Two Vintage speakers Ls35a (£1000 + used ) KEF Coda (£300+ used )

Here I compare rogers ls35a( £1000+ used )
KEF coda (£300+ used)
with same drive units .
what's the sound difference ?
I used variety of amplifiers Naim power amp Croft pre amp plus
Vintage Sansui 331
from thorens 150 with sme arm ortophon blue cartridge.
Patreon link

[jozefserf]

The LS3/5 is the ultimate testimony to the fact that the midrange remains king.

[Funkywallot]

My biggest stroke of luck while hunting second hand vintage gear : I bought a pair of mint LS35a in a very remote and obscure Antique shop 5 years ago. For 40€ . I nearly missed them, they were hiding in a shelf half hidden by bronze statues. Im not kidding, i just stared with wide open eyes on the pricetag and I felt a rush in my head . The owner of the establishment clearly dident know what nuggets he had in his shop.
I sold them later for 750 € to a guy who thought he made a bargain . 😁
They are very comfy and organic speakers but not exactly what I want so it was easy to let them go to the right person who appreciate it for what its was.

[TonyCottrell-ivqv]

My Dad bought a pair of LS3/5as in the 1970s, and he gave them to me about 25 years ago. At the time I had a pair of Heybrook HB3s and I was always tweaking my system. With the LS3/5as I started listening to the music.
25 years later, having tried plenty of other speakers I am back with the LS3/5as . I never get tired of them. I understand why some people don't like them or think they are overpriced but if mine were stolen I would happily buy another pair even at their high price.

[jakedavila]

Always learning something from this gentleman . Always feel better educated on vintage gear.

[mikeknowles]

My LS35/a's give great bass, no other speaker I've heard does an orchestral bass drum as convincingly. The secret is to get them as isolated from vibration as possible, so that all the bass from the speaker resolves. It also helps using a decently powered tube amp.

[stephenfurley]

The LS3/5As were designed for monitoring BBC outside broadcasts, when they were used in their broadcast vans.

[omdwillieturnip]

"There's more talk about this than the pyramids of giza" brilliant 😆. Nice video. Funny timing having just bought a pair of ls3/5a's and been vaguely looking at coda's too. Thanks for sharing.

[GrandWazoo]

The ls3/5a cabinet is, I believe, veneered baltic plywood

[barrybrennan]

Love my Ls35a. No speaker is perfect, and of course bass is limited, but every day of the week I'll take limited bass over bass bloat, etc. The brain fills in the gaps too. If your step is relatively near-field, it's just a case of plonking them on stands and listening to music - I love that about them.

[johndough]

Btw - If you wanted to increase the bass levels... without distorting the musical output much... you could install some weight-tuned Passive Radiators. Some of the most insane bass that Ive ever heard from a tiny 6.5" drivers... came from the Phillips Woox mini-systems. The woox is a unique passive radiator system, that has dual expansion rings, and dual passives separated by an inch of space (look at photos of them removed from the speakers, to better understand). The woox systems also used a special woofer, that had more Excursion than most typical woofers... thus helping to prevent Distortions from driving the woofers too far (over-excursion).

A Lot of sealed 70s era Speakers, started adding passive radiators in their designs... to help complete with the louder and bassier sounding Ported speakers, in the 80s. It was a decent compromise, and does not distort the bass sounds, like Ports do. The only drawback to using passives, is that they dont really produce much added bass... until you drive them at medium to high volume levels. To get around this issue... Phillips had build an Electronic EQ TOGGLE into their mini systems (boom boxes). This Toggle boosted the Bass levels using EQ... and thus, could excite the Passives at much lower volume levels.

Of course, to get the most potential performance out of your speakers.. I personally always recommend using an EQ. At minimal, use a software EQ via your computer (I use my PC, software EQ, and directly output analog sound to my old 5.1 Surround Sound amp). Way too many Audiophiles, refuse to use EQ.. because they feel its coloring the sound too much. However, most every speaker is already coloring the sounds. Also, many TUBE amps that audiophile use.. most certainly are coloring the sound... making the Anti-EQ argument, completely hypocritical. Thing is... you probably could replicate these expensive Tube Amp's colorizations, using a cheap EQ, and very little fiddling.

[Philsbook]

This is what the internet was invented for. Great video and loads of interesting, ‘sensible’ comments. Well done.

[ricardomartins]

Another fun video! Thanks for sharing your knowledge.

[jonboy]

Missed you when you packed up appreciate your insight and common sense on a subject full of B/S by many!

[socksumi]

The LS3/5A cabinet is made of birch ply with choice of veneer. The inside has bituminous panels that cover every wall plus 3/8 inch dowels that brace every inside edge and most I believe used lambs wool for insulation. Back in 1980 I actually built a pair to spec as best I could. But I was never able to find the tweeter screens which are widely available now. The screens along with the crossover help smooth the T27's peaks in the 8 to 10 khz range. Some prefer the tweeter naked at it sounds less smooth but more immediate and the naked T27 also goes higher to above 25 khz where as the screen rolls off the highs somewhat but nothing you or I would hear at our age.

[TheRealWindlePoons]

I like the LS3/5A. They are one of the most consistent speakers I have heard and are fully deserving of the name "monitor", albeit in the near-field. I have never owned a pair as I prefer something more capable of filling my room with sound.
I definitely prefer bookshelf and stand-mounting speakers with a sealed box, I never liked anything I've heard with a reflex port. For bigger speakers with ports I prefer a transmission line or triangular quarter-wave pipe. Both designs to my ears sound "natural" or "effortless".
I never rule out vintage designs and my favourite for the last 20 years has been a pair of Lowther Acousta 115s. I have a later (1970-73) pair with a plywood carcass and chipboard horn panels. While smaller than many horns, they are still big speakers. I would describe them as "unflatteringly transparent" in the same manner as Quad electrostatics. The Lowthers certainly drive the room well and with a decent signal they absolutely sing. As ever with HiFi, your mileage may vary...

[gaborozorai]

LS3/5a's were designed for monitoring in broadcast vans and small studios, so even 6-7 feet of distance is overdoing it. At 4-5 feet, placed wide enough and toed in they open up and do space really well. And I don't even have originals just Chinese clones :)

[stephenwintle]

They were originally designed as a ‘near field speech monitor’ for outside broadcast vans. 👍

[johnlindsay]

Leaving all the bull***t aside, the LS3 5A’s are something special. I’ve had numerous speakers over the years from modest to ridiculous - however the 35A’s are lifers. With the right amplifiers they are magic. It’s not all about the bass - it’s all about the midrange!

[rabit]

Add a subwoofer? A passive subwoofer might match these vintage speakers?

[ianstreeter]

Kelvin you have a great way of explaining the sound of speakers 😊