# Hybrid Audio Technologies Legatia 4 "L4"



## captainobvious (Mar 11, 2006)

This review is for the Hybrid Audio Technologies L4 midrange/wideband driver. The L4 is a 4.65" midrange driver that has a manufacturer listed frequency response of 90hz-17Khz. They are optimized for infinite baffle installtion.

I have owned a pair of these L4's for close to a year. My (lackluster) install had them mounted in unfinished, less than optimally aimed kick panel pods that were vented to the frame rails. Despite my best attempts to sabotage myself with a bad installation of the drivers, they still produced some pretty impressive sound. I am retooling my installation, and want to mount drivers on axis in the a-pillars of my vehicle. Therefore, I decided it only fair to give these a proper listening and review in a fair environment. The following will be my personal review and impressions of the HAT L4's.


*Testing Environment:*
The drivers were installed into a pair of pseudo-infinite baffle PVC test enclosures and placed onto the dash of my 2003 Lancer aimed on axis to my drivers seat listening position, just lower than ear level, and as close to the corners (a-pillars) as possible with the limited space.


























Yes, the wallet makes them sound richer. 

*Testing Equipment:*
The L4's were powered by an Xtant 404m amplifier, bridged down to 2 channels, providing 200 watts @ 4ohms per driver. A second Xtant 404m amplifier was bridged to 2 channels providing 100 watts @ 8ohms per driver to a pair of Peerless SLS 8" midbasses which were installed in the doors. Gains were adjusted for L/R to provide audibly equal output from the drivers position. Signal and processing duties are handled by a Clarion DRZ-9255 source unit. The DRZ output gains for the L4's and SLS drivers were adjusted by ear to match levels appropriately. No time alignment was used. Further tuning could be done in addition to really dial in this setup, however since these are test enclosures (not permanently mounted) and additional processing may not be available to those viewing, it was not used.
The SLS midbasses were crossed at HPF 40hz -18db, LPF 200hz -18db. The L4's were crossed at HPF 315hz -12db, LPF "Through"

*Testing Material: *
The cd used for testing was primarily the Focal "The Speed of Sound" Demo cd. (Search for "Focal Demo Discs" on the site...) 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------


*Pictures:*

Manufacturers impedance/frequency response charts




































--------------------------------------------------------------------------


----------



## captainobvious (Mar 11, 2006)

I started out with the Focal "The Speed of Sound" reference disk. I listened to several tracks on this disk as well as a couple others and here are some of my notes/impressions.

"Dick Tracy"- This performace was very detailed. The wind instruments were very realistic and full.

"The Day"- The tambourine at the beginning lacked a touch of sparkle on the top end which was portrayed a little better by the FR88 in the last test. 

"Everything Must Change"- I was able to pick up more detail than I had previously heard when listening to this track in the singers performance. Inflection of the voice, hearing the mouth open for a breath to sing around the 2:45 mark. Nice !

"Raoui"- The guitar sounded very natural and realistic in both tone, and during picking. I felt as though the singer could have been right in front of me. The L4's played this both smoothly, and with alot of detail. The paper cones probably aid in the "smoothness". I could hear the singer drawing in breath and opening her mouth throughout this track. (could hear the lips seperate). Very realistic and detailed.

"Dat Dere"- The hand drumming at the left side of the stage was pronounced and natural. I could picture the drummers hands slapping them.

"The Ghetto"- Had a nice cowbell, handdrums, and a maracca (?). I could hear the beads jingling around after the initial impact. Very cool !

"I've seen that face before"- Great depth to the vocals. Sounded like the singer was a good distance in front of me and the reverb was very prevalent.


Next I listened to a track I'm familiar with from Keyshia Cole's Album "Just Like You" (2007). The track is titled "Heaven Sent". Throughout the song there are blending backup vocals on the left and right side with the main vocals centered between. Her voice sounded as good as ever on this test.

Finally, I wanted to get a listen to a male vocal track and decided to pop in Lionel Ritchie's Mowtown record "Can't Slow Down" (1983)
In "Hello", the hihat sticking at the beginning sounded very natural and full. The vocals were very powerful and had alot of dynamic range, with the roughness in his voice really coming through well. The jazzy guitar at 2:45 was centered and very warm.


*Overall Impressions:*
Although I had heard these speakers in a different mounting/aiming setup in this same vehicle and knew they were good, they still impressed when used on-axis on the dash. This is probably due to less reflection and roll of the high end from being mounted off axis in the kick panel area. While most people would be very happy with the response of these drivers, for my preferences I would still prefer to mate them with a tweeter for the highest notes to provide a little more of an "airy" top end. The L4's are clearly capable of playing out to 15K without issue. They deliver great performance when used as a full range or in a 2-way setup with a midbass driver. Overall, the descriptions I seemed to be repeatedly giving them were "very detailed" and "natural". Not overly bright like a metal coned driver, and not too dark either like a DynAudio driver (my opinion).
The only drawback for some may be price. Not as cheap as some of the DIY drivers used by many around here, but certainly inline with the pricing from manufacturers like DynAudio, Seas, Morel, Scanspeak, Hertz, etc.
If you are in the market for a midrange/fullrange driver I highly recommend checking these out.


-Steve


----------



## Melodic Acoustic (Oct 10, 2005)

Very nice review. 

You have tested two of my favorite midranges.


----------



## David_Edwards (Nov 12, 2008)

That is what we like to hear!!


----------



## Tonyguy (Nov 15, 2007)

Nice! I picked up a pair of these hoping to run them FR like you did in this test. What size pipe is that that you used? And from where?


----------



## beerdrnkr (Apr 18, 2007)

I'm still regretting that I had to sell mine. I would have loved to try mine out on the dash. Nice review.


