[[email protected]]

Now that we are a snot-free forum, I'd like to throw out the first
audio discussion. I've been listening to these Stirling Broadcast
LS3/5as for a few weeks now, and I'm digging them. I'm amazed at how
smooth and full they sound, despite being about the size of a shoebox
(kids' shoes, even). Sure, I'm powering them with a conrad-johnson
ET250s amp and both a Nagra PL-L and McIntosh C2300 preamps. But man,
am I surprised by the sound. I've heard LS3/5as in the past, and they
never sounded anything like this.

Any other LS3/5a fans here? Critics?

Boon

[Robert Morein]

wrote in message
...
Now that we are a snot-free forum, I'd like to throw out the first
audio discussion. I've been listening to these Stirling Broadcast
LS3/5as for a few weeks now, and I'm digging them. I'm amazed at how
smooth and full they sound, despite being about the size of a shoebox
(kids' shoes, even). Sure, I'm powering them with a conrad-johnson
ET250s amp and both a Nagra PL-L and McIntosh C2300 preamps. But man,
am I surprised by the sound. I've heard LS3/5as in the past, and they
never sounded anything like this.

Any other LS3/5a fans here? Critics?

Boon

I think they might be just the thing for vinyl, but not for CD.

Bob Morein
(310) 237-6511

[George M. Middius]

Robert Morein said:

Any other LS3/5a fans here? Critics?

I think they might be just the thing for vinyl, but not for CD.

I should resent that, but I don't.

[Arny Krueger]

"Robert Morein" wrote in message


I think they might be just the thing for vinyl, but not
for CD.

Actually, LS3/5a speakers can do a pretty good job of reproducing the
objectionable noise and distortion that is an inherent part of the LP
format. You'd have to be pretty deaf to miss it.

[[email protected]]

On Feb 14, 8:11�pm, "Robert Morein" wrote:
wrote in message

...

Now that we are a snot-free forum, I'd like to throw out the first
audio discussion. �I've been listening to these Stirling Broadcast
LS3/5as for a few weeks now, and I'm digging them. �I'm amazed at how
smooth and full they sound, despite being about the size of a shoebox
(kids' shoes, even). �Sure, I'm powering them with a conrad-johnson
ET250s amp and both a Nagra PL-L and McIntosh C2300 preamps. �But man,
am I surprised by the sound. �I've heard LS3/5as in the past, and they
never sounded anything like this.

Any other LS3/5a fans here? �Critics?

Boon

I think they might be just the thing for vinyl, but not for CD.

Why?

Boon

[Arny Krueger]

wrote in message

On Feb 14, 8:11?pm, "Robert Morein"
wrote:

I think they might be just the thing for vinyl, but not
for CD.

Why?

Too accurate.

[Trevor Wilson[_2_]]

wrote in message
...
Now that we are a snot-free forum, I'd like to throw out the first
audio discussion. I've been listening to these Stirling Broadcast
LS3/5as for a few weeks now, and I'm digging them. I'm amazed at how
smooth and full they sound, despite being about the size of a shoebox
(kids' shoes, even). Sure, I'm powering them with a conrad-johnson
ET250s amp and both a Nagra PL-L and McIntosh C2300 preamps. But man,
am I surprised by the sound. I've heard LS3/5as in the past, and they
never sounded anything like this.

Any other LS3/5a fans here? Critics?

**Over-rated and under-performing. There are MUCH better (more accurate)
products available. My own favourite is the late, lamented NEAR 10M-II. A
stunning performer, easily capable of embarrassing the more expensive NEAR
products and pretty much anything remotely close to it's original retail
price. I still use mine. I've never owned a pair of speakers for as long as
I've owned my NEARs.

Trevor Wilson

[[email protected]]

On Feb 14, 10:51�pm, "Trevor Wilson"
wrote:
wrote in message

...

Now that we are a snot-free forum, I'd like to throw out the first
audio discussion. �I've been listening to these Stirling Broadcast
LS3/5as for a few weeks now, and I'm digging them. �I'm amazed at how
smooth and full they sound, despite being about the size of a shoebox
(kids' shoes, even). �Sure, I'm powering them with a conrad-johnson
ET250s amp and both a Nagra PL-L and McIntosh C2300 preamps. �But man,
am I surprised by the sound. �I've heard LS3/5as in the past, and they
never sounded anything like this.

