Martyn, I'm particularly interested in the (Stirling) approach -of pulling modern drivers, traditional cabinet build and crossovers together to meet the BBC spec.
Like you I ended up with HLP3ESRs (after living with the Spendor S3/5R) and I'd love to hear how the Stirling V2 compares with these designs.
After living with various LS3/5as over the years ( Audiomasters, Harbeth, etc. ) I ended up with the Harbeth P3-ESRs. I’d never heard the Stirling LS3/5a V2s. The nearest was a pair of Stirling MS88s.
Recently a pair of V2s were advertised privately and I was interested in actually getting a pair to listen to.
I eventually bought them at a very good price. I could always sell them on if I couldn’t get on with them, I thought.
Well, they are superb. Aural memory can be suspect, but I feel they are the best LS3/5as I’ve heard. The bass
is tighter and subjectively deeper and the top marginally brighter, but that lovely midrange is present.
As for comparison to the P3, you have to take on board it’s a different speaker. It’s smoother, gives a
bigger image and deeper bass and it’s more realistic. The piano sounds more like a piano. Piano sounds superb on the Stirlings, but it has more ‘body’ on the Harbeths.
In the end it comes down to what you can live with. If I hadn’t got the Harbeths I could happily live with the
Stirlings.