Really?
The story I got from family was that they were over doped in production, an error in consistency that Goodmans were...ahem unfortunately known for back in the 70s
This period is when my late father worked in the R and D, on car audio - which Goodmans benefitted from greatly, under the BBC contract (they were able to pinch ideas from the driver and design, without breaching copyrights)
Lastly, I tend to believe what I was told by my dad, his family and work friends from Goodmans- in favour of anything written by RMAF on a different continent, more than 50 years later.
(I'm fairly certain anyone directly involve with the project, at least at Goodmans, has passed already, like my father)
The story I got from family was that they were over doped in production, an error in consistency that Goodmans were...ahem unfortunately known for back in the 70s
This period is when my late father worked in the R and D, on car audio - which Goodmans benefitted from greatly, under the BBC contract (they were able to pinch ideas from the driver and design, without breaching copyrights)
Lastly, I tend to believe what I was told by my dad, his family and work friends from Goodmans- in favour of anything written by RMAF on a different continent, more than 50 years later.
(I'm fairly certain anyone directly involve with the project, at least at Goodmans, has passed already, like my father)
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This totally.
The crossover, though necessary to cleanup the issues of the driver, mostly B110 issues, sucks so much power it is maddening.
I respect Scootmoose and his opinion usually, but not here.
Yes these were designed for vans, mobile studios and for near field vocal monitoring, at modest levels.
At this they still excel, but time moves on nd what they can do, many can do better today.
Used in studio at Radio1, 2, 3, 4 as they were for many years, perched in free space ok top the console, they worked perfectly for the application, and they didn't have to handle bass.
Used right in a corner the bass was a little humped, well actually too much, but for male voice intelligibility it worked.
Used in the home for hifi, they work too - but they don't do parties, heavy metal, or anything over about 90dB without wheezing, and sounding chesty and boxy.
For MUSAK, played at low SPL, they are brilliant - but many would just use PC speakers now and not really notice or care for the differences.
For all my love for the LS3, they have limited uses in hifi, unless you don't mind them being very SPL limited.
Does not necessarily contradict the dislocation finding. Over-doping could have led to easier separation with prolonged use due to more coating mass bouncing on that mechanically critical meeting point.
Yes and no. They're inefficient a/ because the drivers are relatively small, low-Vas, low Fs units, so their inherent sensitivity isn't great: about 87dB, give or take, under IB conditions, and b/ because once you stick that into a very small sealed box with all the diffraction &c. issues to contend with, the EQ needed clobbers even more of that. It didn't help that they went for a 15ohm nominal either for the first generation (albeit for good reasons), so they pull little current but need significantly more power than a more typical 8ohm model; as a result lower power transistor amps can run out of steam quite quickly -not that they can get especially loud anyway since power-handling itself is limited. The later 11ohm models were a bit easier to drive in that sense. With just a nominal 6dB filter (I assume a cap & coil) they'll be an easier load for a lot of amps providing there isn't too much spread between the HP & LP electrical corners, so should sound a bit more lively, but without the EQ the filter provides, the response will be all over the place. Shades of the Kan...
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Quite likely; I've seen that happen a few times. A (now departed, so may he rest in peace) chap over here who deliberately courted controversy at every opportunity took to pouring large quantities of contact cement over cheap drivers & advising others to do the same; I've seen a couple modified in this way that came apart at the neck & surround due to the excess mass.
Absolutely convincing on voices when used as such. It happened I listened to a pair perched exactly like that in a big radio station's studio in the early 90s. Was Rogers with XLR input terminal. During a comedian's show mocking voices of politicians and sportscasters. He was alternating between live and reel to reel prepared sketches. I could hear him live and recorded sitting next to him behind the console.
As I recall LS3/5a’s are 83 db 1 Watt 1 meter. 87 would be considerably louder. More than twice as loud.
Its better hearing them near field not to stress them. 3dBW is double power 6dBV is double voltage and 10dB SPL is what psycho acoustics say we people feel twice as loud.
Scott meant the driver sensitivity one would calculate from T/S parameters.
Right. 👍
As Lojzek says, that is the driver under IB conditions (I did stress that), and
As Lojzek says, that is the driver under IB conditions (I did stress that), and
Hence the very low system sensitivity, not helped for many solid-state amplifers by the relatively high impedance.
I have seen a Benchmark AHB2 blinking red couple of times with peaks on a Falcon Gold Badge LS3/5a pair! Makes it a 50W RMS amp at 16Ω.
Ouch...
From what I recall of the Benchmark's spec., that's pretty consistent to the rest, so thumbs up on that front. 👍 Shows how much you can need though.
From what I recall of the Benchmark's spec., that's pretty consistent to the rest, so thumbs up on that front. 👍 Shows how much you can need though.
Just to clarify, here are original specs,
CHARTWELL LS3/5A SPECS
| Frequency Response: | 80 – 20,000Hz |
| Sensitivity: | 82.5dB (1W input, measured at 1m) |
| Impedance: | 15Ω |
| Power Capacity: | 25W (continuous program) |
| High Frequency Driver: | T27 SP1032 19mm (0.75″) Mylar Dome |
| Low Frequency Driver: | B110 SP1003 110mm (4.5″) Bextrene Diaphragm |
| Crossover Frequencies: | 3,000Hz |
| Enclosure Type: | Closed |
| Enclosure Dimensions (HxWxD): | 300x190x160mm (12×7.5×6.25″) |
| Weight: | 5.5kg (each speaker) |
And there you have it. You start off with an 8ohm, mid-Q, low Vas, low Fs (for size) midbass with a nominal IB output of about 87dB @1m, and once you've dropped it into a shoebox and added all the EQ necessary to correct for the diffraction etc., & shape the response to the desired target, you've kissed about 4dB - 6dB of that goodbye. That's just what happens with that combination unfortunately -and when you couple it to fairly limited power-handling & a raised nominal impedance, you've got yourself a (for typical transisitor amplifiers) low-sensitivity speaker that's also rather difficult to drive, and can't get especially loud even if you do have large amounts of power on-tap.
It was a good speaker of its type, and for its intended purpose. And to a point it still is, although it's possible to do better these days. But it was never designed for home audio / hi-fi, so it's not surprising that when people use it that way, it tends to polarise opinions.
It was a good speaker of its type, and for its intended purpose. And to a point it still is, although it's possible to do better these days. But it was never designed for home audio / hi-fi, so it's not surprising that when people use it that way, it tends to polarise opinions.
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For those tube amps with 16Ω output terminals also or a switch the output power spec doesn't change. I listened to the LS3/5a Rogers 15Ω reissue with a 30W Leben CS600X recently and it was a loud enough and quite entertaining combo.
Speaking for myself I am surprised by the polarising opinions when it comes to use as mains in a room for listening to music. They might be nice dinky little things but they aren't high fidelity speakers and I would have expected this to be obvious. I am also fairly sure that for the first few years of their life in the UK they were considered to be good computer/desktop monitors (which they were) rather than awesome magical main speakers for use in rooms. This seems to have been created a few years later by audiophile enthusiasm/marketing/reviews. Something similar happened with the Linn LP12 turntable. How those magical properties have survived over the decades and possibly even grown is even more remarkable/baffling.
Would anyone in a blind test that included LS3/5As and examples of high fidelity speakers rate them as good? Or have I lost the plot?
And was it just a matter of time before some employed classic misdirection/trolling rather addressing what was posted? Can we take your presence here as an indication that you consider LS3/5A enthusiasts to be potential customers for your products?