In article ,
Trevor Wilson wrote:
**You'll note that I have already acknowledged that the LS3/5a was
(barely) acceptable when they were first released.

I'm still waiting for you to tell me about a better (or as good)
contemporary product. Because if there was one, the BBC would not have
gone to the bother of making it.

**You're asking me to recall what I heard 50 years ago. I confess that I
first heard the LS3/5a somewhere around 40 years ago. They were OK, but
they were not compellingly brilliant.

If you didn't know them when they were first made, where does all the
bull**** about the 'designers should have been shot' come from? Some form
of hindsight? That something might equal or better them years down the
line is simply progress. And you can't blame the designers for what some
'enthusiasts' are willing to pay for them today. And I'm not disagreeing
that they can sell for silly money.



TODAY, they are utter
****.

Interesting the way you think speakers have progressed. Is a Quad ESL 57
also crap becuase subsequent designs may be cheaper and louder?

**Nope. The ESL57 was brilliant the day it was released and still
impresses today. A fabulous speaker.

Apart from the lack of extreme LF? Poor maximum SPL? Dreadful DP? Then
there is the fact that they simply won't work as intended in some rooms.

Of course they can sound great when everything is going for them - but
then so can the 3/5a.




And, as I stated, by 1992, the NEAR 10M (and a host of other
products) had comprehensively trounced them in every meaningful way.
Here's two metrics:

The LS3/5a is rated at 82dB/2.83VRMS/M and 80Hz ~ 20kHz +/-3dB. 1993
price - US$1,295.00/pair. 2015 price - $2,250.00.

My NEAR 10M is rated at 88dB/2.83VRMS/M and 48Hz ~ 20kHz +/-3dB. 1997
price - US$450.00.

Tell me, have you ever owned 3/5a?

**Yep. As I recall, sometime around 1980 ~ 1981.


The lack of max SPL is of zero interest for my use. They go more than
adequately loud for my purpose. As they are not in my main room. Nor is
the cost - as I'm not in the market for new ones.

**Good for you. Just don't go out and listen to the alternatives. You
will be shocked and profoundly astonished at what can be achieved today,
at far lower cost.

Since I already have a couple of pairs, how does cost come into it?

--
*Home cooking. Where many a man thinks his wife is.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.