Vintage speakers

[jason]

Hi guys, I was watching these on ebay anyone know why they went for so much:stalks::stalks::stalks::stalks::eek::eek::eek ::eek::mental::mental::mental:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Rogers-LS3-5A-Studio-Monitors-Speakers-Matched-Pair-15-Ohm-version-1976-/221218920689?_trksid=p2047675.l2557&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEWAX%3AIT&nma=true&si=YLBSiY9z846gea4gZkt8GG7tkqI%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc

[Rare Bird]

Your guess is as good as mine, i hated mine.

[Wakefield Turntables]

They have got the decimal point in the wrong place :trust:, they normally go for a grand and even then they are massively over priced. Try a pair of JR149's for a couple fo hundred quid. You get the same drive units if you buy below serieal number 5000 and the cabinet IMHO is a much better design. You will get something that is pretty much the same as the speaker you've been watching but much much cheaper. :cool:

[walpurgis]

Beats me. I never liked them anyway.

Overpriced nonsense!

[jason]

Thanks for the info Andrew;)

[RobbieGong]

Hi guys, I was watching these on ebay anyone know why they went for so much:stalks::stalks::stalks::stalks::eek::eek::eek ::eek::mental::mental::mental:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Rogers-LS3-5A-Studio-Monitors-Speakers-Matched-Pair-15-Ohm-version-1976-/221218920689?_trksid=p2047675.l2557&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEWAX%3AIT&nma=true&si=YLBSiY9z846gea4gZkt8GG7tkqI%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc

Add MY GGGOSSSHHH !!!!!!!!, Wot Da #£@@* ?? plus :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: x 10

[DSJR]

They have got the decimal point in the wrong place :trust:, they normally go for a grand and even then they are massively over priced. Try a pair of JR149's for a couple fo hundred quid. You get the same drive units if you buy below serieal number 5000 and the cabinet IMHO is a much better design. You will get something that is pretty much the same as the speaker you've been watching but much much cheaper. :cool:

When new, the BBC 3/5A made by Rogers was slightly less "squeaky" than the un-calibrated JR149 - we always had both for immediate comparison. The thing is, these days, both models will almost certainly be way out of spec doe to old age and variable usage and of curio value only in all honesty. Modern versions of the 3/5A (I'm considering Stirling here, who make an official licensed version as well as the closely similar HS88? at substantisally less money) are very much better anyway, removing the bad things of the original yet retsaining the excellent balance tweaked so well for a small box.

Anyway, I'd love to hear what the new small KEFs are doing these days, let alone the myriad other Chinese made boxes for £100pr up to the £500 "new" Wharfedale Dentons, which are obviously rather too expensive for what they really are, yet perform really well I'm told..

[hifi_dave]

I was sent that link a few days ago and really can't understand why anyone in their right mind would blow that amount on a pair of LS3/5A..:scratch:

OK, I know they are 'collectable' and often sell for £2K or so but £8.4K is just ridiculous and way over the top. More money than sense is the only explanation I can come up with.

I've heard and used LS3/5As on numerous occasions, as we stocked them back in the 80's. They rarely sold back then, as we always had several other speakers which were competition. Also, just a few weeks ago, a customer brought in his Rogers LS3/5As to do some comparisons and they really weren't anything to write home about.

[jamesie]

i have never understood why the have such high values , b110 and t27 the drive units seem to be readily available on ebay from used speakers from the era, i have see pairs of good b110s for £50 a pair and t27s for about the same, surely the crossovers can be built with new components, to close to original spec , which only leaves the cabinets , of which plans can be bought, and all the original materials can be purchased , personally i think there is much better and prettier out there for the money .

[walpurgis]

It's a fad, a fashion thing and some people will pay for the exact item they desire, nuts as that is.

The Goodmans Maxim is going the same way, god knows why, they barely qualify as Hi-Fi and the (rather better) Celestion Ditton 10 is close behind. The Videoton Minimax is picking up in selling price too. It seems any very small vintage speaker is attracting higher values. It'll be AR7s next.

Not owned the Ditton 10 (heard them though), but I've used the LS3/5a, the Minimax and the Maxim and would not want to live with them.

[julesd68]

Turns out the seller didn't want to stump up the 8.4K for the LS3/5A's! They got re-listed a few days later and sold for 2.8K ... Still silly money.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Rogers-LS3-5A-Studio-Monitors-Speakers-Matched-Pair-15-Ohm-version-1976-/221225012411?nma=true&si=JbeGFtk7n2IrMy33WQtSjLERwpI%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

[walpurgis]

Basically, with the LS3/5a you are buying an early seventies KEF Coda in a stronger box with extra components in the crossover (and an HF2000 dome cover). Alright, the drivers were carefully matched (allegedly) and I expect some more thorough testing went on, but they are simply not worth the daft prices!

[southall-1998]

Basically, with the LS3/5a you are buying an early seventies KEF Coda in a stronger box with extra components in the crossover (and an HF2000 dome cover). Alright, the drivers were carefully matched (allegedly) and I expect some more thorough testing went on, but they are simply not worth the daft prices!

You can get the new Sterling LS3/5a for a lot less. Perhaps they sound much better!

[system7]

The BBC/Rogers ls3/5A has an illustrious history. It was the first small speaker to use substantial bafflestep (bass boost) with a small cabinet. It used a bextrene (plastic) 5" bass unit and a mylar KEF T27 tweeter and a very sophisticated crossover. Also a lossy birch ply cabinet with rubber damping.

Later samples of bextrene plastic added undocumented fire retardent which worsened the overall result and gave a peak around 1.5kHz.

These days, 5" polypropylene drivers replace bextrene and give less issues, like this Harbeth P3ESR around £1300:

http://imageshack.us/a/img713/6729/harbethp3esr.jpg

http://www.harbeth.co.uk/uk/index.php?section=products&page=p3esr&model=p3esr

Harbeth use a SEAS 22mm metal tweeter which is uncoloured if a bit zingy.

Alternatively you can try the Spendor equivalents in the same tradition which use fabric tweeters.

http://www.spendoraudio.com/HTML/SA1_features.html
http://www.spendoraudio.com/HTML/S35R2_main.html

My own preference would be to build my own:
http://www.troelsgravesen.dk/SEAS-CURV.htm

The theory with these small speakers is that if your brain picks up the second harmonic, it fills in the deeper bass frequency.