LS3/5a Comparison! Harbeth P3ER. Falcon Acoustics Gold & Silver Badge. Sound Artist.

A speaker design from the 70's that STILL has a strong following! In todays video, I explore four LS3/5a-type speakers and discuss how they all compare and contrast to one another.

Pricing Information:

Sound Artist LS3/5a: $600/pair
Falcon Acoustics 'MoFi Edition' LS3/5a: $1,995/pair
Harbeth P3ESR: $2,490/pair
Falcon Acoustics Gold Badge LS3/5a: $2,999/pair

PRODUCT PAGES:

Harbeth P3ESR: Webpage no longer online.

MY ORIGINAL REVIEWS:

My personal Tier List (For desktop use):

1. Harbeth P3ESR.
2. Falcon MoFi Edition.
3. Falcon Gold Badge.
4. Sound Artist LS3/5a.

My personal Tier List (For a Traditional 2-channel system)

1. Falcon Gold Badge
2. Harbeth P3ESR
3. Falcon MoFi Edition
4. Sound Artist LS3/5a

[ZeroFidelity]

Update: It looks like I got one critical detail wrong: The drivers inside the Falcon speakers are made in-house and are NOT outsourced. Mah bad.

[ZeroFidelity]

FYI: (1) There are no sound clips in this video. I don't have the gear for it. (2) Pricing information can be found in the description box. (3) Note that these speakers are voiced to sound best when the grills are ON. (4) This video contains long unscripted and uninterrupted takes. If I was a bit off with my info or the delivery of that info, all that I ask is for you to be considerate while pointing out my mistakes in the comments section. (5) Note that the Falcon Acoustics 'MoFi' edition LS3/5a is only available in North America. (6) Also note that Harbeth will continue to offer the original P3ESR alongside the new XD in North America. Word on the street is that the price may lower (in the US) as well. (7) I forgot to mention how the regular Falcon LS3/5a Gold Badge's revealing nature makes it less ideal for casual desktop listening (in my opinion) than the more forgiving P3ESR or the more colored sounding Falcon MoFi Edition LS3/5a.

[williekenk]

I haven't even started, but I'm already glad this comparison exists.

[woutmoerman]

My first impressive audio memory is from two LS3/5a's at an audio show. They were paired with a subwoofer and gave the best lively and realistic performance I ever heard. This was in the early eighties and the memory still is vivid!

[panoskonstantinidis]

Excellent, excellent, excellent review! Well done, Sean. I've owned the P3ESR and the two Falcons (silver and gold badge) and your review is absolutely accurate. I listen nearfield and it's like having no speakers at all. Anyway, given your deep experience with P3ESR and LS3/5a, you should perhaps consider creating a video about the partnering equipment, i.e. amp(s) and subwoofer(s). Yeah, subwoofer is heresy to some LS3/5a devotees, but then again, why not, if it works?

[kimweonill]

I am new in this hobby. I only listen to classical music and I've been auditioning a list of speakers. Today I auditioned Graham Chartwell LS3/5A and it immediately struck me as "this is it". I would even say they were the only speakers I've auditioned that instruments sounded with their unique characters, dynamics and unfolding of music were natural, and the intention of performers were properly heard. I completely agree that they are truly worth auditioning.

[gstapon]

Thanks for a great review.
Zero Fidelity is a fine broadcast in these days of no audio showrooms to live audition.

Remarkably, I may have even owned or auditioned more speakers than you, and have commits on LS3 5 A's.

I ran a large business as a mobile DJ to put me through law school and my wife through med school in the 70s. 
Lights, dry ice machines, gunpowder bombs set off in light sockets (yes !) and great tube (garnet and other amps...ultimately going solid state because we would have to re-wire most venues to get 1500 tube watts)
I used great speakers with a ton of dynamic response. Alec voice of the theatre, Klipsch horns, Tannoy 15s, and (few know this) 12 in. Phillips with whizzer cones. Excellent with ports and large 75 lb. MDF boxes.
For my home I had a series of stacked Advents, Giant Sonys, JBLs, Cerwin Vegas, stacked Dynacos Quads, etc.etc.
Then my dealer said in about 1976 that I should buy a diminutive set of Rogers 15 ohm LS3 5As. I scoffed but bought them.
Delicious. Surprisingly good in specific applications.
If you want to listen closely, or softly with musicality, or read a book, with music in the background they are outstandingly listenable.
Sweet midrange, great imaging etc. etc.
I did not know quite what I had, but have kept them for many years and through many subsequent speakers mounting them on the walls and other indignities, (some examples of my other stuff : Kef 105.7 with cube, Celestial golds, Klipsch towers, several sets of great Canadian towers including Totem voiced in the anechoic chamber, Energy 22s (quite good) SVS Towers, several Andrew Jones models including the somewhat over rated Uni-Fi, various Polks and many highly rated others over the years, mostly set up properly with good electronics in the 4 houses we are so fortunate to own.)
Anyway, I get the difference in experience between a Klipsch or Tecton with dynamics liveliness and bass, and the muted sonic honey of a LS35A.
As a second set of speakers, what they can do after all these years is quite remarkable.
I may try the Sound Artists just because. They are a little more than the inflation adjusted price I paid for the Rogers way back when.
BTW, dont det me started on electronics since I have bought, burned out or still have about 40 different pieces.
You should review the new Outlaw Receiver. I bought two. Great AB amp bargain with a reasonable DAC.
Best.

