Legacy Audio Focus HD vs SE

Thorton · February 2014

Just like the kid in the candy store except for bucket loads of more money spent. Now the anticipation of how it will sound with your equipment and room. It's good to be a kid again. The enjoyment we find in this hobby is one of the things that makes working so hard worth it.

Phasewolf · February 2014

Yes it is and I am glad my wife is ok with me spending the money I have. The nice thing is that I have not lost a dime on anything I have got and resold later down the line.

The speakers should sound great for sure because unlike the Polk they are made to be towed in vs the Polk so that will help with side wall issues.

erniejade · February 2014

I agree with tony on room. I'm coming from a bigger room to a 13x12 room I stuffed them into for now. I did loose some bass but hey still sound good. The legacy like a different placement vs the 2.3. What I did was take the spikes off them to slide them easier for placement. Don't be afraid to try one extreme to another on them. Then when you think you got it put the spikes back on and finish tweeking.

tonyb · February 2014

Ha...did the same thing Earn, slide into place then put the spikes on.

Don't over think this pal, if you like what that center does, you'll cream your shorts at what the towers will do. I'm going to say, you may not even need your subs for HT, They belt out that much low end.

wattmeworry · March 2014

Phasewolf,I see you picked up the Focus SE congratulations on your purchase.Have you had time to set them up yet and give them a good listen.I would like to hear your opinon of the SE.

tonyb · March 2014

Yeah....ditto ^^^. Don't make us hunt you down like we do H9 for reviews. LOL

Phasewolf · March 2014

Been taking my time getting them setup right and getting used to them before I put words down but I can say this.

They are the best speakers I have ever owned to date and I am very happy. When I first got my ears on them for a demo the dealer had then crossed at 100hz and I have no idea as to why anyone would do that to these speakers. The sound stage is sweet and with space off the walls is nice and deep. I love the deep bass and the highs are sweet to my ears. I can't wait to move them around a bit more.

The issue as of now is that they really don't have the room they need as my room sucks but I am going to play with trapping and cables as all I have for now is some cheap 14 gauge cable. I plan on picking up some canare 4s11 soon and making some half way good cables out of it as soon as my account recovers.

For movies I cross them at 40hz and full range for music.

The best part is my wife loves how they sound and likes the grills left off as she like the look of the wood. They did cost me a trip this fall that I have to take my wife but I planned on doing that anyways so it's all good.

The Parasound HCA-3500 drives them with out breaking a sweat and I am in love with them they can even allow me to play Iron Maiden with good sound. With the SDA I could never get maiden to sound right to my ears maybe it was the SDA effect causing issues I know the music is not the best mastering that's for sure.

So far there has been only a few very bad MP3 that I am replacing that sounded bad. Pipe organ music will scare you with the bass for that I cross them at 40hz and let the subs help out a pair of 18 lend them self's well to bottom octave bass.

I have been streaming Linn a lot lately and love how classical sound on them a lot. I am playing music as I write this and I still need to sleep before going to work but part of me just does not want to sleep as the music stop and I am enjoying myself too much.

The highs are so airy I lack the words to really define how much I like these speakers and how good they sound to me or it could be that I have been up like 30+ hours now. My dog is crashed in my lap chilling with the music she seems to love music as much as I do.

I will post more soon.

John.

tonyb · March 2014

Cool man, are they everything we said they'd be ? They can do pipe organ all on their own too btw. What finish did you get ? They definitely put a big **** smile on your face when you want to play anything.....and they can play anything, any genre. Heck, they make you smile just sitting there, with nothing playing. Throw up some pics when you can.

My wife too gave the seal of approval and that's half the battle right there....she loves 'em. Definitely a speaker that will take you out of that merry-go round of speaker searches. Congrats again, and remember what I said, they will beg you to start upgrading everything else. lol

erniejade · March 2014

Sweet!!!!! When i had them in a different room they did have a ton of fast clean bass. In my den i think because its small and square i am getting some wave cancellation but, thats another story.

The mids and highs are clean and fast and like tony said, they will show shortcomings on your sources like mp3.

Congrates again!!!

