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Falcon Acoustics LS35A MOFI Edition

RoA

pfm Member
North Americans and Canadians have the option of buying a Silver badged Special Edition at reduced cost from the Distributor. It's apparently a slightly 'down graded' affair (probably with the pre - gold batch xover) and only available in black.

Still, considerably cheaper than the versions available here.

Just curious why something like that is not available here being Falcon manufacture here.

I get the 'but Mofi buy in High numbers' argument but its not exactly good for UK buyers.
 
I am not surprised.

I am compiling a legacy little system but I be darned if I pay the new price for a UK Falcon version.

I also don't want a twenty or even ten year old version.

I guess I will look at ProAcs Tablette range instead or something like a Harbeth M20.1 or similar.
 
There are usually a couple of pairs of Falcon LS3/5As floating around the second hand market for £1.2k-1.7k or so. I paid £1.5k fairly recently for my mint boxed walnut pair and I can’t imagine losing any money at all on these if I ever wanted to move them on. That’s the way to buy IMO. I can’t imagine the Falcons, as arguably the only ‘real’ LS3/5A on the market ever losing money if you buy wisely second hand.
 
I bought my Falcons from the USA.
They were the Stereophile review pair.
When I bought my Stirling V3s I sold them to someone in Southampton, for what
I paid for them.
 
I think I started a thread in the Classic forum whenever these were introduced as they looked to be very good VFM and I know there's alot of fishies like the LS3/5A speakers.
I'm guessing Mofi bought a job lot maybe heavily discounted due to the Black Ash cabinets, though I'm assuming the prettier real wood veneers would be more popular nowadays.
 
I paid £1.5k fairly recently for my mint boxed walnut pair and I can’t imagine losing any money at all on these if I ever wanted to move them on. That’s the way to buy IMO. I can’t imagine the Falcons, as arguably the only ‘real’ LS3/5A on the market ever losing money if you buy wisely second hand.

I can understand the limited supply of 50 year old LS3/5As possibly holding/gaining value as collector's items but then again I could also see them lose value in parallel with the UK's reputation given there is little of intrinsic value in the speakers. I guess it rests on what created high value in the eyes of collectors in the first place which I don't know. Anyone?

I would expect the bubble to burst at some point for the possibly infinite supply of new retro "LS3/5A" designs. Then again I can't see why there ever was any demand at all for new retro (fake) speakers at very high prices. Cheap prices yes but not high prices.

Interesting if somewhat baffling stuff.
 
I guess it rests on what created high value in the eyes of collectors in the first place which I don't know. Anyone?

The key things are; a) the LS3/5A is an exceptionally good mini-monitor by any standard, and b) it is one of very few that is perfectly happy/gives its best on the end of a valve amp due to a non-reactive 15 Ohm load that doesn’t drop below 8 Ohms. If either point wasn’t true they’d not be where they are. Many of the various modern alternatives attempting to cash-in on the legacy despite no direct connection to BBC research comprise point b, and I suspect that is just as important as point a to their ongoing value. The people who buy them almost always have a vintage valve amp somewhere!
 
I could also see them lose value in parallel with the UK's reputation

I suspect most of the world will be looking at our medal count at the Olympics and thinking wow! Not sure our reputation is really in decline (except here in the UK).
People buy JLR and Bentley vehicles and countless other products because of "British craftmanship", irrespective of the reality.

Interesting if somewhat baffling stuff.

There is a vast range of behavioural types out there, it's not always easy to understand the people at the other end of the spectrum!
 
The key things are; a) the LS3/5A is an exceptionally good mini-monitor by any standard,

If it was then surely it would be used to do the job of a mini-monitor in place of cheaper and technically superior modern mini-monitors like a KH120 or equivalent. It is clearly attractive to some but it doesn't have a high technical performance by modern standards.

and b) it is one of very few that is perfectly happy/gives its best on the end of a valve amp due to a non-reactive 15 Ohm load that doesn’t drop below 8 Ohms.

