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From: tom@minster.york.ac.uk
Newsgroups: rec.audio.high-end
Subject: BBC LS3-5As
Message-ID: <12129@uwm.edu>
Date: 14 May 91 12:50:46 GMT
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In reply to Thomas Kong:

> Who else makes these little monitors?

The BBC LS3-5A design can only be made under BBC license agrement, and they
are VERY fussy about who they give a license too.  As far as I know, the only
two companies that are presently licensed to make the LS3-5A are Spendor and
Rogers.  (Goodmans used to make them but I don't believe this is still the
case).

More to the point though, I'm not sure that it really is worth looking to
another branded version of the LS3-5A.  The reason that the BBC only allow
them to be made under license is so that they can keep VERY tight tolerances
on production variance.  They SHOULD all sound the same, no matter who's
badge is on the front because that's the way that the BBC forces them to be
made !

I was surprised to hear you criticise them for 'low mid-range boom' anyway,
that's not a characteristic I would normally asscoiate with the LS3-5A
(although they were originally designed for BBC vocal broadcasting
monitoring).  What may have been the problem is the amp that was driving them.
They are an extremely difficult little speaker to drive well, the nominal
impedance is around 15ohms, far more suited to valve amps than transistor
amps really (well they are an OLD design !!).  So I'd check them out again
but play around with different amps and see what joy you get then (maybe
try a good valve amp).  The Spendor is probably going to be one of the
most accurately produced LS3-5As you'll find, they take great pride in
having produced the design for so long.

Hope that's some help,

tom.
____________________________________________________________
 Tom Jackson, Advanced Computer Architecture Group,
 Dept. of Computer Science, University of York, Heslington,
 YORK. YO1 5DD.  UK.               Tel: [044] (0904) 433747

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