Legacy Whisper HD

[OldiesButGoodies]

For those that have seen the ad on Craigslist - the seller is a fellow Puerto Rican acquaintance.   I listened to the pair that is on sale right now and they are in excellent condition,  essentially like new with front and back grills (and the wood boxes they come in,  if you want them).   The wood finish is beautiful, the optional curly maple.  The sound is very good though the sweet spot is relatively small (could have had to do with the way they were positioned in the room).   The bass (at least as I heard it)  felt a tad underwhelming given the number of 15"  woofers on that speaker (but accurate).  I listened to Patricia Barber's Companion CD while there - it sounded pretty nice; with the caveat that he had them hooked up to an AVR receiver temporarily while the fancier stuff gets wired.  I think the price he is asking is attractive - ~$6,800,  given that you would have to fork out $25,000 for the current version if you wanted them.  I was tempted myself, but prefer to wait until I a few things (both in the cave and at Tom's) sell before adding.   The speakers are, I think, works of speaker art: they look good and make you drool even when not playing anything on them.  If you go for them be prepared to do some lifting - they weigh close to 300 pounds    - a lot of that weight concentrated at that wood base at the bottom.   

http://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/ele/5922876341.html

IMG_0147 by Jose Sifontes, on Flickr

IMG_0152 by Jose Sifontes, on Flickr

Regards,

Pepe

[OldiesButGoodies]

An additional note on my mini review:   Legacy sells an optional bass contour (Legacy StepOne) unit for the Whispers - the seller had it offline for the listening session I was in (it goes between the preamp and power amp,  not easily doable if you are using an AVR for power).  When I pop by his place again I may ask if we can listen with the bass contour on, report on how that helps.   It appears to be a very sophisticated EQ - Legacy refers to it as an 'environmental processor' that allows you to tame room resonances (what Macgeek does with with his MQ104s in Macintosh land),  provide an adjustable bass boost for larger rooms, and somehow increases stereo separation below 500Hz (that could be a cool effect).  The StepOne processor is an extra $2,500,  so, not inexpensive.

[MacGeek]

Thanks for the review, OBG.  If any one is interested, the Mac environmental eq can be had on eBay for $100 to $400, depending on model and condition (and if it has the cap kit). I have never seen one on CL.  It works on all speakers, taming room nodes and can be used to tweak speaker deficiencies.  I use them on all of my channels on all systems, including in-walls.  Highly recommended.

[Kingman]

A Carveraudio member Don has these same speakers. Your accessment is accurate. Very accurate, very impressive, and placement is crucial. They are works of art and that price is awesome!

[OldiesButGoodies]

Correction:  After further verification I believe these are the Legacy Whisper,  not Whisper HD. 

OBG

[schwarcw]

I have the Legacy Environmental processor in use with my Legacy Focus speakers.  It really helps refine the bass and channel separation.  Legacy sold the same processor for the Focus and Whisper models.

The new  Legacy Airies has the DSP room processor and bass amps build into the speakers.  Here is a link: http://legacyaudio.com/products/view/aeris/

[OldiesButGoodies]

Thanks C.  Was the processor 'online' when I was lat at your house?  (which would have been, I think,  when I bought the Teac R2R)  [follow up twist to the question:  are the Legacy Focus "keepers" without the processor?

Thanks,

Pepe

[schwarcw]

OBG, I got the Legacy processor about two months ago.  The Legacy's are keepers without the processor.