Legacy AERIS User manual

Owners Manual For The
AERIS
Loudspeaker System

THANK YOU FOR
CHOOSING
LEGACY AUDIO
Aeris is a full range loudspea er system utilizing the present state of
the art in driver, crossover, amplifier and acoustic radiation control
technologies.
The system is designed, assembled and tested in Springfield, Illinois
by a dedicated group of engineers, craftsmen, and music lovers.
Please ta e a few moments to learn more about the features and con-
trols of these instruments to assure full enjoyment.
1

Table of Contents
Page
2
Registration
Owners Record 3
The Ca inetry / Our Commitment 4
Warranty 5
Setup
Speaker Installation 6
Hooking Up Ca les 7-8
Amplification 9-11
Speaker Connections 12-15
Wavelaunch Processor 16-24
Technology
Continuing the Pursuit of Perfection 25-26
Specifications 27
Wavelet for Aeris 28

The serial num er is located on the rear of the unit. Record this
num er in the space provided elow. Refer to this when calling your
dealer regarding this product.
Model: AERIS
Serial No: _________________________
Date of purchase: ___________________
Thank you for selecting a Legacy Loudspeaker System. These hand-
crafted instruments will provide you with many years of listening en-
joyment.
Owners Record
3

Handcrafted
Beneath the surface of AERIS’s elegant exterior lies rigid MDF
construction. Interlocking joinery maximizes the strength of the ca inet
parts. Polyester fi erfill is selected for internal damping. A sharp rap on
the enclosure will leave you with little more than ruised knuckles.
Each ca inet is impecca ly finished on all exposed surfaces with select
veneers. The exquisite finish is hand-ru ed several times to assure a
patina at home with the most elegant decor.
Our Commitment
A great deal of forethought, love and satisfaction is instilled in each piece
of Legacy workmanship. We take pride in getting to know many of our
customers on a first name asis.
Your purchase of this product is acked y the renowned “Legacy
Satisfaction Guarantee”.
The Cabinetry / Our Commitment
4

Legacy Audio supports its customers and products with pride. We cheerfully warrant our loud-
speaker products we manufacture from defects in materials and workmanship for a period of seven
(7) years. Electronic components such as internal amplifiers and digital processors are covered for
three (3)years. Please register your product with Legacy Audio. Should you require service Legacy
will require a proof of purchase in order to honor the warranty - so please keep your receipt.
• The warranty applies to the original owner and is not transfera le.
• The warranty applies to products purchased from an “Authorized Legacy Dealer”.
• The warranty on active components such as digital processors or internal amplifiers is limited to three
(3) years of coverage.
• The warranty on dealer stock will extend for a maximum of two years from invoice.
The warranty does not cover transportation costs of product to or from the customer, distri utor or
dealer, or related shipping damage.
Exclusions from Warranty
The following situations or conditions are not covered y the Legacy Audio warranty:
• Accidental damage, electrical a use or associated equipment failure.
• Use inconsistent with recommended operating instructions and specifications
• Damage caused y modification or unauthorized service
• Costs associated with the removal and reinstallation of defective products. Consequential damage to
other products.
• Normal wear such as fading of finishes due to sunlight.
Warranty
5

To allow more flexi ility in seating arrangements, your Legacy loudspeaker is
designed for road lateral coverage. Optimal listener position is actually
a out 5 to 15 degrees off the axis normal to the loudspeaker affle. Assum-
ing a listener distance of a out 10-12 feet, egin y placing the speakers ap-
proximately 8-10 feet apart and a out 1 – 3 feet from the wall ehind them.
In most rooms this will afford a speaker position at least 2 feet or more from
the side walls. The amount of recommended "toe-in" is a function of the lis-
tening angle. As the overall listening angle increases from 40 degrees, the
amount of toe-in should increase. Your Legacy speaker is optimized for a flat
response in the far field. Best results are o tained vertically with the lis-
tener's ear at tweeter level with the loudspeakers gently toed in toward the
listener. Increasing the degree of toe-in is recommended when placement
next to sidewalls is required. Placing the loudspeaker or the listener near a
room oundary will generally increase low frequency impact. If you are
forced to position one or oth of your loudspeakers in a corner, e prepared
to reduce ass output via the XP-4080 or with your preamp's ass tone
control.
Spea er Placement
6

The ideal conductor would have negligi le resistance, inductance
and capacitance. The ta le elow shows how a few actual speaker
ca les measure up.
Ca le Ωs/ft pF/ft µH/ft
12 ga. 0.0033 24 0.21
14 ga. 0.0048 17 0.13
16 ga. 0.0079 16 0.18
18 ga. 0.0128 28 0.21
Capacitance is considered insignificant in each ca le ecause its ef-
fect is well out of the audio andwidth; inductance can e de-
creased (at the expense of increased capacitance) y keeping the
conductor pair closely spaced.
How long would a ca le have to e efore inductance effects would
impinge on the audio spectrum? Approximately 300 feet of 12 gauge
would e required to esta lish a corner frequency of 20 kHz with an
8 Ohm loudspeaker. As you see, inductance is not a pro lem for
most of us.
Hoo ing Up Cables
7

What a out phase shift due to frequency dependent travel times down the speaker
ca le? Measurements show that 100 Hz waves will e delayed a out 20 illionths of a
second ehind 10 kHz waves when traveling to the end of a 10 foot speaker ca le.
Since the cilia of the ear requires 25,000 times longer than this just to transmit phase
information, phase shifting is o viously not the primary concern when considering
speaker ca les.
What a out resistance? Finally we are getting somewhere. Resistance is the control-
ling factor of the amplifier/loudspeaker interface. Excessive resistance can cause ma-
jor shifts of speaker crossover frequencies. The lower the impedance of the loud-
speaker, the greater the effects of series resistance. A 20 foot run of 18 gauge ca le
can cause up to 10% deviations of crossover center frequencies. That same 20 feet
can un-damp your damping factor and reduce your systems’ output y onehalf deci-
el.
In summary, there are no perfect ca les. The est way to approximate the ideal
would e to keep loudspeaker leads as short as is practical.
Hoo ing Up Cables
8

Ideally the loudspeaker would e among the first components selected when assem ling a play-
ack system. This would allow the user to choose an amplifier capa le of delivering adequate
amounts of current into the frequency dependent load presented y the loudspeaker. However,
when upgrading a system, audiophiles may find themselves matching their new loudspeakers to
their existing amplification. For this reason, extensive measures have een taken to ensure that
each Legacy speaker system represents a smooth, non-reactive load to virtually any amplifier.
Often there is much confusion regarding amplification and loudness levels. It should e under-
stood that the role of the amplifier goes eyond that of driving loudspeakers to a given sound
pressure level. The amplifier should e a le to CONTROL the loudspeakers across the entire mu-
sic spectrum. This means that parameters such as damping factor (values greater than 60 are
accepta le) and dynamic headroom should not e overlooked when comparing amplifiers.
Amplification
9