When you've been in the audio press for a few years, you've heard rhetoric like this…
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I was introduced to Legacy Audio at the CEDIA Expo in September 2002, and I'll long remember it. A pair of Legacy's huge new Helix loudspeakers anchored the company's silent display, and I was irresistibly drawn to them. Sales manager Bob Howard introduced himself, and, after a few minutes of chatting, introduced me to Bill Dudleston, Legacy's founder and chief designer. Within two minutes, Dudleston had told me "I don't design speakers for hi-fi people. I design speakers for people who love music."
The midrange was always very neutral and highly detailed, with vocals being especially well-served. Crispian Mills' passionate singing on Kula Shaker's "Great Hosannah," from Peasants Pigs & Astronauts (CD, Columbia CK 69885), and Diana Krall's mind-foggingly sultry take on "Let's Face the Music and Dance," from When I Look In Your Eyes (CD, Verve IMPD-304), were near-perfect in every respect. Choral music is one of the most demanding tests, and the Focus handled the challenge very well on the Rachmaninoff Vespers (SACD, PentaTone Classics PTC 5186 027). Voices were nicely individualized…
Sidebar 1: Carving Out a Legacy
In mid-September 2003, I paid a visit to the Legacy factory—or, more accurately, the Legacy/Allen Organ Company factory, in the Pennsylvania Dutch country an hour northwest of Philadelphia.
Every Legacy speaker is made on the same assembly line as are Allen's magnificent church and theater organs and supporting sound systems. But "assembly line" doesn't describe Legacy/Allen's manufacturing process. One sees none of the exotic machine tools that term implies, save for a computer-controlled milling machine that turns MDF blanks into the panels used…
Sidebar 2: Specifications
Description: 7-driver, 5-way, floorstanding loudspeaker. Drive-units: 4"-long ribbon supertweeter, 1.25" soft-dome tweeter, two 5" Kevlar-cone midrange units, 12" carbon-reinforced-cone "transition" woofer; two 12" carbon-reinforced-cone subwoofers. Low-frequency alignment: B6 assisted. Crossover frequencies: 80Hz, 300Hz, 2.8kHz, 8kHz. Frequency response: 26Hz-20kHz, ±2dB. Sensitivity: 96dB/2.83V/m. Impedance: 4 ohms nominal. Recommended amplification: 10-400Wpc.
Dimensions: 55" H by 15" W by 13" D. Weight: 185 lbs each.
Finishes: Oak, cherry; other…
Sidebar 3: Associated Equipment
Analog source: SOTA Cosmos Series III turntable, Graham 2.2 tonearm, Dynavector XV-1S cartridge.
Digital sources: Esoteric DV-50 universal player, Classé Omega SACD/CD player.
Preamplification: Manley Steelhead, Aesthetix Rhea phono preamplifiers; VTL TL-7.5, BAT VK51SE, Aesthetix Calypso line stages; Halcro dm10 full-function preamplifier.
Power amplifiers: Lamm ML1.1, VTL MB-450 Signature monoblocks; Hovland Radia, Plinius SA-102, Edge NL-12.
Cables: Phono: Hovland Music Groove 2. Interconnect: Acoustic Zen Silver Reference, Nordost Valhalla.…
Sidebar 4: Measurements
At 185 lbs and 55" high, the Legacy Focus 20/20 was too bulky for me to lift into the air for the acoustic measurements, as I usually do. My speaker turntable therefore had to sit on the ground, which meant that the midrange resolution of the farfield measurements was curtailed by the presence of a floor reflection. However, I don't believe this affects the overall validity of the results.
The Legacy's sensitivity was slightly lower than specified, but still a very high 94.5dB(B)/2.83V/m—this speaker will play very loudly even with a low-powered amplifier.…
Audiophiles with budget restrictions (most of us, I imagine) could be forgiven for feeling we're afterthoughts to most manufacturers. Even though we probably keep many companies in business by buying their "entry-" or mid-level products, we're always hearing about products designed "without compromise." Waiter, could you bring the reality check, please?
Even if you design a component without regard to the price tag, you still run into the compromises dictated by material science, or our collective ignorance, or even market pressures. (Although, with Asian economies in serious trouble, I'm…
But Linn isn't selling packaged air; they saw the future coming a long time ago and constructed their Glasgow facility to take advantage of automation and high-quality surface-mount construction. Despite its light weight and empty real estate, there's a lot of technology packed into the Linto. Besides, as Linn points out, a square centimeter of circuit area can pick up more signal as interference than a moving-coil cartridge generates as music.
While many audiophiles swear by loading networks, Linn's reasons for avoiding them are compelling. Linn claims the switches used in most…
The Linn was also superlative in its re-creation of bass. It had remarkable extension and definition. If you believe the bass region is the foundation upon which musical cathedrals are built, then the Linto is your meat. I've never heard Ron Carter's tone possess more heft and character than it did when I played Herbie Hancock's Maiden Voyage (Blue Note ST-46339) through the Linto. He isn't playing a really mellow-sounding instrument on the album—with some phono sections, I would have wondered whether this perception was colored by the preamp's limitations or whether I was hearing the sound…
Specifications
Linn Linto: Solid-state, direct-coupled MC phono preamplifier with switch-mode power supply. Recommended audio input level: 150uV (high gain), 500uV (low gain). Input impedance: 150 ohms (in parallel with 4.7nF). Voltage gain: 64dB at 1kHz (high gain), 54dB at 1kHz (low gain). Maximum input: 6.7mV at 1kHz (high gain), 19mV at 1kHz (low gain). Maximum output: 10.1V p-p at 1kHz. Power consumption: ca 6W/12VA.
Linn Linto: Solid-state, direct-coupled MC phono preamplifier with switch-mode power supply. Recommended audio input level: 150uV (high gain), 500uV (low gain). Input impedance: 150 ohms (in parallel with 4.7nF). Voltage gain: 64dB at 1kHz (high gain), 54dB at 1kHz (low gain). Maximum input: 6.7mV at 1kHz (high gain), 19mV at 1kHz (low gain). Maximum output: 10.1V p-p at 1kHz. Power consumption: ca 6W/12VA.
Dimensions: 12.5" W by 3" H by 13" D. Weight: 3.5 lbs.
Serial number of unit reviewed: 001575 ("Assembled and Tested by David Clyne").
Price: $1500.…