Ed. note: I don't usually work on Saturdays, so this one's a freebie. You pay nothing! Such a deal. :-)
I've told the story of my departure from the audio hobby several times on TOP, and I'll tell it again, briefly—but at the end of this post, not at the beginning. It makes a bad lede because some readers have heard it before.
I listen to music on a pretty modest desktop system. It dawns as an astounding revelation on desperate alcoholics that the sober lifestyle is actually more satisfying than drinking; it came as a complete surprise to me when, after 45 years of daily coffee drinking—culminating in a period of true connoisseurship when I was roasting exquisite green Kona coffee beans provided by Hawaii grower and TOP reader Phil Rosenberg—I gave up coffee in favor of simple white tea with lemon, and discovered that I like white tea every bit as much as I ever liked coffee. Maybe a little more. Totally unexpected. How could I be satisfied by a simple little desktop stereo system? It beggars belief. Yet I am.
Giving up the chase
The late Dick Schaus, an old friend, did something similar. Dick was the founder and owner of International Audio in Washington, D.C., the first importer of many British hi-fi products into the USA, including Spendor speakers and British Fidelity components, which he and Antony Michaelson agreed to rename Musical Fidelity for the international market. (I seem to recall there was some kind of conflict with the original name is the US, but memory fades). Before he died, Dick "gave up the chase" for bigger and better and settled on a simple, small system based around Spendor LS3/5a mini-monitors and the truly special little Musical Fidelity A1, a small 25-watt-per-channel Class-A integrated amp that originally came out in the early '90s. Amazingly, Musical Fidelity, which is now owned by Heinz Lichtenegger of Pro-ject, has recently introduced an all-new revival of the A1 as a legacy product. It's supposed to ship this month, or early next. I didn't know that until just now. Classy move by Heinz.
Little giant
The 12"-high LS3/5a, a BBC monitor the design of which is traditionally credited to Spencer Hughes (later the founder and owner of Spendor, his wife's name being Dorothy—Spen+Dor, get it?), was introduced in 1975. Produced by many manufacturers from Rogers and KEF in the early days to Stirling Broadcast and various Chinese fabricators more recently, it is the original audiophile mini-monitor and is still revered, especially in Asia. Why? It isn't particularly accurate. But it's great to listen to. And speaking of classic reissues, I just learned there are now versions of the LS3/5a made by both Rogers, the original marque, and none other than...Musical Fidelity! Dick would be smiling. I didn't know about either of those last two until today.
If you buy LS3/5a's, accept them as they are. Don't use them as a building block to a "better" speaker system. Don't add a subwoofer. Don't try to get rid of the mid-bass hump in the frequency response. If you don't like them, get something else. It's foolish to think you can make magic better.
The granddaddy of mini-monitors:
what's old is now new again
If I were still playing the game, I'd have mine in walnut with the Rogers nameplate. Ever the connoisseur.
John Atkinson of Stereophile remarked in an old review that it was amazing that the LS3/5a had survived unchanged for 14 years. Well, now they've survived for 48 years. Mostly unchanged—everybody tries to make new ones faithful to the original design. In a small room, with careful setup* and the right kind of music—jazz ensembles, bluegrass, chamber music, folk guitarists, vocalists—magic happens.
Nothing to do with me
The stereo hobby is a generational phenomenon. It got going in earnest when RCA introduced the LP, which stood for long-playing record, in 1948, and took shape as a pastime in the '50s. But it really took off with the Boomers and Generation Jones (my generation) when rock music became such a cultural phenomenon in the 1960s and '70s.
I first got the bug when I was 15 in 1972. I cut lawns all summer and bought a Dual turntable, a Marantz receiver, and KLH speakers, and was hooked. For 30 years I happily spun records and then CDs (my first player was the portable Sony D-5 of 1984) and then records again, obsessed over reviews, and wasted copious percentages of my paltry discretionary income on a never-ending parade of components. I still have enough equipment in the house for at least two complete systems. (I'd love to get rid of it all but I don't know how. A prisoner of sunk costs!)
After 30 years it came to an end. One fine day in about 2005 I caught myself reading an issue of Stereophile (one of the two formerly "underground" journals of high-end audio that are now mainstream magazines, the other being The Absolute Sound) that contained reviews of no fewer than three components that each cost more than $40,000. I suddenly thought, why am I even reading this? What has any of it got to do with me? I couldn't shake that thought. So I decided to give it all up. It was hard at first. Old habits are hard to break.
Strangely, I'm happier now than when I tried to be an audiophile. Mostly, I guess, because I don't think about it any more. My main speakers today, as I've said before, are a set of AudioEngine A5+ powered computer speakers (now cheaper than ever at $299), augmented by the S8 separate woofer. (I'm still enough of an audiophile that I can't bring myself to call an 8" woofer a "subwoofer"!) I got the A5+ speakers as a promotional freebie maybe twelve years ago, and still listen to them every day. My DAC, which I've loved from the day I got it to today, is available once again: the Halide Design DAC HD. It was discontinued, then resurrected by popular demand. Here's a typical review. Highly recommended for computer speakers or small real-world systems. It renders a lovely smooth midrange and great imaging, and has a relaxed, non-digital quality that's hard to define.
