These style speakers have a rep for a certain sound. Don't people buy these style b/c they like the sound - the sound that even on the originals and the licensed ones - isn't anything near flat or accurate? And I think that was intended at the BBC.
Most people don't look at measurements - they simply think something "sounds good" - even if it is highly inaccurate.
If you show them it's not accurate, they won't care.
Signature sound[edit]
Similar to
sealed-box speakers of similar size, the 3/5A has little or no low bass, but the design reinforced its lower register by a boost at around 160 Hz, giving the subjective impression that the speaker is more bass-rich.
[7][10][15] It has a gently rising frequency response above 5kHz,
[14] leading reviewers to notice the sound being a little bright at the treble registers, or that the speakers "reproduce the high-end roughness of solid-state amplifiers mercilessly" thus suggested partnering with valve amplification would be advantageous.
[16][17][18] A slight nasal quality in the midrange has also been noted in the earlier versions.
[3][10][18] The accuracy and stability of its stereo imaging and its clean midrange reproduction are also appreciated qualities.
[10][17] J. Gordon Holt suggests that the quality was "comparable to that from
Quad Electrostatics, at far lower cost and with added bonuses of slightly smoother high end, better stereo imaging, a broader listening area".
[18] John Atkinson suggests in
Stereophile that the LS3/5A is ideally suited to the reproduction of program having a limited dynamic-range requirement, for example chamber music;
[16] he said that the LS3/5A "has never boogied and never will; it's just too polite ever to cut the mustard on rock, or even
straightahead jazz"
"Yes, there's a touch of nasality in the upper midrange, the treble is less smooth than, say, the Paradigm or Dynaudio, and the upper bass is less well defined than audiophiles now expect from even inexpensive speakers. But when it comes to accuracy and stability of stereo imaging and sheer purity of midrange reproduction, the tiny BBC-designed speaker is still a contender."
These diminutive little sleepers have been available in the US for quite some time but have attracted little attention because (1) they have never really been promoted and (2) they are just too small to look as if they could be worth $430 a pair.
www.stereophile.com
the above includes links to several measurements of some of the more well known variants.
