by mozilla » Tue Nov 07, 2006 7:12 am
That's the same thing Jo Ki does. Although they are theoretically supposed to sound identical, each LS3/5A has a certain characteristic that suits a certain type of music and moods.
Jo also exhibited several pairs in the KLAV show to highlight the differences between the LS3/5A's.
His personal favorites are (unedited quote from Jo):
Rogers 50LE
50LE is listed here for its abilities in its balance in 3
bandwidths - low, mid and heights. Its abilities in producing an
overall cohesive musical landscape in a prestine state is the best
sounding LS3/5A I have. Whenever it is to be run back-to-back
against a batch, 50LE would make one wants to stopped there and let
the music bath you. The midrange is smooth and liquid.
Rogers Black Tag & KEF Piano Black
The magic of Rogers Black Tag lies in the midrange and bass, and its
abilities to resolute the minute details, projecting the
necessity 'rawness' in the midrange so readily makes music more
expressive and articulate. But it can't be driven too loud. OTOH,
KEF can be pushed loud. Although KEF do not has Rogers' abilities in
midrange, it is nor far off. The way KEF project midrange is quite
similar to Black Tag proportionately, so they both assume equal best.
Richard Allan & Chartwell
RA is remarkable in many ways that the world is not ready to accept
it unfortunately. RA has an amazing ability to maintain the
traditional LS3/5A sound and yet it is 'modern' with high resolution
to all 3 bandwidths like modern good sounding speakers. It has the
abilities to produce inner details of music without making it less
musical. If I were to recommend a newbie into LS3/5A and just for
one pair for life, I would recommend RA for sure! It is not hard to
know why as the construction of its cabinet is second to none, best
engineered LS3/5A! Chartwell is an amazing open sounding LS3/5A, it
has the abilities to create good ambience, 'air' that filled every
coners of the room, very transparent yet retain the organic
structure of sound. By comparison, RA has some of that characters
but only lesser. In years to come, when RA run in better, I am sure
it could sound like Chartwell. Already there are many areas that RA
could do that Chartwell could not, like the definition to project
darker space between instruments, rise and fall extensions - dynamic
stability.
Of the above, it is very hard to pick the best of the best as there
are many other emotional attachment comes into play for me that
clouds me decision, so I can't pick any pair out of the pack.