Today I just concentrate on the music, and yet still enjoy the sound; the best of both worlds.
Mike
(Thanks to Hi-Fi Heaven in Green Bay for confirming the existence of the new A1)
*On stands, on the short-side of a not-too-big rectangular room, away from the wall the same exact distance, exactly symmetrical side to side, slightly toed in, grilles on, with the listening position equidistant from each speaker, with nothing between the speakers and hopefully something big, absorbent, and irregular hanging on the sidewalls in the reflection position**. On the good side, people spend tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars on elaborate listening rooms, and you can set up the LS3/5a nicely in a room the size of many bedrooms, as long as it's a rectangular box. You could build such a room easily in many basements.
**Put a lamp exactly where the speakers will be, sit in the listening chair, and have someone position a mirror on the sidewalls until you can see light bulb reflected in the middle of it. That's the side reflection point. Happens on the ceiling, too, if you're feeling ambitious—but in a basement, you can simply leave the joists bare to break up the ceiling reflections!
P.S. Not to waste your time for you, but there is lots to read on the Web about the LS3/5a.
Original contents copyright 2023 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. (To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below or on the title of this post.)
Featured Comments from:
Herman Krieger: "That seems like sound advice."
Charles Rozier: "Some of the prior comments took me back in time. I was the industrial designer of the Apt Holman preamp, the Adcom amps, and various other audio components, long ago and far away."
Mike replies: Wow! That is so cool. Like having a celebrity in my audience. That was a famous preamp back in the late '70s and early '80s, designed by Tom (Tomlinson) Holman, who later became the "T" in Lucasfilm THX. He finished his career as an engineer at Apple. The Apt Holman was expensive for its era, and still measures great today after thorough servicing.
The last time I saw an Apt Holman preamp I was advising a bookstore/café on Dupont Circle about how to upgrade their store sound system. I had them buy unfinished Klipsch Heresy speakers and a few other things, but I recommended they get their old Apt Holman restored, and keep it, which they did. They got a low-key but steady stream of compliments from customers about how good the music sounded in the store (I know because my brother worked there). It's not easy to make a preamp look good, but I loved the way that one looked—all business. You did a good job. Nice that you are here!
Don Seymour: "My audiophile brother-in-law set me up with a pair of Chartwell LS3/5a's and a matching Rogers subwoofer when I was in college in the late '70s. Loved them and enjoyed them for 40-some years. Just sold them on eBay last year for many thousands, and replaced them with the KEF LS50 metas. Totally satisfied with these now. Thanks for the informative post."
Mike Plews: "In 1969 while in the Army on Okinawa I bought a Sansui AU555 integrated amp. Over the years the speakers, tape deck and turntable I also bought all got replaced, but that amp just soldiered on.
A few months back it finally failed, dropping the left side out. I figured 53 years was a pretty good run but wasn't ready to throw in the towel just yet. I took it to Nils Erickson at Rainbow Studio in Omaha. He has an analog recording studio, audio equipment store and a repair shop specializing in vintage gear. His shop is like a stereo hoarders dream. Need a Dynaco or McIntosh amp? Nils is your guy. He said he would take a run at saving my amp.I figured along with any repairs old reliable would need to be recapped.
A month later he called to say it was fixed. He said the bill would be $100 for labor. I asked about parts and he said, 'didn't need any.' Caps were fine. Turns out 53 years of following me around left a load of god knows what inside. A good cleaning and exercising of the pots and it came right back to its old self. So now it is back at work powering 30-year-old B&W speakers. Earlier this year I ripped my CD collection and transferred them to a Surfans F20 player which works great. Vinyl is handled by a wheel of steel with a fresh Ortofon Red cart. It's a nice clean mid-fi setup. I don't regard myself as an audiophile, just a happy listener.
"Gotta say I still love the sound from that old Sansui. They really knew how to build them back in the '60s. Think I'll kick back for an afternoon with Kenny Burrell."
Mike replies: I had an AU-717 for years, which was great as well. Your amp is a cult favorite for sure. If memory serves it uses transformers, like a tube amp (IANAEE*). It was built in a transition period between tubes and solid-state, and sounds like it—it's voiced like a tube amp, with that warm, lush sound that makes spoken-word sound chesty and full. People who love that sound really love it.
By the way, you are Dorian Gray and I am the portrait. Every time I buy a piece of vintage gear it breaks. When that happens, I always figure there must be someone out there somewhere who's having all the luck with old gear that that I'm not having! :-)
*I am not an electronics engineer.
As a former audiophile myself, I share your regard for the Rogers LS3/5a. From the late 1970s to the early1990s when friends and relatives asked me for assistance in assembling a HiFi system around bookshelf speakers. I would typically recommend the BBC-designed LS3/5a and a system built around them. I would start with a pair of used Rogers and go from there. They were always delighted with the way they reproduced music. Over the years, the speaker's success caused several manufacturers to license the design from the BBC, and some have sought to improve it if not always successfully. As I am downsizing my living arrangements this fall, I recently traded my floor-standing speakers for a pair of used KEF LS50s, a very different co-axial design that KEF has said was "inspired by" the LS3/5a. It is worth noting that KEF built the drivers for the original LS3/5a.
