Intro
Contents
At Alpha Audio, we do like products that have a clear focus. No nonsense products that unburden the enthusiast. System Audio is a brand with a clear focus. Building solid speakers: both passive and active. The System Audio Legend 7.2 Silverback is an active model … based on WISA technology. ‘Future Fi’ as colleague Darko calls it. We also see it as the next, logical next step in audio evolution.
We often hear that active systems kind of ruin the hobby. We really see it differently. And so does colleague Martijn. Just read in his story about the Buchardt and System Audio systems what you can tune and tweak. That is significant. However, it is a different kind of tweaking … it is ‘digital’ tweaking. Also fun!
The Legend
What System Audio does well is deliver solid products at interesting prices. You have the Legend 7.2 Silverback for 1900 Euro each. A compatible WISA hub you have for about 700 Euro. So for 4500 Euro you have a very nice, wireless, expandable system. It is still a lot of money of course. But considering the performance, finish and flexibility, we think this is very impressive.
These on-wall loudspeakers each have three amplifiers – 225 watts total – driving three units per speaker. A DSP handles the necessary processing for each unit. This DSP also allows for decent bass to be reproduced. According to System Audio, 35 Hz is achievable +/- 1.5dB. Now we were not able to measure on-wall, but free in the field we measured that frequency at around -9dB. Which is already impressive! With the right rear wall it is indeed, perhaps achievable.
WISA
What makes these speakers unique, of course, is the wireless connection to a WISA system. Now there is a standard hub for sale from Platin. Both Buchardt and System Audio work with that. That Platin Hub works fine and supports the necessary connections:
- 3 x optical in
- 1 x coaxial in
- USB
- HDMI in
- Line input (incl phono)
- WISA
- Bluetooth / Wifi
- Google Cast
- Apple Airplay
- Spotify Connect
- ROON
Now Martijn has already covered the hub in detail in his review of the Buchardt / System Audio. So we refer you to this article for more insights.
By the way, it is also possible to pair this System Audio on-walls with a Primare amplifier with WISA. That seems to sound better than the Platin Hub. Which is not surprising, since a digital signal path also has it’s challenges and losses.
Our test system was already connected to the hub. These settings remain memorized by the hub and speakers. Pairing, however, is very easy; literally two presses of a button (hub and speaker have a “pairing” button). On the back of the speaker you can then choose the position of the speaker: easy peasy!
Our setup
We tested the System Audio Legend 7.2 Silverback in our home theater. There they can be placed tightly against the wall and we also have the possibility to do TV-like tests; something users will certainly do with these speakers. They are ideal partners next to a TV or projection screen.
We played mainly via ROON and the coaxial and optical input. And that went extremely well. We also tested Bluetooth to see how it works; without any problems and it does not sound too bad. Although ROON or coax is significantly better.
