Big Red reference monitors

The Big Reds are Legend Acoustic’s top-of-the-range passive loudspeaker covering the full range of human hearing, from very deep bass to sparkling highs. They also have the fast, open natural sound that makes all Legend loudspeakers famous - therefore are named after the Big Red kangaroo which is a fast agile animal inhabiting the flat open Australian landscape.

Reviewing the original Big Reds, Australian Hi-Fi July/August 2007 said " Legend Acoustics' Big Red loudspeakers are superb...." And at the annual Sound & Image/Australian Hifi magazines awards presentation in Sydney that year, they won the prestigious Best Stereo Loudspeakers over $2500 award.

In May 2009 we upgraded them to Big Red 2s, building on our learning from the Tikandi loudspeakers. The upper module now uses the same truncated pyramidal shaped cabinet as the Tikandi with its non-parallel sides to minimise internal reflections and triangular front baffle to minimise external diffraction effects - as well as integrating visually better with the lower module whose truncated pyramidal shape has been retained from the original Big Reds.

To tailor the system to passive crossovers we had to make some changes to the drivers from those used in the Tikandis. The mid-range driver is a superb Seas Nextel 130mm unit which has more gentle cone break-up that does not intrude into the mid-range pass-band even with the gentler slopes of passive crossovers. We have retained the Tikandi's (and original Big Red's) ceramic-coated aluminium 25mm tweeter with its superb accuracy across the frequencies above 2.5 kHz.

Also retained from the Tikandis in the lower module are the two side-firing Peerless XLS 250mm bass drivers with their free-air resonance of a very low 19 Hz producing very deep bass; while their very long throw of 20mm produces a maximum SPL level of over 110 dB with very low distortion.

                  

For more details on XLS drivers please click here.

The bass units in each speaker are driven directly by built-in 300W BASH amplifier modules. BASH is an acronym for Balanced Amplifier Symmetrical Hybrid that as a hybrid amplifier combines the best of digital and analog technology. The power supply is digital with its high frequency top-up of the amplifier DC supply rails meaning that they remain much more constant under music load leading to tighter, deeper bass. On the other hand, the power amplifier itself is analog class AB output giving less distorted, more musical bass.

In November 2010 we launched a single cabinet version, combining the upper & lower modules. This enables us the offer the Big Reds in a range of real wood veneers including a reddish jarrah, making them true “big reds”. We have also taken the opportunity to improve the passive crossovers to make them sound even more open, fast and natural.

For more information please see our press release by clicking here.

 

Specifications

System	mid-treble passive, bass active: Xovers at 150 and 2500Hz
Frequency response	25 - 25,000Hz
Sensitivity	88 dB/W @ 1m
Impedance	6 ohms average
Recommended Power	25 - 100 W
Size(mm)	1000(h)x300(w)x300(d) at base
Weight	35 kg each side
Warranty	7 Years
Finishes	piano black; jarrah, light oak & stained-black wood veneers