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Stirling ls3/5a V2 vs Harbeth P3ESR

sideshowbob

sideshowbob

Champagne fascia aficionado
I blame @Martyn Miles for this, reading his threads has started an itch.

I'm very familiar with vintage LS3/5as of various types, having heard them in many systems over the years (although I've never owned a pair myself for some reason). I have always liked them a great deal. Since March I, like many others, have had the chance to spend a lot more time with my home office hifi. It's looking vanishingly unlikely I will ever return to an external office. So, I reason, given that my home office is a perfect size and my listening position a perfect position, for an LS3/5a type monitor, maybe now is a good time to go for it and buy a pair.

My budget won't stretch to Falcon or Stirling V3s, I'll be looking in the secondhand/exdem marketplace. Harbeth P3s or Stirling V2s both look like plausible options. Can PFMers who have experience of both try to describe how you would compare them? I know all this is subjective, and ideally I would listen to both and make my own decision, but I think I'm going to have to lean on others' impressions here. I get the feeling I'd like either of them, but some indication of how they differ would be useful. Ta.
 
I would (and did) take the Harbeth P3ESR all day long over the Stirling. It is a fuller and richer sounding speaker. In the end I think it comes down to preference as both are quality speakers.
 
I am also after a pair of small monitors thinking of similar options and looking at the P3, Falcon or Stirling V3, should be able to do a demo soon.
 
ArtK said:
I would (and did) take the Harbeth P3ESR all day long over the Stirling. It is a fuller and richer sounding speaker. In the end I think it comes down to preference as both are quality speakers.
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have you compared directly and which Stirling and P3? thanks
 
I have demo's various versions of LS3/5A, including vintage and never come close to selling any against the Harbeth P3ESR, Anniversary or now XD.
 
hifi_dave said:
I have demo's various versions of LS3/5A, including vintage and never come close to selling any against the Harbeth P3ESR, Anniversary or now XD.
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OK, that's interesting. I get the impression the Harbeths address a lot of the limitations of the traditional LS3/5a design, but some subjective impressions of exactly how they differ from the Stirling V2s would be really useful, just to give me an idea. I'm going to have to sell some stuff to fund this, and it won't be a spur of the moment choice.
 
Don’t overlook the Spendor S3/5R and its variants, they go for little over half the price of the Harbeths, and without ever having them next to each other I’m pretty sure I prefer their (less bright) voicing. Alternatively maybe consider embarking on a JR149 restoration project, they are amazing things when working as intended!
 
Yo, T, nice to see you. I've taken more than one look at at S3/5Rs in the classifieds here. Never heard them, but they do seem very highly regarded. I really like JR149s too, and I know those quite well, that's a good thought.
 
sideshowbob said:
Yo, T, nice to see you. I've taken more than one look at at S3/5Rs in the classifieds here. Never heard them, but they do seem very highly regarded. I really like JR149s too, and I know those quite well, that's a good thought.
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I think they are probably getting fairly close to the SA1 which is wonderful in this respect (of musicality and listenability if you like). The P3ESR comes across as a slightly “brighter” speaker in comparison.
 
sideshowbob said:
Yo, T, nice to see you. I've taken more than one look at at S3/5Rs in the classifieds here. Never heard them, but they do seem very highly regarded. I really like JR149s too, and I know those quite well, that's a good thought.
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You too, long time no see! I’ve got both speakers in daily use, a meticulously restored pair of 149s (new Falcon units etc as the Kefs had drifted off-spec) upstairs driven by a Stereo 20 and 3/5Rs on TV duty, both are wonderful little speakers IMO. I could honestly live with either as a main system, though I still have huge Tannoys for that.
 
Damn, why is all this SO COMPLICATED?

In the olden days, when everything was cheap, I would have just bought an old pair of Rogers LS3/5a and not thought about it so much. It's a bugger when everything is so expensive. I still have big Tannoys in the main system, although 15" HPDs rather than Monitor Golds or Reds, and they aren't going anywhere. But inevitably I listen to the office system far more than I do the living room system.
 
I suppose I ought to post something, being responsible for this thread.
Apparently...
A while ago I would have said, 'Try the P3-ESR, it's probably the best small speaker.'
Since then the Falcons have come and gone along with various other LS3/5as.
The Stirling V3s have arrived and stayed.
To me, they do the job perfectly.
We all make choices with speakers for many different reasons.
I'd never tell anyone what to buy, just to listen...
 
I took my Falcons round to a mate’s house the other day, who has P3ESR. His impression was that the Falcons sounded neutral, detailed and everything in proportion, with the P3 sounding somehow ‘embellished’ in comparison. We agreed both are superb speakers, with less in it than I found when replacing my Stirling V2 with P3ESR 9 years ago. For me, if I had to have one or the other forever, my head says P3 but heart says Falcons! Again though, they are both marvellous minis worthy of a lifetime of listening.
 
The Harbeths replaced the Falcons and I never really looked back.
Up to then the Falcons were the best LS3/5as I'd had.
The P3-ESRs satisfied me until the V3s arrived.
The Harbeths are superb, no doubt, but the Stirlings really are 'something else.'
 
Nagraboy said:
I took my Falcons round to a mate’s house the other day, who has P3ESR. His impression was that the Falcons sounded neutral, detailed and everything in proportion, with the P3 sounding somehow ‘embellished’ in comparison. We agreed both are superb speakers, with less in it than I found when replacing my Stirling V2 with P3ESR 9 years ago. For me, if I had to have one or the other forever, my head says P3 but heart says Falcons! Again though, they are both marvellous minis worthy of a lifetime of listening.
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That's very useful. The Falcons are too spendy for me, unless a pair turn up secondhand for £1500 or so, which seems unlikely. So I think it's Stirling V2s vs secondhand P3s. Unless I go Tony's route. JR149s wouldn't be a terrible place to end up, and I know them very well from past experience. A much cheaper option too, although part of me really hankers for an actual LS3/5a, even if its Stirling's modern version rather than an original spec model.
 
sideshowbob said:
That's very useful. The Falcons are too spendy for me, unless a pair turn up secondhand for £1500 or so, which seems unlikely. So I think it's Stirling V2s vs secondhand P3s. Unless I go Tony's route. JR149s wouldn't be a terrible place to end up, and I know them very well from past experience. A much cheaper option too, although part of me really hankers for an actual LS3/5a, even if its Stirling's modern version rather than an original spec model.
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If you must have a genuine LS3/5a but the Falcons are too much, I’d go P3ESR rather than have a ‘homage’ speaker like the Stirlings, which aren’t the genuine article even if they have BBC approval (who don’t care much about such things these days anyway). If you’re not bothered about authenticity and just want a good speaker then any will be at least very enjoyable.

From my own experience of owning both Falcons and P3, I wouldn’t say the P3 is embellished, which feels a bit negative to me. It’s more likely that the Falcons are just very skilfully voiced to give the impression of insight and proportionality that they do. Slight difference there.
 
I have owned the Stirling V2 before, at the same time as various 'modern' cousins, (but not the P3). I think it's important to understand that the properly specified ls3/5a design (I include the V2), brings a unique flavor that can't be replaced by variants. You may find another package of great attributes in a Harbeth or an MAD 1920, but they are different speakers.
sideshowbob said:
I have always liked them a great deal
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This is worth paying attention to I think!
 
Yes, that's what a large part of me is thinking. If I go for something else, I won't get rid of that hankering. And it is at least based on experience (whereas I have no experience with the P3).
 
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