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Downsizing to P3ESR, LS3/5A or similar?

ToTo Man said:
after 30+ years KEF T27 and B110 drivers can age in unpredictable ways and throw both the spec and pair-matching of vintage LS3/5As off significantly.
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This is certainly true of the original SP1003 B110. The SP1228 B110 was redesigned to avoid this initial specification variability and age related drift. As for the T27, this was never changed (from its incorporation in the LS3/5a - earlier versions were a little different) and specification drift was much less of an issue. How the original drive units compare to the new, redesigned units, I guess we'll have to wait for another shoot-out!
 
Whilst we are on the general topic has anyone compared the Falcon ‘Gold Label’ crossovers with their standard ones? I’m kind of curious as I like my LS3/5As way more than I expected too, to the extent they’ll definitely be a long-term keeper, so even though they are LOLprice I would actually consider it if they were a real gain.
 
Re. ‘Gold Label’ crossovers, I saw a post on the LS3/5a Facebook site of a pair fitted to the Falcon
Q7 Mini Monitor speakers.
 
Id go for a used pair of Raidho X1 or XT1 if you can space them wide enough apart whilst still maintaining space to the side walls. Also if you have a reasonably powerful amp. I have been through plenty of small monitors a couple of years back and these would be the best I had by some margin although the egglestone works Isabelle were also very good but also comparatively large and heavy especially with their integrated stands.
 
Now we’re getting on with ‘or similar’, I would recommend listening to speakers such as the Wharfedale Denton
80th Anniversary model.
OK, it’s a little larger than the LS3/5a and its cousins and may not suit.

I bought a pair to try out and was surprised just how good they were.
They didn’t have the ultimate resolving power of the LS3/5as, but comparing them with the Harbeth P3s I owned at the time they had some of the little Harbeth’s qualities.

I suspect the little Nait 2 I’ve just bought would work well with the Dentons.
Perhaps I’ll try and track down a pair.
 
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novak said:
Thanks, I like the look of the slightly larger Spendor 3/1 but I think they’ll have too much bass (I’ll be in a flat with people below and above, so they need to be bass light).
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I was in a similar position for a while and the least worst option for me was headphones. I found the loss of detail, high and low response from trying to listen quietly to speakers more irritating and intrusive than the unnaturalness and mild discomfort of listening on headphones at normal levels. I had all but stopped listening to recorded music in the evenings and weekends prefering other ways to relax. After sorting out some decent headphones I started listening to music again but not to the extent I tend to when able to listen to speakers at normal levels.

Of course people differ in what they find intrusive and what they don't and I suspect I am near one end of the scale. I am irritated by background music in shops and particularly restaurants when I am trying to relax. Others seem to be the opposite and for example play background music to help them work which would drive me up the wall. The irritation with background music does seem to have grown with age.
 
A friend (and PFM member) popped round with his Falcon LS3/5a earlier this week as he wanted to hear them first hand with a Leak 20. This is the second time I've heard his speakers in my room & system. I'm a long term P3ESR owner.

My recollection of the sonic signature of the Falcons was exactly as the first time, they just place the accuracy of the music in the room, no enhancement, just the atmosphere of pure performance. When I say 'just', I don't mean this to suggest limitation, but more to stress that they give a beautiful natural sound with no embellishment. You can almost feel that they were designed with a very specific sonic outcome in mind and achieved just that.

In comparison the Harbeths are a tad warmer in presentation to my ears, but we're not talking wholly different presentations here. Let's be right, these are not huge differences within the same performance envelope.

It's a tricky call on which to go for, and of course we know that the only way to truly find out is to try the variants in your room for a while but that can of course be unrealistic. These aren't cheap boxes to play around with.

Good luck !

Oh, and on the Falcons with a Leak 20 (12 x 12 foot room), yes, yes and yes :)
 
novak said:
Hi all, I’m wondering if you can advise?

We’re going to be downsizing for a while during a move and a renovation. My Harbeth SHL5+ will be too big for the room so I’m looking into getting something smaller in the region the P3ESR or LS3/5A.

I have owned P3ESR several times before and they’re always good, but after running both in parallel for a while, I preferred the detailed, open, and dynamic sound of the SHL5+.

I was wondering whether to try something new this time around. Maybe some LS3/5A from the likes of Graham or Falcon, or something like the Spendor 4/5? Something that gives the openness of the SHL5+ whilst keeping the natural sound.

Do you have any experience with the various options above? How did they compare? Which was your favourite?

Any thoughts most welcome.
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The Falcon LS3/5A is voiced differently from the HLP3ESR, I really like it. The Spendor D1 is very impressive, more refined and better resolved than the traditional BBC minis. There’s no doubt though that small speakers are a compromise when you’re used to the dynamic freedom and scale of a big box but you get use to it.
 