Easy load for valve amplifiers. Possibly. This would imply the speakers are used by collectors rather than added to their collection of speakers to be kept in pristine condition to preserve their value. Are you representative of LS3/5A collectors today or has it moved more towards the stereotype of an Asian collecting items of perceived high value based on some local inscrutable assessment based on prestige and divorced from any technical function? I don't know. It is not my field but the embarrassing actions of the last few years has reduced the status of British abroad at least among the Europeans I know and the articles I have read. I would not be surprised to see strongly British items with a high perceived value but low intrinsic value fall as a consequence. Again this is speculation from a baffled onlooker rather than someone actively involved in collecting vintage audio hardware or new retro hardware.

I suspect most of the world will be looking at our medal count at the Olympics and thinking wow!

Really? Did you used to look at the medal count of the Eastern Europeans 40-50 years ago and go wow? When I see a medal count that is out of line with that of equivalent countries I see a disproportionate amount of money spent buying medals and/or cheating. Neither looks good to me. Perhaps this isn't what majority see but I am fairly confident it is a growing view.

Not sure our reputation is really in decline (except here in the UK).

Talk to people abroad and/or read their articles. A good measure relevant to my field is the change in desire by those abroad to come here to gather experience working.

Until the current populism in the UK deflates and the reality of what has been done starts to be accepted I am not sure the reputation at home has declined. Among educated liberals it likely has to the point of shame in some cases but we are not the majority and support for the current government is strong in a way it couldn't be if people perceived social and economic decline and associated it with the actions of the current governing party.
 
If it was then surely it would be used to do the job of a mini-monitor in place of cheaper and technically superior modern mini-monitors like a KH120 or equivalent.

The KH120 is a nice speaker and a bargain at its price. There is however a reason why so many audiophiles pay more than twice that for a pair of LS3/5As and then another £lots on a high-end valve amp. I’d be very confident sticking my LS3/5As and TL12 Plus up against any speakers in that marketplace. I’ve never heard the Neumanns (only the larger 310s), and don’t get me wrong, I’d like them, but I have certainly heard enough Genlecs etc to know where that market sits and what a high-end valve amp and BBC monitor brings over it. If I was cash-strapped I’d certainly be looking at that sort of speaker rather than similarly priced hi-fi kit though. It is superb value.

The studio decision is easy. The Neumanns are cheap, sufficiently reliable for robust studio use, have all manner of protection etc. They are certainly not going to spend £5k for my mini-monitor rig and feed it expensive NOS valves! The KH120s are entirely fit for purpose. Like many audiophiles I just prefer to listen to something else.
 
When I see a medal count that is out of line with that of equivalent countries I see a disproportionate amount of money spent buying medals and/or cheating. Neither looks good to me.

Please explain how one would cheat at e.g. sailing, diving, horse riding.
 
Are you representative of LS3/5A collectors today or has it moved more towards the stereotype of an Asian collecting items of perceived high value based on some local inscrutable assessment based on prestige and divorced from any technical function? I don't know.

I’ll pick up on this bit too… I’m representative of absolutely no one but myself/pfm, though I do seem to have more in common with the Japanese, Hong Kong, South Korea audiophile mindset than the modern high-end, which based on shows and dealer dems etc I find surprisingly uninspiring, unnatural and hyped. As such I have basically lost interest in the modern audio market (beyond digital which I have obviously adopted) as to my ears it has nothing that equals, let alone betters, what I like about vintage/classic Tannoys, Quad ESLs, BBC monitors, valve amps, idler decks etc.

It is not my field but the embarrassing actions of the last few years has reduced the status of British abroad at least among the Europeans I know and the articles I have read. I would not be surprised to see strongly British items with a high perceived value but low intrinsic value fall as a consequence. Again this is speculation from a baffled onlooker rather than someone actively involved in collecting vintage audio hardware or new retro hardware.

Sure, the UK is a political disgrace, but to my mind it always has been. It is built upon wealth, exploitation, elite privilege, colonialism, slavery, imperialism, nationalism, monarchy and religious tyranny. This long bloody history has never to my knowledge had any impact whatsoever on the international perception of our pioneering audio (and countless other) products and innovation. It is no more relevant than say the KKK & Trump is to McIntosh, Magnepan, Klipsch, JBL, Fender, Gibson, Moog etc. People buy the best vintage audio because it sounds great, is reliable, serviceable, and holds value due to its ongoing desirability. Nationalism etc doesn’t come into it at all. The late Peter Walker, BBC research department etc etc can’t possibly be blamed for the corrupt Tory/Brexit mess.

