I rarely see modern reviews for this semi-hard-to-find speaker. I'll say that I have been very impressed with my limited comparisons. I have run these speakers (not the Studio HD, the older version) with a Naim Nait system and a PS Audio system listening mostly vinyl with both a new Rega P3 and an old Rega RP9. I compared them to Dynaudio Audience 52, Epos es11, Linn Tokens, and finally ProAc Pro Response IIs. The legacys sounded better than all of these speakers except the Proac in every regard. The Legacys sounded better than the ProAc in the low and mid-low areas as would be expected of an 8" driver vs a smaller one. The proac also created a slightly wider soundstage and allowed the listen to walk around the room and still hear good display of soundstage- the Legacys demanded you sit with your ear at tweeter level with each speaker proportional to where you sat.

Legacys need you to be in their tight sweet spot.

Amazing clarity, air, space, speed and sound stage. Non-fatigue. The high-pass-filter (80 Hz) switch.

Lowest base to 60 Hz. Equipment integration difficulty.

My review is for the previous version of Studio. These speakers have always revealed weakness of my systems that I have to upgrade my stereo equipment and wires constantly. I even have to modify my equipment internally for pulling the best possible sound out from my studios. Finally, I can tell you what these gems can do after spending 7 years of my efforts. They are competitive to far more expensive speakers including studio’s own brother “Classic” however, with a subwoofer (which I also changed the original driver to one from another manufacturer and modified) integration. I’m writing this for disagreeing the negative reviews accumulated over the years. It’s a shame that these wonderful speakers with original drivers are discontinued. I hope the latest generation still reflects Legacy’s philosophy the best .

Similar Products Used:

Legacy Classic, Mission 771

Build quality in spite of one of the binding posts missing. Legacy quickly sent me a replacement. The cabinets are extremely solid.

Poorly chosen drivers for the newest version. Huge gap in the mid range. Too subtle treble from the spiral ribbon tweeter.

I own a pair of Classics and a Silver Screen, both of which have brought many hours of satisfying listening. I lliked the previous version of the Studio and went ahead (sight unseen as it were) with the purchase of the newest version, the Studio-i. I'll cut to the chase. The Studio-i is a big disappointment. For starters and at eight inches, the mid range driver seems to be too large. There's a very noticeable hole in the midrange. This is especially noticeable when listening to voice. This is probably a driver better suited for reproducing bass, not midrange. At the least, this is a driver that should be used to supplement another and smaller midrange driver. The tweeter is a spiral ribbon which is fairly smooth but very muted. Cymbols for example sound dull and not very realistic. I have a pair of Paradigm Atoms that to my ear are substantially more accurate sounding than the Studio-i's. Even a pair of Best Buy Insignia KEF knock-offs weren't too far off. I swapped both the Atoms and Insignia's on the stands the Studio-i's are mounted on for comparison purposes. I gave these speakers several months of my time. I used them in a room measuring about 22 X 30 with high ceilings. I have them mounted on sand filled, heavy gauge steel stands. I tried moving them around in and out, side to side. I even tried eq'ing them all to no avail. I'm using them now as surround speakers. In this capacity they're ok but so would many other and less expensive speakers. As an admirer of Legacy product, I'm really disappointed to recommend staying away from these. If you find a previous gen version however, definitely give them a try.

Customer Service

Extremely poor. If you are fortunate enough to deal directly with Bill Duddleston, all should be well. The person manning the sales and customer support line during the Studio-i purchase sounded disinterested, tired and as if he was working out of his bedroom.

Similar Products Used:

Legacy-Audio Classics, Paradigm Atoms, Legacy Focus (not the 20-20).

Sound,build quality,reputation of company.These are high end period anybody who thinks otherwise,whats in your other room Bose.

Please

I had to write because of the negative reviews I read here about these.First what planet are you guys from? These are VERY HIGH END SOUND.Placement put em on something and they will sound good.Awesome sound

Similar Products Used:

Magnepan,Wharfedale, Infinity

nice highs

low frequency (keep in mind that this is not a full range speaker), limited dealerships

Many of the reviews listed in this column (especially the negative ones) are misleading. I've had these speakers for about 1 1/2 years and I'm pretty pleased with them. I do not understand how anyone can speak so negatively about them unless they have a bone to pick with the manufacturer. Yes, you need a subwoofer to get the biggest bang out of the Studios, but other than that they sound wonderful. The only thing that puzzles me is why they are not more popular. When I opened up the box I was extremely pleased with the finish and build quality (rosewood finish). I immediately noticed how much cleaner they sounded than my previous speakers. While I cannot really determine how they compare to other $900 speakers, I can tell you that you won't be dissapointed. I'm pretty particular when it comes to electronics and have done my share of research over the years. I'm interested to see more opinions on these speakers from other more objective reviewers.

