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Thomas Heinitz LS3/5a speakers.

Martyn Miles

pfm Member
There is a pair of Thomas Heinitz 'LS3/5a' spkrs. for sale on eBay by Royal Hi-Fi. I recall TH was keen on the LS3/5a and produced a small speaker of his own. I don't recall the name of it. Is this it ? I notice it has the perforated grilles over the T27 tweeters, as per the '3/5a. Interesting... Martyn Miles .
 
They went for £322 and appeared to be non-genuine LS3/5as... I suppose the obsessed '3/5a collectors will pay these sorts of prices .
 
Amazing. The Thomas Heinitz speakers were re-listed & went for £411. Are they genuine LS3/5as ? Does it matter ? It appears 'The Collectors' buy ANYTHING connected with the LS3/5a. I bought a new pair of genuine LS3/5a grilles, with the correct BBC approved Tygan grilles, for £18. I sold the old ( slightly damaged ) grilles, with Audiomaster badges, which came close to the price of the new ones. Did the buyer just want the badges ? A pair of Rogers grilles went for over £30 on eBay. Say no more... Martyn Miles .
 
If the speakers were bought from Thomas Heinitz they are definitely genuine. How do I know? - he was my dad. Someone refers to the speakers he produced. They were the CQ. An integral part of what he termed 'budget stereo' and when the original manufacturers went bust Dad bought out the patent and continued their production. I spent many school holidays installing the cones into the cases and wiring them up!
 
If the speakers were bought from Thomas Heinitz they are definitely genuine. How do I know? - he was my dad. Someone refers to the speakers he produced. They were the CQ. An integral part of what he termed 'budget stereo' and when the original manufacturers went bust Dad bought out the patent and continued their production. I spent many school holidays installing the cones into the cases and wiring them up!

Now that is interesting. I later discovered they were called the CQ, from someone who once owned a pair.
It would be good to know more about your Father and his products, as I once called in the shop when I was in London many, many years ago...
 
I worked up the road from the shop for a few years. Later I had some involvement with the shop when it changed hands and I was privileged to meet Tom. I can't speak highly enough of him as a man and a music man. You really don't meet people like that today and that means the world is a lesser place. I think the term encyclopaedic knowledge was coined for him. Everyone who worked there were genuinely greatly saddened at the end.

Excuse me for adding a personal note but TH warrants it.

I don't know anything about the LS3/5a versions but I imagine they were sold with Audio-Pro subwoofers.
 
I and a couple of my friends bought Quad 63s from your Father's shop back in '81. There was a waiting list at the time and we had to wait a while for delivery. He arranged for shipping to the States and even after paying freight we saved a fair bit over the US price.

A few years later, when in London, my wife and I dropped by to say hello. Wonderful man.

Is the shop still trading?


If the speakers were bought from Thomas Heinitz they are definitely genuine. How do I know? - he was my dad. Someone refers to the speakers he produced. They were the CQ. An integral part of what he termed 'budget stereo' and when the original manufacturers went bust Dad bought out the patent and continued their production. I spent many school holidays installing the cones into the cases and wiring them up!
 
Thomas Heinitz advised me on my first ever HiFi system in 1974. I have to say that the initial attraction was that I had heard that Mr Heinitz allowed one to pay by 6 post-dated cheques. A true gentleman who took it for granted that a handshake (even from a shabby long haired 22 year old he had never met before) was as good a guarantee as he needed. To me, who had been working for less than a year and had no credit record at all, this was a real godsend.

I remember nervously opening the door to no. 35 Moscow Road, Bayswater. The shop was small and there were one or two older customers conversing with a portly gentleman in a cardigan. They stopped talking and looked at me. "Mr Heinitz?" I ventured. He immediately came over to me and asked if he could help. An hour or so later I was writing out six cheques for £25 each and my first hifi system was to be delivered and installed in my bedsitting room that very afternoon.

So began a relationship that lasted 3 years before I was transferred away from London. In that time I went through 3 upgrades, all carefully advised by Mr Heinitz and culminating in a purchase of a pair of the original Rogers LS3/5a's (by which time I could afford to pay cash). I will never forget his kindness, trust, experience and prodigious knowledge. If not for him my audio journey would have taken a very different and less informed direction.
 
Hello fevnut,
I worked for your dad as a sub-contractor with another guy (it was his gig, I just helped him for a while). I always remember the shop, and your dad. Fond memories! A lot of character to the place, and he was warm and talkative, but kind of strict about things!? I thought of him and the shop today on hearing of Neville Marriner's death, we installed some stuff at his place, and he was a Heinitz customer I think. In an unrelated twist, close to that time (I was a musician doing a bit of filling in lol) I drove a van from a veneering shop in Stratford to a 'Swisstone' (or Swiss Tone?) factory, with a load of veneered MDF, where they were making LS3/5A's - and I recall they were branded Rogers as were the ones in Heinitz (I think). All the best, Peter
 
Memory Lane (or Moscow Rd) indeed : the first time I heard LS3/5as was at the shop, mid 70s I'd guess, playing Mahler's 4th at my request, which I'd been introduced to the week before by the bass player of Curved Air, who's beautiful girlfriend lived round the corner in W2...

Like Patcam, I was amazed they treated a long-haired student unable to actually buy what he was listening to in such a friendly way... and the speakers sounded fantastic...
 
To re-start this, there is a pair Of Thomas Heinitz speakers on eBay.
They have a single elliptical driver in each cabinet, with a reflex port to the top.
Well made cabinets, but hardboard back panels.
 


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