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John Atkinson...

Posted by RGA (R) on May 31, 2012 at 23:23:27

In Reply to: RE: A Question for Reviewers who Own LS3/5As posted by the old school on May 31, 2012 at 22:12:55:

Well if true that JA is using a lesser measuring speaker over a better measuring speaker then there is hope for JA yet :-)

Measurements only mean something as the sound goes into yourear canal - doesn't matter what it is doing at the other end of a room at 1 meter if you are 3-4 meters away.

I just finished one raging debate about measurements on another forum - and all themeasurements that are taken are woefully lacking. Even if speakermeasurements today could account for 97% of everything that last 3% "magic" or "voodoo" factor remains pivotal.

It is the difference between sopmething sounding like music in a way that draws you to want to listen and a system that istechnically superb that makes you want to shut the thing off andwatch TV.

I brought a whole bunch of music to listen to the famed $20k ATC SCM 150 loudspeakers - accurate as all get out - I could hear a pin drop with them. They didn't sound bright or etchy - they sounded nearly flawless.

Yet I brought my same albums over to listen to the AN AX Two ($700) on Jinro(power amp) wit maybe the M9 preamp and CD 4.1 and it brought meto choke back tears.

In every technical way the ATC destroys the AX Two - it is more accurate it has far deeper bass, more treble extension - can dissect discs like any good pro monitor should. It's a great loudspeaker no question about that.

But the fact remains that the SET amps with inexpensive undamped (AN E mini-me speakers) gave the goosebumps.

The LS3/5a has been around too long and loved by too many to be pile of junk. There has to be some merit to them even if they don't have much bass. Perhaps it gives up accuracy for the emotion - or perhaps it has a boost in the upper mids to give a sense of presence.

Also, from my reading up on them there are numerous versions of the speakers - some good some great and some pretty terrible. They don't even use the same drivers or cabinet materials. Also, from my readings some of the newer versions apparently sound a lot better than the original Rogers versions.

The speakers I tend not to love are the ones where at the end of a review JA makes a comment along the lines of "these have impressive measured results" - Usually the oens I have heard where he says that are the ones I want to shut off after 15 minutes.

Even the ATC 150 ad good as I think it is - the dealer in Hong Kong who demos Melody, Rogua Audio,Almarro, Line Magnetic on them - hooked up some Zu Audio Essence speakers for 1/4 the money. The Essence does a lot of things that sound more right in the midrange. (for that matter so did the $3500 model).

The Essence is a really nice sounding speaker for $5k. I would want them further back - and something at the frequency extremes were not quite right - but the amp was a KT88 which can sometimes sound unrelenting.

Anyway - I have decided to review a newer LS3/5a and AB1 and should get them in fairly soon. They seemvery popular in Hong Kong - I suspect due to the very small apartments here. So I will be able to test them in room sizes that they were meant for (similar to the BBC recording studios no doubt).

The low sensitivity is somewhat of a concern but their high impedence should make them very easy to drive in terms of load. We shall hear.

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