Musical Fidelity's LS3/5A and the enduring appeal of BBC-inspired small speakers

Hi-fi UK editor Kashfia Kabir on the LS3/5A's history and continued charm

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The LS3/5A were never meant to be heard by the public. The iconic BBC speakers were born out of the broadcaster’s research and development department in the 1970s, whose engineers were tasked with designing and creating broadcasting equipment that the BBC needed but couldn’t source from external suppliers. In this instance, they were after highly accurate small monitors that could be used in the limited space within the outside broadcast vans.

Nothing commercially available at the time was good enough for the BBC’s needs, so the engineering division invested in a huge amount of research to find out what makes a good sound in speakers.

Until this point, the concept of a small hi-fi speaker didn’t exist. You’re looking at fairly large cabinets for your average speaker before the ’70s; the LS3/5A were attempts to get very high-quality sound out of shoebox-small nearfield monitors. Many of history’s successful small speakers, such as the Linn Kan, the Neat Petite and models by Spendor and Harbeth, owe their existence to these original LS3/5As. The BBC never actually made these speakers, but licensed out the specifications to various manufacturers, including Rogers Hi-Fi, Falcon Acoustics, Chartwell, Goodmans, Stirling, KEF and Spendor, while Musical Fidelity’s versions are inspired by those original R&D specs.

Those research findings