tom3001

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 4 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
4.00 of 5, 10.00 votes

Price Paid:  $2500.00 from audiogon

Summary:
If these are your first speakers then u would think you would want to have something a little bit more upscale and higher end becasue they look so much like your old old JBL disco speakers just big and loud with no thought considered just a mass of drivers like those old Polks or those old hideously looking VMPS and u wouldnt want to be caught dead with these when anyone shows up at your house and u try to tell them you are some kind of hardcore audio expert that go back many many years back. Because you are an expert you have listened to all the big boys like Dynaudio speakers and Dunlavys and all those big big floorstanding speakers expensive as well as cheap. But that is what you think and that you would think these speakers are a big big mistake becasue they look so UN highend and UN sophisticated. So you worry that if you get these speakers home that they would not work out for you like I thought for a long long long time...becasue you are an audio expert and know what audio is all about. WELL let me tell you I was worried like hell when i finally bought these and set them up and believe me I have everyting from all those speakers mentioned including the all mighty Martin Logan Summits and Wilson Audios Biggies. And let me tell you that I was worried that some people mentioned in this forum that Legacy does not even match their drivers and there are alot of B stock Legacy coming from the factory and used speakers as well and you wonder if you are getting something very very awful. And those big hideous woofer drivers..all 3 of them ..must be some kind boomy joke?! OH MY GOD what am I getting myself into?! Can it be a total mistake?!Becasue you know what a proper speaker looks like because you are an expert..Right? So LET me tell you that these Legacy speakers are what you been looking for your whole life long even after you have listed to all the other high end speakers the world has to offer.This is a 5 way design and the transition from ribbon tweeter to 7 inch midrange is well taken care of with the 1.25inch slik dome tweeter and the 10 inch is blended well with the midrange using a nice midbass driver. And the 3 woofers are as accurate and tight as you can get with the bass braking system (read about it in the Legacy website) You finally see you get everything correct with these speaker! I mean u could still use better drivers and shoot the cost way up but these drivers are very pleasant to listen to.. nothing is really wrong. You dont get the holographic pin point imaging that a dual 2 way monitor speaker gives you but what you get is a midbass and tweeter and dome and woofer that tells the whole story of the music like no other speaker can! YOU finally actually hear the entire range of sound..kind of like those JBL Ti250 from the 80s but alot way better accurate and easier to listen too and not muffled or bloated at all.Hey maybe thats it! These speakers just need to look way more cooler like those Ushers or Von Scheikerts (did i spell that right?)Everybody listen to me ! I like these speakers a whole lot! And let me tell you I am an audio expert too.And you know what else... I got the B stocks and nothing is wrong with them and the drivers are matched perfect and they work great in any moderate to big size room plus i know u can enjoy them sitting close up bec the woofers are controlled nicely and the highs are really really smooth and big sounding. I will really miss something in the vocals now if i dont have a midrange along with a midbass just like how these speakers have!..I got a big wall of sound from these dorky stupid looking things..A full orchestra accurate and all!!...all the imaging that should come from a multi driver system is here! Wow I am IMPRESSED! Do you know that these dome and ribbon tweeters do more than the single $2500 diamond accuton tweeter in the top of the line B&Ws. YES 2 tweeters like these are better then 1 diamond tweeter anyday of the year!!! So my name is Tom Sakurai and I hope you like this review! Just becareful to tame your sound bec bad equipment can make them sound bright and these speakers will vibrate the hell out of your CD player and make them fatiguing so put a big block of wook on everything I mean wood ..you got to tame the sound but the average equipment even those new Yamaha receivers work great with these speakers and the new Philpis with 92k oversampling for $60 is a WOW WO great thing and so cheap..No joke! ITs strange sometimes bad sh*t or bad looking sh*t can work good sometimes.

Strengths:
5 way that does all 5 way nicely

Weaknesses:
ugly and crappy looking might scare most audio experts to run for the hills

Similar Products Used:
everything on this planet

ahoisman

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
Less than 1 month

Visitors rate this review
1.00 of 5, 2.00 votes

Price Paid:  $4400.00 from Audio Video Today

Summary:
This is a 2004 Signature III speaker, but ‘04 doesn’t exist on this website yet. I got the Sigs. four days ago. They now have about 50 hours on them, though in truth they sounded wonderful the first minute of use. When a friend listened to them and I told her that they would sound better, after 100 hours or more, she replied ”How can they get even better than they are now?” Well, they now sound even better! Full, even, rich, detailed airy highs and crisp controlled lows are easy descriptors for the sound they produce at any volume and any kind of music, from Duke Ellington to Shostakovich, with Norah Jones in between. I wasn’t able to audition these speakers prior to purchase but various reviews, mainly these in this site and listening to the Focus 20/20 speakers prompted me to risk ordering these to replace nine month old 1.6 Thiels. The Thiels are wonderful but lack a sense of weight a full symphony orchestra provides at full song. Well nothing is missing from the Signatures- they out perform the Thiels in every respect plus the symphonic “gravis” I was missing. I almost never quit moving the Thiels slightly this way and that to find the perfect spot, in my very difficult living room: bare wood floors, too much glass and narrow room dimensions. We just plunked the Legacys down toe-ed in toward the listener and away from a plate glass floor to ceiling window. Haven’t felt the need to change yet. All of the “tunning” switches available on these speakers were left in the factory up position. The front end of the system includes an Esoteric DV50 universal disk player, Anthem Pre/pro and Cary Cinema 5 amplifier. Mine are in Cherry Walnut- a smooth satin almost black color that is makes for an elegant appearance. Fit and finish are everything one would expect for the price. Customer service -I bothered them a lot with questions- was outstanding.

