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Falcon v Graham ( and Stirling ? )

Martyn Miles

pfm Member
The subject of the new Falcon Acoustics LS3/5 has been well aired on this Forum, with input from one member who has a pair of the Falcon '3/5as.
The Graham Audio 'Chartwell' LS3/5 has also been widely discussed. I was going to Hidden Systems in Hampshire to listen to a pair of the Chartwells, but bought a used pair of Harbeth P3-ESRs in the end.
As a former owner of various LS3/5as in the past, I would love to hear the Falcon and Graham models together on a system I knew.
I know the Falcon well, as I built a kit when they were available.
The Falcon has garnered universal praise and the Graham similarly so. It would appear no Forum members have bought a pair of Grahams. £1,600 is a lot of money...
The Falcons are now over £2,000.
I suppose I ought to put the Stirling Broadcast LS3/5a V2 into this discussion, as that has been well received.
I know some Forum members own a pair.
I tried to persuade HFN to do a modern 'shootout' on the modern LS3/5a models, but they declined for reasons they wouldn't divulge.
In conclusion, I like the LS3/5a very much but will continue to use my Harbeth 'ESRs.
I would like to hear these other, well regarded, speakers though...
 
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I wonder how the LS3/5 is doing in the sales figures? No Graham Audio speakers are low priced, but they do seem to have found a market for the 'BBC sound.'
Of course, Harbeth and Spendor are also addressing that market.
 
The Stirling Broadcast LS3/5a V2 is now a bargain compared to the Graham/Falcons - pandering to bbc enamoured Asian market; good luck to them
 
The Stirling Broadcast LS3/5a V2 is now a bargain compared to the Graham/Falcons - pandering to bbc enamoured Asian market; good luck to them

I was communicating with Doug recently and he said he has many pairs of LS3/5a V2s boxed up and ready to go.
He is such a friendly and helpful guy.
 
The Stirling Broadcast LS3/5a V2 is now a bargain compared to the Graham/Falcons - pandering to bbc enamoured Asian market; good luck to them

The Falcon's are a hair better than the Stirlings, but at the current prices they are very hard to recommend.
 
The Falcon's are a hair better than the Stirlings, but at the current prices they are very hard to recommend.

yeah
they priced themselves out of the market imo. asking more then harbeth for a ls35a is business suicide, no matter how good the small ls35a from Falcon or Graham sound.
 
The Grahams were listened to by an ex. BBC lady whom a friend of mine knows.
Janine ? I have forgotten her surname.

She worked in R3/4 editing for a long time, using LS3/5as
and had an opportunity to listen to the Grahams.

Her conclusion was very positive.
Not surprising is it ?
 
yeah
they priced themselves out of the market imo. asking more then harbeth for a ls35a is business suicide, no matter how good the small ls35a from Falcon or Graham sound.

I think the Falcons are too expensive now you can only buy them from dealers, but they are a more expensive speaker due to using such specialist drivers hand made in-house. Harbeth buy-in their tweeters (and they are not an expensive model) and I assume have a far greater economy of scale making their bass units etc. The Graham again uses bought-in drivers.

The Falcon is the only proper LS3/5A on the market as they are the only company making proper B110s and T27s. I think they made a terrible mistake moving to dealer sales as that is the point the price jumped from around 1450 quid to well over £2k! Most people who want a pair of LS3/5As know they want them and don't need to fart about with dems etc, so why pay the extra? I have to admit I wish I'd bought a pair at the introductory price of £1250, I was tempted, though I'd only just rebuilt my JR149s (using the same Falcon units) so felt it was perhaps a bit too similar a speaker!
 
I wish I'd bought a pair of the Falcon Acoustics LS3/5as upon release, at £1,250, at the same time I bought the kit for £823. No shipping cost, as Jerry B. delivered it to me. Great guy.

Re. Graham, Volt speakers made the B110 look-alike to Derek Hughes' spec.

I'm glad I am no longer in the market for LS3/5as or one of their close competitors.
The HL-P3ESRs are staying!
 
im also slapping myself. when I was in the market for a kit, I decided to build jeff bagby continuum over the Falcon
what a mistake
 
The Falcon LS3/5a kit I bought was, with hindsight, a bargain. When Jerry delivered it we chatted for a long time about the subtleties of design and construction. I spent an inordinate amount of time carefully constructing the kit. My Father, a Watchmaker, taught me the value of taking things slowly.

When I'd finished ( and listening to them very closely ) it was a bit of a jaw-dropping moment. Previous LS3/5as were good ( and very good ) but these Falcons were a definite step forward. I was going to keep them, but a friend was looking for a pair of '3/5as and I didn't want him to go down the try a Rogers, then a Spendor, etc. road.
He was so taken with them and they have pride of place in his main system.
He has bought two more pairs of '3/5as ( Rogers 15 ohm & Spendor 11 ohm ) but the Falcons are best, he says.

This is controversial, but they actually may be worth over £2,000.

After all, the 'LS3/5a Obsessives' in the Far East will pay more than that for a rare pair of Chartwells LS3/5as.
No wonder Graham Audio acquired the Chartwell name.
 
Martyn, I'm particularly interested in the (Stirling) approach -of pulling modern drivers, traditional cabinet build and crossovers together to meet the BBC spec.
Like you I ended up with HLP3ESRs (after living with the Spendor S3/5R) and I'd love to hear how the Stirling V2 compares with these designs.
 
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Stirling is doing a brilliant job. Some people rather dismiss his approach , but don't forget he has Derek Hughes in the background. His real plus is he is SO helpful. Nothing's too much trouble. I only have to email and the parts I want are located and on their way to me. The closest I came to V2s was a pair of MS88s. Brilliant speakers.
I have a lot of time for Jerry Bloomfield of Falcon, as well as Doug. He, too, finds the parts I require quickly. Trouble is, when I call we chat for ages.
Yes, the new drivers/traditional cabinets, etc. is a winning combination.
 
I just ordered a pair of Stirlings today - found a really good deal at a dealer I like.

The U.S. importer for Stirling is literally killing the brand here. Don't know why Doug doesn't change his distribution.
 
I just ordered a pair of Stirlings today - found a really good deal at a dealer I like.

The U.S. importer for Stirling is literally killing the brand here. Don't know why Doug doesn't change his distribution.

They also import Harbeth, seems like a conflict to me. We know which one is going to get favorable treatment...
 
Which is better? This may be subjective. I have a current pair of BBC Chartwell ls3/5's and I must say they are the best monitor speakers I've ever heard. How good you may ask, and the answer is nothing short of amazing! In many ways better than my Harbeth 30.1's, however, is some way not as good...but over all more impressive and vital coming from such a small box. But relevant to this thread is I have a set of BBC Falcons on order. Delivery should be mid next week. I'll post my impressions/comparisons as soon as I can.
 


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