Hybrid Audio Technologies Legatia - Manual (Page 33)

Legatia User’s Manual ©Hybrid Audio Technologies Page 33 of 65
Legatia L8V2 Wide-Bandwidth Midrange/Midbass
History
The Legatia L8V2’s topology is an enhanced “version 2” of the massively successful ‘original’ first-
generation Legatia L8 transducer, which was launched in September 2007 to an enthusiastic
reception of car audio competitors, enthusiasts, and car audiophiles. In the years since its inception,
the L8 midbass has been included in several national- and world-championship vehicles; the L8 was
debuted initially by David Brooks in competition, and the first-generation L8 went undefeated in
organized competition its first and second seasons, including the season-ending championships in
2007 and 2008. When it came time to enhance the L8, we were very cognoscente of the L8’s
midbass abilities, and had two general project objectives: 1) enhance the L8’s ability to effectively
reproduce a wider frequency spectrum for possible application as a dedicated midrange in a two-way
application, and 2) to improve power handling, sensitivity, motor strength, and impulse response
through more displacement and lighter moving mass and the inclusion of a proprietary opposing neo-
ferrite motor system. The Legatia L8V2 joined Hybrid Audio Technologies’ Legatia L1V2 as the
second driver in the Legatia series to be enhanced with performance eclipsing the first iteration of
each design. To this end, the L8V2 development began in January 2010, and the first prototypes
were developed by company founder and lead designer Scott Buwalda.
By Fall 2010, a beta prototype pair of Legatia L8V2’s had been refined after hundreds of hours of
testing and development; these highly-evolved drivers were sent to Jim Becker and Jorge Juaristi,
both multiple IASCA and USACi champions for final testing, evaluation, and debut in organized
competition. After countless hours testing on the speakers under various circumstances, both as a
dedicated midbass and as a midbass/midrange in two-way configuration, Juaristi and Becker gave
their final approval. Production refinements were Fall of 2010, to incorporate features inclusive and
proprietary to the Legatia line, and final production commenced November 2010. The Legatia L8V2
was launched in December 2010 and is the reference 8.85-inch driver in Hybrid Audio’s product
category known collectively as the Legatia Series.
Attributes
The Legatia L8V2 is a 225mm (8.85-inch) “large format” wide-bandwidth midbass/midrange driver to
compliment both two-way and three-way system designs, where a point-source midrange and/or
dedicated midbass driver is required. The following are the L8V2’s design attributes:
Basket
The basket of the L8V2 is a shared design with the Legatia L8SE for easy upgrade potential; the
L8V2 and L8SE are interchangeable in mounting topology. The L8V2 differs from the first-version L8
in that the basket geometry has been enhanced in the V2 model to a slightly larger outside diameter
for greater clamping surface area (from 8.5-inch on the L8 to 8.85-inch on the L8V2); the mounting
holes for each driver remain nearly identical however, with a difference of only 2mm (188mm verses
186mm). Provided enough outside mounting diameter difference can be obtained, the L8V2 will often
fit into the first-generation L8’s mounting hole.
The basket is a high-quality cast aluminum design, and contains a 225mm flange providing for the
mounting of the driver via four screw holes (the use of 5mm cap head screws is ideal). The overall
dimensions of the driver are very amenable for use in the car audio environment, and in locations