Anyone agree with the What Hi-Fi best speakers list? :D

[Paul7777x]

This is a UK based magazine which was perhaps one of the biggest main stream media outlets, and popular for budding audiophiles here in the UK.

I'm not sure what the demographic actually is on here, I wouldn't have said UK members was the biggest on here. However the UK has been known to produce a few icons in the speaker domain, or would you say different?

A list of the best stereo speakers we've reviewed that have left a lasting impression in What Hi-Fi?'s near-50-years history.

We reminisce about the very best stereo speakers we have reviewed since 1976

www.whathifi.com

What hifi is not even a comic.

 

[mhardy6647]

No KEF 105's

I mean... I woulda put the 105 on that list.

Heck, I'd have been tempted to put an IMF on that list, given my extremely positive experience with a pair of dump-find IMF SuperCompact II three-ways. Quite remarkable little loudspeakers.

 

[mhardy6647]

The dogpiling and unanimous heaping of contempt on this basically harmless listicle makes me yearn to “agree” with the nostalgic mining of the magazine’s archives, and to forgive the transparent hype of calling these “best” instead of “iconic” or “popular” or whatever.

Just FWIW -- when I think of iconic loudspeakers... I think of... Iconics.

source: https://www.lansingheritage.org/html/altec/catalogs/1943.htm

source: https://www.lansingheritage.org/html/altec/catalogs/1954-home.htm

 

[kharan]

This is a UK based magazine which was perhaps one of the biggest main stream media outlets, and popular for budding audiophiles here in the UK.

I'm not sure what the demographic actually is on here, I wouldn't have said UK members was the biggest on here. However the UK has been known to produce a few icons in the speaker domain, or would you say different?

A list of the best stereo speakers we've reviewed that have left a lasting impression in What Hi-Fi?'s near-50-years history.

We reminisce about the very best stereo speakers we have reviewed since 1976

www.whathifi.com

Not even the publication itself thinks it's the best speakers.

Let me quote the article. They switch between "the best" and "special place in our hearts".

This ever-expanding list is a celebration of the stereo speakers that have a special place in our hearts – and yours too, hopefully – as we flick through nearly five decades of What Hi-Fi?'s past for the best pairs of speakers that we have listened to and enjoyed in our test rooms[/URL].

 

[DSJR]

I’m a big fan of the LS3/5A but ‘new ones’ and old are way overpriced for what they are, it’s just the heritage and that licence thing. But for what they do well they’re a great speaker, even by today’s manufacturing and designs. They just hit a sweet spot in design with it. The dimensions, materials, sealed enclosure, way the drivers work together, and the way it performs for what it is, it’s just a winner. And you don’t have to have an OEM certified either, you can knock one up that is as near as dammit, plus use better drivers or close variants, and it becomes a ‘just as good’/better for beer money. Why it’s not on the WTF list I don’t know, should be really. Like I said prob not in their interest to glow over it. It’ll always be a favourite of mine, far prefer it to those Kef LS50s! As space age and technologically better they might be in comparison, give me the BBC design or a clone any day!

I have it on good authority from an original design team member that the LS3/5A was designed to emphasise distortion and HISSS in an outside broadcast van, nothing more as @sergeauckland correctly suggests above - edit - they did find their way into the broadcast studios as a general sound-box before being replaces as below. It's NOT accurate on speech, the original brightness and later mid 80s screech saw to that and the 120Hz 'thump' was designed in to make them sound at least acceptable (the popular-used JR149 cylinders lacked this thump and simply sounded thin and somewhat tinny I remember). The 11 ohm revisions helped a bit, but I remember one afternoon at the Harbeth factory in 1990 or so, their 3/5A version (meticulously calibrated) was beaten handsomely in imagery and top-bottom seamlessness by the original Harbeth P3 model, itself subsequently hugely developed into the current P3ESR-XD models thirty five odd years on...