Posted by: David Elesh | Saturday, 05 August 2023 at 01:52 PM
Thirty five years ago, I went into a Tweeter Etc. to audition speakers. Based on my room size at the time and what I could afford, I ended up with a pair of Klipsch KG-2 speakers. I thought they sounded very good, especially for their size and what they cost.
And today, they sound just as good. Maybe even a little better as they’ve broken in and warmed up. The main reason they sound just as good is because I’ve never compared them to anything else; it’s all I’ve ever seriously auditioned.
You can’t want what you’re missing if you don’t know what you’re missing!
(Part of the reason I haven’t upgraded is because listening to music takes a distant back seat to making music for me. I’ve been putting my “music funds” into creating music which has just as much GAS as our photography addiction.)
Posted by: Leon Droby | Saturday, 05 August 2023 at 02:25 PM
if you think audiophile is bad enough do not jump into the 'wet' shave double edge (de) safety razor market. im am going back to this method and although there is an upfront cost associated with buying a good (as always depends on definition) razor and a good blade it apparently is slightly better for the environment than plastic based cartridge sytems and produces less razor rash. spent a few hours of internet surfing to a conclusion for me.
plenty of rabbit holes to find.
Posted by: Brian | Saturday, 05 August 2023 at 04:54 PM
Dear fellow elderly audiophiles...
I remember reading in a now defunct stereo magazine about an English audiophile who rented a car with an AM radio, was listening to some Mozart, while traveling around and realized he was finally listening to Mozart instead of listening for flaws in his home stereo system. It was revelatory!
I'm in my mid 70's, with hearing aids, but I still love my Martin Logan CLS's and 18" subwoofer that I've had for what seems like forever. I drive them with an ancient Adcom amplifier and Classe preamp. I use my computer as the source and play through an Audioengine bluetooth receiver.
I don't know whether this system still qualifies as state of the art (I remember the SOTA [state of the art] turntable) but I like it. In the day I spent lots of time and money with Simon at Audio Consultants in Evanston, Illinois. I left Illinois 44 years ago but still remember Simon with great affection. He sold me Dahlquist DQ10's, Crown Amplifier and Preamp, and a lovely 15" reel to reel Crown tape recorder as well as a Thorens table with SME arm. I spent lots of enjoyable time listening to equipment I could not afford to see how close I could come within my budget at the time.
I still enjoy listening to a wide range of music and those CLS's are still beautiful to look at as well as to listen to.
Posted by: Eric Brodu | Saturday, 05 August 2023 at 05:15 PM
Great product information for the uninitiated. With the vast amount of choices available,I’m considering all of these recommendations as a long-overdue audio “upgrade”. Thanks Mike !
Posted by: K4Kafka | Saturday, 05 August 2023 at 06:23 PM
I bought Rogers LS3/5a's for 120 pounds in 1979 in London and brought them home as checked baggage on British Airways. I wanted the VAT (then 15%) refunded, so I had to drag the box all the way to customs at Heathrow to get "proof of export", and then back to the ticket counter to check it. (I view Heathrow airport as one of the armpits of the universe.) I did get my 18 pounds of VAT back.
I love the speakers dearly, although they haven't been my main speakers for years. Never exaggerated, smooth, but with some dynamic compression. Brought them out to evaluate my wife's first made-at-home recording with a neutral speaker.
Given that they fetch $3,000 used, a very good investment.
My other speakers are Thiel CS2's whose tweeter domes have been bonked too many times, and were always too bright. I now have a preamp (Apt Holman) with tone controls, and have dialed down the treble to tame them.
So many speakers are just too bright, too tizzy. Really hard to figure out how to shop for them in this day and age. So few stores. At least I can bring the LS3/5a's to compare against what I'm evaluating.
Harry Pearson at The Absolute Sound only really raved about speakers with adjustable tweeter levels, which he'd crank up to make up for his age-related hearing loss. Many people have said his system was unbearably bright.
Posted by: John Shriver | Saturday, 05 August 2023 at 07:22 PM
I followed the link to Rogers. Couldn’t help noticing that the first item on their list on the design aspects of this speaker is Russian plywood enclosure. With some additional comments saying how the enclosure is critical for sound quality.
Not the most politically correct choice in these days.
Posted by: Ilkka | Saturday, 05 August 2023 at 08:10 PM
I come to praise well-executed small audio systems.
My wife was passively looking out for something to amplify her laptop, where she has all of her music, when we wandered into a gadget shop near our house. And lo, there it was. The Marshall Kilburn.
I admit it: I was a skeptic. The recreation of the classic Marshall guitar amp look is stunning. I simply assumed that Marshall had packaged some mediocre bits inside a pretty box they could sell for a quick buck. I was wrong.
The audio output is astounding for a speaker this size. Marshall went at this For Real. We use it mostly at home, plugged in, but the 20h battery life is plenty when having a BBQ or throwing a party on the road.
This is just a speaker. It may have a 20h battery, but it doesn't charge your phone or control your music app or whatever. It just produces excellent sound.
https://www.techradar.com/reviews/marshall-kilburn
The original Kilburn is discontinued. There is now the Kilburn II, which has more of a Marshall microphone style. I've since sourced a second original Kilburn, so you know where my loyalty lies.