Any other LS3/5a fans here? �Critics?

**Over-rated and under-performing. There are MUCH better (more accurate)
products available. My own favourite is the late, lamented NEAR 10M-II. A
stunning performer, easily capable of embarrassing the more expensive NEAR
products and pretty much anything remotely close to it's original retail
price. I still use mine. I've never owned a pair of speakers for as long as
I've owned my NEARs.

Trevor Wilson

I like the NEARs as well, always have. Great match with Exposure
electronics. I remember choosing my Spendor S20s over LS3/5as back in
the early '90s. Back then, LS3/5as were $750 a pair. These Stirlings
are $1850 a pair. Still, I think this version is the best LS3/5as
I've heard.

Boon

[John Atkinson[_2_]]

On Feb 14, 9:05 pm, wrote:
Any other LS3/5a fans here? Critics?

I reviewed the Stirlng LS3/5a a year ago. You can
find the reprint of that review starting at
http://www.stereophile.com/standloud...1/index12.html .

On balance, I slightly preferred the similarly sized
Harbeth HL-P3ES2:
http://www.stereophile.com/standloud...th/index5.html .

John Atkinson
Editor, Stereophile

[Jenn]

On Feb 15, 4:08*am, John Atkinson wrote:
On Feb 14, 9:05 pm, wrote:

Any other LS3/5a fans here? *Critics?

I reviewed the Stirlng LS3/5a a year ago. You can
find the reprint of that review starting athttp://www.stereophile.com/standloudspeakers/361/index12.html.

On balance, I slightly preferred the similarly sized
Harbeth HL-P3ES2:http://www.stereophile.com/standloud...th/index5.html.

John Atkinson
Editor, Stereophile

I heard the LS3/5a speakers back in the very late 70s or maybe 1980,
back when around the L.A. area there were several high-end
establishments that ran out of people's homes by appointment. Other
than the Quads, they were probably the first high-end speakers that I
heard. I was amazed at the clarity and imaging, but of course, there
was no real bass. I remember that this person had some slightly
larger Mordaunt Short speakers that I liked better. I almost bought a
pair of those, but ended up getting the DCM Timewindows instead as
part of my first non-mass market system (with the NAD 3020 and a
little Micro-Seiki TT.)

[[email protected]]

On Feb 15, 9:20�am, Jenn wrote:
On Feb 15, 4:08�am, John Atkinson wrote:

On Feb 14, 9:05 pm, wrote:

Any other LS3/5a fans here? �Critics?

I reviewed the Stirlng LS3/5a a year ago. You can
find the reprint of that review starting athttp://www.stereophile.com/standloudspeakers/361/index12.html.

On balance, I slightly preferred the similarly sized
Harbeth HL-P3ES2:http://www.stereophile.com/standloud...th/index5.html.

John Atkinson
Editor, Stereophile

I heard the LS3/5a speakers back in the very late 70s or maybe 1980,
back when around the L.A. area there were several high-end
establishments that ran out of people's homes by appointment. �Other
than the Quads, they were probably the first high-end speakers that I
heard. �I was amazed at the clarity and imaging, but of course, there
was no real bass. �I remember that this person had some slightly
larger Mordaunt Short speakers that I liked better. �I almost bought a
pair of those, but ended up getting the DCM Timewindows instead as
part of my first non-mass market system (with the NAD 3020 and a
little Micro-Seiki TT.)

That's funny...I almost bought a pair of DCM Timewindows, but would up
purchasing a pair of Snell Type Js instead. This was around 1982. I
thought the Snells were every bit as good as the DCMs, but a couple of
hundred dollars less.

Boon

[Shhhh! I'm Listening to Reason!]

On Feb 15, 12:44Â*pm, wrote:
On Feb 15, 9:20�am, Jenn wrote:





On Feb 15, 4:08�am, John Atkinson wrote:

On Feb 14, 9:05 pm, wrote:

Any other LS3/5a fans here? �Critics?

I reviewed the Stirlng LS3/5a a year ago. You can
find the reprint of that review starting athttp://www.stereophile.com/standloudspeakers/361/index12.html.

