2004 LS3/5A lovers get-together! (sige, shoot-out na rin)

[detubo]

once i finalize the details you guys should get a room (at a subsidized prices of course).

[ichabod]

Softclipper should pay close attention to your suggestion. Regards.

[handyboy]

Hi guys!

I know this is an old thread but isnt it time to have a shoot out or a listening session at least for Ls3/5a?

[zetroce]

Hi guys!

I know this is an old thread but isnt it time to have a shoot out or a listening session at least for Ls3/5a?

I agree with you Gambyl. A get together session of LS3/5a owners and non-owners alike who would want to appreciate the performance of these babies. It can also be a venue for discussions and tips for owners on how to maintain these beautiful work of art. I for one would like to ask alot of questions for the gurus to answer on the dos and the don'ts of having to own such speakers.

Maybe Grant, James and Francis can help organize this.

Cheers!

[ichabod]

Why don't you fire away your questions now. Organizing such a club may take time. Let's just have this thread going on questions re the LS 3/5a. Shoot.

[zetroce]

Just a few that i have on top of my mind:

1. I have a mono-wired version, 11 ohms Rogers ls3/5a. Can this be converted to a bi-wirable pair or is it better to keep it as it is?

2. Why was it designed as sealed instead of ported?

3. I tried opening my pair to see what is inside and noticed that oxidation is already starting inside, especially on the metal parts of the drivers. Can i clean this? with what? How do i stop it from recurring?

4. Is the back portion of the baffle made of MDF or plywood?

5. What can i do to prevent the wood from degrading?

6. Do stands really have to be heavy? What locally available brand would you recommend?

7. I am currently using a Perfect View stand which i bought from ACE hardware, but Grant told me that this is not heavy enough. What can i use to increase the weight? Leadshots or sand?

8. Will stand height really matter?

9. Is it advisable to have the stands directly touching a concrete flooring or is it better to have a mat in between the floor and the studs?

I guess some of these questions had been answered already in some other threads, but i guess there is no law against repetitions.

TIA.

Dong Cortez

[mozilla]

Hey Dong,

Kamusta na? Since I have a little time on my hands here, I'll try to answer some of your questions as best as I can:

1. I have a mono-wired version, 11 ohms Rogers ls3/5a. Can this be converted to a bi-wirable pair or is it better to keep it as it is?

Keep it as is. You would have to change the xover AND the drive units. The nominal impedance as specified for a speaker is not just for the crossover but also for the drivers as well. For example:
For the 15 ohm unit, the crossover (FL6/23) mates w/ the SP1003 (8ohms)
For the 11 ohm, the crossover (SP2128) mates w/ SP1228 (6 ohms).

2. Why was it designed as sealed instead of ported?

There's a copy of the BBC patent and design standard somewhere with a long detailed explanation on why this was so. In short, the BBC felt that there were subjectively objectionable effects if a vent were used in this design.

3. I tried opening my pair to see what is inside and noticed that oxidation is already starting inside, especially on the metal parts of the drivers. Can i clean this? with what? How do i stop it from recurring?

I've only wiped my drivers with a dry cloth. I haven't tried anything else.

4. Is the back portion of the baffle made of MDF or plywood?

Plywood

5. What can i do to prevent the wood from degrading?

The HK ls collectors use Old English

6. Do stands really have to be heavy? What locally available brand would you recommend?

The HK guys swear by heavy damped stands, specifically the FDII stands. NOTE HOWEVER, that imitation FDII stands do not sound like the original item. In my case, I use my own diy stands that are taller and less damped than FDII's. James would probably have more inputs on this.

7. I am currently using a Perfect View stand which i bought from ACE hardware, but Grant told me that this is not heavy enough. What can i use to increase the weight? Leadshots or sand?

You'd have to experiment. James uses even lighter stands made of mdf and he's happy with them. The main purpose of the sandfill is to kill resonances in the metal "tubes".

8. Will stand height really matter?

Yes, from my experience 29" reduces floor interaction w/ the speaker greatly reducing bass muddiness and freeing up the mids.

9. Is it advisable to have the stands directly touching a concrete flooring or is it better to have a mat in between the floor and the studs?

Stands directly to concrete floor thru spikes is best. For wood flooring, some ls users place a 2" thick marble slab betw. the wood floor and stand. Speaker to stand is also important. I just roll a ball of blutak about 3mm in diameter and place them on 4 corners of the top plate. Blutak tends to stick permanently on the wood grain tho.

[zetroce]

Hey Dong,

Kamusta na? Since I have a little time on my hands here, I'll try to answer some of your questions as best as I can:

Mabuti naman Grant. Thanks for that information. If you're within the vicinity on weekends, feel free to give give me a call so we can have a listening session. Huwag lang this next 2 weeks, maglilipat ako ng bahay eh, but still within the area.

Cheers!

[ichabod]

Just to dovetail a bit of what has been said already about stands, I think getting the LS closer to the floor can aggravate the bass response of the speaker, more so with the midbass hump which I think is really the culprit or reason why you just have to keep the LS 3/5a away from walls, be it under or to the sides, and the back wall. The speakers do not possess the famous or infamous BBC dip to keep a laid back sound. What is heard is a startling midband clarity due to its forwardness if I can put it that way but this can be drowned out at times by the midbass hump due to wrong placement as well as wrong height stands. As a rule, keep the LS away from all walls. In fact they were perched atop consoles in out of broadcast vans and did their jobs I think in helping the crew monitor the BBC broadcast all over.

How it came to be used in the home setting is quite another.

Air suspension (sealed) type speakers accordingly give off better, deeper bass response. Less distortion from turbulence in ported designs albeit lower in senz. For a miniature like the LS, a design consideration in the likes of the first acoustic suspension speakers by Acoustic Research, this would have been such a good design idea to follow. I have another pair of sealed acoustic suspended speakers smaller than the LS 3/5a from Phase Tech but with the same drivers as the LS to illustrate the point further. Bass is firm and there, quite deep but not subterranean though.

I've never attempted to open my LS to see if humidity or mildew have set in. God forbid. I don't collect them. In a humid climate like ours, that's indeed a worrisome thing. Keeping the temp in a room from 0 to 50 which is dry in the hygrometer is an impossibility unless you place the LS in a dry box. 70 to 80% of reading in the hygrometer indicates wetness and the humidity will allow fungus and mildew to thrive. I'm glad the LS does not use foam but rubber for the surrounds. I had a pair of Atom from Paradigm that suffered that kind of fate in less than two years. Reported this to Paradigm and got an instant replacement through the millk of human kindness from their exellent after sales service. I suspect the lady I was exchanging formalities was a pinay.

If and ever I get to manila soon, I'd love to listen with you guys.

Long live the LS 3/5a. Coz there are no replacements according to some speaker experts that come close to its sound! Dunno how to make of it -- whether it's simply a latent bias from some who adore these cat coffins or merely because these speakers have a strong sound of its own that's quite natural? Tell me.

Shoot!

[SoFtCliPpEr]

There are moving magnets..moving coils and of course MOVING.. speakers LS35a !

[ichabod]

Engaging, involving, connects us to the music, etc. etc. etc, as Rex Harrison would say to Eliza in "My Fair Lady."