Posted by: Joel Becker | Saturday, 05 August 2023 at 09:21 PM
All of these things were on my wish list decades ago, and there they remain. Always have been richer than I could afford. My listening room is fitted with a pair of Boston Acoustics "bookshelf" speakers mounted to the wall, and driven by a JVC receiver. Turntable is a Thorens TD 165; don't recall what cartridge. Cheap!
Living room TV sound is 5 channel: 4 tiny Cambridge Bose-like units, and a powered subwoofer ... that really can woof. "Avatar" really comes across nicely. Also not especially expensive. But sufficient. Just like any of my cameras.
Posted by: MikeR | Saturday, 05 August 2023 at 09:32 PM
I used to read car mags. One day I read a comparison of three high-end sporty cars whose prices were 4 or 5 times greater than the avg price of a family car at the time. After lap sessions, acceleration timings, skid pad tests, they said that each car was great in its own way. I thought to myself, at $150,000 apiece, great is the minimum they should be. I let the subscription lapse.
Posted by: Robert Roaldi | Saturday, 05 August 2023 at 10:08 PM
Chew on this: ‘twas December 1979, I was 21, three months away from meeting the woman who would become my my wife of now 43 years for the first time as she served jury duty in Brooklyn, NY. I was the court reporter on the trial. There was a few year old store, Innovative Audio. I spent a then king’s ransom on a system, Linn Sondek LP12 turntable, Naim amp and preamp, and Linn Isobarik speakers. I still have and use the turntable. Some years ago It needed a new motor. Store near me wanted 1k to look at it. I find a video showing a guy fixing it. Knew I couldn’t do it. Asked him. He wasn’t taking on any.
But there was a comment stating the guy in video knew what he was doing, but he could’ve done many more things to make it right. That comment was a year old. From where in the world it emanated I had no idea. I comment. That commenter immediately comments back. Turned out he lives 45 minutes away, installs and repairs megabuck turntables. I brought it to his house and 4 weeks later he delivered it back with brand new insides, a motor capable of playing both 33.3 and 45, all for $600.
Did I mention Elliot Fishkin still owns and operates Innovative Audio in Manhattan, NY some almost 50 years later?
Posted by: Mark | Saturday, 05 August 2023 at 10:47 PM
It has been observed that:
Posted by: Globules | Sunday, 06 August 2023 at 12:23 AM
This and the discussion about the price of cameras needs an auto comment about prices too.
I just read in Autoweek that Porsche has a new 911 model - the 911 S/T- which you probably can't have unless you already ordered yours, ready to pay the $291,650 price tag.
Consider this - the 911 has been around 60 years and this model cost ~60 times what the original model cost!
(https://www.autoweek.com/news/a44704157/2024-porsche-911-lightweight-special-edition/)
Posted by: JH | Sunday, 06 August 2023 at 01:34 AM
Mike, further to our previously noted differences, here is another...
Good as they are, those BBC LS3/5a's were improved by Ivor Tiefenbrun MBE, the owner of Linn Products, which was formerly known as Castle Engineering.
He removed the port and instead housed the same drivers in a steel braced sealed box, to be mounted on stands (spiked top and bottom) as close to the wall of the room as possible. Before Ivor started to make his own amplifiers he recommended the use of the Naim Nac32 pre-amp, Snaps Power supply (later the HiCap), and for power, initially a Nap160, until Naim produced the Nap250, and finally the Nap135, of which for stereo, you need at least two.
This was my first proper reproduction system back in 1972. (My first system, bought with my paper round earnings), was a Pioneer PL12D, a Trio KA2000a, and Celestion Ditton 15 speakers.
Since around 1979, when I met Ivor at my local store, I have been using Linn Sara's, the only speaker 'upgrade' that I ever made, apart from a short period when I used the full sized Linn Isobarik, until my wife "ordered me" to get rid. These are speakers that you feel, as well as hear, they send shudders right through you.
The Sara is named after his daughter, who at the time he described as "very small, and very loud".
I have had a couple of different power amps though. Currently I am using Electrocompaniet's "The 2 channel audio power amplifier", which has just been serviced, a process which took months. In its place I was using a Linn Klout, Linn's final analogue power amp, which probably (after the Electro), is the second best power amplifier.
I don't care so much for their current crop of products, although the turntable is still the greatest, and I do like the Majik 140's, I don't have any LP's, but the LP12, with a high mass tone arm and one of his moving coil cartridges, is still the finest turntable. The whole point of that product is the precision employed in the design, manufacture and mechanical isolation of the main bearing. Take any amp/speaker combination and front it with an LP12 and the difference is staggering.
A good friend of mine, who owns Billy Vee Sound Systems (the site for sore ears) has been to the Linn factory many times, where the isolation table stands on a very thick concrete floor, and where all of his product line begins. We Brits, do not do much that is good (any more), but we still make the best music reproduction systems. Unfortunately his long time failing sight, has now failed completely.
Finally, I should add that I also have Crohn's, so I know exactly how Ivor feels, it defines my life and there is still no cure, I have had 3ft of my small bowel and 6" of my large bowel removed, and the disease has just moved further up, any more surgery and I will have to use an ileo-stoma bag permanently, seven months of which, before the above procedure was enough for any man, it is hellish.