[CharleyClose]

Great video! I purchased the Harbeth P3 XD on Friday. Your videos really helped me decide on these, especially since I haven’t heard them in person. Should get them on 12/24. BTW, the P3 XD’s are $3, 290 US now.

[henk]

Hey Sean, thanks for the review. Bought the Sound Artist based on a couple of reviews. Always tricky to buy via Internet, but at the price I took the chance. Even so with the Reisong Boyuu A10. With other tubes (Mullard EL-34 and 6n2 equivalents) icw the SA 3/5A's it's sounds just great (for the money). So, with you, Steve G and some other reviewers Youtube can be very useful for making a decision on buying good audio gear at this price tag. Thanks and regards, Henk (The Netherlands)

[rusoaie]

Zero, this is brilliant. We want more side-by-side speaker comparisons (3+, not only 2 models) in which you describe the most suited type of application (desktop, mid-field, far-field, different music genres etc.). Some hints: 6/8 inch bookshelves and floor-standers. Thanks and keep up the good work!

[wprimrose]

I bought the Sound Artists for my desk setup after watching Sean’s review. Gotta say, am very happy with how they’ve performed.

[stevenjackson]

The LS-3/5A was one of those products that was part of a seismic shift in my audio journey. I listened to them when they were just introduced - the Rogers and Chartwell variants. At the same time, too, it was Magnepan, the Dahlquist DQ-10, the early Levinson gear, just about anything by Audio Research and Conrad-Johnson that had me make a big path change. When I was leaving college I sold my Magnepan MG-llBs. The person who bought them was the head of a college music department. He offered to trade my Maggies for his Rogers LS-3/5As. I didn't take the trade. Oh, well.

[bartvanransbeeck]

In the early 90ies, we organised a demo with rogers ls3/5a 16 0hm..with krell ksa 50 amp, ...cd philips ...and compare with biggest fostex magnetostatics with 30cm bass....in a well damped place, small theater, so at least 200m2....i went 5 minutes out and when returned to the demo i observef: 'oh these big fostexes are so transparent and nice timbre on violins, speakers disapeare so
But i missed, it were the rogers playing!!!! I was so impressed....even as a trained listener for years, hearing plenty high end i my audioshop in brussels...i am curious to hear those gold badges...

[EnricoAnsaloni]

The sound that comes out of a LS3/5a speaker is so unique that it brings you into the world of hi-fi... It's the first proper speaker I've listened to and to date It's still my favourite. Of course I listened to bigger and more expensive speakers, like the Martin Logan electrostatic panels that blew me away but still there is something missing from what I got from the LS3/5a... At the time I couldn't afford them so I setttled for a pair of LS4a that retain most of the sound character for a fraction of the price and I still use them today after 33 years...

[locmanw]

For my bedroom system I decided to with P3ESR standard version. I grabbed the dealer's last pr new in box! BTW there is another guy in a forum who owned XD version and after break in he traded it back in for the standard version.

[peteriliev]

Hey Sean, thank you very much for your time and effort put in these excellent reviews. I am wondering if you have had a chance to listen to newer Harbeth P3ESR XD version and what your opinions comparing to standard and anniversary versions are? Are you planning on reviewing the XD version? Thank you very much for getting back :)

[ceejaydeesoozaa]

very good comparison. im using an 80s 15 ohm rogers pair. gotta agree. they are not laid back or smooth but with a respectable recording, be it analog or digital, its just heavenly. played a 320kbps rip of pink's glitter in the air through a teac udh01 dac and it made my eyes water with the super realistic vocal reproduction

[trekjudas]

There's a dealer here in Pittsburgh that sells Harbeth. The first time I heard them after I regained consciousness I vowed that I will own a pair!!! PURE MAGIC!!

[mrpositronia]

The Falcon Golds sound amazing. I heard them in a small 4x4 metre room at a show and I had no idea these speakers were playing. I though it was a bigger pair of Falcon speakers sitting beside them. Big, wide sound. Very refined and easy to listen to.

[sebastianpolcyn]

It's funny how interesting a comparo of four near-identical speakers can be - nicely done! One thing that strikes me whenever I see LS3/5a type speakers is that they always remind me just how few actual bookshelf speaker there are out there, as in, not standmount speakers but speakers that are purposely designed to sound good in suboptimal listening environments.