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Intro As a lover of good bookshelf speakers, I wanted my final speaker purchase to be rather special. My bias for Legend Acoustics’ speakers is well known, so it was obvious and inevitable that a bookshelf from Dr Crawford’s stable would be chosen. The dream was to go for the speaker I had always coveted, the Isobaric Small Red, however, the financial part of the brain said no! Hmmm, I really knew all along it would be the new version of the Kurre, number 8. So, remembering an excellent review of the Kurre in Australian HiFi last year, I thought I’d give them a listen at the HiFi show in Sydney. At the show, I met with the good Dr and I was a little surprised to learn that version 9 was being displayed and demonstrated. Surprised, because it wasn’t long ago that version 8 was released. The difference is the inclusion of a wave-guide for the tweeter but I won’t even attempt to explain what it does. That information is provided on the Legend website. Amplification: It’s a given that if your HiFi system has well designed loudspeakers then they should be partnered with amplification and source equipment that can extract the best performance they are capable of delivering. This explains why I chose my ME25 and ME550 Mk II high cap power amplifier for this review. Normally, the Luxman L-507uX drives the Kurre’s, however, this amplifier doesn’t have enough current to do the speakers justice. It would be unfair on the Kurre’s to write a review based on amplification that can’t extract what they are capable of. Of course, this is based on my own opinion and experience and I welcome differences in opinions and would encourage anyone to voice them. Source: Only one source was used, a Luxman D-05u SACD player, connected with Nordost Blue Heaven interconnects. Build: My Italian cabinetmaker Dad, who worked for Parker furniture for about 30 years, had a close look at the cabinetry and was suitably impressed by the quality of the veneer and how the edges were beautifully joined. High praise from a cabinetmaker who learnt his craft in Italy! Watching him, when I was a child, construct all of our household furniture from material he obtained from Parker, I never asked how he got a hold of it, I marveled at how he fashioned pieces of wood into tables, chairs and cupboards with such meticulous skill. I particularly remember Dad using an old household clothes iron to press veneer onto sheets of MDF using Bostik glue and trimming the edges with a sharp chisel so perfectly. Unfortunately, his skills didn’t transfer to the first generation because all I ever did was watch in amazement as piece after piece became part of our house. Much of it still remains today. Legend cabinets are no doubt fashioned in a far more elaborate and sophisticated manner and the precision is just as fine as my dad’s furniture. Finished in glorious Jarrah veneer, my favourite, with a lovely lush coating of lacquer that still enables the grain to be felt when gliding your hand over it. Weighing in at a hefty fourteen kilograms, they require a good stable, rigid speaker stand so I chose the Dynaudio Stand 6 which is beautifully constructed and provides precisely what it is needed. Believe it or not, I have mine stuffed with old towels which deadens the sound quite nicely. The speaker terminals allow for bi-wiring, which Dr Crawford advocates, and mine are coupled with Nordost Red Dawn bi-wire cables. They will soon be upgraded to the latest LS version of Red Dawn single wire coupled with Norse 2 speaker jumper cables. For the purpose of this review, the older version will be used. Listening Impressions: For the first few hours of listening to the Kurre 9’s I thought perhaps the bass was too prominent and could need a bit of attenuating as it overwhelmed my listening room. However, I recently purchased another largish canvas print and rearranged all three prints in the room and this has made a positive difference to the acoustics of the room. This change in the room’s acoustics altered my perception of the bass produced by the speaker, it would appear it was only the room that required ‘attenuating’. Now, the volume can be increased without the concomitant smattering of notes bouncing and reflecting all over the place. Much better J I’m drawn to music with strong bass lines so I’ve chosen songs from Beth Orton’s album ‘Kidsticks’ along with Suzanne Vega’s ‘Nine Objects of Desire’ and ’99.9Fo’ to test bass. Am I wrong, or do female artists just write killer bass lines? For any speaker to become part of my system, it has to pass a stringent bass test. In my estimate, correctly or incorrectly, bass must be taught, punchy, fast and most importantly, be put in its place when needed, not let run wild and uncontrolled. ‘Snow’, the opening track to Beth Orton’s ‘Kidsticks’ smacks you in the face with bass and will test any speaker that claims to deliver that unrelenting beat. I can count the beats from the Kurre as they are clearly delineated, they don’t run on and on into one another. The bass/mid driver is fast enough to keep up with the stop/start timing of the bass notes. ‘Petals’, the third track has a delicious decaying bass line that runs for about three seconds each time and sucks you into the song at the very beginning. Beth’s slightly falsetto voice, quite different to her earlier records, augments the bass line beautifully. So here, we have the falsetto voice and bass notes integrated in a lovely symbiosis with the latter that runs like butter. Suzanne Vega’s ‘Nine Objects of Desire’ is a cornucopia of delicious, mouth watering bass lines. Track three, ‘Caramel’, swamps the listener with a rhythmic line and transports your mind to a dimly lit, intimate venue with your loved one drinking a mellow pinot noir. Then ‘Stockings’ kicks in and the pinot noir has filled your veins and the bass emanating from the Kurre’s bass/mid driver takes over the pumping of blood from your heart – such is the sustaining rhythm of the speaker. 99.9F0 is the next silver disc in the tray and it was this 1992 album that made me fall for Vega’s music. The accompanying tour was magnificent, sitting near the front of the State Theatre I was mesmerized by Vega’s beautiful and delicate acoustic guitar work. She truly is a master of that instrument. ‘Blood Makes Noise’ is brilliantly conceived as the pulsing of the bass represents the blood pulsing through the body and it also reflects the lyrics. The driver has the pulse well timed, controlled, and importantly, doesn’t let the notes run away. In this song, the bass has a very specific purpose and that is to reflect the constant pulse of blood so it requires control and timing. Not a one trick pony If you are as obsessed with the female voice as I am, you will love how this speaker renders voice. A case in point would be Katie Noonan’s divine singing on her latest release, ‘Songs of the Latin Skies’. If a purer voice exists in this universe, please tell me to whom it belongs. Karin Schaup’s acoustic guitar beautifully compliments Noonan’s voice, and here, the Kurre’s mid/bass and tweeter combine to meld voice and instrument so perfectly. This is especially evident on track eight, ‘Canta Mais’, where the Kurre’s have the voice front and centre delivering delicacy and depth while the guitar provides the emotional backing. On track ten, ‘Manha De Carnaval’, the voice and guitar are enmeshed and couldn’t survive without each other but they would fail to unite on a lesser speaker that couldn’t handle delicacy, poise or imaging. One other ingredient is required to make this recording sound its best – accuracy. This recording would, I dare say, sound like crap on any speaker that couldn’t portray realism or accuracy. This is the Kurre 9’s trump card and this recording, song after song, proves just how accurate these speakers are. The Kurre’s portray Noonan’s extraordinary vocal range in its entirety with no limitations placed upon it, exposed accurately as it should be heard. As a final speaker purchase, I couldn’t be more satisfied. Now, what to do with that Luxman? Oh, I know, another ME pre and power combination. Keen to read other user’s experiences.