---------------------
As I write this, I am listening to "El Zim" croak his way through "Planet Waves" which is how I start most days. By the way, my favourite track is "Never say goodbye", not to detract from the rest of the album, which doesn't have a weak song anywhere.
Twilight on the frozen lake
North wind about to break
On footprints in the snow
Silence down below.
You're beautiful beyond words
You're beautiful to me
You can make me cry
Never say goodbye.
Time is all I have to give
You can have it if you choose
With me you can live
Never say goodbye.
My dreams are made of iron and steel
With a big bouquet
Of roses hanging down
From the heavens to the ground.
The crashing waves roll over me
As I stand upon the sand
Wait for you to come
And grab hold of my hand.
Oh, baby, baby, baby blue
You'll change your last name, too
You've turned your hair to brown
Love to see it hangin' down.
---------------------------
Kool Aid...? maybe....
But still "Pure genius".
Posted by: Stephen Jenner | Sunday, 06 August 2023 at 03:28 AM
I recognised "LS3/5a" immediately, having started hi-fi in the 1960s and going through B&W, Garrard, Shure, SME, Revox and Nakamichi, with home built amps and pre-amps.
I never owned LS3/5as but I did own Spendor BC1s for some years. I can still recall the 'clang' of piano strings on these.
These days I listen to all my 1,000 or more CDs from my hard drives through a pair of Chinese made Edifier bookshelf speakers with built-in 20W amps and that's all it takes to satisfy me. Digital music, like digital images, it's all fine with me.
I have to chuckle whenever I see cordless speakers and components with BlueTooth connections. Whatever happened to all the worries about $1,000 OFC speaker cables etc? What cables? Ho ho ho.
Posted by: Peter Croft | Sunday, 06 August 2023 at 03:41 AM
...One more thing Mike.
Further to my Bob Dylan zeal, I neglected to mention two other giants.
Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen, both of whom have earned on earth, God like status.
Honourable mention to Neil Young, who amongst the dross, also mined a couple of gold nuggets.
What is it about Canada, (OK Bob Dylan from the US side of that border), that does that?
Unless someone has already done this, it would be a great project for a university thesis.
Oh and why did they all migrate to Laurel Canyon?
Posted by: Stephen Jenner | Sunday, 06 August 2023 at 04:17 AM
A factor that has influenced my enjoyment of my audio system, far more than I would have ever anticipated, is convenience. My 'main system' is a pair of Edifier active monitors that replaced a BlueSky MediaDesk 2.1 active monitor system. The BlueSkys were great... once the sub had been adjusted properly, the speaker binding knobs had been retightened, the correct audio source had been connected (only one pair of unbalanced RCA inputs) and I had crawled under the desk to power them up and down by the switch on the rear of the sub (the inputs were under there too, as the amp was built into the sub enclosure). With all this done, a well-mastered recording would sound amazing. When using them as my 'background music' speaker while working, I would often pause work, having become lost in the music! Poor recordings would sound simply awful. This happened more often than I would have thought, particularly with ‘home-made’ dance music but also with the occasional mainstream tracks. The reliance on mastering quality is a big differentiator between domestic hi-fi equipment and 'professional' systems like the Blue Skys - the studio monitors will reveal all flaws. This realisation, in addition to the hassle to just switch them on (and then off again) and the shin-bruisingly large sub under the desk became a barrier to me ‘bothering’ to use them. So they were sold and a pair of Edifier R1855 were purchased. While the Edifiers cannot even begin to approach the ‘peak’ performance of the BlueSky system, they sound good with everything, produce enough bass without a sub, and have multiple inputs allowing me to switch between my laptop, phone (Bluetooth) and DJ equipment easily. As a consequence, I use them far more often than my BlueSky system. If you had asked me previously whether convenience would even factor into my thinking for audio systems I would’ve have told you not at all. Yet here I am. As Steve Job’s said “People don’t know what they want until you show it to them.”. Or Henry Ford “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.”
Posted by: Andreas | Sunday, 06 August 2023 at 09:12 AM
I've owned one of those Musical Fidelity amps since the early '90s. I bought it because I liked the design so thought it must also sound good.
Posted by: Mark | Sunday, 06 August 2023 at 09:34 AM
Hi Mike, some of the legend of the LS3/5A is just that: legend, as opposed to realities.
The BBC back then were committed to flat frequency response as their target. Dr Floyd Toole, the preeminent living audio researcher, said that “from the beginning of audio a flat on axis curve was the target of rational minds, including the BBC. It was not always achieved because of technical limitations.”
This applied to the LS3/5A too, except for lack of bass due to size. The reason many samples of the BBC product measured not very flat was the extremely poor quality control. Toole again: “Production variations in drivers was a problem and it was obvious that the much-touted BBC quality control was simply not being done… Production variations in the drivers, especially the B110 was the dominant culprit.”
Also, their off axis sound was poor, but was less of a problem when used as intended as a voice monitor in a highly damped recording studio with lots of room treatment. At home in a normal room, off axis sound is really important to the perception of good sound quality. The LS3/5A is not suited for in-home use, and never was intended to be.
Of course, that doesn’t stop drinkers of the legendary koolaid from paying crazy money for old originals of something that is quite substandard, and “dreaming the dream” of how much they love listening to it. Sad but true.
