Anyone here tweak any Legacy Focus speakers?

Bump to this thread.  I just got my first pair of Focus speakers and wow am I impressed!  I would say almost too much bass!  I've moved them out about 4 ft from the rear wall to help.  My room also has a major upper bass node that can make things sound boomy at times. 

I wouldn't say I hear a boxy sound at all.  They image much better than I imagined and midrange seems excellent.  Maybe just too much of a bass hump.

I'm going to try Anthem ARC to correct for some as well as Isoacoustics Gaia feet. Even if nothing works, I'm still very happy with them. 

I have OG Legacy Focus speakers and I’ll add something to this thread even though I moved on new Focus SEs. I had them for 4 years and spent a lot of time modifying/researching drivers. So what I can add is for those looking to replace worn/aged drivers. Nothing too fancy other than potentially putting in Raal ribbons.

Ribbon drivers (Technics): Originals can be bought directly from Legacy. However, you can get Raal 70-10 ribbons to fit with custom formed brackets (easy job for a machine shop).

Soft domes: Audax TW034X0. The metal plate these come with was different than the existing metal plate. Not just in size but also thickness. So the only solution was to have a machinist cut the top and bottom of the bracket flat so it would fit between the ribbon and the midbass drivers. These made a massive difference over the stock yellow painted soft domes. The biggest of any driver change.

7" midbass: CSS LDW7 can drop directly in place of the old yellow Eton drivers. Even the screw holes line up perfectly. I never installed these on my Focus but I stole the Etons from my Silverscreen center and then bought a pair of these to put in the Silverscreen. Much less ’boxy’ or closed-in sounding than with the Etons.

12" Woofers: I replaced all of mine with Eclipse W1238R. Another huge difference but I had the original Swan woofers in my Focus.

I didn’t mess with wiring or the x-overs. If I don’t sell mine, I may start that project one day. I’m sure the x-overs could use new caps at the very least.

My "tweak" of Legacy speakers was a new version of the Whisper years ago which has capacity to be run in three modes; fully passive, hybrid with passive mid/treble and active x-over for bass, and fully active x-over. Amplification can range from one stereo amp to six channels. 

Along the way the speaker was outfitted with all 10 AWG Clarity Cable and upgraded Clarity Caps (No relation between companies), which made for nice name, the clarity upgrade. 

More fun stuff underway. Stay tuned to my writing at Dagogo.com 

After all these years I still have these wonderful Legacy Focus speakers. I have listened to many other speakers but not replaced them yet. I did however add a Rythmik Audio FV15HP subwoofer to augment the lower range. I cross the sub at 80 Hz and I do not run the Legacys in bass plus mode where the legacy play along with the sub. The Rythmik does a great job in my huge listening room. Maybe someday Ill get a second one. 

I'd buy a sub. You will never get sub like bass from the 20/20's. But IMO the 20/20's have great bass

Cassroy, Have you worked on the crossover and wiring yet? I don't think I'll change the drivers, but I'd like to upgrade the wiring and maybe caps, any suggestions?

Mr_mambo, Where can I source those wires? Did you just remove the rear woofer to gain access?

I have changed out my Focus domes to a scan speak dome D2905/9900 The mids to Eton 7-300 and the sub woofers to CSS Trio 12's
I left the 12" woofer in place which is the transition driver and the ribbon tweeter due to the smoothness of those drivers. The woofers I put in are much quicker and have more punch. I also lined the lower chamber side walls with backhole which takes away from any cabinet problems. The crossover and internal speaker wires will be upgraded next but these speaker drivers all fit in no change in the openings of the cabinets. This is not truely the same speaker due to cost cost considerations Legacy made for price point. Do not let others discourage you it is a individual journey. Magic is in the listening.

Good Luck,

For over 16 years I own a pair of legacy focus speaker.
The internal speaker wires and its terminations are the weakest link in these beautiful sounding speakers.

If you like the main characteristics or the signature of the sound of these speakers, and if you are aware that no matter what you do you are not going to change that, then I have a great advice for you.

The best way to improve the sound of the drivers is by replacing all the internal wires. You also have to get rid off its chip, poor quality terminations in the crossover area.

For the ribbon tweeter use "Unicrystal occ airlock" 18 awg wire
For the dome tweeter double up the run of the "Unycrystal"
For the Kevlar drivers use "Oyaide across 2000" (This is a vibration treated wire)
Keep in mind that all this wires are single cystal copper.
I have not done anything to the woofers yet.

As much as I like these speakers I knew that the upper frequency wasn't to open. Also I din't like the boxy sound of the middle range (Place your hands around your mouth like forming a tube and start talking and what are you are going to hear is what I call "boxy sound")

Now the upper frequency is wide open.
The middle range has more body and flesh, gone is the boxy sound.
The harmonics and the presence of the upper bass is honey for the ears.
The background is dead quiet and the sound across the board is more musical.

If the equipment let you hear the subtle details on how the artists inflect their voices (or any other instruments)as a way of trying to convey their feelings, then you will experience the raw emotions of this very intimate comunication.

I have previously owned a pair of the pre 20/20 Focus and had no trouble getting bass extension well into the low 20's in my room. I thought their spec extension of 16 hz was optimistic but never found the bass extension lacking below 30 hz. I have not heard of other owners experiencing this either. I am wondering if the lack of bass occurs throughout the room or is just at the listening position. It seems as if speaker/listener position is causing part of the problem due to room modes. Have you tried moving the speakers and or your listening position? Six inches of movement can make all the difference with room modes. Also, tell us more about your room, set up, and amplification being used with the Focus.

I join others in strongly advising you to forget modding those spkrs. Too complex. Either add a sub & cut off yr Legacies around 50-70 Hz, or get different spkrs.

Why not just add a nice Rel Sub...I added two to my Dynaudio's for that extra lower bass extension with great results.Much easier than swapping out drivers.

That will require a complete crossover redesign.... not to mention finding drivers that are exactly the same size as what Legacy used unless you also want to modify the cabinet. Perhaps you would be better off letting the Legacy's go and finding something that might better work for you? (Legacy or otherwise...)