17 of the best British speakers of all time

HifiMusicMan

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May 23, 2020
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Living Voice: Air partner, Tone Scout, Vox Olympian
Carfrae: Big Horn, Little Bog Horn
Lowther; just about everything they ever made in their exceptionally long history!

Who put your '17 'list together? Have they ever heard any of the above truly great British loudspeakers which will outperform everything on your list?
 

Hifiman

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The comments are proof, as if proof were needed, that the list needs to be longer than 17! My personal addition would be Mission 70 Mk2s. After over 35 years I’m still impressed by them over contemporary speakers. Now that’s longevity.
 

djh1697

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The Diamonds from 1983 where my first pair of speakers! They were a little bright with my Mission Cyrus 1, a NAD 3020 killer, from the same era. In time I upgraded to a pair a Tannoy Mercury M2's. These where both pleasant speakers. I now have a pair of Kudos X3's, which replaced a pair of Neat Motive 2's, which I am surprised haven't appeared in your list? Perhaps they don't have a large advertising budget with your magazine?
 
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Renfrew

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How could they have left out one of the most Iconic British speakers ever made, the Rogers LS3/5a's. Makes you wonder who made up this list?
I heard the Rogers Studio 2 speakers around 1983 and they were compared to much more expensive B&W speakers
Needless to say the Rogers were faster and just more present for the lack of a better word.
They can handle 500 Watts RMS and weigh about 100 lbs. each. No they aren't gorgeous but what a sound. I'm still enjoying them.
 
How could they have left out one of the most Iconic British speakers ever made, the Rogers LS3/5a's. Makes you wonder who made up this list?
The LS3/5a was an attempt to make a Goodmans maxim bookcase speaker churned out in the millions, made of chipboard covered in vinyl sound good enough as a nearfield monitor, here at the BBC. The trade off was a very complicated and power hungry crossover burning up it's resistors with the too loud bits of the sound, and allowing the bits that weren't getting heard to remain! Rogers and Kef provided the drivers, as the EMI offerings in the Maxim, from Celestion weren't particularly efficient or well enough damped. As a bookcase speaker, they were impressive. Next to the LS5/8 with it's 16inch bass driver and huge cabinet, they sound pityful. The irony being the LS3/5a was later made under licence by Celestion and Goodmans. forgoing Rogers and KEF drivers, but staying true to the Vinyl and Chipboard, that other manufacturers messed up by changing. If you want to listen to a truly remarkable speaker try the 5/8 and 5/9 it's half pint cousin. They get better as they grow up! But the 5/8 became a Harbeth that totally eclipses the spendor SP series.
 

Kenneth Fernandes

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Mar 2, 2024
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When will full-range single-driver speakers, with a frequency range spanning from ~100Hz to 20khz and above with at least 88db SPL sensitivity, so they could be paired with a subwoofer in Hi-Fi setups, be available from the majority of speaker manufacturers, for room-filling sound, is left for guesswork in modern times or I am yet to figure out a few.

Like for example the Cambridge Audio MINX MIN22 or MINX MIN12 when paired with a subwoofer.
 

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