewed, it is very favorable and certainly we must remember to listen with our own ears anyway. Some reviewers love a certain product while others do not. This is not unexpected since we the amatuer reviewers do the same. For the record this reviewer did say that he found Legacy to be high quality.
To those who might be reading for consideration of a purchase, there are those Legacy bashers on the internet (I believe one or more on this site) but if you will compare the seriousness of their feedback to the overwhelming majority of Legacy owners, you should see a point. I doubt they actually own these speakers. How many people would pay thousands for a speaker they do not like?
As already said, listen for yourself and enjoy the music.

Similar Products Used:

Klipsch, Polk Audio, KEF, Spica

I have these speakers for less than a week now and I am extremely pleased so far. I am writing this now because I am upset about the so called "review" by this idiot "vv vv" below. He should refrain from voicing his opinion on any subject. What a jerk.

These are outstanding speakers and I will submit a more detailed review in the future.

Soundstage,Cabinetry,Transparency,Imaging,Looks,Bass,Value!!

Um, I'm thinking. Sorry none found to date.

Listen to them if you can, you will be sold.
They sound so good and natural and they do not lack in any area. Also take note as to how many of the other speakers you see on the used market. Good luck in finding Legacy's used, owners love them and would be foolish to part even for units in the 10k plus arena. I was very fortunate to find someone that was upgrading to Empires from the Manhattan lineup from Legacy. I think I now know nirvana, it is a place I go to when I listen to my Signature III's. To give only 5 stars is an injustice for they are that good.

Similar Products Used:

B&W,NHT,Theil,M&K,Jamo,KEF