The Marco-boy main system, as of August 2020

[Beobloke]

....plus true timeless classics, such as the LS3/5a.

Marco.

I’ll be perfectly honest, I have absolutely no idea what the massive fuss is about the LS3/5A or why good examples command such preposterous prices.

It was designed by the BBC as an outside broadcast monitor that was mainly used for vocals and I will grant you it does have a sweet midrange. However, overall I personally consider it to be a competent but ultimately limited small loudspeaker. Nothing more; nothing less.

As to the BBC voicing - this is merely one way of doing things and, whilst there are some examples that I do like (such as the bigger Harbeths and Spendors) I wouldn’t necessarily say it is the be all and end all.

[Marco]

OMG I use these and have 100's on the shelf £1 each

LOL

https://cpc.farnell.com/pro-signal/p...e%20connectors

Lol... Never even thought about you mate, as I don't associate you with something as 'low-brow' as that

Next time I'll remember

Marco.

[Marco]

Mine look nothing like that, mind you mine are an older version on the 15's. At least it's only one cap to replace.

Ah ok... I guess the only way I'll know what's inside mine then is to take a look!

Marco.

[Marco]

As to the BBC voicing - this is merely one way of doing things and, whilst there are some examples that I do like (such as the bigger Harbeths and Spendors) I wouldn’t necessarily say it is the be all and end all.

Sure, not the "be all and end all", but to my ears, with standmount speakers, hugely desirable over the type of presentation mostly offered now by their modern counterparts!

Marco.

[Wakefield Turntables]

Ah ok... I guess the only way I'll know what's inside mine then is to take a look!

Marco.

Yep get your posidriver out and take a pic. You'll be buying vintage caps next to "tune" them . This is a practice which a BIG over in Japan where vintage mullard caps/transistors go for silly money.

[Macca]

I've never seem the point of any expensive miniature two-way speaker.

If you've got that kind of cash to spend, get something large enough where the size is not compromising everything else. And if you really don't have the room (you're living in your car for example) just buy a cheap one. Or stick with headphones.

[Marco]

Yep get your posidriver out and take a pic. You'll be buying vintage caps next to "tune" them . This is a practice which a BIG over in Japan where vintage mullard caps/transistors go for silly money.

Lol - well, that's what might be in there already, especially with the early vintage of these particular speakers. I've seen pics of PYE caps attached to the crossovers of some early 15s, which are essentially rebranded Philips/Mullard.

However, no I won't be doing that. One area where things have no-brainer moved on BIG TIME, is in the quality of electrical components available, such as capacitors. The best of today's polypropylene varieties really are in a different league, as we've learned so much in that area during the last 50 years!

Shame I can't say that about many of today's speakers....

Marco.

[Marco]

I've never seem the point of any expensive miniature two-way speaker.

If you've got that kind of cash to spend, get something large enough where the size is not compromising everything else. And if you really don't have the room (you're living in your car for example) just buy a cheap one. Or stick with headphones.

I get where you're coming from - well I would do, wouldn't I, with the 'wardrobes' I've got sitting upstairs - but done well, small (or smallish) standmounts have an 'intimacy' and lack of coloration to their musical presentation, simply due to the lack of box.

In that respect, if you're willing to sacrifice ultimate low-end heft, then the results can be magical with *some* types of music, but of course not all, and the types of music that they can excel at, aren't really to your taste.

The good thing about the Ditton 15s, is that their ABRs really do help in making them sound much bigger than they are, filling in the low-end nicely, and adding a goodly dose of 'wallop' to bass lines (and as I heard last night while watching a movie) crash/bang action sound effects (in conjunction with my twin Yamaha subs)... Plus, you still get their gorgeously fluid and open midrange, which I can tell you is better than that of many floorstanders!

I love them to bits, as aesthetically they fit in really well with the room, and sonically with the Sony amp, which is no slouch at 2-channel duties (with all tone controls and effects processing defeated), and so can happily listen to music through them for hours

One area too where they're notably better than the XRs, with being more efficient, is that you don't need to turn the volume up as much to get a 'room filling' sound. I think they're around 90db, which is a lot for small standmount designs, and that really helps them 'project' sound into the room with consummate ease, giving superb clarity to vocals, which is ably apparent simply by listening to TV programmes through them, and how accurately they reproduce the human voice.

Interesting review of them here, back in the day, by the one and only HB: http://www.audio4maniacs.co.uk/blog-...nditton15.html

Marco.

[walpurgis]

Interesting review of them here, back in the day, by the one and only HB: http://www.audio4maniacs.co.uk/blog-...nditton15.html

Marco.

The review appears to be incomplete as it just seems to stop part way through the description and there is no conclusion. There are also a couple of what I'd describe as minor mistakes in Hayden's interpretation of the design or at least they don't match my thoughts.

[Marco]

Such as, Geoff?

In terms of the review, it's a bit jumbled up, due to whoever it was having copied the pages in the wrong sequence, but it's all there if you look and can manage to decipher the content in the right order!

Marco.