We sold LS3/5As (Rogers, Chartwell and Audiomaster) to those who wanted a dinky box with a bigger sound, the BBC monika on the back an added bonus. Nobody made any money from them I remember, as the B110 drive unit varied a lot even in the borderline spec required for the design and so much fiddling in the crossovers was needed to get each one to conform (first hand experience of failed batches being hand-tuned to bring them into line), that's assuming the makers bothered. The baby Spendor SA1 wasn't especially a competitor as it was slightly chunkier, but when new, what a delightful tone it had - HiFi Choice suggesting it came into its own with digital sources (I'd moved jobs to a non-Spendor dealership by then)

All ancient history now and samples of these boxes sell for silly-high amounts to collectors, as do vintage Tannoys and similar. new Falcon ones I heard immediately reminded mne why I loathe this speaker today, all screech and tinsssssel up top, but the demming dealer thought this is 'detail' so there you are...

As for the BBC, they 'upgraded' to Dynaudio actives (BM5As I think) in their studio refits a couple of decades or more back, so that's where afficionado interests should look.

I gave up two thirds into the list, but what in the UK about the Spendor BC1, KEF 104ab and especially R105, along with the B&W 801 and I think the 802 and 805, which found itself placed in so mastering studios (Polygram especially in the 80s and 90s), the N800s regularly seen today, doorstops or otherwise

 

[MAB]

probably the most iconic and maybe best British monitor ever made didn't even make the short list the LS3/5A. I guess it wasn't profitable for WHF

It's just that they sound really bad. Good for monitoring plosives and other artifacts, but so is listening to a midrange 90 degrees off-axis . Not so good for listening to music.

 

[DSJR]

I mean... I woulda put the 105 on that list.

Heck, I'd have been tempted to put an IMF on that list, given my extremely positive experience with a pair of dump-find IMF SuperCompact II three-ways. Quite remarkable little loudspeakers.

You think the Super Compact (in any version) is a good box, just try to hear a restored pair of RSPMs. the MKIII and especially the IV are what I cut my audiophile teeth on - might explain my negative vibes on LS3/5As!!!

Note to self, get yer bloody Compact originals re-foamed or re-surrounded again... @Mart68 may recognise the mid drivers from his TLS50s (or earlier version of same) he had at one time.

 

[Westsounds]

Right, here's a Family Fortunes question We asked 100 audiophiles, from the WTF ‘best’ speakers list, which they agreed on, if they could have ‘only one’ to choose to be rightly on that list which would it be?

That’s a $64,000 question, but what would that answer be?

I’d say most in agreement from that exclusive limited list, that they / we might agree on, would be, either epos es11 (1991) or the AE1’s (1988).

What do you think? That’s a great quiz question for an audiophile quiz evening

 

[jkasch]

No Harbeth in a Brit list?

 

[Westsounds]

I have it on good authority from an original design team member that the LS3/5A was designed to emphasise distortion and HISSS in an outside broadcast van, nothing more as @sergeauckland correctly suggests above - edit - they did find their way into the broadcast studios as a general sound-box before being replaces as below. It's NOT accurate on speech, the original brightness and later mid 80s screech saw to that and the 120Hz 'thump' was designed in to make them sound at least acceptable (the popular-used JR149 cylinders lacked this thump and simply sounded thin and somewhat tinny I remember). The 11 ohm revisions helped a bit, but I remember one afternoon at the Harbeth factory in 1990 or so, their 3/5A version (meticulously calibrated) was beaten handsomely in imagery and top-bottom seamlessness by the original Harbeth P3 model, itself subsequently hugely developed into the current P3ESR-XD models thirty five odd years on...

We sold LS3/5As (Rogers, Chartwell and Audiomaster) to those who wanted a dinky box with a bigger sound, the BBC monika on the back an added bonus. Nobody made any money from them I remember, as the B110 drive unit varied a lot even in the borderline spec required for the design and so much fiddling in the crossovers was needed to get each one to conform (first hand experience of failed batches being hand-tuned to bring them into line), that's assuming the makers bothered. The baby Spendor SA1 wasn't especially a competitor as it was slightly chunkier, but when new, what a delightful tone it had - HiFi Choice suggesting it came into its own with digital sources (I'd moved jobs to a non-Spendor dealership by then)

All ancient history now and samples of these boxes sell for silly-high amounts to collectors, as do vintage Tannoys and similar. new Falcon ones I heard immediately reminded mne why I loathe this speaker today, all screech and tinsssssel up top, but the demming dealer thought this is 'detail' so there you are...

As for the BBC, they 'upgraded' to Dynaudio actives (BM5As I think) in their studio refits a couple of decades or more back, so that's where afficionado interests should look.

