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Harbeth P3ESR vs LS3/5A

A

anderson4209

pfm Member
hi all, ive been using harbeth p3esr for a while now and tried my ram ls3/5a , on first listen they sounded good, open, detailed, and good vocals, but after a while i found them to be only good on good recordings, on poor recordings, poor,the harbeths are good on almost everything, i dont think i could ever go back to ls3/5a, what do other members think, regards, peter.
 
I haven't done a direct A/B but have heard a few LS3/5As over the years, a pair of Chartwells being my favourites.

I have P3ESRs at home, they are IMO a far better speaker than the LS3/5A, a very balanced all rounder, quite weighty for their size and quick which I like, I cant't think of a better stand mount for the money, though the KEF LS50 is a nice speaker at half the cost.

I flip between my Kans and P3s.
 
Wouldn't argue with Gaius at all. I would only apend that the universal advice to listen for yourself is especially important here as you are looking at two really great stand mounts (three with the LS50's) and matters of taste are really important when dealing with products of this quality.
 
I've owned more little British speakers than you've had hot meals.

I currently own LS50's, P3ESR's and Spendor S3/5R2's.

The Spendors are my favorite, hands down. Sure, the KEF's play a lot louder and are great on reggae, electronic, etc. But the Spendors are SO NATURAL. They remind me of my Quads.
 
The Spendor S3/5R is probably the small speaker I'd most like to hear. Would be fun to stick a pair up against my extensively rebuilt JR149s at some point...

I very much like the Kef LS50 based on hearing a friend's pair, though I couldn't live with the looks!
 
Tony L said:
The Spendor S3/5R is probably the small speaker I'd most like to hear. Would be fun to stick a pair up against my extensively rebuilt JR149s at some point...

I very much like the Kef LS50 based on hearing a friend's pair, though I couldn't live with the looks!
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You might be thinking 'I'll get used to it' but I never did. I hate that orange pumpkin halloween nonsense more every day.

WTF were they thinking? They'd be awesome with silver-grey drivers, or black, or anthracite grey, etc.

BUT ORANGE? SERIOUSLY?
 
anderson4209 said:
looks like i now have a pair of ls3/5as to sell along with my broken 124.
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There are speakers that are better in some ways to the LS3/5a, that's been true for 40 years.

We are just now seeing speakers that are 'like' the LS3/5a, but are just better speakers. The P3ESR, for example. But of all the 'LS3/5a look-alikes' my favorite is the Spendor.

Funny, 15 years ago I had the original S3/5 and it was very nice but I don't think it was as good as an LS3/5a. The S3/5R2? Better.
 
I wouldn't be quite as bothered by the color of the driver in the LS50 if they just made a grille to cover the bloody thing. One that you could easily take off if you are so inclined. I imagine it wouldn't be too hard to come up with one though really.

My thoughts on the differences between LS3/5a and the P3's, I feel the mid-bass/bass end of the LS3/5a is the limiting factor, the P3's will play louder and have to my ears a better punch factor to them. Regardless, I like both but would give my nod to the P3's long term.

Haven't heard the Spendor but would like to at some point.
 
In my situation (crossed over to a stereo pair of lf units) my preference is:
1) LS50 - fabulous on female vocals, very good all round
2) LS3/5As - good all round but needs careful partnering to reduce the effect of the slightly nasal midrange
3) P3ESR - overdamped sound. Very clean and clear but ultimately bland.

Never heard the Spendors but would like to.
 
Jodet said:
I've owned more little British speakers than you've had hot meals.

I currently own LS50's, P3ESR's and Spendor S3/5R2's.

The Spendors are my favorite, hands down. Sure, the KEF's play a lot louder and are great on reggae, electronic, etc. But the Spendors are SO NATURAL. They remind me of my Quads.
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Hi Jodet,

Can you tell us what music you listen to please, also what area's you think the Spendor's beat the others at.

Thank you, Phil.
 
Which all goes to show it's a matter of taste. i spent some time with the Spendors and found them disappointing - they sounded like the small speakers they were in a medium-sized room. My homelade LS3/5a s were a more involving, if less tonally accurate, listen. I also have some Harbeths, but can't really comment as have only heard them a couple of times.

None of the speakers could hold a candle to the Sonus Faber Minimas, which remain the best small speakers I've heard by quite a margin. That includes the new Kefs.
 
S-Man said:
In my situation (crossed over to a stereo pair of lf units) my preference is:
1) LS50 - fabulous on female vocals, very good all round
2) LS3/5As - good all round but needs careful partnering to reduce the effect of the slightly nasal midrange
3) P3ESR - overdamped sound. Very clean and clear but ultimately bland.

Never heard the Spendors but would like to.
Click to expand...

Dave, is my memory correct that you only listened to the P3s crossed over to your ZRB system? In which case you were cutting out the mid to upper bass emphasis that is a key part of their sound and provides some warmth to complement their mid-range clarity.

Personally, I find the LS50 vs PSESR comparison quite interesting and extremely context dependent. In some ways I've preferred the LS50 in my systems as stand ins for ESL 63s or the larger Harbeths, since with the P3s I miss the weight, particularly on saxophones - they can't really get the depth of a tenor.

