Legend L800's - Need Advice & Opinions

Having spent some time with the L800, it is a very very good speaker. As long as you are willing to put in the effort I think you would be happy. They can be said of any loudspeaker

As far as why the L800 didn't preform sales wise.. I think we can all agree that the L800 speaker is the speaker everyone asked for but didn't ask for.

If Polk had released a souped up throw back of the crs and 2b... I truly think that would have been super successful.

Just my opinion

I agree with what Trey and Jesse have said, but I can also say that I found the L800 to be a better speaker in my space than my 1.2 TL’s were. Some have reported difficulty in placing them, but I found that not to be a problem at all if you follow the instructions which seemed to originate with the original SDA speakers. I have my own place to 7 feet apart, and 8 inches off the back wall. They are also placed on the long wall in my space. Others have tried to do this on the short wall in their listening space and have run into sound issues because they’re not given enough space to breathe. If you were getting a mismatch pair at a very good price, I would not hesitate to give them a try because anything below $3000 you’re not going to find a speaker that will not perform these regardless of what you buy.

^^^ Yes, as @invalid says!
My guess is they're mismatched for a reason -- related to some mishaps Polk (or maybe their retailers, in fairness) were having about supplying one leftie and one rightie. It... kinda matters.

Emlyn wrote: »

Bear in mind that the differences in finish go beyond just the wood grain veneer color. The black veneer version has glossy black paint on the rest of the speaker and the brown veneer version has more of a satin dark grey finish. Other than the finish differences requiring extra work that involves redoing the entire cabinet, likely both cabinets to get a perfect match, there are no issues as long as there is a left and right cabinet to work with. The crossover components are different between the left and right cabinets. Things like grille cloth, driver materials, and foot color are the same. Driver bezels and tweeter face plates have different finishes.

I have my doubts on the crossover differences. I have replacement crossovers and they are all the same part number and are the same numbers as in both my left and right speakers currently in use. I believe the difference is in how each cabinet is wired internally.

rtart wrote: »

Thanks to all for their opinions and info. I have decided to pass on these... too many speakers already. If anyone is interested in a project and lives near/can drive to Atlanta, I can hook you up with my source.

There is a left and a right, one is brown, the other black. Missing one grille. $500 for both.

At that price, you are making a big mistake in not giving them a listen. I will buy them just for the parts. Are you willing to pick them up and break them down for me if I make it worth your time?

The satin baffle can be polished out to match the shine of the black one…

Your experience is much different than mine

Not trying to be argumentative in the least. My room was set up with the original SDA 1.2TL in mind. This may be why in my space they perform the way they do. I don't have the space to pull them out into the room here anyway. I was at Doug's place today, and in his room, I absolutely feel they would need to be pulled out three feet into the room at the very least.