Legacy Audio Classic HD Speakers with or without Sub

Anyone?

I heard a few weeks ago a pair of Legacy speakers at the Audio Doctor showroom in Jersey City, they sounded amazing I would give their store a call, the owner, Dave really knows his stuff every system I head at his place sounded amazing! 


 I got a tour of the entire store I came in to hear the Paradigms Persons, which is in their Reference room, they also have a pair of Legacy speakers in their step down showroom, next to the Reference room, the speakers sounded great when I got a demo of those speakers in that room. 

I could not believe just how remarkably musical the speakers are, nice cabinets too! I am thinking about selling my Audio Physic Virgos and saving up some cash and purchasing the Legacy Focus Signatures, that Dave played for me, just fantastic speakers.

I am a huge fan of Legacy speakers and listened a lot between classic and Legacy before I decided on my current Focus that I got in 1999. I sold a paid of Genesis 500s to get the Focus. These are original Focus so they have 3x12 woofers per cabinet so I assumed that I would never need a sub. I ran them for 15 years without a sub and never felt as if I was missing anything. Then in 2015 I splurged and bought a Rhythmik Audio FV15HP. at first I set the crossover fairly low because after all I have 6 12" woofers and don't need much help right? Well I finally changed it to an 80 crossover and the difference is DRAMATIC. Its in a huge room 20x28 with 10' ceilings and open concept to other rooms so its a big area to pressurize. But the addition of the new sub was perhaps the best thing I ever did to my system. If you like deep bass and real sub effects in movies or a true bass hit in music you will like a big sub I promise.

In my case, every room (even smaller ones) I've had my systems in has gotten better with the addition of subwoofers. Most have had full range speakers in them. I'd go for it. 

The best thing to do is try them without a sub. If you feel you need more, then add one. But, my Legacy Focus's have so much bass you'd never know a sub was in the room! And I had a pair of speakers years ago they had two 8" woofers, from a company called AKL, never heard of them after about 1985. But my point is, those speakers had tons of bass! It may not have reached below 35hz, but it had slam and punch in the bottom, I never felt the need for a sub. So I suspect a speaker from Legacy with two 8" woofers could potentially have plenty of bass. Of course room size and amp size, and personal tastes will have a major effect on your outcome. 

I purchased a pair of new Legacy Audio Classic speakers in 2001 and used them for many years in a two channel system, in a room that was 22' X 26'. I didn't feel the need to add a sub. With that said, it's possible that depending upon furniture, carpet, drapes etc you might prefere a sub.
One can always add a sub later if needed, as already mentioned.

The question needs to be asked, if you have such a budget why are you opting for the smaller floor standing speaker and the subwoofer? I would opt for the larger floor standing speaker, if possible. The driver configuration is much different and the holistic performance level far superior with the Focus. 

Disclaimer: I review for Dagogo.com and have reviewed and owned several Legacy speakers. 

Alot of good comments above... getting a sub on these is simply a personal choice.  It isn't a "No Brainer"... These are fairly flat down to 32hz, they also use 2 - 8 inch woofers... There are a couple ideas of Bass.  1 is moving mass air. You can put a 6 inch 3 way that gets down to 35hz side by side with a 15 inch 3 way that also gets down to 35hz and 9 out of 10 listeners will tell you that the 15 is going lower, when in reality, it is simply moving more air.
There are several subs that aren't too expensive that will get you fairly flat down to 25hz. 
For me Normally, if you can place the sub properly, I would prefer the sub, but these could very well be just wonderful without....2 8's move a reasonable amount of air.  
Next, Doug brought up just buying a larger pair... He Mentioned the Focus. I agree, but would also add that between the Classic and the Focus is the Signature.  These are very satisfying speakers and get fairly flat down to 22hz. 
As many here, I really like the Legacy's.  Bang for the buck, the Signature is hard to beat. 
I hope this helps,
Tim

After my demo at the Audio Doctor's I looked at the less expensive Classics you are looking at which I can afford sooner, or saving up for the Focus Signatures, I came with the same conclusion as listed above.

If you can swing it the Focus Signatures are $1,800.00 more expensive and you are getting a lot for the additional money

1: The Signatures use the top of the line Heil AMT Tweeter and AMT Upper Midrange driver. 

2: The Signatures have the larger 10 inch bass drivers and go down to 22hz.

3: The Signatures are taller and throw a bigger soun stage.

Thank you all for suggestions. Initially I was considering the Focus SE's but I believe my room might be too small for the size of them. My room is: 18' 7" X 13' 3" X 7' 5" plus furniture & tables. Also, some ceiling damping. I am able to pull the speakers away from the wall about 2 ft. Side walls are fine. The reason I'm thinking of the Classics first is because of their size based on the relatively same dimensions of the Dynaudio Focus 260's. I like the Dynaudio's and their matching sub but with their relatively low sensitivity I have some edginess when turned up louder and I believe I will reduce or eliminate that edginess with the Classics due to their higher sensitivity & 3-way crossover.

If one's speakers got the goods, then a sub(s) is not necessary (IMO), unless the room is not set up right for those speakers. My solution to add subs recently, was to add fill-in, because I could not provide closed corners for my speakers that benefited from that. This is working for me now in a big way, but the design of the subs were also an important factor. I'm two channel analog, so no goal to produce home theater sound.
Kenny

When looking at Legacy speakers, and considering bass performance and sub or no sub, bear in mind that Legacy measure pretty flat, i.e., unlike some other speakers, Legacy does not boost the mid bass.  Some companies boost the mid bass, so as to give more of that "slam", but that is not necessarily accurate, and may give the impression of more/better bass than the speaker actually has.  So, while the Classic HD go down to around 30Hz, you may still end up wanting a sub, but you could do that later. 

OTOH, as mentioned above, the Signature SE is certainly the way to go if you can swing it.  Think about it this way:  if you go with the Classics, and then end up buying a subwoofer, you could have applied the cost of the sub to a set of Signature SE!

If is is of any help our demo showroom which contains the Focus SE is 17 long by 14 wide with a 10 foot ceiling and the speakers sound fantastic in it.  The Focus Signature is the best Legacy speaker for the size and the money and they also represent the greatest value.

If you are anywhere near the East Coast you should come in and give them a listen. 

Thanks Kuppe38 for the nice  words. Dave told me that you came into the story and loved the speakers. 

I agree with you trading the Virgos for the Focus Signatures is a great move, I also love the speakers, they are on of my favorite speakers in the entire shop.

There is no "Focus Signature".  It is the Signature SE.  I was able to do a home audition of a set of Signature SE in Black Onyx for a couple of weeks, and they are awesome.

HO....keep your subs and give the Legacy's a go In Your Space.  If you feel you'd like the bass 'extension' after all, you'll be good to go and give the Legacy's a break, so to speak.

Depends on your musical tastes in the final analysis, and that's your call. ;)

Please contact us, we have experience with both models.

The Focus Se are fantastic so are the smaller Signatures, they differ in a number of differences.

We have had both models on display, ultimately we choose to focus on the Signatures as their smaller size will work in more rooms.

The bass on both models is fantastic, the Signatures are acoustic suspension so their bass is tighter, the ported Focus have more bass but it tends to be a little loser.