The idea that inaccurate loudspeakers can be made to sound magical, has failed the test of truth every time it has been tested, as long as it is tested in controlled listening tests where the listeners can’t see when they are listening to “the legend” and basically hypnotise themselves into biting an onion and thinking it tastes sweeter than the sweetest apple. Also sad but true.
Cheers
[The LS3/5a never had a flat frequency response. It had a midbass "hump" in the FR to create the illusion of deeper bass. That's the way a lot of radios (and pop music mixes, and now computer speakers) do it too, so it's a very familiar sound to most consumers. To say the LS3/5a is "not suite for home use" is ludicrous. It's true that it's not suited for GENERAL home use, but in a small room or in the near field it's as suitable as any other small passive speaker. It's been used in homes from the start, and has been produced by more than fourteen different companies for 48 years, including many who work hard to optimize build quality and QC (with extravagant prices to match). Who do you think is buying all those LS3/5a's, hordes of sound engineers? It's a very rare product that receives that much love from the marketplace for so long. One might say it's the Leica M of loudspeakers. --Mike]
Posted by: Arg | Sunday, 06 August 2023 at 10:47 AM
Contrarian music-lover here. It is fluff like this quote from Halide that turned me away from this expensive hobby; "As with the other Halide products, the DAC HD is cryogenically treated to maximize the sonics. Cryogenic treatement results in a smoother, more resolved sound."
Oh good lawd! Like people putting green marker on the edges of their CDs...
[Yes, there's an extraordinary amount of hokum, marketing, and bluster in hifi (as well as some psychological pathologies), but some "tweaks" have been later proved to have a basis in fact (read up on jitter, to name one example). In general it's better to listen than than to make up your mind on the basis of ratiocination. Because there can be just as much error embedded in the reactions of those who assume that unconventional thinking has to be wrong. --Mike]
Posted by: MarkB | Sunday, 06 August 2023 at 10:51 AM
I have the same AudioEngine speaker setup as you, except I have an ifi Zen DAC. I stream Apple Lossless music through it, and am generally happy with it. I was a high end audio salesman in college, and a diehard audiophile for decades. A couple of observations. Part of the attraction/addiction of the rabbit holes you went down is the associated ritual involved with them—the coffee is a great example. Everything from sourcing “special” beans, to custom roasting, grinding them in only the best grinder, and let’s not even go down the brewing method hole—all an important ritual that can give one meaning, identity, and something to do! Now you find you no longer need that ritual—maybe it’s a relief to be done with it?
I’m going through something similar with film photography. Over the last 5 years I went down multiple rabbit holes collecting cool film cameras, having the best guru of that camera do a CLA on it, finding and using the best processing gear, reading all the old literature on darkroom chemistry and making my own, and don’t get me going on the HUGE film scanning rabbit hole! I also am a member and dispense advice on film and processing forums. This has filled my cabinets and sucked up much of my free time (not to mention emptying my bank account). The other day I decided I’m done with it and am selling off all this stuff. Why? It’s gotten in the way of me actually making photographs! It’s replaced it. And it feels too OCD to me. The decision is actually a relief, though I will miss some of the online community social aspects.
Lastly, regarding audio, I strongly suspect that my satisfaction with my computer audio setup is that my hearing is pretty bad these days! I played in rock bands during the Hendrix era and went to dozens of rock concerts of all the great bands where I sat in the front without ear protection and I left with ears ringing. I used to turn up my nose at any audio gear that didn’t produce a flat tone response curve out to 20, 000 +/- 1 db. My hearing tests now show I fall off a cliff at 4000 and I have tinnitus. Yes hearing aids are tuned to compensate for this, but my old ears are pretty corroded. 20,000 k is wasted on me except in my imagination! I’m sure there are a number of other aspects of my life that this is true for. I’ve learned adjust and accept my reality and move on enjoying my life. =)
Posted by: Steve Rosenblum | Sunday, 06 August 2023 at 11:25 AM
I went the slightly high end audio route for a while. Still have my system (Primaluna amp, MingDa preamp, Project turntable, Focal floorstanding speakers, etc.). Almost never use it.
For a fraction of the cost of all of the above I obtained a very nice collection of headphones (AKG,Grado, Sennheiser, and HifiMan) and a few tube amps (Bottlehead, Woo Audio, and Little Dot). Glorious sound even with my old, tinnitus infected ears. Great fun mixing and matching 'phones and amps for different music. Not something I could ever afford to do with a speaker-based system.
As a bonus, it doesn't bother my wife when I decide I need some Stones at volume.
Posted by: Roger | Sunday, 06 August 2023 at 12:07 PM
Mike, Your post here is a breath of fresh air! You are an influencer from the other end of the ‘buy this’ spectrum. (Unfortunately no advertisers will back you for that very reason). You are simply pointing out that enjoying music is separate from enjoying engineering products (although that’s fine too), just like with photography.
Most of us know that engineering having moved at quite a pace over the last 50 years, what you can buy now easily surpasses what you could get for the same equivalent $$ back then. (Unless you buy the wrong thing of course). Rendering amp lust, lens lust, etc. a bit pointless.
In the interests of supporting music listening, I suggest three books for your readers:
1. How to Listen to Jazz (by Ted Gioia)
This is a simply excellent introduction to music at a basic level for non-musicians. He describes what to listen for in a Jazz recording and some the history of the idiom. Great starter.