The Falcons are differently voiced from the Harbeths.
When I owned the Falcon LS3/5as I still had the P3-ESRs and both had their pros & cons.
I wanted to keep both pairs.
It wasn’t until the Stirling V3s arrived that, for me, here were speakers I preferred to
the Falcons or the Harbeths.
 
Martyn Miles said:
The Falcons are differently voiced from the Harbeths.
When I owned the Falcon LS3/5as I still had the P3-ESRs and both had their pros & cons.
I wanted to keep both pairs.
It wasn’t until the Stirling V3s arrived that, for me, here were speakers I preferred to
the Falcons or the Harbeths.
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Hi Martyn, I've seen your support for the V3's in a number of posts. How do you feel these sound compared to the V2's, the Falcons and the P3ESR ?
 
Martyn Miles said:
The Falcons are differently voiced from the Harbeths.
When I owned the Falcon LS3/5as I still had the P3-ESRs and both had their pros & cons.
I wanted to keep both pairs.
It wasn’t until the Stirling V3s arrived that, for me, here were speakers I preferred to
the Falcons or the Harbeths.
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Your posts on the Stirlings have also raised my curiosity Martyn, both regarding the V2 and V3. Not heard either and would love to. One day, eh !
 
BigBlue2020 said:
Hi Martyn, I've seen your support for the V3's in a number of posts. How do you feel these sound compared to the V2s, the Falcons and the P3ESR ?
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It's not simple to answer, but I'll do my best.
Let's start with the Falcons.
Of course, they are real 100% LS3/5as.
If you want the 'real thing', then Jerry Bloomfield has recreated the '3/5a exactly.
I cannot tell anyone what to buy, but if you
like what you hear...

Now the P3-ESR. Alan Shaw never really liked the LS3/5a and created the HL-P3.
They were liked by many. I owned a pair for a while. They sounded good, but didn't hold my attention on my kind of music.
The 'ESRs were a definite step forward.
Smooth, good imaging and good bass, if a little' warm.'

Now the Stirlings.
The V2s had that certain 'something' over the Falcons which is difficult to pin down.
The bass was less fulsome, and tighter.
The top end of the Falcons was subjectivity brighter than the V2s. On some music that was fatiguing.
Difficult to describe, but to me the V2s imaged better.
Due to financial reasons, the Falcons were sold and the V2s also.
I decided to stick with the ESRs.

Then, late 2019, Doug Stirling contacted me and asked if I would like to listen to a pair of V3s.
They arrived in early January 2020.
I hooked them up and put on a familiar CD.
It didn't take long to realise that Doug Stirling's designer, Derek Hughes, had created a superb loudspeaker.
The bass was subjectivity deeper than any LS3/5a sized speaker I'd heard. The top was so smooth you thought the tweeters weren't working. Then a triangle cut through the air as if it was in front of you.
The important midrange was the same ( as far as I could remember ) as the Falcons.
What was most noticeable was the imaging, layering and soundstaging of the V3s.
That was definitely better than I'd experienced with any other LS3/5as.
I contacted Doug S. and said I would keep the V3s.
I sold the ESRs to help finance the purchase of the Stirlings.

Which speakers to buy?
I still can't give you a definite answer.
After all, we have the Gold Badge Falcons now.
I would really like to hear those...
 
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Thank you, Martyn. Your comment has been really helpful to me. I am also looking to downsize like the OP, and the V3 Stirlings might be just the ticket. I also had the Gold Badge Falcons high on my list.
 
Hi I am a huge Harbeth fan. I moved house so I had to sell my m40.2 and I decided to go the separate hifi/cinema route which means I have to do the same thing and sell my shl5+ as they are way too big for my lounge and I already bnought a pair of p3s. I can tell you it is not the same. The character remained but the midrange and the highs are somewhat different. I use a sub so the bass is not a problem. I`d say the p3 is a good compromise however I might move to the m30.2 and that will be my final set up in the lounge. I think overall 80 to 85% the p3 can compete with the shl5+.
 
For clarity I had a cinema setup with a datasat ls10 preamp and harbeth m40.2 fronts and shl5+ rears;) needless to say it was amazing

now i have a dedicated stereo setup with CA851n streamer/pre and a quad artera power amp, what can I say they SING
 
@Komarfamily I would recommend to listen to the C7 XD if you have a big enough space, to me the M30.2 was to monitor like and not very enjoyable i preferred the C7XD by far.

I won't hijack the thread therefore I stop here.:)
 
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