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LEGACY CALIBRE – A NEW CALIBRE OF REFERENCE SOUND!

  • WRITTEN BY PULASTYA

We were fortunate to hear the Legacy Audio Calibre, a new compact speaker from Legacy Audio, albeit very briefly when we visited the demo room of Legacy Audio’s India Distributor – M/s. Audio Excellence India. The purpose of the visit was something else but when we entered the demo room and saw the Legacy Calibre’s, it was a forgone conclusion that we had to hear them.

Since the configuration in the demo room was geared towards a home theatre environment, we requested Mr. Anil Srivastava, the owner of Audio Excellence India, to let us hear the Calibre’s none the less even though it was a compromised set-up with a home theatre processor & multichannel power amp availed to power them. The source used was an Oppo bluray player and cabling was bare basic run of the mill. Anil was quite apologetic and concerned for the partnering electronics and cables but since we were adamant to hear the Calibre’s, he relented and let us listen to them.

First couple of seconds into a familiar audiophile track and we knew that the Calibre’s are something special. Special to look, special to hear! I for one, was completely taken aback by how refined, clean and pure the Calibre’s sounded. All my preconceived notions of how legacy audio speakers sound went out of the room and with good reason to boot. The calibre’s have that special X factor about them as the sound they deliver is much larger than they size belies. Whether one is seated on or off axis, one gets a huge sound stage that also engages you to listen to music for as long as you can. So pure, effortless and benign that one cannot believe that the Calibre’s can deliver so well in an environment full of constraints, poor cabling and less than ideal partnering electronics. The AMT Ribbon Tweeter and the Mid Range Driver are so well partnered along with the trio of Woofers (2 of them are passive radiators) resulting in huge dynamics, attack and speed but all in a super refined manner. Truly, an eye opener. In jest, I advised Anil to remove the Legacy Audio Logo’s from the Calibre baffles as if one hears them without any branding, then one can never believe that these speakers are from Legacy Audio! Regrettably, the time was rather too short to really listen to the Calibre’s and so we look forward to listening to them for a longer duration in the near future, or maybe even have them over for a proper review. So much it seems are the possibilities with the Calibre’s, that one surely will need time to explore their capabilities to the fullest.

The calibre’s are offered in a variety of finishes, can be passive or active and their prices start at about Rs.500000/-

The Calibre’s we heard were in a Black Pearl+Cabernet Finish, which retail at about Rs.600000/-