Similar Products Used:

cambridge soundworks ensemble

Look, overall sound presense for a bookshelf (base) and at the time, value

Current pricing has put this little guy out of the value range, complete imaging (high)

I purchased this speaker in 96 for two reasons:
Reviews from AOL (only site that had good info from avid fans, (rabid at times to non fans) and from audio reviewers from Audio and the likes.

The second reason:
Combination of size (yes, I was limited to a certain height and couldn't fit the B&W CDM1's in my room. The other reason comparisons tp the B&W 805 which was supperior to the cdm1's.

Upon receiving the Studio's I wasn't at all disappointed having never seen or touched a pair. Remember, at that time it was almost impossible to audition these speakers without a flight out to the midwest.
The finish was equal to the B&W's and the sound was very well balance.

Now three years later, I still love these little guys but am getting a little bored with the bookshelf capabilities of them so I started auditioning floor models. While doing so I brought in my Studios and put them for kicks, side by side with the B&W CDM1SE's. The difference was very apparant. The sound stage was noticably better on the B&W's. Long story short, I don't know if I'll be checking out the Classic's and may just concentrate on the 804's.

Without great demo pricing and the shipping/repair concerns of direct sales I'm a litte hesitant with moving on with Legacy...

Not a bad brand, you just need to be very flexible if you don't like them...

Similar Products Used:

CDM1

I have owned my Studios for 4 months. For over the previous 18 months I had auditioned several speakers in the $1000 - $2000 range using the Ry Cooder produced Beuna Vista Social Club CD and a Sony compilation of Yo Yo Ma Cello pieces. I was very impressed with the smaller Hales monitor, (listed for around $2100, but I could have had the pair for approximately $1900), and I was equally impressed with the Von Schweikert monitors, at I believe, $1500.
Naturally, one can not audition speakers in this range withour the obligatory B&Ws, (CDM 7 & 1).

I found the Legacy Studios to be the equals of the B&W CDM 7SE's in sound quality. I realize this may shock the audio elites in the audience who hang on every review in Stereophole Magazine, but to my ears, the Studios were equivalent. As for the CDM 1's, the Legacy Studios were superior.

I must say, that the Studios were inferior to both the Hales, and the VonSchweikerts, but, those speakers were 100 to 70 percent higher in price, which I could not justify at the time I bought them.

I listen to 90 % acoustical music, e.g. Jazz, Folk, Classical, World, and in the reproduction of the acoustic sound, the Studios are very satisfactory. It is my understanding that Legacy does not tailor it's sound for Hard Rock, which could explain the 3 stars by a previous reviewer.

If you are looking for a sub $1000 speaker, I heartily recommend the Studios.
I give them 5 stars based on sound quality for the dollar.

Not fussy about electronics. Exellent midrange clarity with pleasing warmth. Has the *potential* for a large soundstage - when placed correctly.

Extremely difficult room placement because of rear porting with rear porting also eliminating any possible use as a bookshelf speaker. Weak low end bass. Poor driver integration not as "liquid" as B&W, NHT, etc., with cheap tweeter driver causing some sonic masking issues. Over-priced.

In short - look elsewhere.

I've been a fan of Legacy products for many years and will be the first one to stand up for this company when it comes to their better behaving products like the Sig III, Focus and Whisper systems. However, I've owned and traded several different variants of this speaker and gave up on it long ago. It's simply too quirky to deal with and way too expensive in a market niche with better products. Actually I still own a pair of Legacy Studios, but they are the older version with the 6 1/2 poly driver. The newer Studios feature an Eton based 7 1/2" Kevlar driver that really belongs in a 3-way system and just can't cut the duty as a full range mid to bass driver.

I spent several days with a loaned pair of the new studios, and when my evaluation was over I kept the older Legacy models. Basically the Kevlar based studios sounded like less of a speaker than more, and didn't fix any of the issues with the older model I was complaining about.

