Incredible mid-range and vocals. Perfect tonal balance

None - bass is not a problem if your listening envoirnment is not too big

Twenty years ago when I was still a HiFi beginner, I was amazed with the performance of the LS3/5a for its small and unsophisticated cabinet. But I was not able to own one for I was still a student. Now, I have a pair of 15 Ohm Rogers, which has put an end to my search for suitable bookshelf speakers as I become a HiFi enthusiast. The mid-range and vocals are superb and enchanting. I do not agreed that LS3/5a is weak in bass, it can be deep and dynamic especially with 15 Ohms version, check this out.

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Castle Trent II, Proac Tablette III, LS3/5a 11 Ohm, Chario Hyper II

Lack of bass

Bought at boot sale (flea market) for 10 pounds. Black, tatty body, very dusty drivers. Knew immediately what I had but did not realise they are worth so much as 600 pounds new. Cleaned it up, tightened it up, had a look at the magnificent crossover. Placed on Atacama stands, fed by 200 pound Sony amp and 300 pound Sony CD player. Took a while for things to get warmed up but cranking Quincy Jones's "Back on the Block" CD proved they were in a different league to the MS20's I'd been using. Instruments and voices, especially when solo-ing, had a near-real sound. Still, my amp and CD are not to the level prescribed for these speakers, but they'll be replaced by something more substantial soon. I will be looking for these AB-1 bass extenders because I like bass. But as another guy here said, the "audio Gods were smiling on me that day."

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Mordaunt-Short MS20i Pearl, various B&O, various second-hand specials

exceptional clarity and smoothness. Music sounds like music, not the speaker.

the bass (only when turned up quite high)

What this little speaker lacks in bass, it makes up in overall clarity, smoothness, and build quality. I purchased them at a yard sale down the street. the guy had them hooked up to an old beat up pioneer receiver, but they still sounded excellent. It wasn't until recently (and after a bit of research) that I realized how good these little units were. They now are hooked up in my little studio downstairs. I use them for mixing and editing audio. They are hitched up to an NAD C340 amp and C541 cd player.

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paradigm mini monitors

Very smooth midrange. Excellent imaging. Very accurate reproduction. Beautiful construction

Will only play at 95db. Bass is lacking for "rock music"

I have owned these excellent for 22 years and will never sell them. I have owned and still own other speakers in my house, but I will always keep these little gems hooked up and cranking. Currently, I use them as the MAIN speakers in my video setup. With DVD's the sound is so accurate and the imaging is so good that I do not miss the proverbial center channel speaker. I do not want to mar their sound with rear channel speakers either.

I have yet to hear a speaker at ANY SIZE or PRICE that reproduces the midrange and treble as well as these. THis is personal , but the extremely high standards way back then of the BBC dictated the design and manufacture of this outstanding speaker.

THe speaker uses a very sophisticated cross over and the highly regarded KEF drivers.

I did hook them up to a subwoofer many years ago, but since it was not compatible, I decided to do away with it.

The front to back detail and the imaging is without peer, when these speakers are PROPERLY PLACED. DO NOT PLACE near any backwall, side wall or floor. This is the complete opposite of the BOSE 901 design.

When placed 3 feet off the ground on stands, with at least 2 feet from the back wall and 2 feet from the side wall, you will get imaging and clarity that are unbelievable.


People who visit me to this day are amazed at the sound coming from these beaties.

If you can find a pair manufactured 20 years ago, BUY THEM. THe wood finish is beautiful. I have TEAK, and they match most furniture.

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Kef 103.2

Incredible midrange

No deep bass

I submitted a review of these speakers a while ago. A couple of days ago, one of the speaker's terminals got loosed and after discussing with Gene Rubin Audio (where I bought them years ago) I went inside the speakers to fix the problem. You first have to remove the grills (they are velcroed to the front baffle) then remove the 8 wood screws to get to the inside. After tightened up the terminal nuts, I checked the driver mounting screws and found that they became a bit loose after all these years. I also found that the tweeters have a metal perforated protected grills! I removed them with a swiss army knife. Here is my re-review of the LS3/5A's:

Incredible midrange. Voice is reproduced so naturally.