On balance, I slightly preferred the similarly sized
Harbeth HL-P3ES2:http://www.stereophile.com/standloud...th/index5.html.

John Atkinson
Editor, Stereophile

I heard the LS3/5a speakers back in the very late 70s or maybe 1980,
back when around the L.A. area there were several high-end
establishments that ran out of people's homes by appointment. �Other
than the Quads, they were probably the first high-end speakers that I
heard. �I was amazed at the clarity and imaging, but of course, there
was no real bass. �I remember that this person had some slightly
larger Mordaunt Short speakers that I liked better. �I almost bought a
pair of those, but ended up getting the DCM Timewindows instead as
part of my first non-mass market system (with the NAD 3020 and a
little Micro-Seiki TT.)

That's funny...I almost bought a pair of DCM Timewindows, but would up
purchasing a pair of Snell Type Js instead. This was around 1982. Â*I
thought the Snells were every bit as good as the DCMs, but a couple of
hundred dollars less.

There's a blast from the past. I remember hearing a friend's system
using Time Windows matched with a pair of Randy Hooker subs powered by
Threshold electronics about that time frame. He also had some pyramid-
shaped tweeters on top of the DCMs, but I don't recall who made them.
As I recall he also had a Micro Seiki turntable. It sounded great.

[Shhhh! I'm Listening to Reason!]

On Feb 16, 2:45*pm, Bret Ludwig wrote:

*I know what needs to be done.

Are you going to exterminate them?

[Jenn]

In article
,
wrote:

On Feb 15, 9:20?am, Jenn wrote:
On Feb 15, 4:08?am, John Atkinson wrote:

On Feb 14, 9:05 pm, wrote:

Any other LS3/5a fans here? ?Critics?

I reviewed the Stirlng LS3/5a a year ago. You can
find the reprint of that review starting
athttp://www.stereophile.com/standloudspeakers/361/index12.html.

On balance, I slightly preferred the similarly sized
Harbeth
HL-P3ES2:http://www.stereophile.com/standloud...rbeth/index5.h
tml.

John Atkinson
Editor, Stereophile

I heard the LS3/5a speakers back in the very late 70s or maybe 1980,
back when around the L.A. area there were several high-end
establishments that ran out of people's homes by appointment. ?Other
than the Quads, they were probably the first high-end speakers that I
heard. ?I was amazed at the clarity and imaging, but of course, there
was no real bass. ?I remember that this person had some slightly
larger Mordaunt Short speakers that I liked better. ?I almost bought a
pair of those, but ended up getting the DCM Timewindows instead as
part of my first non-mass market system (with the NAD 3020 and a
little Micro-Seiki TT.)

That's funny...I almost bought a pair of DCM Timewindows, but would up
purchasing a pair of Snell Type Js instead. This was around 1982. I
thought the Snells were every bit as good as the DCMs, but a couple of
hundred dollars less.

Boon

I remember looking for the Snell, but couldn't find a dealer at the time.

Looking to hear the TIme Windows (after discovering The Audio Critic and
reading their love of them) led me to a very interesting fellow named
Randy Cooley who owned/owns Optimal Enchantment in Santa Monica. I
think that it was called something else at the time. He was a hippie
type of guy, super friendly. I listened for hours and the Time Windows
seemed like magic to me at the time. Later I also bought an Oracle
TT/Alphason arm/Dynavector cartridge from him. He was a neat guy and
very helpful. Years and years later, I saw and talked to him at the
Stereophile show in LA (two years ago?). We chatted and chatted like old
times. He introduced me to Richard Vandersteen, and I liked him as well.

[[email protected]]

On Feb 15, 11:45�pm, Jenn wrote:
In article
,





wrote:
On Feb 15, 9:20?am, Jenn wrote:
On Feb 15, 4:08?am, John Atkinson wrote:

On Feb 14, 9:05 pm, wrote:

Any other LS3/5a fans here? ?Critics?

I reviewed the Stirlng LS3/5a a year ago. You can
find the reprint of that review starting
athttp://www.stereophile.com/standloudspeakers/361/index12.html.

On balance, I slightly preferred the similarly sized
Harbeth
HL-P3ES2:http://www.stereophile.com/standloud...rbeth/index5.h
tml.

