The BBC Speakers and LS3/5a discussion thread

The LS3/5A is worthy of a small book, so varied is the story. Can't stand the effers - and I've heard 'hundreds' of different ones from various makers and eras...

Andrew, rather than stack like this and risking phasing effects of two separate tweeters interfering with each other, just get a bloody bigger one! If it's to be a 'BBC Boomer,' then BC1's, SP1's or Harbeths if you can give them enough room.


I've become summat of an apologist for generic BBC inspired speakers. the only two 'classic' ones that come up usually are the 3/5A and Spendor BC1, this latter of which the Beeb bought a few hundred pairs rather than the 'official' LS3/6 model which languished until Rogers took out the auto-transformer and called it the Export, which I didn't think was quite as good as the BC1 anyway! All the others - other Spendors which came after Spencer's passing in 1983, Harbeths, Rogers and so on, are nowt to do with the BBC at all and some of them were absolute effin' horrors in UK rooms, booming, soggy and lush toned! Far eastern audio people lap 'em up, use them with valve amps and vinyl...

P.S. I've just bought a pair of cheap JBL Control 1's as 'test' speakers to replace some Diamond IV's I was getting bored with. If you're going to have a miniature box, you can do a hell of a lot worse than these. I'm actually rather enjoying them despite a lack of deep bass (perfect for my needs) and a surprisingly restrained mid treble region where I could do with a touch more sparkle.

A comment today nicked from the Spendor Yahoo group regarding why so-called 'BBC Speakers' may sound as they do.

"Initially the producers comparing the control room sound to the live orchestras next door complained of a too "forward" sound. It was decided that a flat response around the ears most sensitive area was too much and a more natural sound was achieved by a flat, wide 1 or 2 dB dip around 1 to 3 kHz. This was easily achieved because near the existing crossover point so values could again be chosen to compensate. Dynamics have nothing to do with it unless the driver or crossover components are pushed into overloading or the amp runs out of steam. However a less "forward" or "in your face" sound could be mistaken for lack of dynamics in the same way that a JBL or Cerwin Vega might sound initially more exciting when switched from a more neutral sound - before fatigue sets in that is!."


Now, this from probably an older person who hasn't heard *current* JBL monitor designs, which don't squawk and screech as they once did.

I now have two problems with the average Harbeth especially - (Spendor are hauling themselves well out of this more and trad owners don't care much for them, finding them too 'bright' where I love 'em for this)! - The bass is often left underdamped and is optimised for free space mounting (they're tested high on spindly mounts in the middle of the countryside in their case I believe), so used too close to the wall not only does the *quantity* of bass increase, but the boomy aspect is greatly magnified. My own SHL5's (I came by them honestly) sound off terribly in our little room and it masks the pleasant things happening above. My ears are now slightly damaged in that the 'glare' frequencies (right where BBC types suck out) don't 'glare' as they ought to, so self effacing speakers like this sound slightly muffled to me. the current Harbeth models coming through and even subtly better, the Anniversary editions with posher crossover caps and bling added, have been livened and tautened up somewhat and now, they sound as if they have a carrot up their jacksie unless you use a seriously powerful amp to drive them - far eastern audiophools still use them with valve gear which does all manner of 'stuff' to the sound and measured response.

One BBC monitor I'd like to hear from the 'golden age of bextrene' - cough - is the LS5/5, which apparently was the last one to be designed for a properly flat 'monitor' response. the replacement 5/8 and the smaller 5/9 have the upper mids reduced and they HAVE to be used on tallish stands and pulled well out from walls. My LS5/9's (I'm waiting for suitable boxes and packing so I can sell them) sound great when used properly and 'tubby' when used here

P.S. I may seem to be joining the crowd that slags off 'BBC-type' speakers, but these are as nothing to what Pro-Ac did with many of theirs in the 90's (the Response 2 being a notable exception I recall). Bass on many Pro-Acs is 'woofy' in the extreme, the highs sparkle and zip along un-naturally and the mids are miles away, but in a big room, the soundstage is artificially deepened so that if the speakers were placed either side of an open door, the musicians appear to be playing somewhere in the room behind... The designer wanted it this way as he's able to get basically similar sounds from all manner of drive-unit combinations - and that does take skill...