Legacy Empire Owner's Manual - Empire
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EMPIRE
EMPIRE, the cornerstone of the MANHATTAN SYSTEM, is designed for how
we live. Several years ago, L
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set the audio world on its ear with the
introduction of the Whisper speaker system.Whisper’s full-range, controlled
directivity design provided more clarity than any speaker to date. EMPIRE is
derived from this acclaimed technology.
EMPIRE IS UNIQUE.
EMPIRE looks unlike other speakers and sounds unlike other speakers.An
elegant 4.5’ tower, EMPIRE will grace your living room and give you thousands
of hours of enjoyment listening to your favorite music and videos.
EMPIRE is an “open air” design with dispersion analogous to the pick-up
pattern of the world’s finest microphones. Unlike other speakers that suffer
from enclosure resonances, EMPIRE will never sound “boxy,” because there is
no box.
With 50 lbs. of magnet structure, EMPIRE can start and stop more accurately
than conventional speakers.This reveals the natural contrast between loud and
soft sounds.
EVOLUTIONARY DESIGN
The design of EMPIRE posed some unique engineering challenges.
A new material called KEVLITE-Ti™ (comprised of KEVLAR™, Graphite, and
Titanium) was developed for our 5.25” drivers to bestow the “breath of life” on
vocals, and impart a rich luster to the glow of brass.
A special magnetic material called Neodymium was employed to lend
crystalline clarity to our NEOdome™ tweeters. A magnet made of
Neodymium is more than ten times stronger than conventional magnets.
To convey the treble in the most open and diffraction-free manner, this
ferro-fluid cooled, NEOdome tweeter was mounted in free air, equi-distant
from each midrange, and concentric to the 12” midwoofer.
A conventional woofer alignment simply would not suffice. Such alignments
would lag behind the pace set by the upper range drivers. Fortunately, Legacy
thinking is never limited by convention.
Bill Dudleston and his team developed a special 12” tri-woofer
configuration fortified with i-damp, a circuit which prevents uncontrolled
cone motion or “overshoot.”
Enhancing the transient characteristics of EMPIRE aids the listener in other
ways. Subtle ambient cues and low level details previously masked now
become apparent. Listener fatigue is greatly reduced, even after lengthy
listening sessions.
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exhaustive research regarding room interaction enabled us to
specify a more optimal directivity pattern.The resulting improvement in
clarity is remarkable, even to the novice.
EMPIRE is designed to direct sound across the living room, minimizing
unwanted reflections from the side-walls and floor.This broadening of the
“sweet spot” allows everyone to enjoy a proper soundstage even when seated
off axis.
AN ARCHITECTURAL ACHIEVEMENT
EMPIRE’
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elaborate baffle and base are machined from a 1.5” thick slab of
Ultra-LITE.This material is much more rigid than MDF, yet allows EMPIRE’
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weight to remain practical.
To further enhance Empire’s elegant design the high luster, black lacquer
finish is trimmed with solid, hand-finished Rosewood.