Upgrade?


Would a pair of Focal 1038be be an upgrade over a pair of Legacy Audio Signature SE? 
128x128alman63
Your trading out strengths and weaknesses....those two speakers are almost polar opposites in their attributes AND in which envirinments they perform best in.  Ive owned paradigm sig s8 v3 which is as close to your focals as it gets.  I heard a set of paradigm tribute 30th anniversary at a work gathering and fell in love with them....all the strengths of the s8s plus a more natural amd filled sound...not quite as much bass slam, (1 less woofer) but greater bass tonal accuracy and still good slam in their own right.  These also would be well in line with your focals with regard to who would love them based on their sound signature.  As if destined, 2 days later i found a used set on AudiogoN that was local, and went and bought them.  The seller loved these tributes, which made the negotiations a little tough, but he already had bought a pair of the exact legacys you are referring too, and was awaiting delivery and set up by the shop.  1 month later he texted me what a mistake he made giving up the tributes.  Where I'm going with this is: if you love or even like your focals don't swap for the legacys....they are a very different animal. But if you find yourself left wanting by the focals, you should try to determine what it is you want more of, before buying something else...do some reading to determine what brands might fill that void for you, and then go do some auditioning.  The focals are excellent speakers....what you may be wanting for may not be new speakers, but may be in your wires or components.  Could you share with us what area of sound you are wishing to improve/change and what model wires, amp, disc player, dac, etc, your rig consists of? 
Alman...thanks for the info.  So, again on the basis of a commonallity in sound between our speakers, I offer the following:  I originally ran my paradigm set up with the halo A51 and now use that for surrounds, with JC 1s up front.  That upgrade was a result of a perceived weekness in my system which the jc 1s resolved.  These and yours, are very fast and revealing speakers, and the slew rate on halo amps is very fast as well.  The combination leads to what I perceived on some recordings to be an amazing level of detail, yet perhaps just a little thin at times on the high end, except for on the best of recordings.  Power aside, what I learned is that the jc1s, although having rhe same slew rate as the other halos, it has a much faster rise time, which creates a better fill in the sound, especially the highs. Along with that 1 very important improvement, the jc1s provided a pleathera of other improvements.
Additionally, in running my surrounds separately with the A51, which are a combination of V3 Sigs and V5 Studios, in relation to the jc1 upfront, i found that  tinge of massive detail with an occasional slight lack of depth, to be more apparent.  I made an interconnect chamge for the rears and am never left wanting now.  I was running Silnote Morpheus II Seris II interconnects all around...also a very clean and fast transient wire.  I switched my rears to the Silnote Poseidon II Signature.  While still a clean and detailed wire, it is more luxurious and robust than the Morpheus line.....it was like putting a partial tube amp effect into the feed, and now....my audio bliss.
 Not sure if that addresses your upgrade desire, but I hope it helps in some regard.
Dang....sorry...I got the whole thing backwards on your speakers.  Lol.  Well...while my resolution above is probably zero help to you, my premise of comparison is the same..... if you generally like your Legacies, the Focals are a very different animal.  But if you're considering them, and audition them
With great enjoyment, then two other lines you may enjoy checking out:  for similar or less new price depending on model number:  the new paradigm persona are a whole new level.... or for the same level as the 1038 you could get into Paradigm SIgnatures or tributes used, on the cheap.
At that price point I’d recommend adding the Magico A3 to your audition list @9800US.