In ‘The Absolute Sound’ van mei/juni (en online hier) staat een test – geschreven door Paul Seydor – van de Falcon Acoustics BBC LS3/5a – net als de Harbeth HL-P3ESR een hedendaagse nieuw geproduceerde versie van het oorspronkelijke BBC ontwerp.
Naast een test van deze luidsprekers (die van alle huidige LS3/5a versies technisch het meest in de buurt komen van de oorspronkelijke ‘oerversie’), is dit tevens een ongelooflijk informatief artikel over de historie van de BBC minimonitor. Alleen al om die reden is het zeer goed geschreven stuk de moeite waard om te lezen.
Naast de ontwikkeling en verschillende versies die er in de loop van de 40 jaar van het bestaan van de luidspreker hebben bestaan, worden ook diverse fabrikanten van deze iconische minimonitor benoemd en beschreven, alsmede bronnen gegeven die nog meer informatie geven.
Onder de liefhebbers is nogal wat strijd over wat de ‘beste versie’ is van alle bestaande en niet meer bestaande uitvoeringen en het valt niet te ontkennen dat een hoeveelheid smaak hier een bepalende factor kan zijn. Wij beperken ons tot het citeren van twee treffende passages uit dit artikel:
“[…] in 2001, when Ken Kessler, as righteous a keeper of the flame as anyone, arranged a listening comparison of LS3/5a’s drawn from every conceivable vintage and manufacturer, and the one that emerged victorious was from Harbeth, both a late licensee and an 11-ohmer. Knowing what an exacting designer Harbeth’s Alan Shaw is — he worked at the BBC before he purchased Harbeth from Dudley Harwood — I wasn’t surprised because the best LS3/5a ever made is the Harbeth HLP-3, originally introduced in 1991 and now in its third and best iteration, the P3ESR (see my 2009 review in TAS of its immediate predecessor, the P3ES2). This is because, dissatisfied with the deficiencies of the LS3/5a, even those from his own company, Shaw did what the BBC should have done back in the late Eighties: return to first principles, use what was valuable in the original design and research, then do the job right and make a speaker that is vastly more uniform, reliable, and accurate, as well as able to maintain its performance without material degradation over the long run. The HLP-3 so glaringly exposed the flaws and shortcomings of the LS3/5a that I immediately sold mine and bought Harbeths for my cutting rooms. Perhaps needless to say, they were much more satisfying for listening to music as well.”
en
“At $2200 a pair, both this new Falcon and the Stirling Broadcast LS3/5a’s cost about the same as Harbeth’s P3ESR ($2300/pair), yet in my view the Harbeth is demonstrably more accurate, with greater bass extension and dynamic range, flatter frequency response, and superior resolution. I can’t pronounce it the most accurate subcompact monitor ever made because I haven’t heard them all, but it’s unquestionably the most accurate I’ve ever heard, save only for the new Sony SS-NA5ES, which costs $6000 a pair (reviewed in the previous issue by REG). The P3ESR still has the hump at around 125Hz, but because it’s better engineered, thus much better behaved, the bass, though still down in amplitude, is cleaner, better defined, and more articulate and it responds more favorably to judicious tonal boost to provide more legitimate warmth and foundation (it’s also more amenable to subwoofers). The overall midrange gives up some of the lower midrange richness in favor of being very flat and thus more truthful from the bottom of the midrange through the lower highs, except for a pretty mild (and far from gross) rise around 1kHz necessary to give the reproduction some projection (despite having less projection as such than the LS3/5a, the P3ESR actually sounds more open). The highs are very smooth, extended yet unaggressive, and, as is not the case with the LS3/5a, rather better integrated with the response from below. The overall flatness makes for a minimonitor of excellent refinement and resolution yet with considerably wider dynamic range and higher transparency, easily up to the standards we expect from quality contemporary loudspeakers. It’s little wonder that one reviewer, a longtime card-carrying member of the LS3/5a club, pronounced the P3ESR “the best iteration yet from any manufacturer of the BBC LS3/5a minimonitor concept.”
Het hele artikel is nogmaals verder zeer lezenswaardig en vooral heel eerlijk over de capaciteiten en beperkingen van deze minimonitor.
Lees de volledige test online hier.