John Atkinson
Editor, Stereophile

I heard the LS3/5a speakers back in the very late 70s or maybe 1980,
back when around the L.A. area there were several high-end
establishments that ran out of people's homes by appointment. ?Other
than the Quads, they were probably the first high-end speakers that I
heard. ?I was amazed at the clarity and imaging, but of course, there
was no real bass. ?I remember that this person had some slightly
larger Mordaunt Short speakers that I liked better. ?I almost bought a
pair of those, but ended up getting the DCM Timewindows instead as
part of my first non-mass market system (with the NAD 3020 and a
little Micro-Seiki TT.)

That's funny...I almost bought a pair of DCM Timewindows, but would up
purchasing a pair of Snell Type Js instead. This was around 1982. �I
thought the Snells were every bit as good as the DCMs, but a couple of
hundred dollars less.

Boon

I remember looking for the Snell, but couldn't find a dealer at the time.

Looking to hear the TIme Windows (after discovering The Audio Critic and
reading their love of them) led me to a very interesting fellow named
Randy Cooley who owned/owns Optimal Enchantment in Santa Monica. �I
think that it was called something else at the time. �He was a hippie
type of guy, super friendly. �I listened for hours and the Time Windows
seemed like magic to me at the time. �Later I also bought an Oracle
TT/Alphason arm/Dynavector cartridge from him. �He was a neat guy and
very helpful. �Years and years later, I saw and talked to him at the
Stereophile show in LA (two years ago?). We chatted and chatted like old
times. �He introduced me to Richard Vandersteen, and I liked him as well.

I had a bad experience with Randy a number of years ago. He was using
a turntable on top of a really high stand (over five feet tall!), and
I walked up to see what it was. He actually told me not to breathe on
the turntable. I turned around and walked out. To be fair, others
have told me that he's a great guy. But he blew it with me.

I heard the DCMs at Havens and Hardesty in OC when I was still a
teen. The audio salesman who demonstrated them was actually blind.
Nice guy, too. We listened to the DCMs for a while, and I wanted
them. At $747, they were a bit too pricey (I had $500 to spend). I
looked over and saw the Snells and asked about them. The salesman
said something to the effect, "Oh...I think you're really going to
like these." I did. They were $550 a pair. I told the guy I only had
$500. He said "Sold!" He even threw in the stands and the wire.

I enjoyed those for many years. I finally blew out the tweeters one
day and gave them to my older brother. He had them fixed and is still
using them. I always thought the Js were the forgotten Snells. I
remember feeling frustrated because Stereophile reviewed every single
Snell except for the Js. I had just started reading Stereophile and
wanted validation, I think.

Funny thing is they're still being made, in a way. The Audio Note AN/
J is basically the same design. The prices range from about $2500 to
$19,000 a pair. That's a long way from $500.

Boon

[Arny Krueger]

wrote in message


That's funny...I almost bought a pair of DCM Timewindows,

The founder of DCM and designer of the Time Windows is a member of SMWTMS.
Interesting guy. Interesting story about how Circuit City put an end to
them.

[[email protected]]

On Feb 15, 4:08�am, John Atkinson wrote:
On Feb 14, 9:05 pm, wrote:

Any other LS3/5a fans here? �Critics?

I reviewed the Stirlng LS3/5a a year ago. You can
find the reprint of that review starting athttp://www.stereophile.com/standloudspeakers/361/index12.html.

On balance, I slightly preferred the similarly sized
Harbeth HL-P3ES2:http://www.stereophile.com/standloud...th/index5.html.

John Atkinson
Editor, Stereophile

I'd have to agree. I really like the entire line.

Strangely enough, I just had a pair of vintage Celestion SL600s in for
a few days. I really, really enjoyed the SL600s at first, but after a
few days they started to sound a bit cloudy. When I put the Stirlings
back in, it was like a breath of fresh air. Less bass, but more
detail.

Boon

[Arny Krueger]

wrote in message


Now that we are a snot-free forum,

Yeah, sure.

I'd like to throw out
the first audio discussion. I've been listening to these
Stirling Broadcast LS3/5as for a few weeks now, and I'm
digging them. I'm amazed at how smooth and full they
sound, despite being about the size of a shoebox (kids'
shoes, even). Sure, I'm powering them with a
conrad-johnson ET250s amp and both a Nagra PL-L and
McIntosh C2300 preamps. But man, am I surprised by the
sound. I've heard LS3/5as in the past, and they never
sounded anything like this.

