At the annual audiophile Rocky Mountain Audio Fest show in Denver, the Springfield, Ill.-based company Legacy Audio introduced its Valor loudspeaker.
Driven by its own amplification that's rated to produce 2,750 watts per channel, Legacy points out the floorstanding speaker utilizes Stereo Unfold, a technology Legacy licensed from the Swedish company Bohmer Audio.
Legacy explains that by combining a controlled-directivity front array and a side/rear-firing ambient array, the speaker is able to “reconstruct the natural sequence of sound arrival of the performance space.”
Legacy says that spatial cues are key to stereo imaging and they are often masked by early-room reflections, while “desirable” late-room reflections provide the dimension and presence of the recording venues, but because of room acoustical issues, they are “smeared or fade prematurely.”
Solving these issues, the Valor's “strategically shaped dual radiation pattern” reduces early reflections in the direct field, and the included Stereo Unfold algorithm that's built into its outboard Wavelet Processor provides balanced audio quality.
The Wavelet Processor is a device that incorporates a control preamplifier, DAC and digital crossover, along with the room-correction equalization options.
Powering the Wavelet Processor is a 56-bit DSP engine. Legacy points out the processor offers SPDIF, Toslink and USB digital inputs, along with two pairs each of balanced (XLR) and unbalanced (RCA) inputs.
Legacy Valor Loudspeaker Specs
- Valor design: eight driver, four-way system with a three-driver ambient array
- Tweeter: Dual 4-inch AMT bridge-mounted in a post-convergent array
- Midrange: 1.5-inch coaxial, titanium/polyester diaphragm precision waveguide
- Mid-Woofer: 14-inch carbon/pulp curvilinear cone, neo motor, dipolar
- Bass: Dual 14-inch carbon/pulp curvilinear cone, neo motor in super cardioid array
- Subwoofer: Dual 12-inch aluminum diaphragms, 480-ounce motors, cast frame, 3-inch voice coils
- Passive Radiator: Dual 12-inch symmetrically loaded with two-inches of travel
- Low-Frequency Alignment: Hybrid cardioid pattern, dual rear radiator, downward-firing subwoofer
- Frequency response rating of 12Hz to 30kHz
- Sensitivity rating of 100.5dB
