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Madison and Legion Sound

Bryan Swift

Bryan Swift

Jun 21, 2008
174
5
SE MI
#1
I haven't seen any new threads about this company for awhile so I figured I'd make one...

I use a Link Removed, and I know Im not the only one who uses Madison/Link Removed gear... So lets hear some testimonies good or bad... Just don't bash too bad, Im so sick of bashing threads...

I'll start it off, I rock one of these bad boys, stock everything, except the jack plate which was plastic... Other than that this thing bruises your chest and mid-section...

Link Removed
 
#2
I had a 2x15 cab from Steel Sound that had Madison Knight 15's in it. I kept the cab but got rid of the speakers. Really flabby sounding. Cab was pretty good, shelf ported, but I could'nt stand the sound I was getting. By the time I was ready to put new 15's in, I got an offer on the cab to sell it empty, so I never got around to it. Their web site states that they will custom build a cab for you, if you don't care for their models.
 
#4
I just purchased two very small ported 12"/horn monitor wedges from them. The boxes are nice...3/4 " birch construction and extremely compact. The speakers have not complained when I've thrown about 400w of vocals at them, but I'll probably switch them out for neo kappas eventually.

The bad news...the hardware is really awful. Really cheap lightweight strap handles and no rubber feet, plastic jack plates and the jacks themselves feel pretty cheap. All that stuff will be upgraded.

I really bought them for the boxes and as a very portable set of wedges for practice and small shows, so it's ok.
 
#6
I have one of them... 410 at 8ohm cabinet.. ok sound.. but not the most solid cabinet ever. I have had to reinforce it, so it stays at a practice spot that I have. It does get used, and the price is right.
 
#7
Actually SeaMonkey, depending on where you order the cab you can choose what material its made of and what kind of speakers go in it...

Mine is OSB with stock Madison drivers, I was low on cash but I couldn't be more impressed by the over-all tone and durability...

Of coarse the above mentioned stock hardware has since been replaced/upgraded...

I have some pics around here, I'll look for them... :p
 
#10
BurningSkies said:
I just purchased two very small ported 12"/horn monitor wedges from them. The boxes are nice...3/4 " birch construction and extremely compact. The speakers have not complained when I've thrown about 400w of vocals at them, but I'll probably switch them out for neo kappas eventually.

The bad news...the hardware is really awful. Really cheap lightweight strap handles and no rubber feet, plastic jack plates and the jacks themselves feel pretty cheap. All that stuff will be upgraded.

I really bought them for the boxes and as a very portable set of wedges for practice and small shows, so it's ok.
Click to expand...


I had pretty much the same experience with a set of Legion Sound PA Traps - I bought them with crossovers and horns nut no woofers. Loaded them with a pair of JBL D140 and drove them with a Yamaha 2x500 watt lunch box PA head - they sounded suprisingly good. Needless to say the low's were tight! One of my bandmates bought them when I split and he's still rocking them today.

I replaced the jack plates, feet, grille mounts and the top hat's with metal parts and life was good.

I would probably not do it with one of their bass cab's. They don't use the best wood out there - that isn't marine, baltic or void free plywood by a long shot - more like 3/4 OSB so as a cab for the long haul - maybe not so much - for the monitor's that is probably less an issue.

I thnk the old adage about getting what you pay for applies here ... don't set the bar real high and you are less likely to be dissapointed...
 
#12
 
#14
I will never, ever purchase anything from them again. I bought some PA cabinets from them that were supposedly used one time. Described as in new condition. The items I got were not what I purchased. One of them had a busted horn bezel that didn't occur in shipping. There were missing screws all over. The only Madison driver in them was one Madison HF driver. The other contained a 10.00 Goldwood unit. Neither woofer was a "Warrior" (they were not marked and had much lighter magnets.) and one of them had a tear. I filed a claim and got my money back.
 
#15
I purchased some cheapy, mdf pa speakers from them a few years ago and they were okay, but nothing special. To be fair, considering the price I paid, I didn't expect them to be anything special, so I would say that they performed to expectation.

I ultimately sold them and bought some nice Peaveys instead.

I purchased a couple of 2x12, birch plywood empty cabs for projects and was actually quite pleased with the construction. They came with junk tweeters and input jacks/crossovers and I replaced those, but the cabs themselves have been fine. I ultimately sold one, but I've kept the other and have gigged with it on occasion.

I live just down the road from Steel Sound (or whatever they're called now) and I've actually met a few of the folks. They seemed like solid cats to me, overall.
 
#16
I think that if you know what you're getting and don't have your expectations too high, then they live up to it.

The monitors I got were just that. It would have been nice if the hardware was better, but for the 175 I paid for the monitors, I can understand. I ended up putting 25 bucks worth of hardware on them and another half an hour of work to mount the stuff and it's cool. Of course, I would have paid the extra 25 bucks on the front end if they had had better hardware anyway.
 
#17
I have 2 2-12 cabs. One came with a munched horn rattling around inside. No biggie, I disconnect them anyway. I refurbed both cabs with Tnuts, new metal jackplates, and just recently added dampening material.

There is a pic of naked interior here,

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=529169

I put a set of casters on one. One cab handles everything inside that I do 4 or 5 string. 2 cabs for outdoors OMG. Quite a bargain if you don't mind retrofitting them. These are constructed 9 ply baltic birch. I think now they are constructed with agathis ply.

I also bought a pair of Madison Knight 10s I put in a Peavey cab. They sound as good as the sheffields to my ears. The only problem is they have a 6 hole pattern on the frame and most cabinet are usually 4 or 8. I got permission from them to drill the 2 needed holes so it wouldn't void my warrantee. I thought customers service was good for the volume of biz the poor girl had to handle back at that time.
 
#18
I am a big fan of the madison knight 10" drivers. Unfortunately they are no longer made they were replaced with dragon speakers and have now gone back to the warriors. It seems like the company is always changing management or ownership or something. They were Steel Sound, then they were music supply center, now they are shredz music.
 

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