Am I crazy to buy speakers without hearing them first?

[KLapinas]

So it looks like I will be purchasing some used speakers next week without getting a chance to hear them. Am I crazy?

I am looking at buying these: http://www.legacyaudio.com/images/up...gnatureIII.pdf

I have heard their big brother Focus 2020's and loved the sound and from most of the reviews they have a very similar sound but jsut not as much.

[plainoledave]

There are too many variables at play but it's honestly up to you make that call. I have bought speakers without listening first but they have been "blowout" priced, so there was little monetary risk. For example, $279 Shipped for some M70's and my recent $300 set of Open Box lsi7's.

If you're comfortable with your purchase, that's all that matters. Don't sweat it, they'll be fine.

[adb3da@yahoo.co]

There are cases where I would do it and where I wouldn't do it. In your case above I would probably do it if the price was right! A friend of mine has the Focus 20/20 and he's always looking for a pair of Signatures. Legacy is one worth gambling on IMO.

[DSkip]

I'd never buy without hearing unless I was certain I could flip them for at least what I paid, regardless of brand. I've done it several times, but I've always gotten what I paid or more when I moved them down the line.

Can you not bring a cheapo receiver to test it out, just to make sure all drivers are good? I try to test this as well when I buy and a demo is not available.

[KLapinas]

Looking to purchase them at about 25% of their original cost. Only one small blemish on the side of the cabinet.
My thought process is that if I don't like them I should be able to at least sell them for what I am paying for them.
Although it seems like speakers in the $1000/pair price range are not selling quickly on CL. I have been trying to move a pair of Mirage M-3si's and Infinity Kappa 8's and have had very little action on them, other than the scammers who are out of town for an extended business trip that will gladly pay me an extra $50 via certified check and have a freight company pick them up.

[snake1]

Bought my towers without hearing them and haven't been disappointed!

[George Grand]

Around late 1990 I ordered a pair of Carver Amazing Platinum Mk.IV's without ever having heard a pair of any Carver speakers. I read a review of them in The Boston Audio Society newsletter. They raved about them and said they replaced their previous reference speakers, AR-9, with a pair. I got them and the rest is history. Then around 2002 I went across the river to Transylvania and bought a pair of AR-9's without ever hearing a pair. The rest is history on those too.

[Devlon]

Sometimes you have only the reviews to go by. I bought a number of speakers online just to try. I had never heard the Polk Lsi series nor the Mirage OMD's, but the endless 4/5 stars reviews on these was a good sign to me and so I purchased them......and, I am really glad I did! Nowhere could I find a dealer that stocked these speakers (Mirages were only online anyway). Some companies only sell direct so you have no option to hear them unless you know someone that has them, but then they will sound different in another system and environment. Legacy is considered one of the best speakers you can buy. I don't think you could go wrong here. However, I would always try to get a lower price! Good luck!

[nhhiep]

I bought all of my electronics w/o hearing or viewing them first. but research the heck out of them though.

[cnh]

Sometimes you have no choice. If I'm not mistaken, tonyb runs some legacys, and he's not the only one. So I would imagine that you could flip these pretty easily if you didn't like them. Although, I suspect you'll be keeping them.

As to the criteria above: you can "flip" them, so why not?

cnh

[cstmar01]

I've bought all my speakers (with the exception of 1 pair of Thiels I have) without hearing first. I just read reviews and trusted my judgment they would be for me and have had fun with it.

[erniejade]

I have the legacy focus with the same looking mid on it. Depending on price, ? or when they were made since I think they started around 1996? They are definately a good speaker.

[treitz3]

Yes.

[bikezappa]

We are all crazy here so don't worry about it just buy them.

[BlueFox]

If you do your research then no you are not crazy.

I bought a pair of LSi7s wthout hearing them first. Love them.
I bought a pair of LSi11s wthout hearing them first. Love them.
I bought a pair of PSB Synchrony One towers wthout hearing them first. Love them.
I bought a pair of Aerial Acoustics 7T wthout hearing them first. Love them.
I bought a LSi Center wthout hearing it first. Love it.
I bought a PSB Synchrony One Center wthout hearing it first. Love it.

[treitz3]

The two speakers just off the top of my head out of the plethora of speakers that have come and gone....that I did not listen too prior to purchase and both came with rave reviews? I hated. One, I wanted to do nothing but skip the damned tweeter across a lake because that's all it was good for and the other one had an issue with a woofer and required more power than God himself to properly power. Alright, slight exaggeration there but you get my point. After I started to rely only upon demoing the speakers prior to purchase? That's when my audio journey really progressed. Never again will I rely on reviews.

Tom

[erniejade]

required more power than God himself to properly power
Tom

Carver Amazing Original? LOL

[treitz3]

You betcha'.

Tom

[decal]

I bought my first pair of Tyler Acoustics on reputation alone. It was the best audio purchase I've ever made. Sometimes you win sometimes you lose in this game of ours.

[Jason_k]

I bought a set of Dynaudio Focus 160 a month ago on reputation also, blown away by these speakers. Best purchase I made yet.

