Originally Posted by
Pharos
You say; "the5/8 and 5/9 were NOT flawed in quite the way you put it"
I have not stated any particular way in which I consider them to be flawed, so why do you say "in quite the way you put it"?
It is generally accepted that in both cases the developed prototypes were very good, but in production something went awry and the frequency responses became non uniform, the reasons not determinable. Some BBC designs also had a droop at the Xover point, and there was also the quandary about whether or not the Gundry dip was deliberate or not, with theories about close monitoring necessitating it to ameliorate fatigue.
Generally accepted by whom may I ask? Alan Shaw who had competing boxes to sell and who was annoyed the beeb went over to Dynaudio actives for general noise-box use (and some Genelecs I believe for something a little better in the small speaker department although one TVC studio had ATC 20ASL pros I remember from a pic before it was stripped out). You may just find the balance was tweaked to suit the balance engineers working next to them for long stretches and in any case, Dudley Harwood had something to say regarding the upper mid dip (you're a member of the HUG, go look it up as that's where I read it).
LS5/9's carefully set up on highish stands (the tweeter should be at or slightly above ear level I found) and carefully positioned aren't as seamless as the amazingly good Harbeth C7-XD model that bowled me over a couple of months back and the soundstage will appear to be pushed back a little due to the deliberate tonal balance, but this is nothing compared to a typical domestic issue PMC (which can have phasey bass issues too) and far less wooden-wardrobe sounding than a typical ProAc. They'll need a sensible fairly powerful non-foo amp like a Quad 606 rather than a 'HiFi DEEEEETAIL' screamer type (mine spent their professional life driven by an HH VX300 which I still use in the office system occasionally).
For £1500 or less, 5/9's can make for an interesting smallish speaker (Graham want a fortune for a modern if good looking version and Harbeth want even more, although these latter are by far the best of these descended models). I appreciate AoS members are most often out for a bargain, so maybe £1500 or so may seem too expensive, but it depends of you want a tatty set with holes in, or a well kept version that's never been thrashed or overdriven... BBC samples weren't always matched after a few years as a faultly box would be replaced out of stores I gather...
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