I gave up two thirds into the list, but what in the UK about the Spendor BC1, KEF 104ab and especially R105, along with the B&W 801 and I think the 802 and 805, which found itself placed in so mastering studios (Polygram especially in the 80s and 90s), the N800s regularly seen today, doorstops or otherwise

Weren't the AE1's (on that list) a better studio alternative to the LS3/5A, with it being the small studio monitor that actually could. Don't really know too much about the design philosophy of the AE1, I knew they were pigs to drive, owned a few sets too. They do prefer good power I feel.

It's common knowledge about the BBC monitors, the outside broadcast vans and them being alternative to headphones for production use. I do think they are a great alternative to using headphones, and the speech is really good on them, at least I feel it is. One of the best I've heard vocal production of any size / price speaker, actually.

 

[Westsounds]

Just FWIW -- when I think of iconic loudspeakers... I think of... Iconics.

View attachment 518482
source: https://www.lansingheritage.org/html/altec/catalogs/1943.htm

View attachment 518483
source: https://www.lansingheritage.org/html/altec/catalogs/1954-home.htm

The lady in the ad really sells it!

 

[DanielT]

The lady in the ad really sells it!

Speaking of women in hifi ads, there are plenty of them here:

Vintage Audio Advertising

Must say, the internet can sometimes be wonderful. By pure chance I landed on a discussion about vintage Empire speakers and that led me to other vintage discussions, and eventually to vintage audio advertising. Some of the ads are downright comical, at least I thought so. Lots of posing...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[Rick63]

Speaking of women in hifi ads, there are plenty of them here:

Vintage Audio Advertising

Must say, the internet can sometimes be wonderful. By pure chance I landed on a discussion about vintage Empire speakers and that led me to other vintage discussions, and eventually to vintage audio advertising. Some of the ads are downright comical, at least I thought so. Lots of posing...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[Soniclife]

No Harbeth in a Brit list?

Or Linn, Naim or Rega, who all have made exclusively idiosyncratic speakers.

I don't get the extra hate for whf, to me it's just as unless to the reader as all the other hifi magazines*, unless their paper is less absorbent.

* Excluding the measurements bits in those that do them well.

 

[Westsounds]

Or Linn, Naim or Rega, who all have made exclusively idiosyncratic speakers.

Quite rightly so left off the list, they were pants!

 

[Westsounds]

Speakers anyway. Not so much the electronics, way more sort after. That's why epos existed to make Naim sound glorious!

 

[Mart68]

Right, here's a Family Fortunes question We asked 100 audiophiles, from the WTF ‘best’ speakers list, which they agreed on, if they could have ‘only one’ to choose to be rightly on that list which would it be?

That’s a $64,000 question, but what would that answer be?

I’d say most in agreement from that exclusive limited list, that they / we might agree on, would be, either epos es11 (1991) or the AE1’s (1988).

What do you think? That’s a great quiz question for an audiophile quiz evening

No chance - I'd take the JBL K2 - there's nothing else on that list that even comes close!

 

[Westsounds]

No chance - I'd take the JBL K2 - there's nothing else on that list that even comes close!

Well there's one opinion, need another 99 now to get a definitive answer for the quiz

The JBLs are pretty special tho, and your not even an American flying the flag for their country

 

[Westsounds]

And if we were talking money no object, think most would choose a higher end speaker, but it's meant to be a real world list, for the average consumers as well. So picking 'just one' worthy noble champion to go on there needs a lot of consideration.

Just a bit of fun after all

 

[mhardy6647]

You think the Super Compact (in any version) is a good box, just try to hear a restored pair of RSPMs. the MKIII and especially the IV are what I cut my audiophile teeth on - might explain my negative vibes on LS3/5As!!!

Note to self, get yer bloody Compact originals re-foamed or re-surrounded again... @Mart68 may recognise the mid drivers from his TLS50s (or earlier version of same) he had at one time.

View attachment 518486

I'd still have them but sourcing the foam for the midrange driver was more than I wanted to take on. They were excellent sounding loudspeakers, and surprisingly easy to drive, as well.



This is the worse-looking of the pair (missing a chunk of the front molding). The other one was nigh-on perfect.