My little Rogers LS3/5A BBC monitors surprised me again today..

interesting to read these opinions. I just bought a pair of Harbeth LS3/5a's, built quite late, mid 1990s, with a very light history of use. To put it into context my normal speakers are stacked ESL 57s, so I was fairly sceptical of speakers about 97% smaller, but they undoubtedly have something magical about them that makes listening effortless and addictive. I've only had them a couple of days, so I am far from familiar with them, but there is a certain beautiful smoothness about the sound that just makes me smile. I see why people make a fuss about them.

However the main interest in this discussion for me is the talk about placement. I haven't been able to get them off the floor without losing something. On the carpet they sound wonderful, but you need to get down there with them. Raised 50cm on (like Steve) another pair of speakers, they really l0se something, the sound is thinner and harder. I have just acquired a heavy metal pair of stands to try, but first tests with them were even worse. I have yet to try filling the stands with sand to increase their mass, that may help, and the speakers were just sitting on them not stuck to them in any way, perhaps a bit of blu-tack there would help? I need to experiment, but at the moment I don't know how to support them and keep the magic. Any advice would be helpful!

 

Placing the speakers on the floor is acoustically similar to placing them right up against a wall. Have you tried that?

I don't think this is the optimum placement for these but I do think it will mimic what you are hearing directly on the floor.

 

RHCD,

What you are losing by putting the speaker up on stands is, most likely, boundary reinforcement from the floor. You could also have moved the speaker to a point where you re now getting cancellation of some frequencies and unnatural reinforcement of others (e.g., the thinness could mean cancellation of some upper bass or lower midrange frequency, with "hardness" being a reinforcement of some higher frequency) . Changing the elevation of the speaker is really no different than moving the speaker backwards or forwards or further apart or closer together--it is a change in speaker placement. You might then need to move the speaker around in those other dimensions to get the right placement. By elevating the speaker, you are also changing how far on or off axis from the direction of the drivers you are listening to them. You need to experiment with the tilt of the speaker to again find the desirable axis. Speaker placement can be a very complex and frustrating thing to get right, but, if you keep at trying to find the right placement, right height, right tilt and right toe-in you will be rewarded with much better sound. I think correct placement is more important than any other factor in getting good sound.

 

They are nearfields and can easily sit on a desk without exciting the mid bass hump too much
Derek Hughes designed a bass extender AB-2 that Stirling do,at a price,this makes em into a floorstander
Kef LS 50s are better.

 

Bought mine 15 years ago, they weren't "cheap" ($500) but they are absolutely irreplaceable. I have never heard anything do what they do, but they ain't for crankin' and big orchestras, they reside on a bookshelf in front of me in my office and get listened to 5 hours a day anyway. At lower volumes no other speaker has been able to make music so enjoyable. None I work with suspects the value there either, if the cleaning crew new...

 

There are two licensees at present from the BBC, Stirling and Falcon.

The original T27 and B110 drivers were discontinued in 2000. The Stirling uses different drivers and then adjusts the crossover to make them mimic the original KEF drivers.

The Falcon is unique in that they actually MANUFACTURE NEW KEF DRIVERS.

I've owned the Stirlings and enjoy them. I currently own the Falcons - they are the best LS3/5a I've ever heard, bar none.

 

Been saving for the Falcons. I have a recently serviced Scott 299C I'm itching to hook up to them. Be in a smallish 10x7 extra room. Add in a Thorens TD 160 and I anticipate magic.

 

The Falcon B110 and T27 drivers are excellent, they look and apparently sound identical to the original Kef units back when they were new. All constructional details are exactly the same aside from some very slightly different glues used so they should stay on spec longer. I have a pair of Jim Rogers JR149s (an LS3/5A derivitive in a unique cylindrical aluminium cab) that I've fully restored using these drivers and they really do sound wonderful.

 

Way back in the day, early 70s ?, the Rogers were one of the aspirational speakers if you could afford "audiophile" (for want of a better word) kit, and the "go to" bookshelf model over here, along with Spendor (?) BC1s for floorstanders. There was something about them being the BBC reference speaker. If the Beeb used them, they had to be darn good. Both were a bit out of my league. But I did get some nice B &Ws instead...

 

And more news... the BBC has licensed Graham Audio to make what they call an 'LS/35' (no 'a'). The no 'a' is a long story, I won't bore you with the details.

Uses modern, non-KEF, drivers and the crossover tweaks to get them to sound like.... allegedly the original 'LS/35'.

I'm skeptical as hell about this. It's another Derek Huges design, and he's super talented and all. But how different from the Stirlings (which he also designed) can these be?

Eagerly waiting a review.

 

Any talk about the LS3/5a should be proceeded by a viewing of the posted video and history of this speaker, they ain't drivers in a box that's for certain

 

As a reference these are ~ 1K and have received awards as well as lots of rave testimonials for their sound.

Continuum specifications-pricing »

 

For the LS-3/5a fans here is a near hour long video - second half is Andy Whittle of Audio Note who designed for Rogers, Celestion and Audio Note (he designed the AX Two for Audio Note which I directly compared against the LS-3/5a from Audio Space and the KEF LS-50 which is inspired by the LS-3/5a for modern audiences)



Review if you want a bit more bass and more seamless driver integration over the LS-3/5a Audio Note (UK) AX -Two Loudspeaker Review »

 

I have a pair of Russell K Red 50s on the way, supposed to be a new/improved wrinkle on the Linn Kan (itself a derivative of the LS3/5A); hope to post a review in the near future.

 

I just got around to hooking up my Ho's 3/5a "clones" to my Fisher 400. They are about 4' off the floor and only about 3' apart, using my Luxman PD277 with a XV15 cartridge through the Fisher phono stage. This is the best these speakers ever sounded, even though they aren't recognized official clones I find them very pleasant. Sometimes I just don't feel like using my big speakers with 15" woofers. These speakers don't rock but with the right material they are doing very well. But sometimes do turn the bass knob up to 1 I have to admit.

 

I have them. the harbeth p3esr are much better

how do the chartwell ls35a differ from the rogers ls35a? Ive had in my room the original chartwell but never the rogers..

 

No doubt you've read the reviews which have appeared since your post; see also my Graham/Chartwell LS3/5 thread.

 

What amplifire did you use with ls35a?

Quad ?
2A3 single?

 

If you want to DIY a modern version ... research these.

 

I have build the continuum. they are VERY good. however, they are not as good as the P3esr. for the money if you diy, they are incredible value. they reside in my GF bedroom.

 

Like I said in an earlier post (2013) I have some Chinese Ho's 3/5a clones. I found they only sounded okay (even with my Fisher) until I got this solid state Sherwood receiver off ebay last month. Now they sound great. They are on the second highest shelf in my Ikea record shelves, a little under 4 feet off the ground. Very nice imaging and they have bass with this receiver. The bass and treble knobs are set to neutral. I know they aren't authentic 3/5a's but hey I didn't pay much (nothing) for them. I'm very happy.

 

At last I feel better about having my speakers above ear level.

 

You guys are going to cry. I saw a pair at estate sale under a table and passed. I thought "Rogers"? Pffff. Probably some cheap Crosley type speakers. They looked old with the sponge surround brittle but decent cabs & drivers. Didn't even think about researching them.
Sigh...

 

designed to sit on top of dashboards of Ford Transits, and still sound good. Seriously.