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Early Stirling Broadcast LS3/5As

topoxforddoc said:
I have a pair of the early V1 Stirlings in rosewood, which I bought with a pair of baby ones from Doug shortly after Ken Kessler's review and Ls3/5a shoot out 20 years ago. I always wondered about a pair of Cicable crossovers, as the review at that time mentioned the significant improvement. However, I see that British Audio Products, who stocked them are no longer trading following retirement. Does anyone know a source for the Cicable crossovers now?
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Cicable are not going anymore but you could try contacting Derek Hughes (his website is somewhere out there) as he did the originals anyway. Probably run at near £200 per pcb though, plus the cost of a case but you could source that.

i believe the falcon gold crossover is over £400 but at first sight it doesn’t look like it has particularly huge air cored inductors, and it is these that I think make most of the difference.

Incidently Stirling has some rosewood ab-2s in stock…
 
Martyn Miles said:
First of all, have I ( or we ) ever heard the ‘exact’ sound of an LS3/5A ?
I once owned a pair of Harbeths, the model which won the HFN Shootout.
Definitive ?
Someone said the BBC numbers 1 & 2 were the definitive models.

I don’t think there was any ‘magic’ in those early models with Kef drive units.
There’s no magic in any audio product, though some cable and fuse suppliers would
have us believe there is...

The original LS3/5A had solid research, measurement and construction in its DNA.
I believe modern versions have the same, with the added advantage of more consistent
drive units.
Doug Stirling told me that when he and Derek Hughes were involved in the Rogers 60th Anniversary
model, they measured the Monacor drivers.
They all met their spec. exactly.

I do recall having the Harbeths and a pair of early Falcons ( before ‘Silver’ & ‘Gold’ arrived ) arrived.
Played my favourite music on both pairs over a few hours, and minutes into each pair I stopped
trying to listen for differences.
Both pairs were superb.


As for whether DH has recreated the same sound, I couldn’t give you a definitive answer.
I have a pair of LS3/5As with modern Kef designed ( Falcon ) drive units.
And I’ve just bought a pair of very early V2s.

Listened to both pairs last night.
Like the Harbeths/Falcons, both pairs sounded superb.

So I would say Derek has re-created the sound of the LS3/5A.

Others on this forum will disagree and I fully respect their opinions and findings.

As some sort of final conclusion, I recently heard Ben Savage & Hannah Saunders live.
Two voices and two guitars picked up by a single Ear Trumpet mic.

Playing my favourite song of the concert on my V2s, well I couldn’t ask for more from
a pair of small loudspeakers.
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001&2 are perhaps the best sounding according to many who have heard them. These were owned by Paul Whatton who was the son of one of the three early designers.
They were different to the production models. They had thinner cabinets and, I imagine, hand made crossovers.

The original B110/T27 were a little more special than the standard drivers as they were selected and not standard production run.
The Stirling V1 were particularly good. I have a pair. The cabinetry was good and I suspect fresh components helped because a lot of the ones remaining must have drifted from spec.

There were a few variations. Doug Stirling built some thin wall cabinets, replicating 001 and 002 and these were sold aftermarket. I’m struggling to remember but perhaps some of the later B110/T27 models may have them but definitely many were upgraded. There was also a special Derek Hughes upgraded crossover which was about twice the size of the original. I didn’t A/B the cabinets but I did try the two crossovers. I thought there wasn’t a major difference with the crossover but it was an improvement.

IMHO I thought the difference between the V1 and V2 is a bit more resolution in the V2 and it was a bit better at both the frequency extremes. I prefer the V2 but many in Asia will only accept the original.

At the time, Doug was on his own in terms of keeping LS3/5a manufacturing alive. The only others who attempted it were Richard Allen but I don’t know if any of those got out to consumers.
 
MTBBiker said:
Cicable are not going anymore but you could try contacting Derek Hughes (his website is somewhere out there) as he did the originals anyway. Probably run at near £200 per pcb though, plus the cost of a case but you could source that.

i believe the falcon gold crossover is over £400 but at first sight it doesn’t look like it has particularly huge air cored inductors, and it is these that I think make most of the difference.

Incidently Stirling has some rosewood ab-2s in stock…
Click to expand...
I remember the buzz at the time from users was that the thin wall cabinets were more important than the Cicable crossover although the Cicable was highly regarded. The point of the thin wall was to allow resonance t radiate out of the cabinet. The slightly thicker cabinets trapped the resonance.
 
Richard Allen did make a few LS3/5As, but not for long.
It’s a rather convoluted story, which I won’t go into now...

As for thin wall ( 9mm ) cabinets, I acquired a pair which came from the BBC at some point.
I made up a pair of ‘3/5A clones for someone using them.
The speakers eventually went to South Korea, if I remember correctly.
 
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