Legacy Audio Studio HD loudspeaker Manufacturer's Comments

Manufacturer's Comments

Editor: Thanks to Herb Reichert and John Atkinson for the thorough write-up of the Studio HD. It is stimulating to see measurements in a review once again. Stereophile's online archives provide a great service to the audiophile largely owing to your consistent measurements over the years.

Stereophile's measurements of the Studio HD rang a familiar bell for me. Recalling remarkably similar frequency-response contours and spectral-decay plots from the various versions of the longstanding www.stereophile.com/content/bbc-ls35a-loudspeaker-stirling-measurements">LS3/5a over the years prods me to acknowledge that it was not I who specified the voicing of the Studio HD. It was the recording and broadcasting industry consistently telling us how the monitor needed to perform: When close-miking with cardioids, proximity effect fattens the lower mids. However, on playback the mixing engineers still want a monitor that portrays the rhythm and drive without sounding puffy in the lower midrange. The similarities of the Studio HD to other successful monitors are not coincidental.

For such studio nearfield use, the Treble switch is trimmed downward. In midfield use, the speaker is best loaded about 22" from the wall behind it on 28"-high stands, with little or no toe-in. The Bass trim switch can be activated as placement approaches a sidewall. Fig.1 shows the change in response from 50" to a listener distance of 120". Diffraction loss from the small baffle is shown, while low-frequency room gain aids the spectral balance.

918legacy.Mancomfig1.jpg

Fig.1 Legacy Audio Studio HD, 1/3-octave reverberant-field power response 50" from speaker (red) and 120" from speaker (blue) when speaker is placed 22" from wall behind it, 38" from sidewall, in 20' L by 14' W by 9' H room with carpeted floor.

Finally, just as John suggested, the second-order high-pass filter allows higher SPLs without damage to the woofer.—Bill Dudleston, Chief Engineer/Founder

Legacy Audio

COMPANY INFO
Legacy Audio
3023 E. Sangamon Avenue
Springfield, IL 62702
(800) 283-4644
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COMMENTS
beave's picture

JA, in your measurements you state: "...presumably to protect it from subsonic overload below the port tuning frequency." 'Subsonic' means below the speed of sound in a given medium. Isn't the correct word 'infrasonic,' which describes sound waves with a frequency below human hearing?

Russell Dawkins's picture

I think you are right. In a similar vein, just today I saw 'supersonic' being used to mean 'ultrasonic'.

Bogolu Haranath's picture

"Boogie Fever" ........... The Sylvers :-) ..........

Anton's picture

My Jungian intuition and Myers Briggs type are telling me “no” for some reason.

I loved your review but it made my spider senses tingle.

tonykaz's picture

Well, damit, thanks for giving Bill Dudleston's designs a good "listen to". I've admired his Whispers for some time but Wifey keeps veto powering me. ( double-damit )

I think that I agree on the LS3/5a greatness and the British Greatness for that matter. I can't imagine a "Glossy" finish on Loudspeakers. Who wants loudspeakers to be Glitzy? or Garish?
I'd probably distrust any Outfit relying on Glossy to sell, it says "flash" over function.

Yet these things held your attention to the exclusion of all else with their energy, style and enthusiasm ( mesmerizing élan ). That is a POWERFUL summary followed by a complaint about the coloration of Hahn's violin "leaning" "slightly toward thin and cool" . hmm, a small price to pay in terms of design compromise considering I've always felt Hilary's playing leaned to Cool & Thin compared to the instruments she plays against. I kinda get the feeling that our lovely Hilary Hahn is a totally Cool & Thin person ( compared to YoYo for instance )

This review alone makes the entire Issue worthwhile, best writing in Audio, best descriptives, wonderful additives, adjectives & adverbs. We'll be reading this Review 100 years from now thinking how 2018 was the Golden Era of Audio Journalism.

Tony in Michigan

ps. 16 ohm Audiophile resistors from Nelson Pass? love to hear some observations

Ortofan's picture

... " jump or slam" - build a system with a pair of LS3/5A size "satellites" and a separate dual-channel transmission line (sub)woofer.
http://www.t-linespeakers.org/classics/friedH/fried_H.html
https://audiogramii.wordpress.com/tag/fried-model-h/

Harbeth should make such an add-on low frequency unit to go with their P3ESR speakers, but that will never happen because Alan Shaw despises transmission line type loading. At one time, however, Harbeth did sell the Xtender bass unit to complement their P3.
https://www.meridian-audio.info/public/january_1997_113%5B2021%5D.pdf

Bogolu Haranath's picture

ELAC Adante AS-61 may be a better value for the money, at approximately the same price. AS-61 may be the loudspeaker to beat in this price range :-) ...........

Anton's picture

I think I spend more money going to listen to gear than I have actually spent on my gear!

I have yet to hear those, so will seek them out.

Appreciate the recommendation.

Bogolu Haranath's picture

ELAC also sells a matching sub-woofer, if you want to go that route :-) ............

Indydan's picture

I've heard a good number of speakers in this price range. The Ryan R610 beats them all. I would love it if Herb reviewed the R610.

bsher's picture

The Adante AS-61 costs $5000 a pair. They may be the speakers to beat at THAT price, but comparing them to these speakers makes little sense.

Bogolu Haranath's picture

From what I see on the specs, ELAC Adante AS-61 bookshelf speakers price is $2500 ..........

bsher's picture

Oops. My bad. I thought I saw them for $2500 EACH, which some speaker manufacturers do. And you're right: any Andrew Jones Elac is likely the best speaker for the money by miles. Wish he made a pair around the $1K mark. Not sure the Uni-Fi bookshelfs can compete with some of the new stuff in that price range from DALI or Wharfedale.

Bogolu Haranath's picture

You may be referring to AF-61 floor stander .............

avanti1960's picture

review the Legacy Calibre?
Very intriguing design.

Anton's picture

I would pay extra for that!

Herb, go for it!

Immediamente!

Bogolu Haranath's picture

The very capable and much more versatile KEF LS-50 active, DSP wireless (wi-fi capable) Nocturne speakers are $2500 :-) .............

Bogolu Haranath's picture

HR reviewed Technics premium class book-shelf speakers $1699 pair ........ Listed under Stereophile Class-A ...........

dcolak's picture

If the author of the design wanted to EQ the sound, why didn't he simply do it with a digital EQ before it went to a DAC?!

Why in the world would he spend time to design so badly performing speaker?

If he had it linear, one would be able to EQ it any way he wanted.

dalethorn's picture

The $64 question. Interested to learn more, since there's so much new discussion on EQ.

tonykaz's picture

Has anyone else ?

I probably would've carried the entire Legacy Line if they existed in 1982 ( in addition to Thiel Loudspeakers ).

This is a darn nice Company with darn nice products.

Tony in Michigan

Bogolu Haranath's picture

Legacy makes external add-on EQ/DSP units. Check their website ...............

DougM's picture

I think it's kind of funny that on an expensive speaker like this, they still use a cheap cardboard toilet paper roll looking tube for the port, just like a lot of $200-300 a pair speakers, while some lower priced speakers like B&W's cheaper lines (among others) use flared and dimpled port tubes for reduced port noise.

Bogolu Haranath's picture

May be Stereophile could review Legacy flag-ship Valor? ........ May be MF? :-) .........

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