High is much more extended. My real complaints about these speakers is that the high is "papery" , "splashy" in quality! After removing the metal protected grills, the high is transformed. Much more extended, the "papery" sound is gone and the details improved tremendously.

Bass is much tighter after I tightened up all the screws. The bass hump is still there but much less irritating than before.

Imaging is much improved.

So there it is folks, if you have a pair of LS3/5A's for a few years, go in and tighten up those screws, and remove the metal protective grills (I wonder by doing so will make the speakers not BBC approved!!!!) This will transform the sound. It happened to me! I almost traded in these speakers for a newer design speakers (the one with metal tweeters and Kevlar cones). Not any more. I am keeping these babies for good. I am looking for a set of AB-1 subwoofers instead.

Happy listening!

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None

Impeccable vocal reproduction and imaging.

None. If you want big bass, buy bigger monitors or add a sub.

The BBC LS3/5a is a legend. Why anyone would ever say that any other small monitor tops the LS3/5a once they hear it baffles me. I have never encounterd a monitor which is so realistic in its overall presentation. The LS3/5a is made to be played with the grill on at all times...but I'm still tempted at times to pull off the grills and look for a live person inside :)

P.S. Both pair of my Harbeth LS3/5a were made in 1988 but this review site only allows back to 1995.Nothing smoother than aged LS3/5a's!!

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Proac Response 1sc, Acarian Alon Petite

Imaging, mid band reproduction, near field listening

lack of bass, cannot go loud

I have got this out of production model (a display set) from a shop in Hong Kong. The brand of LS3/5a I have got was Harbeth. The money that I spend for this display unit can buy a brand new ProAc Tab 2000. However, during listening comparsion, I pick the LS3/5 and did not regret a bit. If you have a small listening area (around 100 sq feet) and like to listen to JAZZ, Vocal in a mild way, I can only recommend this little legendary LS3/5a to you.

The imaging and the mid band is the best for this speaker set. You can almost feel the saxophone and the singer standing in front of you doing the performance. Of course, the drawback for the LS3/5a is like every other shoe box size speaker, lack of bass. But, you would not mind because you will be sucked into the live performance it reproduces in your small listening room. Try for yourself.

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B&W 601

great speech re-production & excelent mid-range

None considering small size of cabinets!

The set I have are actually my Dad's. They are a very early pair of Audiomaster LS3/5a's and therefore 15ohms. They definately aren't the easiest speakers to drive! Iam running them through a lecson AP1 Power Amp and Meridian 101 Pre and with this set-up they match well. My Dad's had these since they were new and I've still to here a similar sized speaker that sounds as good. Shame they stoped making them!

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AE 109's

The Harbeth 11 ohms won the HF&RR LS3/5a review, against numerous other BBC licensed manufacturers, by a comfortable margin!

I suppose...somewhere?

The Harbeth version of this venerable monitor needed a plug. Rogers, Rogers, 15 ohm, 15 ohm, everywhere! It was the 11 ohm Harbeth version that won the big shootout, see:

http://home.freeuk.net/pwhatton/shootout.html

My guess is the Harbeth craftmanship just gave it a bit of an edge. Superb!

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JMLabs, Totem, Mission

Superb midrange reptoduction

Essentially "bookshelf" bass

My wife thought I stopped switching audio components because I matured and reordered my priorities. The truth is, since I put together the LS/35A's with my Audio Research D76A, I haven't been able to find anything that comes close to these speakers for reproducing voice, piano and sax - at any price. I finally gave up trying about 10 years ago. As to the bass issue, I first got a Rogers passive crosser subwoofer that was supposed to be made for the LS/35A's, but I couldn't adequately power the system. I then bought a used Janis bi-amped subwoofer (I think any decent one will do), and it completely solved the problem. The LS/35A's lost none of their imaging or sonic range, and I have even have enough bass to impress my kids. These speakers are truly classics.

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Dalquist, B&W, KEF