2. The History of Jazz (also by Ted Gioia)
It took me about a year to read this 500+ page book using my Tidal subscription to follow what he was describing. I enjoyed many an afternoon learning as I listened. Even if it was bought for reference purposes only it is still a “must have” for anyone interested in Jazz.
3. Sound Reproduction Third Edition (by Floyd Toole)
The subtitle is: The Acoustics and Psychoacoustics Loudspeakers and Rooms. You don’t need a technical background to follow the nearly 500 page book, nor do you need to read it end to end. Toole is perhaps the best known and probably most experienced researcher on the topic. Well worth owning a copy.
Posted by: Peter Wright | Sunday, 06 August 2023 at 01:55 PM
My brief exploration of good-enough audio started with the purchase of two AR3 speakers to furnish my college dorm room as a freshman in 1959. Along with a Gerrard changer which at some point got replaced or augmented by an AR turntable. A big Sony reel tape deck came along a few years later. Never saw the need for better. The AR's survived an apartment fire, moved with me through several cities and are now in a lab in Israel, helping grad students make it through long working nights.
I am curious, though, to know what distinguished the LS3/5as from their preceding generation. Would I have heard the difference if I had turned my first real salary checks into the newer stuff?
Posted by: scott kirkpatrick | Sunday, 06 August 2023 at 02:12 PM
Hi Mike,
Here's a place where you can sell your audio equipment:
https://www.usaudiomart.com/
Posted by: Andre Moreau | Sunday, 06 August 2023 at 02:26 PM
I started out similarly to you with a Dual 1218 TT, Kenwood KA6004 integrated amp and Advent OLAs.
I have a nice separates system that I really enjoy listening to music. Now I just adjust based on technology. DACs have now come to the point of being really good and rivaling the LP experience. The WiiM Pro streamer is a screaming bargain at $149.99 (don't use the built in DAC).
Posted by: Dan | Sunday, 06 August 2023 at 03:15 PM
My first "real" system after getting out of the Army in 1972. Got a civilian job that paid 6 times what Uncle Sam gave me.
Marantz 2270 w/Walnut case..paid $700..today Ebay $2000+
Dual 1219 turntable with dust cover and ?? cartridge..?paid maybe $400?..today Ebay $300
Wollensak 4765 (3M)..paid ?..today Ebay MAYBE $75
Finally, the biggest investment in the system;
A pair of Infinity Monitor IIa/2A floor-standing monsters..gold plated Walsh tweeters..exceptional performance, outrageous BULK!! Paid $1000/pr..today Ebay..asking $1500 plus $200 shipping
My total investment approx. $2400..today..$4000..
WHO WOULD HAVE GUESSED?
Of course, that rivals a 1990 Leica M6 in crazy appreciation, or worse eh?
Posted by: Michael | Sunday, 06 August 2023 at 04:21 PM
I started reading about hi-fi as a student in the mid-1980s and bought a very modest setup with Dual turntable and Mordaunt Short MS10 speakers. A few years later I bought a secondhand Rega Planar turntable and, thanks to a friend of a friend in the audio industry, upgraded my integrated amp and bookshelf speakers without breaking the bank.
The upgrade wasn't huge but it felt worthwhile - John came my house and did a side-by-side comparison. By that point I'd come to feel that appreciation of the music in the recording was the most important element; that I definitely had a hardware chain that provided an enjoyable experience.
By that time I suspected that spending a lot money on the pursuit of a marginally 'better' sound quality (if that's what it really was) meant there would less money to spend on new music, which is surely the most important thing! And I feared that if I continued to read the hi-fi press I would never be satisfied as it existed solely to sell me more hardware.
Nowadays I mostly listen to streamed music and youtube uploads on the laptop with £10 earbuds and try not to think of what I might be missing.
Posted by: Simon | Sunday, 06 August 2023 at 04:34 PM
Left turn: On the subject of "off axis sound", does anyone have listening experience with Ohm designed Walsh speakers? I've always thought this verical cone shaped design would be excellent for listening to off axis as one is moving about inside a living space. Does anyone out there have first hand experience to share on Ohm Walsh speakers?
Posted by: jp41 | Sunday, 06 August 2023 at 05:04 PM
HiFi in retirement: https://www.youtube.com/@cheapaudioman
Posted by: Frank Grygier | Sunday, 06 August 2023 at 06:25 PM
I've lived in a very narrow Victorian terrace house for 30 years and am practically restricted to speakers that sit against walls. I've found my circa mid 1980s Allison 2 speakers still hold up pretty well - the reflected sound isn't as accurately "placed" as many modern speakers but having listened to a lot of live music in a lot of concert halls which rarely precisely places sound, have learned just to enjoy the music. If they die before I do, I've got my eye on some Larsen speakers, which seem to be a more modern incarnation of the same ideas.
Posted by: Bear. | Sunday, 06 August 2023 at 08:44 PM
Hi Mike, here is the frequency response of the original LS3/5A: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-WAhzh8j-8K1U__acvEnC721s1LpQ5bG/view?usp=share_link
Or, of one sample...given the poor quality control issue.