----------



## ItalynStylion (May 3, 2008)

That's what my current "idea" system is composed of. SLS 8's and L4's. That would be ultra sick!


----------



## captainobvious (Mar 11, 2006)

Tonyguy said:


> Nice! I picked up a pair of these hoping to run them FR like you did in this test. What size pipe is that that you used? And from where?


Tony-
The pipe is readily available from Lowes/Home Depot or your local hardware store. It is a 4" "street" elbow. This one is 45 degree bend. They can usually also be found in 90 degree bend. The other option -if you're going for a permanent solution, not just test enclosures, is the standard PVC straight piping. They sell short lengths of it as well in 4" size, and you can cut it to length.


----------



## captainobvious (Mar 11, 2006)

beerdrnkr said:


> I'm still regretting that I had to sell mine. I would have loved to try mine out on the dash. Nice review.


Keep checking the FS section. They pop up from time to time and are very reasonably priced. You may be surprised trying them in this configuration. 



ItalynStylion said:


> That's what my current "idea" system is composed of. SLS 8's and L4's. That would be ultra sick!


Definitely worth a listen. Let me know when you're in Philadelphia 



Here-I-Come said:


> Very nice review.
> 
> You have tested two of my favorite midranges.



Thanks for the kind words guys. Hopefully the info is helpful for some. Subjective reviews are always tough to base anything on.


----------



## BigRed (Aug 12, 2007)

damn!! I'm going to have to step up to some L4's


----------



## doitor (Aug 16, 2007)

captainobvious said:


> The L4's were powered by an Xtant 404m amplifier, bridged down to 2 channels, providing 100 watts @ 8ohms per driver.


The L4's are 4 ohm, so you actually had 200 watts on each.

J.


----------



## captainobvious (Mar 11, 2006)

doitor said:


> The L4's are 4 ohm, so you actually had 200 watts on each.
> 
> J.



Quoted for truth.

Doh ! Edited the post. Thanks Jorge.


----------



## IBcivic (Jan 6, 2009)

thanx for the review. i was also considering putting my l4's on the dash.
and also noticed that 4''plastic pipe fittings are almost perfectly sized for the l-4.
my idea was>machining the inner diameter from 4.5 to 4.65(+.010") . then use pipe to make grill rings. 
your set-up is almost identical to mine ... l4/xls8 ...gives me something to look forward to.


----------



## captainobvious (Mar 11, 2006)

Its really pretty damn good stinky. I'd want a tweeter for the very top end, but Im sure most people would be very happy without.
You should give the test enclosures a shot and see for yourself man. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised 

Edit: In fact, I have a pair of HAT L1v1 tweeters sitting here as well. I should give them a try along with the L4 and see how that works out on the dash. Pretty easy to integrate the tiny L1v1...


----------



## captainobvious (Mar 11, 2006)

BigRed said:


> damn!! I'm going to have to step up to some L4's


What joo mean you dont have no L4's ! 

Try em out Jim. Do it. Do it now.


----------



## IBcivic (Jan 6, 2009)

captainobvious said:


> Its really pretty damn good stinky. I'd want a tweeter for the very top end, but Im sure most people would be very happy without.
> You should give the test enclosures a shot and see for yourself man. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised
> 
> Edit: In fact, I have a pair of HAT L1v1 tweeters sitting here as well. I should give them a try along with the L4 and see how that works out on the dash. Pretty easy to integrate the tiny L1v1...


it's a definite yes on the tweeter . i also have l1v1's and a pair of hertz tweets that i am very fond of...the l1's will probably go up for sale... but i still didn't try em in the car yet so,we'll see.


----------



## Genxx (Mar 18, 2007)

I am in the process of moving my L4 to the dash also with the L1v1.

I have been nothing less than impressed with L4 driver and I really like the L1v1 to fill on the top end. 

I ran mine x-over at 8k before foresee them being x-over even higher with the new set-up, which should be finished on Friday.


Nice review, thanks for taking the time to do one.


----------



## captainobvious (Mar 11, 2006)

Genxx said:


> I am in the process of moving my L4 to the dash also with the L1v1.
> 
> I have been nothing less than impressed with L4 driver and I really like the L1v1 to fill on the top end.
> 
> ...



Sure thing man. Im interested to hear your thoughts when you get them setup for a listen. LMK


----------



## FoxPro5 (Feb 14, 2006)

Gee thanks, Captain Obvious. I've always wanted to say that. 

Well, you know how to write a review. That's a breath of fresh air, so nice work.

A 4" driver is good till about 3.5khz before it's off axis starts to suffer due to beaming. So I'd caution the 'playing to 15khz without issue' advice as so many need off-axis mounting in cars for various reasons. 

Also, thank you for crossing these over in comfortable range (ie 315 hz). IIRC that's where I found their lower end limit to be IB in my kicks. Playing them to 140hz is just asking for it IMO. 

Love the PVC pipe idea, man. :thumbsup:


----------



## The Drake (Apr 3, 2007)

Excellent review, thanks capin! 

When I had the L4's I really liked them, I would further describe them as laid back and not a "in-your-face" or authoritative sound.


----------



## captainobvious (Mar 11, 2006)

FoxPro5 said:


> Gee thanks, Captain Obvious. I've always wanted to say that.
> 
> Well, you know how to write a review. That's a breath of fresh air, so nice work.
> 
> ...


Thanks Fox for the kind words. Yeah, you are correct about that and thanks for mentioning it. I was going by the on axis response since thats how I tested it, and that didnt even enter my mind.

EDIT: Also, in regards to crossing at 315hz, you are correct. Playing to 140hz is not a good idea. These could play a little lower than the 315hz I tested at, but theres no reason to due this with a competent midbass as Im sure you agree. The SLS play very cleanly anyway and mate up very well with these.
-Steve


----------

