sideshowbob
Champagne fascia aficionado
Wasn't it just. I even had hair.
Stirling ls3/5a V2 vs Harbeth P3ESR
- Thread starter sideshowbob
- Start date
Strange. I've got a pair of HL-P3ESs and got very good results driving them with a Quad 405.2 and a Nait 2, although in fairness though trying to drive them loud, which I needed to do when I exhibited them at a Wigwam show at Scalford quite some years ago, broke the Quad and I had to send it off for repair!
sideshowbob
Champagne fascia aficionado
What do we think of these:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LS3-5A-SPEAKERS-IN-DIY-CABINETS/154036011503
Not wild about the black boxes, but that can be fixed if the price is right.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LS3-5A-SPEAKERS-IN-DIY-CABINETS/154036011503
Not wild about the black boxes, but that can be fixed if the price is right.
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Regarding the Harbeth P3ESRs, whenever I've heard them it always comes across to me how much the box-size constrains the sound. More recently I've had the pleasure of listening to the Falcon LS3/5a's. Amazing speakers given their size (a midrange to die for, and they even do bass) but I agree you have to pay quite a premium to buy a pair.
Nagraboy
Ausculta fili
Playing some Italian Renaissance solo lute music on my Falcons right now. Spellbinding performance.
Tony L
Administrator
Not a B110, not a T27, so not an LS3/5A IMHO.
To my mind there are only three speakers on the planet that can be called an LS3/5A; the original 15 Ohm model (various brands), the slightly later 11 Ohm model (various brands) and the current Falcon (which is the first one reborn). Everything else uses the wrong drive units corrected with the wrong crossover and is the equivalent of calling an Altec 604 a Tannoy Monitor Red or whatever. It may look kind of similar, may sound great, but it just isn’t the same thing. All the LS3/5A Mk II, MkIII, LS3/5 etc stuff is just marketing bollocks. They may be lovely speakers, and most are, but they are absolutely not an LS3/5A!
PS I’m done with the soapbox now, anyone else want a go?
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sideshowbob
Champagne fascia aficionado
Hahaha. You're strictly speaking correct, ofc, but they're clearly all in the same family.
I notice @Martyn Miles built a pair of these anniversary baffles and seemed to rate them, so I'm going to keep an eye on these.
I notice @Martyn Miles built a pair of these anniversary baffles and seemed to rate them, so I'm going to keep an eye on these.
from a purist point of view then may be only the 50 Special edition Falcons qualify??
That's what I own too. Love them.
Gervais Cote
Predator
Those little BBC monitors are very difficult to beat on that kind of music IMO. Oboe music is also very astonishing when played through these, just like if the vibration of the instrument was the same as the speaker’s enclosure!!??
Elephantears
Trunkated Aesthete
I never got P3ESR to really escape their miniature size in my medium sized room, and preferred other mini-monitors. But a few years ago, prior to his Tannoy conversion, eastone (Ian) really got the best out of them in a near-field set up. That was a compelling system.
I've heard from one Harbeth dealer that the XD version are really something. It seems Alan Shaw has got competitive with all these other LS3/5A variants and really tried to get the best out of them (in comparison to the endless negligible tweaks he's been doing with his other models). But it would have to be a staggering improvement to justify the current pricing.
I've heard from one Harbeth dealer that the XD version are really something. It seems Alan Shaw has got competitive with all these other LS3/5A variants and really tried to get the best out of them (in comparison to the endless negligible tweaks he's been doing with his other models). But it would have to be a staggering improvement to justify the current pricing.
Martyn Miles
pfm Member
Those Stirling baffles are excellent.
These here are likely to be the last of the ones made for the Rogers 60th Anniversary LS3/5a.
The current ones are different ( and slightly better ) and very likely to be the last ones
Stirling Broadcast will make.
I’ve just bought a pair.
Tony, the Rogers LS3/5a Classic is a proper LS3/5a.
The drivers may be made overseas, but they’re doped and treated in the UK.
Andy Whittle, of Rogers, has put a lot of work into getting the LS3/5a Classic right.
He told me a fair bit about its history.
Ken Kessler likes it as much as the Falcon model.
Make what you will of the above sentence.
That is, if you have any time for KK...
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joel
Painter of Dragons, Maker of Mirrors
My forever speakers are the NS-1000X from Yamaha. I've had my pair for 14 years and had them serviced in 2015. It was like an almost free upgrade: I ended up changing the positions of the L-pads.
Jodet
pfm Member
I agree with you, but does it matter? Not really. A speaker is a speaker. Doesn't matter to me what you 'call' it.
Martyn Miles
pfm Member
They struck me, especially SH, of having a pragmatic approach to what they were doing.
As does Spencer’s son Derek.
Just look what his approach has done with the Graham and Stirling speakers.
As does Spencer’s son Derek.
Just look what his approach has done with the Graham and Stirling speakers.
Tony L
Administrator
Agreed, it just irritates me as it is pure marketing/bandwagon hopping. An LS3/5A is a very precisely defined thing. It consists of two very specific drivers in a very precisely defined cabinet with a very specific crossover design. Anything that deviates from that in any way is quite simply not an LS3/5A. It is just something trying to market itself with that heritage.
That is not to say the other speakers dressed-up in LS3/5A clothes are no good. Mostly they really are excellent as far as I can tell, but to my mind they should be called something else. As an example a JR149 or Kef R101 are clearly not LS3/5As, yet they are actually no further away conceptually than many of the speakers claiming to be that merely use a BBC-style similar cabinet with totally different drivers and crossovers. I know I’m being pedantic, but certain types of marketing does that to me!
Radfordman
pfm Member
I agree with you Tony 100%. I believe that even the Chartwell Symphony should not really be called an LS3/5a, the reason is that the construction was probably done at home, no final inspection at the factory.
This did not stop me building some clones. I do have Chartwell LS3/5as to compare with.
Incidentally, I used to visit the Willesden Chartwell factory in Alric Avenue, this was to purchase their obsolete stock.
Martyn Miles
pfm Member
Tony thinks it’s just marketing/bandwagon hopping and he is entitled to his opinions.
When Stirling stopped making the B110/T27 LS3/5a, Derek Hughes used his expertise to build the V2 model.
If you look at it logically, the LS3/5a is a particular specification not a specific speaker.
If DH’s design met the spec. then he had created a LS3/5a.
I liked the V2 very much and also the Falcon, but I prefer the V3.
My choice, whatever the speaker is called...
When Stirling stopped making the B110/T27 LS3/5a, Derek Hughes used his expertise to build the V2 model.
If you look at it logically, the LS3/5a is a particular specification not a specific speaker.
If DH’s design met the spec. then he had created a LS3/5a.
I liked the V2 very much and also the Falcon, but I prefer the V3.
My choice, whatever the speaker is called...