PS I suspect there is a huge misunderstanding about Japanese/Eastern audiophiles being primarily collectors as so many pictures exist of rooms full of similar kit. These are very often pictures of audio-club meetings, home ‘bake offs’ etc. The people who buy this sort of kit do so because they love it and use it day to day. They are no different to the rest of us and usually have superb record collections too. It looks like an amazing community to me based on what I have read.
 
"The market" says they are worth around 5 - 10 time what I think they are worth so they are not something I'll ever be interested in. I remember how much they were new... about 30 - 50% more than AR18's or Heybrook HB1's etc!!
It's like watching MkI Ford Fiesta's selling for 100K!
 
I own Falcon LS3/5a's in cherry and Proac Tablette Ten Signatures in ebony.

They are pretty much equally good in my opinion. The Proac's are a lot better at blending with a subwoofer. In fact the Proac's with a sub are my favorite system (and I've got a lot of systems).

The new Falcon 'DIY' speaker is worth looking into. Kind of like a cross between an LS3/5a and a KEF 104/ab.
 
I remember how much they were new... about 30 - 50% more than AR18's or Heybrook HB1's etc!!

Your memory is a out there. They were always very expensive for such a small speaker, I googled up £152 in 1978. If in doubt just compare the complex and clever research-based cabinet construction and build quality of an LS3/5A with the ultra-crap chipboard and vinyl-wrap of the AR18 and HB1! I’m pretty sure they were a fair few quid more than HB2s by that time too (HB2s would certainly be a £1.2-1.5k speaker today, and deservedly so, they were very good). I do like ARs, but the 18 was a very cost-cut speaker, and the HB1 likewise, it had a pretty nasty tweeter as I recall. The HB2 just killed it.

Don’t get me wrong, I do think the LS3/5A is expensive today. I understand why as it is obviously highly costly completely reconstructing vintage technology from scratch for what is after all a niche market, but the build quality is there. As is the sound if you want a great nearfield mini-monitor. It still stands up great.
 
I have to say, I own Falcons but I don’t think twice about Japan (Technics SL-1200G, Audio Technica cart) or Germany’s (Beyerdynamic headphones) past actions before buying their kit. Pretty absurd proposition and I can’t think what possessed the earlier poster to see a link between recent UK politics and the aftermarket price of audio equipment classics. Just seems like an excuse to whine about an entirely different subject - try Off Topic, maybe.

I think the black Mo-Fi Falcons might be cheaper because they’re being sold by the distributor direct from their own online store, so no dealers to take a cut and no bricks and mortar stores to maintain. Don’t forget, Falcons were half the price before they started selling through dealers.
 
I own Falcon LS3/5a's in cherry and Proac Tablette Ten Signatures in ebony.

They are pretty much equally good in my opinion. The Proac's are a lot better at blending with a subwoofer. In fact the Proac's with a sub are my favorite system (and I've got a lot of systems).

The new Falcon 'DIY' speaker is worth looking into. Kind of like a cross between an LS3/5a and a KEF 104/ab.

Has anyone tried that Q7? There is a pair for sale on the WAM which look like good VFM.
 
Your memory is a out there. They were always very expensive for such a small speaker, I googled up £152 in 1978. If in doubt just compare the complex and clever research-based cabinet construction and build quality of an LS3/5A with the ultra-crap chipboard and vinyl-wrap of the AR18 and HB1! I’m pretty sure they were a fair few quid more than HB2s by that time too (HB2s would certainly be a £1.2-1.5k speaker today, and deservedly so, they were very good). I do like ARs, but the 18 was a very cost-cut speaker, and the HB1 likewise, it had a pretty nasty tweeter as I recall. The HB2 just killed it.

Don’t get me wrong, I do think the LS3/5A is expensive today. I understand why as it is obviously highly costly completely reconstructing vintage technology from scratch for what is after all a niche market, but the build quality is there. As is the sound if you want a great nearfield mini-monitor. It still stands up great.

Nope my memory is good. Rogers LS3/5A available from discounters in July 1986 for £199. HB1 was so in demand that they were £149 everywhere. Celestion SL600 £749, Linn Kan £210

Heybrook HB2/II was £239 but that's RRP so no doubt available about £200... and jolly good they were! I'm surprised we don't hear more about the HB2
 


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