Heard these speakers with this amp long time ago and it was a pure delight. Completely addictive without any listener fatigue over several hours. That’s what I would buy if I was on the market for these little speakers.Quad 606.
My Stirling V3s with Quad 405-2, Quad II monoblocks, PS Audio S300. All with Quad QC-24 preamp, Van Alstine tube preamp, passive preamp.
It really doesn't matter what quality amp I use, the V3s always sound great. I've never heard a mismatch between the speakers and a wide variety of amplification options.
I'm hearing them right now! Sibelius tone poems, Sir Alexander Gibson. Suits my morning exercises.Now I'd love to hear them with the Quad IIs !
Heard these speakers with this amp long time ago and it was a pure delight. Completely addictive without any listener fatigue over several hours. That’s what I would buy if I was on the market for these little speakers.
Falcon Q7 with a Black Ice Audio EL-34 amp. Best I've ever heard.
Falcon LS3/5a Gold Badge with Leben CS600
Stirling Broadcast V2 with Nait 2. Works for me.
Stirling Broadcast V3 with Nait 2.
Works for me as well.
I had a Quad 34/303, an Arcam Delta 60 and a Marantz integrated
( that Doug Stirling recommended ) previously.
All had their pros & cons.
Somehow, though, the Nait 2 sounds the best to my ears...
Had Stirling V2s, now have V3s. I have used a Khozmo passive/Leak Stereo 20, Ion Obelisk 3, Quad 33/303, Rotel A10 & currently using a Naim Nait 5si.
They all sound excellent in there own way. My experience is that the LS3/5A & close relatives are amongst the most amp agnostic speakers you can buy.
A couple of others I would love to try are a Sugden A21 & Radford ST15 or 25
TS
They all sound excellent in there own way. My experience is that the LS3/5A & close relatives are amongst the most amp agnostic speakers you can buy.
Yes, that fits with my findings too. I think the key factor here is they are an easy load and therefore one only needs a decent amp, not a decent powerful amp which is far harder to find IME. The lack of efficiency just doesn’t matter as no one would want to crank such a tiny little speaker up loud, so really a good 10-15 Watts is all you need, hence folk liking Leaks, Quad IIs, Lebens, Naits, Sugdens, low output Pass etc (my Aleph 3 will only be 15 Watts into 16 Ohms, it’s 30 into 8).
The Graham audio LS3/5 variants also have crossovers designed by Derek Hughs iirc.The V3 is an LS3/5a with an upgraded crossover by Derek Hughes.
The Falcon Gold is an LS3/5a with an upgraded crossover by Derek Hughes.
I'd love to do a comparison someday.
And bottom line currently listening with the Croft/,303 combo is that I can't imagine enjoying them more with anything else.