Legacy Xtreme XD User manual

Owners Manual For The
Xtreme XD
Loudspeaker System

2
Registration
3. Owners Record
4. The Cabinetry / Our Commitment
Setup
5. Unpacking Your Speakers
6. Speaker Placement / Installation
8. Hook up Cables
10. Speaker Connections
15. Fine Tuning
Technology
18. Designer’s Note
19. Specifications
20. Troubleshooting

3
The model and serial numbers are located on the rear of the unit. Record
these numbers in the spaces provided below. Refer to them when calling
upon your dealer regarding this product.
Model No. _______________________________
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
enjoyment. Please take a few moments to read this brief manual to insure
maximum benefit from your speaker system.

4
Handcrafted
Beneath the surface of Xtreme XD’s elegant exterior lies rigid MDF
construction. Interlocking joinery maximizes the strength of the cabinet
parts. Polyester fiberfill is selected for internal damping. A sharp rap on
the enclosure will leave you with little more than bruised knuckles.
Each cabinet is impeccably finished on all exposed surfaces with select
veneers. The exquisite finish is hand-rubbed 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 basis.
Your purchase of this product is backed by the renowned “Legacy
Satisfaction Guarantee”.

5
Your new speaker system has been very carefully packaged to insure
that it travels to you safely. Each speaker is protected by a doublewall
outer carton with heavy V-board corner protectors. Molded foam end
caps are used to protect the elegant cabinetry, and a plastic liner is
provided as waterproofing. Please save this packing for future
transportation. If cartons become damaged or misplaced, new ones
can be purchased from Legacy Audio.

6
Since the human ear is rather poor at localizing radiation frequencies
below 125 Hz, good results may be obtained in a variety of room
placements. Careful adjustment of the convenient front panel controls will
lead to seamless transition.
Low frequency reinforcement occurs whenever woofers are placed near
room boundaries. The distance from the walls, floor and ceiling
correspond to the wavelengths of the frequencies, which will reflect in
phase and thus reinforce bass output. Therefore, the actual dimensions of
your listening room play a definite role in what ultimately arrives at your
ear. In fact, rooms tend to have their own set of favored frequencies.
We can calculate what the most strongly reinforced frequencies in a room
will be by the formula shown below:
Resonant Frequency = (1130 ft/sec) / (ft. between boundaries x 2)
For example, a room with an 8 ft. ceiling height has a strong resonance at:
(1130 ft/sec.) / (8 ft. x 2) = 71 Hz.

7
Now, while such reinforcement might actually be beneficial at very low
frequencies, excessive excitation can cause “overhang” or a droning effect
at mid-bass frequencies. A way to minimize excitation of these
resonances is to place your subwoofer asymmetrically relative to room
boundaries. For instance, if the subwoofer is 2 ft from one corner wall,
then place it 1.5 ft to 3 ft from the other.
Placing the subwoofer in a corner will reduce the radiation angle and thus
increase efficiency. It will also excite the maximum number of room modes
and decrease distortion.
A best case scenario is to actually use two subwoofers, one to each side
of the listener. The subs should be placed 90° out of phase with each
other. This improves spaciousness and bass uniformity, with a reduction in
room level peaks.

8
The ideal conductor would have negligible resistance, inductance and
capacitance. The table below shows how a few actual speaker cables
measure up.
Cable 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 cable because its effect is
well out of the audio bandwidth; inductance can be decreased (at the
expense of increased capacitance) by keeping the conductor pair closely
spaced.
How long would a cable have to be before inductance effects would
impinge on the audio spectrum? Approximately 300 feet of 12 gauge
would be required to establish a corner frequency of 20 kHz with an 8
Ohm loudspeaker. As you see, inductance is not a problem for most of us.