Strengths:
Full wonderfull sound that allows the music to engage you fully. Extreamly easy to place in room

Weaknesses:
Why would any owner ever want to trade up to a bigger (or more expensive) Legacy, unless one moves to much larger quarters

Similar Products Used:
Thiel 1.6, Epus A12, M&K various

Price Paid:  $2800.00 from Used

Summary:
I have been looking for new speakers for about a year. Went to many dealers and some shows. Listened to many, many brands-including Magnepan, Thiel, Martin Logan, Snell, B+W, Revel, Vandersteen, Dynaudio and a few more. I have owned plenty of high-end speakers in my life, including several from Legacy. Just could not make up my mind what to buy, so when I saw a 3 month old pair of Sig3's up for sale- I took a chance. The speakers arrived, and I set them up eager to listen. The first thing I more than just noticed was the bass was incredibly boomy and out of control. The 7 inch midibass was pumping very strongly and was overpowering. I new the guy I bought them from also said the bass was overpowering. A call to Legacy and I was assured that this should not be. At one time I owned the Focus in the same room and did not have that problem. Anyway, I soldered on-very unhappy- played around with placement and cable types\cofigurations. I was able to get some improvement but the bass was still overpowering. Never the less I played them for several weeks and nothing short of amazing happened. What the problem was is that these speakers were Brand New when I got them- the guy never played them- they were Not broken in at all. Now that the speaker has broken in it is seamless top to bottom. This is one musical speaker, the bass is not boomy or muddy in any way. The midrange is crystal clear and the highs are superior to that produced by any metal dome tweeter. They image/soundstage very well in my room. If I stand right in front of the speaker it sounds like the music is eminating from just one driver- absolutelt seamless. It winds up I got lucky- lesson learned is not to judge ant audio equiptment before it breaks in. And I would like to add that my hearing did not just adjust to the sound- these are really good speakers.

Strengths:
Full range sound that is seamless from top to bottom. Very musical and not clinical or analytical sounding. Very good bass definition, magical mid-range and articulate highs.

Weaknesses:
Takes time and patience to find the optimum placement location in the room. Not really a weakness but these are quite high in low level resolution. So like many high-end speakers, they are limited by the the quality of the recording.

Similar Products Used:
B+W, Magnepan, Legacy and Polk.

Price Paid:  $3800.00 from Legacy direct

Summary:
I have this speakers 3years,before my uncle was owner.They are just great-wery dynamic,deep,transparent,detailed.For better soundstage I recommend use Steradian processor-it help adjust low frequency according your room.My power amp-Mcintosh 352,speaker cables-ZU cable Ibis.

Strengths:
Sound,frequency response,size,cabinet quality.

Weaknesses:
Hard to find exact place for perfect sound,but possible.

Similar Products Used:
JBL,Infinity,Klipsh,Tannoy,Paradigm,Mission,PSB Gold and more...

Price Paid:  $1600.00 from Private Party

Summary:
This speaker replaces Martin Logan Quests. It is used casually in my Living Room with FM and CD sources only. I have a pair of Focuses in my main music room for analog sources. This speaker is a great bargain. I want to add a few comments about why this is so. This speaker can sound VERY MUSICAL using inexpensive equipment, including a Sherwood 7100A receiver ($50), McIntosh MC 30s with a Rogue 99 (a step up-$2500), or in a high end system (+$10,000). There is wide dispersion rather than a sweet spot when provided with the proper front end and amplification. Using the wrong/incorrect and/or inferior equipment (not necessarily costly) will result in lesser results. Unsatisfying results can be obtained with hard sounding solid state equipment including Krell, Levinson, or dead sounding quazi-tube equipment including Audio Research and Conrad Johnson. Unfortunately, most current high end products, regardless of price are boring to listen to. The Signature IIIs are musical. They are not perfect and neither are the Focuses: they have less than state of the art design, some low quality components and are multi-crossover designed. They are also a happy accident with Legacy tuning the crossovers brilliantly so that they are seamless over the frequency range and handle various dynamics ranges equally well. It is difficult to fault them in my home as others have found them to be Extremely Satifying. I perform with a live orchestra and have 17,000 records, 3,000 CDs. I am a long term music listener and have only recently become aware of the ability to reproduce master tape quality sound from good recordings at a reasonable cost (and I get to listen to tube and ss master tapes through my friends in the local industry-L.A.). These speakers allow me to acheive great sound. During 1992-5, my system (similar products below) was so bad, that I nearly ceased listening to reproduced music. In the last few years, it's difficult to tear myself away from listening, just like it was in the 70's and 80's with my old Dyna equipment (Pas 3 modified/Mark IIIs/3 full range panel Acoustat Xs). Don't be biased against these speakers due to cost or design-they are a fantastic bargain. The Focuses require a larger room than most people have available; the Signature IIIs may have punchier bass too. Good listening to you.

Strengths:
One additional comment: These speakers with the proper equipment, can be heard for hours on end, at 100db+ peak levels (orchestral and modern rock) and not cause listener fatigue or anxiety. When the music stops, there is no heightened aural sensitivity. Even with a Sherwood 7100A (and not the 7200 or 7300-more power doesn't mean better sound, the first watt counts the most).

Similar Products Used:
Current system replaced 1992-5 system consisting of: Audio Research Classic 60 and SP14 Martin Logan Monolith III and Quest Other junk.