Thorton · March 2014

PW, congratulations. Glad to hear you like the speakers. We share the same musical taste for Maiden. Please keep us posted when you have everything dialed in.

Mike

tonyb · March 2014

Maiden ? Not my cup of tea but they are a hard band for most speakers to reproduce well. The Focus like I said can reproduce anything you throw at it well. Classical sounds amazing too, if your into any of that. Jazz/Blues....you'll think your in that small smokey bar 10 feet away from the Sax. Rock/funk/Country....hell yeah.

Would like to get my ear on that newer folded ribbon tweet in the SE's. I keep hearing it's a big step up from Bill's other implementations.

scottwilson999 · April 2014

I recently picked up a pair of Legacy Focus 20/20 as well. I had been running Polk RTA 15 prior to that. I do not use the SDA models as I use Carver's Sonic Holography. I've always suspected that if used both SDA and Holography I might end up sucked into a void or moving through time! While I really like the sound of the Polk pair, I have never heard much good about the tweeters from that era, and I have not switched the them out with the new Polk Silk Dome tweeters--I don't even know how much of a modification job that might be. The Legacy model is much better sounding all the way around, but the pricing is not truly comparable. I have also had to get used to the two active subwoofers over the passive radiators of Polk. I will, of course keep both for varying listening comparisons. If any have you have ever wondered, Holography does work well with the RTA models. Phasewolf, I hope you enjoy the Foci as well.

pelerinage · June 2016

Thanks for the insightful information, trying to decide on a Focus SE. I'm only familiar with the 20/20 and hoping won't be disappointed with the SE.
I read also many comments on how important (how sensitive they are) are cables. Any recommendations?

tratliff · June 2016

I have a pair of the SE's. They have been in my system for slightly over a year. They are sensitive, not only to cables but also to amp and pre that are driving them.

When I first purchased them I was running a parasound P5/A21 with Douglas connection Bi-Wires cables (black). That setup was slightly bright.

I then changed the amp to a pair of Rogue M-180's (tube 180 wpc). This tamed the highs but did not provide control to the bottom end I was looking for.

I then changed the amps to a pair of McIntosh Mc601's (ss 600 wpc) and also changed out the speaker cables to a set of Douglas Alpha bi-wires (purple) and also replaced the parasound preamp with a Cary SLP-05 (tube preamp). This setup has tamed the highs, provided great control of the bottom end and provides a very wide soundstage.

Overall I am very happy with the setup. I think they are not much different than other mid-fi speakers in the fact that system and cable synergy along with placement play a big role.

pelerinage · June 2016

For amplification I will use; SONY TA-N90ES and SONY TA-E90ES. I do like their sound and I hope they will be able to drive them fine. The focus are high sensitivity. What you think?

tonyb · June 2016

I'm personally not a fan of Sony amps though I do realize their ES series has a following. I would look for a used McCormack amp, B&k, Cary, or Musical fidelity integrated.

tratliff · June 2016

pelerinage wrote: »

For amplification I will use; SONY TA-N90ES and SONY TA-E90ES. I do like their sound and I hope they will be able to drive them fine. The focus are high sensitivity. What you think?

I am not familiar with the Sony amps. One thing is for sure. You will never know until you try. Give it a shot and see what happens.

Let us know how it goes.

pelerinage · July 2016

The Silver edition of the focus SE - what is special about it? What should be a reasonable price for them?

tonyb · July 2016

pelerinage wrote: »

The Silver edition of the focus SE - what is special about it? What should be a reasonable price for them?

Don't really know, the SE has different drivers than the HD models, different cabinet. What I do know is every iteration of the Focus gets better and better. If you looking for a dynamic speaker that can handle HT and music, throw any genre of music at, and walk away with a smile, these could be your huckleberry.

pelerinage · July 2016

Thanks to all for the kind responses, guidance, recommendations. Early this week got my Focus SE Silver Edition with everything including boxes, paperwork, spikes,..., even the velvet covers with a velvet sack to store the covers.

One statement summarizes all - I've been an addict to music all my life, now with these speakers, there is no longer hope for cure.

Legacy Audio Focus HD vs SE

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