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Graham Audio LS5/9

No matter how good that LS8/1 sounds I couldn’t have it in the house. That is one ugly speaker, it looks like they’re ashamed of the woofer.

Cheers BB

I think you're referring to the LS5/5 - a unique looker. Confusingly, the top-hit for LS8/1 is the Absolute Sound review but it depicts the wrong speaker!
 
I listened to Graham ls5/9, ls5/8 and Harbeth m40.3 XD at my showroom dealer. I was extremely disappointed with Graham's sound. These speakers are very colored, they are tiring and bright, although the treble is lacking. There is no realistic voice. I'm surprised by my findings, I've read a lot of positive things about Graham before.
 
This is equally surprising to hear! I have the Graham Audio LS 5/9 and to me they are anything but tiring too listen too, I have a solid state amp, a hybrid and a tube pre with a class A power amp and although I have my favorite combo, none of them sound like you describe them!!!
I guess it just shows how we all hear different!
Would be intrigued to know what system they were match with ?
 
I listened to Graham ls5/9, ls5/8 and Harbeth m40.3 XD at my showroom dealer. I was extremely disappointed with Graham's sound. These speakers are very colored, they are tiring and bright, although the treble is lacking. There is no realistic voice. I'm surprised by my findings, I've read a lot of positive things about Graham before.

how did the Harbeth fare compared to the Grahams?
 
Harbeth m40.3 were much better than Graham ls5/8. Better bass, more realistic reproduction, less coloration, less fatigue.

You use the word fatigue a lot, it’s not a word normally used in assessment of the bbc kind of sound or design !

It would be useful to know what portion of the frequency response is causing @Peter_Tos's perceived fatigue in the Graham's, as this would give us insight into whether it's an issue with the speaker's voicing or if it's a partnering equipment/room acoustics issue.
 
Have you listened to or owned Graham ls 5/9 (5/8)?
frequency response
it was something in the region of the top of the midrange and the bottom of the HF. I would call it brightness, but I also noted the lack of HF. I was expecting a warmer and softer performance from Graham.
 
I listened to Graham ls5/9, ls5/8 and Harbeth m40.3 XD at my showroom dealer. I was extremely disappointed with Graham's sound. These speakers are very colored, they are tiring and bright, although the treble is lacking. There is no realistic voice. I'm surprised by my findings, I've read a lot of positive things about Graham before.
Where was this dealer?
 
My Ls5/9s are anything but bright. I am using a Lavardin IT at the moment but have paired them with Sonneteer, LFD as well and they sound great with all of the amps. I have found that the treble sounds better with the speakers pointing in directly facing me in my listening position. They are very similar to the Harbeths in my room.
 
It is astonishing. Of any and all accusations which would be levelled at the 5/9, bright and tiring are pretty much as far away from my own experience as I can imagine.*

*Unless this version has an entirely different signature to the BBC articles I used to listen to daily.
 
There is no reason to name the dealer, I don't want to advertise it for free. I am not a Harbeth fan and I am aware of the Alan Shaw cult on the HUG forum.
I was just talking about my experience of directly comparing the Harbeth m40.3 and the Graham LS5/8, no catch. I also listened to a Graham ls5/9 after the comparison, which I did not like.
Also, I've noticed that there's a lot of praise for Graham on the forums, but almost no one has directly compared it to Harbeth. Lots of promotional chatter, which made me expect more from Graham speakers.
 
But you don’t name the system you used for comparison, also I have listen to both my speakers and the Harbeth 30.1 and felt the 30.1 did something to voices that I did not like, like there was too much of everything.
Mind you, of all the BBC speakers out there now, the Harbeth’s are probably the one that sound the more Hi-Fi to me than the other manufacturers.
 
It is astonishing. Of any and all accusations which would be levelled at the 5/9, bright and tiring are pretty much as far away from my own experience as I can imagine.*

*Unless this version has an entirely different signature to the BBC articles I used to listen to daily.

You were listening to real LS5/9's though which were never fatiguing. Alan Shaw always disliked them.
 


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