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Nightingale LS3/5A Prototypes

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xtal_recorder

Well-Known Member
Hi all,

I just picked up a very interesting pair of speakers from an ex Nightingale employee.

LS3/5A (I think?) by the looks of things and some lovely cable:







I was wondering if anyone had any further information on them. Apparently they are a pair even though the finish was slightly different on one.

I'm yet to hook them up as I'm waiting for a new amplifier...

Best
 
Interesting. Clearly very LS3/5A in concept, though both seem to have the baffle glued on in differing ways. This means technically they aren’t LS3/5As (which are screwed-on and removable), and from a practical perspective would make getting into them impossible! A shame as it would be very interesting to see the crossover.

Fascinating things anyway. Certainly a new one for me! I never realised Nightingale were in the picture at all.
 
Thanks for the reply @Tony L . Apparently Falcon acquired nightingale in the late 70s.

I’m thinking about having them restored or at least made a little more harmonious if they sound good but I won’t know until tomorrow.

If anyone knows someone that might be suitable to do it, please let me know!

Thank you
 
Even if those Nightingales employed the same cabinet interfacing and crossover design as the LS3/5A spec, and the B110 and T27 are both still performing to spec, they will very likely sonically diverge from the LS3/5A spec in the high frequencies (both on- and off-axis) due to not having the perforated brass grilles over the T27 diaphragm. I keep meaning to measure the on- and off-axis response of a T27 with brass grille attached and removed but never get round to it. I have, however, measured its effect on the Celestion HF2000, which is what it was originally designed for. Quite a difference in output level off vs on!

HF2000-new-old-stock-with-vs-without-grille-gated-measurement-no-smoothing.jpg
 
Looks like the one just has some gunk/tape covering the baffle screws. Should be easy enough to remove in order to access the screws & remove the baffle.

As someone who is just about to embark on his own LS3/5A build I would be interested in an internal shot as well.

TS
 
Nightingale may have been one of several unsuccessful applicants for a license in the late 1970s/early 1980s.
 
Tony L said:
Might be worth giving Falcon a ring, Jerry may well be interested if he had some connection with them and able to shed some light on what exactly they are.
Click to expand...
Malcolm Jones certainly would remember these.

Back in the day, Falcon bought up LS3/5A cabinets from the bankrupt RAM speaker company in Norwich. I bought a pair of those cabinets from Falcon and (with Malcolm's guidance) built them up using Focal double-coil 5" mid/bass drivers, Scanspeak tweeters (similar to those in the Linn Kan) and Falcon crossovers designed for the double-coil Focal bass and KEF T27 tweeter but Malcolm assured me that the tweeter section was fine for the Scanspeaks. The speakers worked pretty well. IIRC Malcolm was planning to do something similar to be called the Nightingale Enigma and he even gave me some Enigma badges.

I wonder if those bass units in the pictures are KEF B110 or the Focals? Were B110s more heavily doped?
 
Shuggie said:
Malcolm Jones certainly would remember these.

Back in the day, Falcon bought up LS3/5A cabinets from the bankrupt RAM speaker company in Norwich. I bought a pair of those cabinets from Falcon and (with Malcolm's guidance) built them up using Focal double-coil 5" mid/bass drivers, Scanspeak tweeters (similar to those in the Linn Kan) and Falcon crossovers designed for the double-coil Focal bass and KEF T27 tweeter but Malcolm assured me that the tweeter section was fine for the Scanspeaks. The speakers worked pretty well. IIRC Malcolm was planning to do something similar to be called the Nightingale Enigma and he even gave me some Enigma badges.

I wonder if those bass units in the pictures are KEF B110 or the Focals? Were B110s more heavily doped?
Click to expand...

I had a pair of those old RAM cabinets with B110s and T27s, which I bought via the Internet in about 2012.
I didn’t recognise different cabinets in those days ( by the connectors ) but when I checked with Jerry Bloomfield
he said they were definitely RAMs.
 
I managed to give these a listen very late last night and they sounded absolutely superb.

I have no experience of decent near-field monitors so have nothing to compare them with but I enjoyed what I heard. I'm thinking these would sound great connected to the Mission 778X I purchased from the classifieds for my desktop setup.

I've messaged Falcon to see if they can offer any more information or to put me in touch with someone who can give them a bit of a facelift.
 
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