9
What about phase shift due to frequency dependent travel times down the
speaker cable? Measurements show that 100 Hz waves will be delayed
about 20 billionths of a second behind 10 kHz waves when traveling to the
end of a 10 foot speaker cable. Since the cilia of the ear requires 25,000
times longer than this just to transmit phase information, phase shifting is
obviously not the primary concern when considering speaker cables.
What about resistance? Finally we are getting somewhere.
Resistance is the controlling factor of the amplifier/loudspeaker interface.
Excessive resistance can cause major shifts of speaker crossover
frequencies. The lower the impedance of the loudspeaker, the greater the
effects of series resistance. A 20 foot run of 18 gauge cable 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 by one-
half decibel.
In summary, there are no perfect cables. The best way to approximate the
ideal would be to keep loudspeaker leads as short as is practical.

10
Once you’ve found a place in your room, the next step is connecting the
Point One to your existing system. Listed below you will find 5 options.
Option 1: Connecting the Xtreme XD using the LFE input.
If your preamplifier/digital processor/receiver has a subwoofer output, it
can be connected (via RCA cable) directly to the LFE (Low Frequency
Effects) input (fig. 1).The LFE input bypasses the subwoofers internal
crossover and allows you to control your low frequency settings
(Frequency, Level) from your preamp.
NOTE: When using the LFE input, the freq. control on
the front panel of the Xtreme XD will be bypassed. The
level control will then function as a sensitivity control,
allowing the preamp/processor to control volume.

11
Option 2: Connecting the Xtreme XD using the stereo Low Level
preamp/processor inputs.
NOTE: if using the low-level inputs, we suggest using cables that are no
longer than 5 meters. Longer lengths of RCA cable can result in greater
noise and attenuation of the signal.
If using Left/Right output jacks from the preamp, the internal circuit module
of the Xtreme XD will sum the two channels together. When using the left
and right low level inputs on the subwoofer, the internal crossover of the
subwoofer is being used. The crossover frequency and level will be
controlled by the appropriately labeled controls on the front panel of the
sub.
Option 3: Connecting single sub out
Connect the preamp/processor’s “sub out” to the left channel RCA input
(mono).

12
Option 4: Connecting the Xtreme XD using a Wavelaunch
Digital Signal Processor
If you are using a Legacy Audio Wavelaunch Digital Signal Processor
in your system, connect the LFE (or Subwoofer Out) output from the
Surround Processor to Input 4 of the Wavelaunch processor.
Output 7 of the Wavelaunch feed into the balanced input of the subwoofer.

13
Option 5: Connecting the Xtreme XD using the High Level Inputs
(from amplifier)
If using the high level inputs it is highly recommended that you connect
them in parallel with your main left and right loudspeakers.
NOTE: DO NOT use the output from a differential Monobloc amplifier as a
high level input to the subwoofer. When using high level inputs from a
stereo amplifier be sure that they are polarized correctly with the power
amplifier, (positive output to positive input, negative output to negative
input.) Failure to do so may result in damage to your subwoofer, power
amplifier and any associated equipment connected to it. Terminating your
wire leads with banana plugs or gold spade lugs is recommended.
Powering Up Xtreme XD
1. Power Cable: The supplied power cable will plug into the socket on the
back terminal plate of the unit.
NOTE: Try to plug into the same AC circuit as the rest of your audio
system, as this will avoid hum from ground loops.

14
2. Power Up: In the rear of the subwoofer to the immediate left of the
power cable input is the power switch. This switch controls current flow to
the entire unit as follows:
I = on
0= off
Off/Auto On switch: This switch starts or stops signal flow to the unit. In
Standby the preamp unit stays active but the amplifier shuts down.
Auto On: Once bass signal is received, Xtreme XD will turn on
automatically. If the unit has not received a bass signal after 30 minutes,
Xtreme XD will mute.
Off: Will manually set unit to mute (standby)
NOTE: Be sure the front panel switch is in the OFF position before flipping
the rear panel power switch. This will avoid unnecessary transients
through the subwoofer. In either Auto On or Off position the LED display
will remain lit. Only when the rear power switch is in the off position, will
the LED go off.

