Vintage hi-fi gift

[chris_bates1974]

 

[chris_bates1974]

Not really sure why the body of my post didn't appear... Bascially, I've just been given a Quad33/405 combination, and a matching pair of Goodmans LS3/5A speakers. I have no idea where to get them checked out, or if it is worth doing so. And are they any better than my currect amp (Cyrus5) or speakers (Mission M73). Thanks.

 

[proffski]

Is it a 405 MKII?

Depends as to whether you listen to classical music or R&R etc.

 

[The_Lhc]

Have you tried just connecting them up and seeing if they work? They're very well thought of, the LS3/5a's in particular have something of a legendary status.

 

[chris_bates1974]

Actually, I'm not sure MkII or not, will look at home... I listen to everything from Beastie Boys to Neil Young, to Wagner, to well.... anything... I also don't have the correct powercable for the 33 so not even 100 % that it works. I did try the speakers but they just didn't sound right....

 

[chris_bates1974]

To be sure I tried them correctly: I currently have a bi-wire set up, so took the pulg off the speaker end of the cables and twisted the pairs together, then screwed them down with the strange scre terminals on the LS3/5A... did I do the right thing? They just seemed a bit "boomy".....

 

[philipjohnwright]

Have a look at what good condition LS3/5A's are going for on eBay - upwards of £1000 in some cases. Then look after them!

 

[relocated]

Another learning experience, I never knew that Goodmans did that model. Strange that you should feel that it boomed, I always found them very bass-shy.

 

[nopiano]

Have a look at what good condition LS3/5A's are going for on eBay - upwards of £1000 in some cases. Then look after them!

I was about to say the same! They only sound any good if carefully positioned and listened at quite close quarters (unsurprising since they were made for BBC vans!).

Personally, I always though the Quad duo sounded awful when brand new - when they didn't expire in a puff of smoke, that is. Even in the day I'd have never paired these amps with the speakers.

Unless you want to wallow in nostalgic cottonwool sound, clean it all gently and sell them ASAP!

 

[andyjm]

As mentioned above, the LS3/5a was a near field monitoring loudspeaker designed for small studio and O/B van use, it was never designed for open room listening.

When I worked at the BBC, the standard bench monitoring loudspeaker was a LS3/5a mounted on top of a Quad amplifier in a reasonably crude angle iron frame - so somebody thought that the Quad / LS3/5a was a good combination.