Unfortunately it also sounds
-
Welcome to ASR. There are many reviews of audio hardware and expert members to help answer your questions. Click here to have your audio equipment measured for free!
SoundArtist ("BBC") LS3/5A Speaker Review
- Thread starter amirm
- Start date
Good consumer information about this with the impedance.
What does the manufacturer specify about the speaker's Ohms? Now, IF the speaker you tested is not broken and IF the manufacturer does not point this out with a dip in impedance, then it should be considered almost illegal to sell them.
Considering they seem to have the potential to destroy amps.Amir, I don't usually point out in your tests that there might be something wrong with the stuff, but in the case of the SoundArtist ("BBC") LS3/5A, I wonder if there's seriously something wrong with the ones you've tested, or what do you think?
Galliardist
Major Contributor
It's a fake. Let's not mince words or think of it in remotely the same way as the Falcon or Rogers versions which have the license. It has nothing to do with the BBC.
peniku8
Senior Member
- Joined
- Dec 9, 2020
- Messages
- 473
- Likes
- 1,089
So there *is* a chance that one "interpretation" of it is pretty good just by pure chance?There are so many variations over the years with different versions, clones, tolerances and ageing that people who think get THE LS3/5 sound can get quite different "intepretations" of it.
The measurements of Stereophile in the past had also shown that:
BBC LS3/5a loudspeaker 1989 Measurements | Stereophile.com
Sidebar 2: 1989 Measurements I estimated the voltage sensitivity (using 1/3-octave pink noise centered on 1kHz) and measured the change of impedance with frequency, while the nearfield low-frequency response of each speaker was assessed with a sinewave sweep to get an idea of the true bass...www.stereophile.com
BBC LS3/5a loudspeaker Stirling Measurements | Stereophile.com
Sidebar: Stirling Measurements You can find the measurements of my 1978 samples of the LS3/5a here, and a comparison of their measurements with those of a 1996 KEF sample here. The Stirling LS3/5a V2 offered the same low sensitivity as the original, 82.5dB(B)/2.83V/m, but its impedance (fig.1)...Falcon Acoustics LS3/5a loudspeaker Measurements | Stereophile.com
Sidebar 3: Measurements I used DRA Labs' MLSSA system and a calibrated DPA 4006 microphone to measure the Falcon LS3/5a's frequency response in the farfield, and an Earthworks QTC-40 for the nearfield response. The Falcon's voltage sensitivity was 0.7dB higher than that of my 1978 pair of Rogers...Falcon "Gold Badge" LS3/5a loudspeaker Measurements | Stereophile.com
Measurements, from May 2021 (Vol.44 No.5) In the April 2021 issue of Stereophile, Herb Reichert wrote that he'd spent "almost 40 continuous years using first the kit, then the Rogers, then the Falcon LS3/5a's. Now, a new 5a has entered my world.Gini Systems "LS3/5a" loudspeaker Measurements | Stereophile.com
Sidebar 2: Measurements As John Marks writes, he sent me this unauthorized copy of the classic BBC-designed minimonitor to measure because he suspected an internal wiring problem in one of the speakers. This turned out to be the case: as you can see in fig.1, which shows the step responses of...BBC LS3/5a loudspeaker Harbeth Measurements | Stereophile.com
Sidebar 2: Harbeth Measurements The LS3/5a's impedance magnitude and phase are shown in fig.1. Dropping to 6 ohms only in the top treble octave, it shouldn't give the partnering amplifier any hernias. The sealed box is tuned to 76Hz, the impedance reaching 31.2 ohms at that frequency. There is a...
uwotm8
Addicted to Fun and Learning
- Joined
- Jul 14, 2020
- Messages
- 629
- Likes
- 676
If it didn't, customer would return it and refund so it produces some noises to avoid that
Sokel
Grand Contributor
- Joined
- Sep 8, 2021
- Messages
- 11,201
- Likes
- 12,159
Is that the specific speaker?
cause if it is seems like a knock off of a knock off
Faithful copying is considered an art in China but this time the artist seems to have a rant with people's amps (double )
Thanks Amir!
cause if it is seems like a knock off of a knock off
Faithful copying is considered an art in China but this time the artist seems to have a rant with people's amps (double
)Thanks Amir!
