2. amps-preamps
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which amp for legacy focus

i have owned these focus for three years and love them. I am driving them behind a legacy power amp. I am getting to the point where i want to take these speakers to the next level. I am considering a new amp or two. Biamping interests me. I have auditioned a krell ???(250 watts),mcintosh 352,(350 watts)and the bryston 14sbt(500 watts) as singles and a couple of bryston 4sbt's(250 watts each) as duals. As no local dealer has the focus speakers I can not audition on the speakers until purchase. The biamping in theory makes sense I am just not sure if the extra $$$ is worth it. There is approx a $1500 difference bewtween the single amps and the biamps. Any comments and opinions?
dave1117
coasternut
5 posts
 
Dave, I am using a Krell FPB-600c with my Legacys and this is a great combination. I agree, one good amplifier should do the job for you. You also might want to look at Bob Carver's Sunfire Signature II amp. A friend of mine has one and is totally thrilled by its sound and performance with the Focus.
scottagee
20 posts
 
Hello Dave,

I have a pair of Legacy Classics that I have biamped and monoed. I can't speak for the Focus but I prefer my Classics in a biamp arrangment. I used a pair of Adcom 565 monos for about a year and never did really like them as much as I did using 4 channels of a Parasound 805. I have replaced the Adcoms with two 2200II Parasounds and like them very much. Everything just seems tighter and cleaner all the way through the musical range. The amps of which you ask about are all more expensive and considered by most to be superior to the Parasounds so I suspect your results will improve even more than mine.
tmallin
6 posts
 
I have the Whispers and prefer bi-amp to single amping. That lets you get the Steradian (Step One) of the the signal path for the highs with that speaker. Even without that consideration, bi-amping the Whispers sounds better. I use four Bryston 7Bs. I also think the Legacy amps sound great with Legacy speakers, at least as good, if not better than my Brystons. The Ultra Monoblocs sound very good indeed, especially for the price.
jayarr
117 posts
 
I own a pair of the Foci. Have you considered tube amps. I went thru the same process. I think biamping would be a subtle change. For the heck of it, a friend hooked up a low powered tube amp(30 wts/ch). I was blown away by the transformation of the speakers and sound. The amps even played very loud without any sign of strain. The change between SS and tube amps was night and day. The SS amp I used was OCM, a highly regarded amp by David Belles which I had been happy with. Just something to think about. My recommendation would be to audition PP tube amps like VTL, Manley,Wolcott,Atmosphere. Enjoy listening.
jteep
14 posts
 
My Legacy Focus are about 6 years old. I have single wired and bi-wired. Have used amps from Yamaha, Acurus, Parasound[2200II], Proceed Amp5, and now Krell KAV1500. Never noticed any real improvement in the bi-wire but they sure do work great with a lot of power. There are a lot of drivers in those cabinets and my experience has been if you want them to perform at volume----give 'em plenty of juice.
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