Legacy 20/20 and Tubes


I am running ARC VT-100 mkIII and a LS-25 pre-amp. Would this combination mate well with the 20/20.
taters

Showing 1 response by dalinden

It appears that, as so often happens, when a question is asked here about Legacy Focus speakers, the bashers take over and the discussion turns to their opinions about the sound quality of these speakers. I thought what Taters was asking was whether his ARC tube amp and pre-amp would mate well with the 20/20's.

If one reads the Stereophile review(available on the Legacy Audio website) and looks at the Measurements section, one can see that despite their relatively high sensitivity, these speakers present a difficult impedance load to an amplifier with 2 modes of less than 2 ohms at frequencies under 100 Hz. The reviewer suggests that SS amp with high current capability would be a better choice than a tube amp.

I have owned the original Focus since 1992, mostly driven with an Eagle 4 SS amp which was capable of putting out 50 amps into low impedances, and now use Legacy's PowerBloc 2 and Steradian processor, with good results.

My suggestion would be to call Legacy Audio and discuss the issue. However, personally, I would recommend either using a single SS amp with high current capability, or consider biamping using a SS amp for the bass section and your ARC on the upper drivers. The 20/20 does have biamp connectors.

Having owned Legacy speakers since 1987, the original Legacy 1's(now the Classics), the original Signatures, and now the Focus, I remain ignorantly happy with my choices. Since Legacy has stayed in business for 25 years, I guess they have other satisfied customers as well.

There is an ongoing thread on this forum regarding the Best Speaker You Have Ever Heard. If there is any general consensus, I can't seem to find it. So, listen for yourself and view others' opinions with skepticsm, including the golden-eared reviewers....and me.