uwotm8
Addicted to Fun and Learning
- Joined
- Jul 14, 2020
- Messages
- 629
- Likes
- 676
Highly likely (TM)
It just should be renamed, its 1/5 if we count Rogers as 3/5 and good speakers as 5/5
DSJR
Master Contributor
Proper B110 is a Bextrene cone (not sure if all versions are doped but the classic one always was. Crossover Network of the official BBC licenced model was extensive and the midrange 'scoop' pretty common to all although earliest ones seemed flatter as the 1.5khz peak was barely there and the 120hz bump more pronounced as a result, if you see what I mean. Below a 'reference' version (no idea whether 11 or 15 ohm, but I suspect the former) and below that, a slightly confusing comparison of a Rogers sample which looks to have the 1/5khz issue and the 5/9 with the upper hundred hertz scoop as preferred by the editing suite staff I gather.
Sokel
Grand Contributor
- Joined
- Sep 8, 2021
- Messages
- 11,201
- Likes
- 12,159
Also looks like the marketing team was a little hasty listing them,it should be:Highly likely (TM)
It just should be renamed, its 1/5 if we count Rogers as 3/5 and good speakers as 5/5
SoundArtist Rogers Harbeth Falcon Acoustics Graham Audio Musical Fidelity ,etc LS3/5A Monitor Bookshelf HIFI Speakers Passive Loudspeakers A Pair
EXIF68
Active Member
Hi Folks,
if you want an usable speaker in size of a ls3/5a take a look at this one here:
greetings,
Walter
if you want an usable speaker in size of a ls3/5a take a look at this one here:
greetings,
Walter
Wow! That was a lot worse than I expected and my expectations were low! You get very bad response across the board and get to blow your amp in the process. Finally a speaker Danny can improve! Throw some No-Rez, a set of tube connectors, some boutique caps, audiophile internal wires on those and $500 bucks later, you are in business!
CleanSound
Major Contributor
- Joined
- Apr 30, 2023
- Messages
- 1,653
- Likes
- 2,629
I wonder if it's
Well, the bottom line is, one can cross these BBC speakers off of their list.
This leads me to wonder if BBC ever share the technical built specs of these speakers. If there are so many versions of these BBC speakers and none of them measurements remotely similar, how are they building it? Did they looked at a picture and build it to visual resemblance?There are so many variations over the years with different versions, clones, tolerances and ageing that people who think get THE LS3/5 sound can get quite different "intepretations" of it.
The measurements of Stereophile in the past had also shown that:
BBC LS3/5a loudspeaker 1989 Measurements | Stereophile.com
Sidebar 2: 1989 Measurements I estimated the voltage sensitivity (using 1/3-octave pink noise centered on 1kHz) and measured the change of impedance with frequency, while the nearfield low-frequency response of each speaker was assessed with a sinewave sweep to get an idea of the true bass...BBC LS3/5a loudspeaker Stirling Measurements | Stereophile.com
Sidebar: Stirling Measurements You can find the measurements of my 1978 samples of the LS3/5a here, and a comparison of their measurements with those of a 1996 KEF sample here. The Stirling LS3/5a V2 offered the same low sensitivity as the original, 82.5dB(B)/2.83V/m, but its impedance (fig.1)...Falcon Acoustics LS3/5a loudspeaker Measurements | Stereophile.com
Sidebar 3: Measurements I used DRA Labs' MLSSA system and a calibrated DPA 4006 microphone to measure the Falcon LS3/5a's frequency response in the farfield, and an Earthworks QTC-40 for the nearfield response. The Falcon's voltage sensitivity was 0.7dB higher than that of my 1978 pair of Rogers...Falcon "Gold Badge" LS3/5a loudspeaker Measurements | Stereophile.com
Measurements, from May 2021 (Vol.44 No.5) In the April 2021 issue of Stereophile, Herb Reichert wrote that he'd spent "almost 40 continuous years using first the kit, then the Rogers, then the Falcon LS3/5a's. Now, a new 5a has entered my world.Gini Systems "LS3/5a" loudspeaker Measurements | Stereophile.com
Sidebar 2: Measurements As John Marks writes, he sent me this unauthorized copy of the classic BBC-designed minimonitor to measure because he suspected an internal wiring problem in one of the speakers. This turned out to be the case: as you can see in fig.1, which shows the step responses of...BBC LS3/5a loudspeaker Harbeth Measurements | Stereophile.com
Sidebar 2: Harbeth Measurements The LS3/5a's impedance magnitude and phase are shown in fig.1. Dropping to 6 ohms only in the top treble octave, it shouldn't give the partnering amplifier any hernias. The sealed box is tuned to 76Hz, the impedance reaching 31.2 ohms at that frequency. There is a...