First, rear porting is stupid with a small speaker. Depending on the room and placement, you will never hear a speaker change it's character so much as this one. Distance from the rear wall vs side walls must be kept in a very carefull ratio with low ceilings out of the question. I also don't understand why you'd want to place a two way speaker in such a prominent room position on a pair of stands when larger floor models will take up the same foot print and sound better. The advantage with a two way is simplified driver integration which gives studio monitors their very precise imaging, but this speaker can't achieve a high resolution soundstage compared to the competition.

With proper placement the studio explodes with a very wide and open soundstage that will blow your mind. Essentially the rear porting acts as a passive bi-polar driver creating much additional 'air' over front ported designs. The problem is you'll have a hard time finding a room that will do this properly. I've tried the studio in no less than 10 different rooms and only found it exceptional in 2. Both had vaulted, angular ceilings and equal side walls. In this case the Studio sounded like a speaker twice the size with spectacular beyond the speaker imaging and soundstage.

From a dynamic standpoint this speaker is just as good as the competition, if not better since the 7 1/2" Eton driver is better than most drivers other high-end models. The titanium dome tweeter lacks the harshness of other metal dome tweeters, and has plenty of uncolored detail. The problem is it doesn't integrate that well with the Eton midrange and you get some sonic blurring when more than one instrument is playing.

My conclusion is to look at other speakers in this price range. B&W makes 2-ways that simply sound much better than the Studio with similiar sonic qualities, better driver integration and aren't as room fussy. NHT as well builds several larger floor models that sound accoustically similiar to the Studio, but have a much larger presence.

In regards to Legacy, they make exellent, world class products with the above mentioned models being standouts. This isn't one of them.

Similar Products Used:

Too many to list

Well, where do I begin? I got a pair of these absolute gems used for $500, and I can safely say that it is by far the best buy I have ever made!
The Studio is a mini-monitor that is not so mini. In fact, they weigh 30 pounds each. The real wood veneer finish of the speakers is nothing less than superb, and the relatively high sensitivity rating makes these an easy load for an amp to drive.

OK -- now for the sound (after all, looks are nice, but that is not what most people buy speakers for). I can say without a doubt, that I have never heard a mini-monitor sound as good as these! The first thing I noticed was the excellent reproduction of vocals. I have heard many speakers that cost much more than these (monitors and towers included), but none were as clear as the Studios. Imaging was also first rate. I could easily pinpoint exactly where each individual instrument was on the soundstage. Midrange purity was absolute heaven and the mid-low bass was very tight and well defined down to about 40HZ. The highs were ever so slightly on the bright side, but I like them that way anyhow.

After turning on my Energy ES-12 subwoofer and blending it with the Studios (very easy, by the way), I started to critically listen to these gems. I can safely say that the Studios easily handled every type of music I threw at them. They played metal just as well as they played Paula Cole, or Vivaldi (classical is my music of choice). I was absolutely stunned at the sound. No high-end mini-monitor that I have heard even comes close.

The only area where I noticed a weakness in the Studios was the soundstage did not extend very far past the speakers. In this regard, some competing mini-monitors do this better (after all, no speaker is perfect in all areas).

The most surprising thing about all of this is that I am currently using a Kenwood 990D Dolby Digital receiver to drive the Studios (not optimal by any means). I shudder to think what the sound will be like when I get a good solid power amp that can drive 4 ohm loads (the Studios have a nominal impedance of 4 ohms).

I will write an update on how they do in DD Home Theatre when I receive another 3 Studios for the rest of my channels (I have them on order, new from Legacy ($848/pair)). In the meantime, I advise anyone who is looking for a good monitor/mini-monitor to look no further, the Legacy Studio should almost certainly fit the bill! I only wish I could give these a MUCH higher rating than five speakers for both outright performance and value alike.

I have had the Studio's for 2 years. I set them on target stands and powered them with an Arcam CD and Bryston integrated amplifier. MIT all the way round. I can safely say that these speakers represent excellent value in terms of sound and build. Mine are in rosewood. Here is my synopsis:Pluses -
Excellent and detailed midrange - one of the best in the price range
Solid but not deep bottom end
Open treble
Very good imaging
High quality drivers with huge voice coils (Focal and SEAS).

Minuses
can be bright and forward at the top
stage depth can be limited

I would not use this speaker with cheap (read consumer) electronics. They are very satisfying with jazz and especially female vocal and can cary orchestral weight in a well set up room.