[ViperZ]

Pretty well summed up by everyone here. You will win some, you will lose some 'battles' in this hobby. I bought some speakers (Infinity Interludes" for condo HT. Looked amazing, reviews were great. These speakers were the most lifeless sounding speakers I ever bought.
Had a pair of Totem bookshelves. My Rotel amp couldn't drive them, sounded thin and one-dimensional. Buyer brought his tiny NAD amp, and they sounded amazing with his amp, go figure.
A pair of Polk RT1000p sounded fair after I got them. Started to sound great after I bought a stand-alone 2-channel amp for them. Polk CS245 center channel sounded just OK, CS400 sounded amazing compared to CS245.

Bought my B&W CDM1 after listening to them for a couple of hours. Good decision, just because it was a lot of money to me, so had to be an informed decision.
Bought a pair of Maggies MGII. Haven't listened to them until I finished repairing the tweeters and other minor upgrades. Was blown away by those speakers. Still have a pair (bought another pair a month after I sold mine).
Just last weekend bought a pair of NHT 1.3a. Reviews were amazing, always wanted a pair of NHT speakers. Again, blown away by clarity and crispness of sound. Replaced a pair of B&W DM600i in our living room just after a couple of hours of listening.

[audiocr381ve]

If you do your research then no you are not crazy.

I bought a pair of LSi7s wthout hearing them first. Love them.
I bought a pair of LSi11s wthout hearing them first. Love them.
I bought a pair of PSB Synchrony One towers wthout hearing them first. Love them.
I bought a pair of Aerial Acoustics 7T wthout hearing them first. Love them.
I bought a LSi Center wthout hearing it first. Love it.
I bought a PSB Synchrony One Center wthout hearing it first. Love it.

How do the LSi's stack up to the Synchronys? I can't tell you how many times I've wanted to buy a pair of LSi9's.

[Drenis]

I did this when I bought my RTiA9's. Before I became educated, it was appearance and specs that reeled me in. I'm sure I'll do it again someday too.

[DSkip]

I did this when I bought my RTiA9's. Before I became educated, it was appearance and specs that reeled me in. I'm sure I'll do it again someday too.

I'm assuming before you purchased, you had an idea of the sound signature of the RTi series though. That does play into the decision. I think it depends greatly on what you want out of the speaker. If you're highly critical, it takes a special speaker to get you going. Otherwise, you're going to be throwing money away buying blindly. I bought my Usher's without spending a lot of time with them, but I was very familiar with the Usher house sound and had heard Marvin's CP-6381's before I bought. I knew it was the direction I wanted to go, though I'd never heard that particular model. It doesn't hurt that I bought them at a low-risk price, but even if it was market value and I had the dough, I probably would've jumped on them due to rarity, which also plays a role in the argument.

I am like Tom where I will never buy based off a review. With that said, there are a few ears that I respect and that, when they offer their opinion on gear, I'm all ears. I'd probably never drop a large sum of money simply based off their recommendations though.

[tonyb]

Have my Legacy Focus 20/20's for awhile now and feel no desire to upgrade. The signatures are great speakers in their own right, I think Phil had them at some point. Like some other members said, theirs just no substitute for large radiating surfaces to bring out those dynamics. Feed them some quality amplification and I'll bet in no time your scouring the 'gon for used Focus HD's. The sound isn't that much different from Polks, but more clear, airy, and a better seperation of instruments. My opinion of course.

On the used market, the Focus HD's are a helluva steal. I've seen them for 3-4g's. You get alot of speaker for the coin and a furniture like finish. To me, the Focus line does almost everything the Whispers do, but with a better low end. Though the new Whisper HD's are suppose to be scary good. Bill at Legacy has his SE version of the Focus which is suppose to take that speaker to another level yet. For me anyway, my Legacy's are keepers and as they age I'll probably have Trey do the crossovers and keep them another 10 years. Heck, I'll probably croak before they will.....so if you see my wife on here selling them for a song you'll know I kicked the bucket.

Congrats on your new speaks, like I said feed them some current, maybe throw in a tube pre and enjoy. I'm using Stralley Reality speaker cables with mine and silver IC'S. My Butler amp, a hybrid SS/tube, seems to dig the silver and Pepster has a new pair on the way to me to replace Bens silver ic's. Let us know your thoughts and If we can help ya, just ask.

[BlueFox]

How do the LSi's stack up to the Synchronys? I can't tell you how many times I've wanted to buy a pair of LSi9's.

The Synchrony Ones are better, more detail, bass, soundstage, etc. They are pretty much the same efficiency. Buy the LSi9s.

[RamZet]

I picked up my CM9s based on the fact that I loved the CM5 and liked the CM8 but wanted the two combined...CM9.
My polk M70s were the product of neweggs awesome price and the speakers had great reviews in a number of websites.

[robert0507]

Yeah I got my lsim 706 on eBay for like half price. So yeah sometimes buying without hearing first pays off

[KellyMic]

I bought my LSi25's based on past Polk experience and had never heard any of the LSi line. With a good company with a good name and reputation you have a good chance of loving them.

[brianle]

I bought several speakers (Usher Dancer Mini 2, Polk LSi 9, Ascend Acoustic Sierra) based off reviews from professional and regular users. So far, I keep Usher Dancer Mini 2 the longest