ykjohn

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 1.00 votes

Price Paid:  $1000.00 from Legacy

Summary:
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 .

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

Weaknesses:
Lowest base to 60 Hz. Equipment integration difficulty.

Similar Products Used:
Legacy Classic, Mission 771

bubbagump

Overall Rating
 2 of 5

Value Rating
 2 of 5

Used product for
3 Months to 1 year

Visitors rate this review
3.00 of 5, 2.00 votes

Price Paid:  $1499.00 from Factory direct

Summary:
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.

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

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

Similar Products Used:
Legacy-Audio Classics, Paradigm Atoms, Legacy Focus (not the 20-20).

Price Paid:  $460.00 from Ebay

Summary:
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

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

Weaknesses:
Please

Similar Products Used:
Magnepan,Wharfedale, Infinity

Summary:
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.

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

Weaknesses:
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.

Similar Products Used:
Too many to list

Price Paid:  $900.00 from legacy audio

Summary:
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.

Strengths:
nice highs

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

Similar Products Used:
cambridge soundworks ensemble