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Falcon Acoustics re-introduce the Q7 MiniMonitor.

Martyn Miles said:
I never claimed the BC1s were a true ‘competitor’ to the little Falcons.
What I said is that I preferred them ( on my main system ) to the Q7s.

The Spendors are old and very possibly out of spec. but they have a superb midrange.
For the kind of music I listen to ( light orchestral, female vocalists, etc. ) they are perfect.

The bass end is criticised by some, but as heavy rock ( Is it music ? I suppose it is for some )
is out for me it’s not relevant.

I’ve never heard larger Spendors or Harbeths in my own home, only briefly on unfamiliar equipment.
I couldn’t accommodate speakers any larger than BC1s anyway.

Once I did seriously consider Stirling Broadcast LS3/6 speakers ( BC1 size ) but never took the step.
My Spendors are like old friends, loved and nurtured for decades.
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My bad - I read it as such. All cleared up now.

Best, AM.
 
Martyn Miles said:
My Stirling V3s, in rosewood, look cool.
That is, if a loudspeaker can actually look cool...
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Rosewood is nice, I'd it in the past. IIRC harvesting is now strictly controlled and may even be banned from export.

I'm with you on good looking, don't like painted or some of the outrageous shapes they've come with in recent years. Classic looks it is for me.

I've a soft spot for burr walnut......
 
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AmadeusMozart said:
Rosewood is nice, I'd it in the past. IIRC harvesting is now strictly controlled and may even be banned from export.

I'm with you on good looking, don't like painted or some of the outrageous shapes they've come with in recent years. Classic looks it is for me.

I've a soft spot for burr walnut......
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Like you, I prefer a ‘proper’ wood cabinet.
The Kef Blades may sound good, but I couldn’t live with a pair of those dominating
my room.
 
Just had to take a double take on both the looks and price of some Focal Grande Utopia EM EVO floorstanding speakers. I do not know how they can justify the price of those, I suppose it is for the billionares "mine is more expensive than yours".
 
AmadeusMozart said:
Just had to take a double take on both the looks and price of some Focal Grande Utopia EM EVO floorstanding speakers. I do not know how they can justify the price of those, I suppose it is for the billionares "mine is more expensive than yours".
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No idea how much they cost, but I heard the original version and thought they were terrible! They are absolutely huge and did that girl with a six foot head playing an eight foot acoustic guitar thing to almost comedic effect, just a totally unnatural hyped-up sound (like most JMs to my ears). They combine everything I personally don’t like in loudspeaker design; ultra high-mass cabs, ports, multiple drivers, metal tweeters, bright forward balance etc. I’d honestly take a pair of LS3/5As over the very best they have to offer!
 
Martyn Miles said:
I would be interested to try a different amplifier with the Q7s.
Sensibly priced ones, please.
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Let's just ignore the price issue for a bit (;)), I never heard them better than with a PrimaLuna Prologue 5 with 6L6GC in on the end of a Croft 25R. Stunning. Said it before, they do like a valve !
 
Ianp said:
Let's just ignore the price issue for a bit (;)), I never heard them better than with a PrimaLuna Prologue 5 with 6L6GC in on the end of a Croft 25R. Stunning. Said it before, they do like a valve !
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For 56 years I've been playing around with audio, building tube and solid state amplifiers and later (when having little time and quite some disposible income) buying respectable solid state and tube amplifiers. Same applies to speakers.

I have a soft spot for tube amplifiers, especially single ended when listening at "normal levels" provided the single ended amplifier is properly designed and build (which 99.99% are not which is why I build my own in the end).

I would look for a decent older tube amplifier that has been recapped. A Quad II would be high on my list (except the KT66 output tubes are getting ridiculous expensive, fortunately they have a reasonably long life in the Quad II) Alternatively something with an EL34 or even with less power the EL84 (my favourite tube until recently when it got displaced by the EL506 / 7868 / 7591 - all the same tube with different sockets).

Don't know where you are but a Finale Audio EL84 amplifier may just be what's required. Unfortunately Finale Audio have stopped making the cheaper range and have gone to expensive boutique amps that are just not my idea of being perfect for the LS3/5A.

I've read remarks that the Quad 303 does very well too but I would want to make sure it has been recapped (and with quality capacitors, not some cheap Chinese junk from eBait).
 
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Tony L said:
No idea how much they cost, but I heard the original version and thought they were terrible! They are absolutely huge and did that girl with a six foot head playing an eight foot acoustic guitar thing to almost comedic effect, just a totally unnatural hyped-up sound (like most JMs to my ears). They combine everything I personally don’t like in loudspeaker design; ultra high-mass cabs, ports, multiple drivers, metal tweeters, bright forward balance etc. I’d honestly take a pair of LS3/5As over the very best they have to offer!
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I once build a 6 1/2" Focal kitset with their inverse dome titanium tweeter. Highly rated but strangely enough they did not stay long, geesh wonder why, something to do with a too bright metal tweeter?

The Q7 have arrived - I will not have time to put them together until the weekend. Was not going to open the parcel but curiosity won and I'd a quick peek: Looking exactly what I expected, love the looks of the tygan grille. Yes! Happy to be making the changeover.
 
Ianp said:
But none are as cool looking as the Falcon LS3/5a Gold Badge in burr walnut, a matter on which I will accept no argument :p
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I owned 2 pairs of these, think they might have a say;)
Joseph-Ki-audio-system-collector-4-ThePeakMalaysia.jpg
 
Jowcol said:
To me they say "Asian bling".
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Sure although I was happy with that as they sold for stupid money.

They differed from standard with WBT connectors and Audionote internal wiring, used for demos at Bristol and Heathrow shows with great success.

The veneer was very special and impossible to source now. Even the baffles were veneered to match. I have a spare one in the garage.
 
IIRC, and please correct me if I’m wrong, I think those Rogers Limited Editions actually had MDF cabs so deviated massively from the BBC spec. I’d expect a piano finish to have different properties to a veneer too. The LS3/5A cabinet design is an astonishingly tight spec, even something as seemingly trivial as the beech batons the baffle screws into is defined and they apparently sound ‘wrong’ with other woods. The BBC spent a simply ridiculous amount of money developing them, in the £millions in today’s money, and they defined everything!
 
Tony L said:
IIRC, and please correct me if I’m wrong, I think those Rogers Limited Editions actually had MDF cabs so deviated massively from the BBC spec. I’d expect a piano finish to have different properties to a veneer too. The LS3/5A cabinet design is an astonishingly tight spec, even something as seemingly trivial as the beech batons the baffle screws into is defined and they apparently sound ‘wrong’ with other woods. The BBC spent a simply ridiculous amount of money developing them, in the £millions in today’s money, and they defined everything!
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The 50th, as in the photo, were birch ply. Made circa 1997.

These were the best LS3/5a I have ever heard (and I have heard/ owned an awful lot of them over the last 30 years), close to Paul Whatton's historic pair. Arguably, even better and I don't say that lightly.

The first pair came direct from Rogers, the second pair were KK's own pair.
 
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