Well, the bottom line is, one can cross these BBC speakers off of their list.
NHL99
Active Member
- Joined
- Apr 15, 2021
- Messages
- 107
- Likes
- 107
LS3/5A - Wikipedia
21st Century LS3/5A
With all the "officially licensed" LS3/5As floating around, I felt compelled to post this challenge on the LS3/5A Fanboy (sorry, Facebook) page: "I'm not aware that the BBC has used LS3/5a class 2 monitors for many years, or has issued licenses/certificates to anyone in the current millenium...
pinkfishmedia.net
‘BBC licences over the last 20 years are commercial agreements to use the name, not technical.There’s no staff anymore to check them as they used to do in original manufacturing days,
and BBC are not interested now. Just told not to bring the name of the BBC into disrepute.
It used to cost £2K, but may be more nowadays.’
RandomEar
Addicted to Fun and Learning
- Joined
- Feb 14, 2022
- Messages
- 751
- Likes
- 1,894
It means "that the manufacturer or importer affirms the goods' conformity with European health, safety, and environmental protection standards.". CE markings are not reserved for mains powered devices - childrens toys for example can (and should) have them.
No. That is an urban legend that refuses to die. The regulations concerning the letters and the CE logo overall are quite lax:
Tiny differences in the logo don't mean anything. Also, the CE marking is self-certified. By using it, the manufacturer or importer itself assures you and everybody else that he definitely checked all those 10 billion EU regulations and that his products absolutely complies with all of them. The result is that lots of products carry the marking, but the manufacturer never actually bothered to check if the product is technically allowed to carry it. I assume that this problem is also the basis for that "China Export" urban legend.
EDIT: You could loosely interpret the CE marking as the opposite of California's Proposition 65. Many consumer products sold in CA carry the cancer warning, even if the dangerous component will never come in contact with you or pose any actual risk. This effectively renders the warning meaningless. Opposed to that outcome, most consumer products sold in the EU carry the CE marking, but you never know if they actually comply with all the regulations. That renders the marking essentially meaningless
Last edited:
fpitas
Master Contributor
No, not really, unless it's car audio, where you're often voltage limited.
BadAudioAdvice
Active Member
So I am the unfortunate owner of these speakers.
I bought them based on all the positive reviews on YouTube when they were first released (note to self - never believe a word that was said by those reviewers again). My hope was that due to their supposed 11-ohm impedance I could make an era-appropriate system with a Quad 33/303 I am going to refurbish.
In case some might wonder if the one I sent Amir might be a bad sample, I can say that I measured each in the pair I have with a DATS v3 and both speakers had nearly identical impedance/phase measurements.
Now I have a dilemma, what to do with the speakers since I have them, and don't feel comfortable selling them with the terrible impedance dip.
The only redeeming quality is the cabinet.
Do I replace the speaker drivers? I don't mind spending a little bit of money to make them into something decent.
Passive with high impedance would be great so I could still pair them with the Quad.
Or I could make them active, so that I could plug a record player direct into them.
I also see that I could adjust the response with EQ, but that wouldn't solve the 1.7ohm problem...
Any advice would be much appreciated!
I bought them based on all the positive reviews on YouTube when they were first released (note to self - never believe a word that was said by those reviewers again). My hope was that due to their supposed 11-ohm impedance I could make an era-appropriate system with a Quad 33/303 I am going to refurbish.
In case some might wonder if the one I sent Amir might be a bad sample, I can say that I measured each in the pair I have with a DATS v3 and both speakers had nearly identical impedance/phase measurements.
Now I have a dilemma, what to do with the speakers since I have them, and don't feel comfortable selling them with the terrible impedance dip.
The only redeeming quality is the cabinet.
Do I replace the speaker drivers? I don't mind spending a little bit of money to make them into something decent.
Passive with high impedance would be great so I could still pair them with the Quad.
Or I could make them active, so that I could plug a record player direct into them.
I also see that I could adjust the response with EQ, but that wouldn't solve the 1.7ohm problem...
Any advice would be much appreciated!
BadAudioAdvice
Active Member
It is actually *very* nice in person. Hard to capture in photos.
Similar threads
- Poll