Any other LS3/5a fans here? Critics?

Been there, done that.

I first heard of LS3/5a speakers back in the late 60s. There were a spate of
minispeaker clones, some made by other British manufacturers. I heard a lot
of the clones.

Eventually, I heard a pair of the origionals. Bright, smooth, well-balanced
given that they had no real bass. No directional control because of the tiny
size, so they need a fairly dead room or be listened to very close. Probably
the origional prototype of the near-field monitor genre of speakers.

Very impressive for the day (long ago) and the size (very tiny). However,
that was then and this is now. Most of the time, people have the space it
takes to use a larger speaker. If you can, then do it and reap the benefits
of having some decent bass.

The loudspeaker state of the art has advanced considerably since the LS3/5a
was representative of the SOTA.

Probably equalled or surpassed by the NHT Super zero and many other modern
mini-monitors.

[[email protected]]

On Feb 14, 7:09�pm, Bret Ludwig wrote:
On Feb 14, 8:05 pm, wrote:

Now that we are a snot-free forum, I'd like to throw out the first
audio discussion. �I've been listening to these Stirling Broadcast
LS3/5as for a few weeks now, and I'm digging them. �I'm amazed at how
smooth and full they sound, despite being about the size of a shoebox
(kids' shoes, even). �Sure, I'm powering them with a conrad-johnson
ET250s amp and both a Nagra PL-L and McIntosh C2300 preamps. �But man,
am I surprised by the sound. �I've heard LS3/5as in the past, and they
never sounded anything like this.

Any other LS3/5a fans here? �Critics?

Boon

�They're okay, nothing particularly special. And since the BBC is no
longer waving the wand I wonder how LS3/5a-ish the new ones really
are.

The purpose of them was for the BBC to have consistency from facility
to facility.

Well, Stirling is calling these the V2s since they're using new
drivers. Then again, they're trying to come as close to the very
first LS3/5as as possible.

Boon

[[email protected]]

On Feb 15, 12:33�pm, Fran�ois Yves Le Gal wrote:
On Thu, 14 Feb 2008 18:05:51 -0800 (PST), wrote:
Any other LS3/5a fans here? �Critics?

The current Stirling version has very little in common with vintage LS3/5a's
when it comes to dynamic behavior. They may measure the same and be built to
Auntie's specs but they sound very differently. Not a bad speaker, far from
it,, but as far to the real thing than, say, a Fender '57 Strat vintage
reissue can be to a real '57.

I've used a lot of LS3/5a as near field monitors for the last 30 years or
so. They have two outstanding attributes : the midrange is right - something
very few speakers can attain - and imaging can be outstanding - as with most
small/narrow box monitors.

On the minus side they've got too many defects to bother listing them. Power
handling is very poor, bass is flabby at best (even with their dedicated AB1
bass extender - a bandpass B110 moving less air than a farting gnat), detail
level is below other vintage monitors (Altec/JBL/Tannoy/Cabasse/...,), etc..

But the wonderful mids are quite unbeatable, that's why I still use a pair
of late '90 Stirling LS + AB (manufactured using Swisstone-sourced
components for the Beeb before Stirling had an official license, and hence
branded Rogers - just a little lie) in my office, driven by a Rogers E40a
(an Audio Note PPP 6L6 amp) and various sources, mainly a DAW playing
masters.

I've tried to change this setup a number of times, going modern with active
NFM's fitted with digital inputs, eq., filtering, you name it - last rig was
based on Genelec AIR 6's. Most were really good but none came close to the
Rogers.

So the jury is still out...

Have you tried them in nearfield listening? I'm finding that is their
true strength.

Boon

[[email protected]]

On Feb 15, 2:15�pm, Fran�ois Yves Le Gal wrote:
On Fri, 15 Feb 2008 14:09:03 -0800 (PST), wrote:
Have you tried them in nearfield listening?

I've been using them nearfield in my office for the last 10 years or so...

It's an obvious question, since that was their intended use, but it's
amazing how nice they sound when you get right up on 'em. The lack of
bass seems to be less noticeable. The overall balance of the speaker
seems a lot more seamless.

Boon