[rec.audio.high-end] LS-3/5A

jas@proteon.com (John A. Shriver) (05/15/91)

All LS-3/5A's have that little boom at 120 Hz.  The BBC (who license
the design to manufacturers) designed it in as a psyhco-acoustic
correction for the lack of true lows.  The BBC requires such strict
quality control on the LS-3/5A so that all will sound the same.  The
standards are so strict that pair matching is not required, 10 years
later you can replace one speaker of a pair.  They are reference
monitoring speakers that they still use for on-site recording, and
they want them all to sound the same.

Good positioning on stands can help the boom, but it won't go away,
and makes interfacing with subwoofers quite difficult.  Still, there
are many things that they do so right, I happily used a pair for over
10 years.

They are not very effiecient, about 82 dB at 1 Watt.  They also don't
have a lot of power handling, and can be fried if you are careless
with a high-power amp.

edh@wheeler.wrcr.unr.edu (Ed Hackett) (05/16/91)

In article <12151@uwm.edu> jas@proteon.com (John A. Shriver) writes:

>Good positioning on stands can help the boom, but it won't go away,
>and makes interfacing with subwoofers quite difficult.  Still, there
>are many things that they do so right, I happily used a pair for over
>10 years.

I too have used a pair for almost 10 years.  I tried a Audio Pro
B250 subwoofer with limited success.  I lucked into a set of
Satterberg woofers that were made just for the LS-3/5A.  The
crossover was designed just for these speakers and begins to
roll them off at 175hz.  The sound is wonderful, with bass
extending down to about 32hz and the two systems blend
perfectly.  They turn the system into one of the best 3 way
systems around.  The Satterbergs are a must with the LS-3/5As,
but I don't know if they are still availiable.  I listen to
other speakers once in a while and have found nothing that I can
afford that comes close to the sound of this combination.

>They are not very effiecient, about 82 dB at 1 Watt.  They also don't
>have a lot of power handling, and can be fried if you are careless
>with a high-power amp.

I run  mine with a BK ST202 (150w/channel) with no problems. The
Satterbergs do unload a lot of the power from the LS-3/5As and
they will _almost_ play loudly.  Mine say 25 watts max music
power on the back, so I do cringe when I crank them up, but so
far no problems.

 Ed Hackett                  The Desert Research Institute 
 edh@wheeler.wrc.unr.edu     Reno, Nevada   (702) 673-7380   
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