ROGERS LS3/5A VINTAGE BBC MONITOR SPEAKERS

[Messiah]

Hi Guys,

I have a few queries about these speakers as I have just seen some sold on ebay for about £1100.

Firstly, how much did these speakers cost when new?? (I know inflation would obviously affect the modern day equivalent cost)

Secondly, surely we must be able to recreate what looks like a very simple speaker for little cost this many years on??

I am simply suprised these speakers still command such a price! Just seems strange!

 

[chebby]

Yes, new ones should cost about £765 pounds + VAT (About £890 currently).....

http://www.stirlingbroadcast.net/

Reviewed here....

http://www.stereophile.com/standloudspeakers/361/index12.html

Sold here from £890....

http://www.stoneaudio.co.uk/browse.asp?product=492

 

[Andrew Everard]

Originally £52 each - ie £104 a pair.

 

[Anonymous]

They are certainly very good speakers for reproducing a natural sound but I've always considered the used prices to be too high. There's a lot of nostalgia surrounding them, bumping up prices to "collector" levels.

I'd be worried about the cone quality and whether any separation or perishing has happened. I guess if you know exactly what you're looking for and must have them then a high price is probably fair for a good condition, well looked after pair. People/companies have tried to clone them but never got it quite right apparently. It's all about those old KEF drive units.

I'd avoid and go and buy some new Harbeths if you want a legendary sound and don't care about looks...

 

[chebby]

igglebert:I'd avoid and go and buy some new Harbeths if you want a legendary sound and don't care about looks...

Bad idea, the modern Harbeth 'equivalents' are £1299 a pair!

http://www.harbeth.co.uk/uk/index.php?section=products&page=hlp3es2&model=HL-P3ES-2

Better bet might be Spendor's S3 / 5A (unlike the Stirling model it is not a proper licensed LS3/5A but the heritage is there) for about £700 ish...

http://www.spendoraudio.com/s35series.htm

Anyway, BBC have contracted Dynaudio for their near-field monitors nowadays. (Dynaudio Air 12 and BM-5A models)

 

[Olli1324]

Out of interest, wher do the Rogers Studio 1s come into this? (In terms of current value etc). My dad has a pair and I have always been curious as to what it would take to top them. He drives them with rotel 1070 pre/power, and it does sound great (to my ears), even though he coldn't have the speakers in worse positions if he tried.

 

[drummerman]

Lovely speakers but very compromised if you like wide band with volume. I nearly bought some s/h some years ago but then heard Harbeth's tiny mini monitors (forgot the model # but it was something like HP3ES or the like) and much preferred them. Eventually I ended up with Ruark Sabres which were much more practical. LS3 5A's are imo way to expensive but you pay for licensing/heritage and extremely tight manufacturing tolerances.

 

[Anonymous]

hi i bought my rodgers ls3/5a in 19- 83 from the music room in glasgow for £285 ,it was march and i also bought my first cd player at the same time the sony cdp 101 the first cd player released with philips marantz cd 100 , that cost me £549 a tidy sum then ,driven by sony esprit power amp £1200 when bought way back then, that gave me 15yrs service and cd player 12yrs service-- now i still have the rodgers 3/5a speakers, and they are still working perfectly, they are very good sounding, and i keep going back to use them any time i upgrade anything as they just get better anytime you add something better to my system.also they are a hard speaker to drive and really need good amp to drive them.

 

[barnaby_3000]

Hi All

Having spent about an hour trying to find out how to start a new topic and failing this seems to be the only means of communication with the hifi community at the moment could someone please advise me on how to start a new thread that would be much appreciated and i think the access needs to be made easier for new users website people!!

I have recently discovered that some rescue speakers that I have been using in my living room (they were due to be thrown away from work) may be worth something and I am really looking for advice as to what to do. The speakers in question are Rogers LS3/5A with the Rogers gold label on the front grill. The speakers for a large part of their life have been in storage and all the components i.e drivers, HF horn and crossover are ALL original and have had very little use, but upon doing a small amount of research these speakers could be quite sought after. The speakers despite being in storage for an extended period of time are fine and the room they were kept in was an office store room so they are as close to mint as could be for genuine 1975 speakers.

If someone could just let me know or advise me as to what I have actually got that would be fab if you would like pictures of the speakers I can send them but that would probably be better done privately.

Many Thanks hifi-ers

 

[musical0111]

Hi Guys,

I have a few queries about these speakers as I have just seen some sold on ebay for about £1100.

Firstly, how much did these speakers cost when new?? (I know inflation would obviously affect the modern day equivalent cost)

Secondly, surely we must be able to recreate what looks like a very simple speaker for little cost this many years on??

I am simply suprised these speakers still command such a price! Just seems strange!

hi i have owned a pair since 1983 they cost £295 back then, i still use them and they sound great
but really need good amp to drive them, but i have a love hate relationship with them as they are a demanding speaker to get the best out of them.

 

[chebby]

Having spent about an hour trying to find out how to start a new topic and failing this seems to be the only means of communication with the hifi community at the moment could someone please advise me on how to start a new thread that would be much appreciated and i think the access needs to be made easier for new users website people!!

Go to the 'banner' at the top of the page.

Click the 'Forums' tab.

Scroll until you find a forum heading you want (like 'Hi-fi' for instance) and click on it.

Click on the big red button that says 'Post new forum topic'.

 

[hoopsontoast]

Hi Guys,

I have a few queries about these speakers as I have just seen some sold on ebay for about £1100.