Clearly, looking across the whole spectrum, the aim was to be generally flat. The highest point in the bass is no higher than all the frequencies above 1000 Hz. If anything, there is a hollowing out of the midrange. Which never sounds good in terms of balance, but might help an engineer to monitor what is happening in the higher frequencies.
The deviations from flat are purely because of the limited loudspeaker technology of the day. If the BBC were to design a speaker for the same purpose from scratch today, with the same objective "for monitoring of outside broadcasts by engineers in small control rooms eg mobile broadcasting vans, focusing on sound quality between 400 Hz to 20,000 Hz", there is no way they would would make anything faintly resembling the sound limitations of the LS3/5A...they wouldn't touch it with a barge pole.
This has got nothing to do with listening to good sound at home, today. It has everything to do with myth, legend, and mystique. Don't get sucked in by the fact-free-zone section of audiophilia! Everything ever written by Stereophile magazine people about it, is not worth the cost of paper used. It is not nicknamed "Stereophool Magazine" for nothing.
cheers
Posted by: Arg | Sunday, 06 August 2023 at 10:51 PM
Poor Steve Huff (sigh)!
[I'm reluctant to publish this because I don't know what you mean or what this refers to, but hey, this is the Comments section and this is your comment, so, okay. --Mike]
Posted by: Anton Wilhelm Stolzing | Monday, 07 August 2023 at 04:20 AM
Mike, I have a pair of white AudioEngine A5+ speakers bought under your influence about 10 years ago :) I'm still very pleased with the sound quality. They were in my bedroom until last year, when I had to move them to the living room to match the new white bookcases. I wanted new wireless speakers for the bedroom, but the bluetooth version of the A5 was out of my price range. Eventually, I bought a pair of much cheaper Edifier S1000MKII exclusively for their looks hoping that the sound would be good enough for my aging ears. To my surprise, they sound much better than I expected. Highly recommended!
Posted by: Alex G. | Monday, 07 August 2023 at 08:04 AM
Back in the late 1970's speakers from a Hungarian company, the Videoton Minimax II, were being touted by the critics as the Eastern Bloc answer to the LS3/5A but at a fraction of the pricetag. I bought a pair in 1977 for the same price as my new Rega turntable (just over 100 Canadian bucks a pair).
They still sound great today with that same Rega Planar 2 turntable playing some seventies jazz.
https://zstereo.co.uk/2018/10/20/videotone-minimax/
Posted by: Bruce Walker | Monday, 07 August 2023 at 11:18 AM
@Mark re: Innovative Audio
Circa 1970 I was an undergraduate at Stony Brook University on Long Island and Elliot was a friend of a friend. He was looking for campus reps to distribute his private label speakers, which I agreed to do. I never sold any, perhaps because they weren’t very good, but I did wind up with a free pair which I used for many years as secondary room speakers in my homes.
I’ve walked past the Manhattan store many times in the last several years but never went in.
Posted by: Scott | Monday, 07 August 2023 at 06:35 PM
Coincidentally, I revived my HiFi interest when Covid hit and have been enjoying it ever since. As part of that 2channel system, I purchased a pair of the Falcon Acoustics LS3/5a Silver Badge Edition (BBC Licensed). Falcon was started by Malcom Jones, who, while working at KEF designed the drivers that were used in the original BBC LS3/5a. The Falcon drivers are exactly as Malcom designed back at KEF. VERY highly recommended.
When I got back into this hobby, I purchased the Sound Artist Chinese homage version of the LS3/5a - surprisingly good for much less money. While not exactly an LS3/5a, they are more alike than not with a great midrange. They are part of a bedroom system.
While I now have 3 sets of speakers I rotate listening to, the Falcon Acoustic LS3/5a’s are magical and my forever speakers, the others may go, but these are here to stay.
Posted by: Mark Kinsman | Tuesday, 08 August 2023 at 12:33 AM
I hope Charles is retired. Compared to the Holman most modern preamps have a pretty bare chassis design. So a designer wouldn't have much "designing" to do on the panel and not much pay for the work. Current high end preamps seem to have a power and selector switch and a volume knob.
Posted by: Mike Cawley | Tuesday, 08 August 2023 at 04:09 PM
I do not propagate exorbitantly expensive gear - be it stereo or photo for that matter - but in general one gets what he pays for. Recently I upgraded from my old B&W loudspeakers to Magneplanars. The smallest, cheapest model by the way, bought second hand. What a relevation for classic music and „kammer jazz“! I would not try to listen to e.g. 1842 on my laptop.
Btw the Law of Diminishing Returns applies here and everywhere. Although nearing my seventies, I still occasionally use my H6D 100, because of those images! Certainly, bought it second hand too, catalogue price would not be in my reach. Yes, it has shortcomings, above allit is big and heavy, One always can find a hair in the soup. but for those photogenic landscapes max. 500 meters from the car…
Posted by: Robert | Wednesday, 09 August 2023 at 07:16 AM
Hello
I have had my LS3/5a since 1979. Two years ago I.upgraded the pair with new drivers, tweeters units and new crossovers. All supplied by Falcon
They are superb speakers and I have a B&W ABC. Which takes care of the bass. Rega turntable with Ortofon moving coil and a totally refurbished NAD 3020 amp
Alan
Posted by: Alan Hird | Wednesday, 09 August 2023 at 03:19 PM