Bass Eq, LEGACY STEP ONE

I have been using the Legacy Step One for about a year now. I had previously purchased the Legacy Classic speakers then upgraded to the Focus. The Focus is much richer sounding through the mid-range and bass frequencies which then caused room-boom in my 18x24x8 living room. I then tried the Step One, which incidently is the newer version of the Steradian. I have read other posts, as well as the dealer that sold me the Focus speakers, that the Step One is a necessicty with the Focus, but to keep the price down it is not included with the Focus as it is with the Whispers. Anyway, the Step One did cure the room-boom which was unbearable on certain recordings (such as Cowboy Junkies and some jazz trios such as Holly Cole or Patricia Barber). It also firmed up the bass considerably such that one can easily distinguish between an electric bass guitar vs a string bass. I have also read posts from others that say it did not work well enough to justify the cost or they just do not want to add an "equalizer" to their system. It basicly is a bass volume control that also tightens the bass notes. I agree with the above post. Try it and see. Legacy allowed me 30 days to return it if it didn't perform. It isn't cheap, but if it works for you then it's probably worth it. I do remember it took about 2-3 months to get mine since there was a large backlog when they were gearing up for the Step One from the Steradian. They did, however, include a free set of their Lattice interconnects for the wait.

I am not familiar with the Step One, but I do use the Legacy Steradian to tame LF below 100hz in my smallish listening room. By using the Steradian to reduce bass, I find the imaging and sound stage of my system to be much improved. Some purists feel that putting an equalizer in the chain diminishes sound quality, but IMHO it is well worth the trade-off. The Steradian may clean up "muddiness" in the bass by reducing LF standing waves but I find that bass tightness is more affected by upstream components than the equalizer. For instance, my bass was not as taut when I switched CD players from an Elite PD 65 to a Wadia 850. My advice is to take advantage of the Legacy free trial period to see if the Step One works in your home. At worst you will be out the return shipping cost, at best you may solve your problem. Good luck!