Summary:
The Legacy High Current Amplifier (250 watts per channel, $1995.00 direct from Legacy, no discounts) is indeed that. It will continue to produce sound for over 40 seconds after it has been shut off. There is a bunch of current stored in there somewhere. In addition to the Legacy, I use an Adcom 5800 in a biamped configuration driving large floor standing DIY speakers. I was in a quandry when I got the Legacy for the second power amp. Both it and the Adcom are worthy of handling the frequencies above 80 Hz, but I had to choose. I have had the Adcom for a few years, and am used to its sound, so I started out with the legacy on top. and the adcom driving the bass.
The first thing I noticed, was a general overall similarity between the two. That should have been no surprise, because the basic design for both was done by Nelson Pass; while he was at Adcom, and while at Coda (who builds the Legacy). After a couple of weeks, I heard something I had never heard before, and it was on a CD that I have listened to many times. At this point, I started pulling out old recordings that I have used for testing for a long time. There were several things I had not heard before. The more I listened, the more I became aware that the legacy revealed just a little more inner detail than did the Adcom. Delicate tones and harmonics, along with transients two and three layers deep in the music continued to present themselves. I was hearing further into the music than I had heard before, and I discovered it by accident.
This is one damned fine amplifier It is as quiet as a tomb, when there isn't a signal, but it has the capability to produce bone jarring dynamics when there is. It is extremely articulate, sometimes startlingly so. It adds new dimensions to old music; stuff that has been there all the time, but I could not extract. For what it does with female vocals, there is no price too high. The Adcom 5800 will continue to handle the bottom, which only makes sense. It has a higher damping factor, and handles the 4 ohms fine, feeding the bass 400 watts per channel of very tight, controlled power well below 20 Hz (-3db, 18Hz). The Legacy High Current Amplifier has found a home helping me find music I did not know I had in recordings I have had forever.
Auditioning this amp is a problem They are sold direct from the factory (speaker factory that is; they do not build the Amp) so you have to order one to hear one. Actually, this makes good sense. One cannot tell diddley about audio gear unless he hears it in his own home where it will be used. Legacy will give you no trouble about taking it back if you decise you do not want it, but I have grave doubts if that situation will present itself. Once you hear this amplifier, you will not turn loose of it.