15
Adjusting Xtreme XD
On the front panel of the Xtreme XD you’ll notice four controls: Level, Freq.,
Blend, and Phase. These allow an extraordinary amount of control over
your subwoofer. These controls will allow you to tailor the sound of the sub
to your room and integrate with your main speakers.
Level: This will allow you to adjust
the volume level played by the
subwoofer. It only controls the
subwoofer level, not the level of
any of the other loudspeakers in
the system, even if they’re hooked
up in parallel. When using the LFE
input, the level can be controlled
from your preamp/processor menu
while the subwoofer level control
can be left at the 12.

16
Freq.: This control will allow you to adjust low frequency information. The
crossover frequency range of the Xtreme XD is 45 - 150 Hz.
Blend: The graph on the back panel of the Xtreme XD illustrates the
effects of the Blend control. Turning the knob counter-clockwise reduces
energy from the subwoofer in the range of 35-50 Hz. Turning the knob
clockwise will increase gain in this area. This can reduce excessive
energy or give more low frequency impact in this range depending on the
setting. This control is very similar to that of a graphic EQ. The 12 O’clock
position is neutral. The center frequency of this control has been carefully
chosen to match the first cancellation node of most rooms.
Phase: This control is essential in the proper setup of your subwoofer. If
not set up properly, your main speakers and subwoofer can actually work
against each other. If operating out-of- phase the subwoofer and mains
will cancel, creating nulls at some frequencies (primarily upper bass).What
is desirable is to have the subwoofer and the mains operating in phase,
relative to the primary listening position. Here is an effective method of
accomplishing this:

17
While seated at your listening position, have someone sweep the phase
control slowly from one extreme to the other.
Using pink noise or a 50-60 Hz test tone, listen for the strongest output.
Now take note of that setting. Next, play music program material and
optimize the level and phase settings further; adjusting for the smoothest
output.
NOTE: Because the LFE input bypasses the subwoofers internal
crossover in favor of the preamp/processors crossover, the Freq. control
will be inactive when using the LFE connection.

18
Xtreme XD is a carefully engineered subwoofer, capable of integrating with
the finest speakers.
• Unlike many woofers that suffer from overshoot, Xtreme XD applies a
special EMF countering circuit, which increases power handling and
radically reduces low frequency distortion.
• An enormous stacked magnet structure is custom fabricated to provide
excellent sensitivity. This unit is bolted in compression to secure nearly 40
lbs. of motor structure.
• A high current 1000watt amplifier maintains control of Xtreme XD’s 15”
sub-bass piston.
• Xtreme XD features automatic turn on/off when presented with an audio
signal.
• The high pass filter alleviates the deep bass demands from compact
satellite speakers, thus preventing low frequency strain due to long
excursion.
• Level, Crossover Frequency and Phase controls allow Xtreme XD to
integrate precisely into your system.

19
System Type: Subwoofer mass loaded, pneumatically coupled
Driver: 1 active 15”, 1 passive 15” radiator
Alignment: 6th Order/ Back EMF canceling circuit
Internal Amplification: 1000 watts, ICE Power
Frequency Response: 16-100 Hz
Input Impedance: 10K Ohms minimum
Phase Adjustment: Cont. +/- 180
Blend EQ: +/- 12 dB @ 45 Hz
Max SPL: 120dB @ 1m
Low Pass Filter Slope: 18 dB per octave
Crossover:40-100 Hz
Dimensions: 28” H x 18”W x 18”D
Weight: 115 lbs.

20
If you ever encounter problems from your subwoofer there are a number
of factors that could be involved.
1. If the subwoofer has a noticeably higher noise floor compared to
your other speakers, it is likely that the cable run between the
preamp/processor and subwoofer (or between the amplifier and the
subwoofer) is too long. Typically, you want to use a length of less
than 3 meters if using the low-level inputs and a length of less than
15 meters if using high level inputs.
2. If you are using the high level inputs and you notice a “hum” from
the subwoofer while all of your other audio equipment is turned off,
it is likely that the subwoofer is still on and the inputs to the
subwoofer are creating an “antenna” effect and picking up noise.
The best way to eliminate this problem is to turn off the subwoofer
when you turn off the rest of your equipment.
3. Failure to mute the front panel switch can lead to a loud thump
when rear panel rocker is switched.