In contrast, I took the LS50s around to a friend's very good P3ESR system, where he uses them as near field monitors. The LS50s were just completely embarrassed; they seemed slow, bloated, lacking clarity and incisiveness. They really did nothing that came close the P3s, and this was with an amp that could easily drive them both.

I also really liked Ian's P3/Croft system at Scalford. And I also really liked Mark (Gauis)'s P3s with Naim 202/200. Both of these systems had a great synergy, although quite different sounds.

Very keen to hear these little Spendors now.
 
Yes, I only tried the P3s with my bass system. I guess I should have tried them on their own, but I know that I would not be satisfied with the LS50 used that way.

BTW, Mike has been running ESL63s (with ZRB) for a few months. I have a real problem with the "letterbox" sound of them (poor vertical dispersion), he does not seem at all concerned about this. Just shows that we all hear things differently and like different things! In fact it's not surprising there are so many opinions on things when you also add the variations due to kit matching and of course room interactions.
 
PhilofCas said:
Hi Jodet,

Can you tell us what music you listen to please, also what area's you think the Spendor's beat the others at.

Thank you, Phil.
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I listen to classical, film scores, classic rock, world music, jazz, electronic, new age, vocal.... a little bit of everything.

But mostly classical. Piano, guitar, harp, symphonies, string quartets, organ, .... you get the idea.

If I listened for half an hour I'd take the LS-50's.

If I listened for two hours I'd take the Harbeths.

After listening for four hours I'd take the Spendors. They sound better at lower volumes (something the Harbeth is also very good at). They have a wonderful presentation on symphonic music. They layer the soundstage nicely. I never get tired of them, but at first listen you'll think the others are more 'exciting'.

After living with Quads for three years I've come to appreciate low-level listening and total lack of any 'fatigue factor'.

These are all super good speakers, it's close. But I do love the Spendors the best.

Edit: One last thing I almost forgot - they're the best looking of the three!
 
I have both Harbeth P3 ESRs and Rogers LS 3/5As (and Harbeth M30s).

I marginally prefer the Harbeth P3s over the Rogers, as I think they are smoother and have slightly better imaging. I've compared them with my Quad 33/303 and Jadis Orchestra amps and came to the same conclusion. However, it's not 'night and day' and I could (and do) live quite happily with both.

I think one potential problem with LS3/5As is greater variability due to ageing and going off speck. If I were in the market for LS3/5As I think I'd go for one of the current production versions. I've had the Sterling Broadcast versions and they seemed slightly less congested and went louder than the Rogers.

I heard an early pair of Spendor S3/5s some years ago and remember being unimpressed. I'd be interested to hear the current version.

PS another advantage of the Harbeths is that I find them easier to integrate with a sub, should that be a consideration
 
Jodet said:
I listen to classical, film scores, classic rock, world music, jazz, electronic, new age, vocal.... a little bit of everything.

But mostly classical. Piano, guitar, harp, symphonies, string quartets, organ, .... you get the idea.

If I listened for half an hour I'd take the LS-50's.

If I listened for two hours I'd take the Harbeths.

After listening for four hours I'd take the Spendors. They sound better at lower volumes (something the Harbeth is also very good at). They have a wonderful presentation on symphonic music. They layer the soundstage nicely. I never get tired of them, but at first listen you'll think the others are more 'exciting'.

After living with Quads for three years I've come to appreciate low-level listening and total lack of any 'fatigue factor'.

These are all super good speakers, it's close. But I do love the Spendors the best.

Edit: One last thing I almost forgot - they're the best looking of the three!
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Thanks very much, real good info., they're probably the 3 speakers i'll be trying out next. I listen to the likes of: Beck, Air, Paul Weller, 80's electronic, general rock and pop, Blur (most recently, Think Tank and Albarn's The Good The Bad and The Queen), RHCP's, Bjork, Genesis, Kraftwerk, Nirvana, Belle and Sebastian, Noah and the Whale, LCD Sound System, 70's club/disco, Talking Heads, etc etc. Also, just discovered Ween and Meat Puppets, like a lot of what they both do - in summary, no classical or jazz, lot's of other shite :D. I'm swayed to the P3's, but baulk at the price a bit, they're speakers I've had on my radar far too long.
 
Would love to hear the Spendors too. I have found that the P3ESR have beaten everything so far, in my rooms, and recent systems in the last couple of years.

The competition has been tough - LS50 / M30.1 / Kan 1 / Kudos S10-20 / Shahinian Arc / Elf / and various Proacs. The P3s aren't perfect at all, but they're speakers I return to again and again to hear a smooth, balanced sound, and most importantly, music!

The newer Spendors sound good though, and very good value too. Never heard LS3/5A but I guess by now (as mentioned earlier) there's a lot of variation in the models floating around these days.

I'd say my 3 favourite speakers to date are the P3s, Kans and more recently, Shahinian Super Elf. Having fun rotating all of them!
 
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