The most expensive Chartwell LS3/5a speakers bought on Ebay!

[Quadophile]

The final auction price of this pair of Chartwell LS35a is probably oneof the highest in ebay.The auction ended on April 3rd 2005 and the winning bid was for £1,290 !

It is interesting that the bidders were from Taiwan, Canada and UK, all placed their bids in the last minute. Probably the most exciting last minute for an audio speaker on the Ebay UK

I own exacty the same speakers albeit they are even better than the one on Ebay being Rosewood istead of the one offered in Teak.

According to a post in the LS/35a forum from one of the members, the rosewood finish Chartwell was worth about $4,000 because very few were made and are considered the rarest of all the LS3/5a's. The rareest of them all is in posession of BBC which was used as reference for all susequent LS3/5a production.

LS3/5a has a cult following and due to which is also considered the most famous speaker sytem to ever come out of Great Britain.

Chartwell at Ebay

 

[ChristopherP]

Wow... i paid 30 quid for my pair of speakers from Lidl's ... bet theyr'e just as good

 

[Me__2001]

Quad i bet you'll be hanging on to them for awhile, thats expensive for a set of speakers but then again i dont know anything about them and i guess if you have a pair the sound quality must be way above average

 

[crazylegs]

That is some set of speakers, i'l have to take your word for it that they are quality because i have never heard of them. although that sort of money seems to be a bit over the top.

They looked a bit knocked about and rough around the edges quad, not sure if i would want to pay nearly 1300 quid for a 30 odd year old set of speakers, but then what do i know.

I used to be into radio years ago and paid lots for an old set of Bremi valve burner amplifiers which were around 35 years old then so i do know the importance of quality and reliability over modern digital rather than analogue sounding units.....

 

[Belloni]

Wow !!!

Did they pay that much because it's rare or ...

Have they actually got a great sound quality etc ?!

Over £1,000 seems ALOT for some old speakers lmao :S

 

[Quadophile]

For those of you who are not aware of the background of these speakers, I would urge you to take a trip to the website created only for the LS3/5a. Read some of the articles about them and see some of the pictures. There is no harm in getting the info just for fun sake. I am sure after you visit the place you will be convinced about what these little gems can do.

[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][/font]

[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] The philosophy behind the design of the LS3/5A was based on both good engineering principles and a willingless to listen and make changes as a result. The specification was tightly controlled by the BBC's licensing system with the intention that all LS3/5As should be so closely matched that any two, irrespective of date or manufacturer could be brought together in a matched pair. This tight matching, and the small size of the speaker largely account for the extraordinary stereo imaging that can be achieved. [/font]

[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] Properly set up on stands away from walls and in a good room the images are breathtaking. Reproduction of the human voice and acoustic instruments is still, 27 years after the design was started by the BBC, startling. The speaker has many faults, including its inability to handle very low frequencies or high listening levels. As you would expect from a speaker designed for broadcast use it is completely unforgiving of poor source material. But what it does well it does very, very well. [/font]

[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] In 1989 there were estimated to be around 60,000 pairs in use worldwide. Rogers alone had made 43,000 pairs by 1988 and at that time the BBC had 3,000 LS3/5as in use. [/font]

I will post the picture of my speakers later today for comparision if anyone is interested to see how different the rosewood looks.

LS3/5a website

 

[ChristopherP]

Are they really so good?

 

[Quadophile]

Chris,

The authority on LS3/5a, a guy named Jo Ki (at least in the community everyone thinks so) had something llike the following to say on the LS3/5a forum:

I am sad to announce today that I heard a speaker which was better sounding in the midrage than our beloved LS3/5a, however, at the same time I am also happy to say that they cost $22,000 (Twenty Two Thousand).

 

[ChristopherP]

Surely you get could speakers that are of better quality for MUCH less...?

 

[Becky]

Wow, I would love to hear the sound out of those!

 

[Quadophile]

Chris,

Its all about Magic of the midrange. If possible in your area you can find some shop which stocks these and maybe listen to them and find out what the fuss is all about.

Here are mine in rosewood finish. I seem to have misplaced another picture which had the grills off, If I find that will post it but meanwhile you can compare the difference in finish.

 

[ChristopherP]

Dosent the connected amplifier play a part to a certain extent - ie the speakers are only as good as the amp...?

 

[Quadophile]

Dosent the connected amplifier play a part to a certain extent - ie the speakers are only as good as the amp...?

These speakers are ruthlessly revealing and very difficult to drive, not many amps can drive them properly. They are one of the most insensitive speakers one can buy on the planet. Some amps are considered to be match made in heaven when paired with these speakers and one of them being mentioned very frequently happens to be the Quad II amplifier. I also use the Quad amplifier but another model, Quads are considered to be very good match for the LS3/5a's. Anyway, I am attaching here a database of 176 people using different amplifiers who are the members of the LS3/5a club, yours truly also included in the database. See what you can identify.

 

[ChristopherP]

You ever heard of a Realistic STA-720 Amplifier?

 

[Quadophile]

If I am not mistaken Realistic is Radio Shack brand and if so they are real cheapo and selling second hand at thrift shops for tenners and sometime you can buy them for even $5 in working condition. You sure are not asking me to tell you if it will be able to drive the LS3/5a are you? My answer would be a firm NO

If it was a good product even if it comes in vintage category it sure did not attract any attention from the audio community.

Take a look here and you will know what I really mean.

Check post No 4

 

[Quadophile]

One thing from Radio Shack has caught on with audiophiles is the SPL meter which though not a very accurate one but very popular for testing purposes in home audio environment. I used one sometime back but no longer in my possession.

 

[ChristopherP]

i think it's a bloody good amp but them i'm not into that kinda thing as much as you lol

 

[Quadophile]

Wait till you hear a better amplifier, your opinion will change

 

[floppybootstomp]

I'm familiar with the LS3/5A speakers - they really are excellent.

I used to sell them when I worked in a proper Hi-Fi store for about 15 months, almost always with a Quad amp.

Rogers used to make them at a Factory about six miles from where I'm sitting now, sometimes at the shop I was working in we had to pre-order them if demand was high.

Many of those speakers are used as reference speakers in recording studios, they have a tonal clarity that is quite unique.

I wouldn't mind a pair myself, but not for £1300.00

Oh, and Radio Shack was known as Tandys in the UK - they sold mostly utter crap

 

[Quadophile]

Flops,

You saved my............... by endorsing everything I said on the thread.

This thread got me so excited that I phoned up a guy who had Rogers LS3/5a in 11 Ohm version and gave him a firm bid to sell them to me, he could not refuse my offer and decided to part with them.

Now I am the owner of another pair of LS3/5a's in Teak finish

Flops, what do you have to say?