LS3/5a cabinet damping

[sktn77a]

How about from Andy Whittle then?

I was seeking a printed reference.

 

[BigBlue2020]

So I found a Facebook post from 10/11/22 in the LS3/5a Group, discussing Audiomaster and other LS3/5a's - our very own guru Martyn Miles contributed to the postings.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/64228567000/posts/10158664866732001/

In the responses - from Derek Hughes himself -
'we used MDF towards the end of the time we made the 3/5A. Part of the reason for asking the BBC if we, and others, could use it was that the front baffles looked much nicer as MDF machined better than ply, and there were increasing issues with the quality of ply supplies.
The BBC specified changes to the internal damping to bring the panel resonances within the levels specified in the licence.'

Other postings seem to confirm MDF for some panels with KEF and Spendor versions.
--------------------------------

So obviously the licensing requirements are not necessarily exactly the same as the original BBC spec (RD 1976/29).
They no longer use LS3/5a's at the BBC so I expect they take a more 'commercial approach' to licensing. Current BBC licensed versions also use different drivers and crossovers for example.
I understand that MDF has also recently been used by Stirling Broadcast on some of their Special Editions.

Oh no, I may be becoming one of those LS3/5a obsessives.

 

[Martyn Miles]

It creeps up on you, becoming an LS3/5A obsessive.
Be very careful...

 

[canonman]

It creeps up on you, becoming an LS3/5A obsessive.
Be very careful...

Some of us are way past the Bell curve summit though....

 

[BigBlue2020]

It creeps up on you, becoming an LS3/5A obsessive.
Be very careful...

I'm already halfway there -I now own 4 of the modern versions !

Two V3's (one probably for sale soon, one being delivered), a V2 and a Falcon Gold Badge

 

[Meursault]

I thought it was the Kef versions that were built with mdf, pretty certain the 11 ohm Spendors i owned were birch ply.
I presume any that were built using mdf would have been after the BBC had stopped using them for monitoring purposes themselves so perhaps the licence conditions were not being applied as strictly.

TS

I think it was only one version. It was the Raymond Cook Limited edition which was finished in gloss black.

 

[Martyn Miles]

I'm already halfway there -I now own 4 of the modern versions !

Two V3's (one probably for sale soon, one being delivered), a V2 and a Falcon Gold Badge

I only have 2 pairs, which makes me more of a LS3/5A nerd than an obsessive !

 

[RJohan]

It's not a pissing contest, but, my Chartwells will turn 46 in august. I'm the original owner. Probably before MDF was invented

 

[Martyn Miles]

So, presumably, you’re well over 46 ?

 

[sktn77a]

In the responses - from Derek Hughes himself -
'we used MDF towards the end of the time we made the 3/5A. Part of the reason for asking the BBC if we, and others, could use it was that the front baffles looked much nicer as MDF machined better than ply, and there were increasing issues with the quality of ply supplies.
The BBC specified changes to the internal damping to bring the panel resonances within the levels specified in the licence.'

Thanks and interesting. I owned two pairs of Spendor LS3/5As over the years, both pairs were 11 ohm versions (early and mid 1990s) and most certainly did not have MDF cabinets or baffles (Greaves of Sheffield would be turning in their graves). This must have been a modification to only the very last batch(es) made.