by Eric Shook
Idealized Synergy Takes A Back Seat To The Audio Show
The story surrounding this pairing of Legacy Audio speakers and Raven Audio electronics has been solely focused on synergy for quite some time now. For the second time this year I could (along with everyone else) beat that same drum. But I won’t.
Legacy’s Bill Dudleston has continually put forth a demo room that should be on your short list of must-see exhibits. Almost mimicking the audio show itself, Legacy / Raven rooms are often quite large, contain four or more systems, and have more staff on hand to answer questions and demo gear than you could imagine. Forget being in a crowded space, there’s room to wander, ogle the tubes, and even have a conversation.
Excitement for the weekend centered around Legacy’s RMAF debut product, a four-way speaker named VALOR (price TBA). Valor is a 2,750 watt powered and sophisticatedly DSP controlled behemoth of a loudspeaker. Standing as tall as your average NBA point-guard, and riddled with large drivers everywhere, you got the feeling that the ballroom we were in might be a little too small. But in truth, room size and shape shouldn’t be much of an issue, the Legacy Wavelet ($4,950 USD) at the center of the system rules the roost. Handling duties of: Digital-to-Analog conversion, Preamping, DSP Processing, and Room Correction, you begin to understand why Valor’s onboard power, or in this case Raven Audio’s 325 watt Shaman Mk2 Monoblocks might be a fine choice to employ.