Firstly, how much did these speakers cost when new?? (I know inflation would obviously affect the modern day equivalent cost)

Secondly, surely we must be able to recreate what looks like a very simple speaker for little cost this many years on??

I am simply suprised these speakers still command such a price! Just seems strange!

They are broadcast monitors, designed to be used in broadcast vans etc, so dont expect anything more or less.

They are expensive as they are very collectible, especially in Japan so its supply and demand. Much the same as Vintage Tannoys (Reds, Blacks etc) that go for silly prices, they are techincally bettered by the Golds or even HPDs but there are not many about and very desireable to collectors hence the high prices.

Whether they are worth the money as a speaker (to use) is another matter.

There are many 'current itterations' of the LS3/5A as mentioned such as the Spendor, Harbeth, Stirling Broadcast etc. There are also many older models by Rogers/Spendor/Harbeth etc that are a lot cheaper.

Some versions command higher prices, such as original 15 Ohm models by Chartwell or Special Editions like the KEF Raymond Cooke versions for example.

Its quite easy to 'clone' them although the original KEF B110 / T27 drive units are no longer made, close replacements are currently made by Morel, Monacor and Scanpeak IIRC. And again, if it will sound the same thats another matter.

 

[andyjm]

Hi Guys,

I have a few queries about these speakers as I have just seen some sold on ebay for about £1100.

Firstly, how much did these speakers cost when new?? (I know inflation would obviously affect the modern day equivalent cost)

Secondly, surely we must be able to recreate what looks like a very simple speaker for little cost this many years on??

I am simply suprised these speakers still command such a price! Just seems strange!

They are broadcast monitors, designed to be used in broadcast vans etc, so dont expect anything more or less.

They are expensive as they are very collectible, especially in Japan so its supply and demand. Much the same as Vintage Tannoys (Reds, Blacks etc) that go for silly prices, they are techincally bettered by the Golds or even HPDs but there are not many about and very desireable to collectors hence the high prices.

Whether they are worth the money as a speaker (to use) is another matter.

There are many 'current itterations' of the LS3/5A as mentioned such as the Spendor, Harbeth, Stirling Broadcast etc. There are also many older models by Rogers/Spendor/Harbeth etc that are a lot cheaper.

Some versions command higher prices, such as original 15 Ohm models by Chartwell or Special Editions like the KEF Raymond Cooke versions for example.

Its quite easy to 'clone' them although the original KEF B110 / T27 drive units are no longer made, close replacements are currently made by Morel, Monacor and Scanpeak IIRC. And again, if it will sound the same thats another matter.

Much of the BBC's focus at the time was making the speakers repeatable - programme material mixed using one pair of speakers needed to sound the same when listened to on another pair of the same model speaker. So the design criterea was not to aim for the pinacle of fidelity (impossible given the size of enclosure) but to make a design that could be produced with consistent results.

Also worth noting that as a small studio monitoring loudspeaker, they were designed for nearfield useage, not for room filling sound.

I have used LS3/5As for nearfiled monitoring - where they are a fine speaker, however I am not sure that their cult status is entirely justified.

 

[davedotco]

Hi Guys,

I have a few queries about these speakers as I have just seen some sold on ebay for about £1100.

Firstly, how much did these speakers cost when new?? (I know inflation would obviously affect the modern day equivalent cost)

Secondly, surely we must be able to recreate what looks like a very simple speaker for little cost this many years on??

I am simply suprised these speakers still command such a price! Just seems strange!

They are broadcast monitors, designed to be used in broadcast vans etc, so dont expect anything more or less.

They are expensive as they are very collectible, especially in Japan so its supply and demand. Much the same as Vintage Tannoys (Reds, Blacks etc) that go for silly prices, they are techincally bettered by the Golds or even HPDs but there are not many about and very desireable to collectors hence the high prices.

Whether they are worth the money as a speaker (to use) is another matter.

There are many 'current itterations' of the LS3/5A as mentioned such as the Spendor, Harbeth, Stirling Broadcast etc. There are also many older models by Rogers/Spendor/Harbeth etc that are a lot cheaper.

Some versions command higher prices, such as original 15 Ohm models by Chartwell or Special Editions like the KEF Raymond Cooke versions for example.

Its quite easy to 'clone' them although the original KEF B110 / T27 drive units are no longer made, close replacements are currently made by Morel, Monacor and Scanpeak IIRC. And again, if it will sound the same thats another matter.

Much of the BBC's focus at the time was making the speakers repeatable - programme material mixed using one pair of speakers needed to sound the same when listened to on another pair of the same model speaker. So the design criterea was not to aim for the pinacle of fidelity (impossible given the size of enclosure) but to make a design that could be produced with consistent results.

Also worth noting that as a small studio monitoring loudspeaker, they were designed for nearfield useage, not for room filling sound.

I have used LS3/5As for nearfiled monitoring - where they are a fine speaker, however I am not sure that their cult status is entirely justified.

If I recall correctly they were used primarily as voice monitors often in OB vans. They were also required to show a degree of consistency with the larger LS3/6.

All credible studio monitors should have a degree of consistency, the 'repeatability' that andyjm mentioned, no need for matched pairs, they should all match.

Back in the day I was involved selling numbers of full size recording monitors to EMI, they tested them at their (then) technical facility out at Hayes. Not only did they measure each complete speaker but each individual drive unit, rejection rate, for drive units, was around 5% which EMI considered very good.