Musical Fidelity Unveils LS3/5A And LS5/9 BBC Designs

All Image Credit: Musical Fidelity

It would appear that Retro is back in full swing in the audiophile world with Musical Fidelity unveiling two new loudspeakers at the 2023 High End Munich show, Germany, that are based upon their original BBC designs. The Musical Fidelity LS3/5A is a two-way stand-mount loudspeaker built according to a BBC R&D design from 1976, while the larger Musical Fidelity LS5/9 loudspeaker replicates its BBC design from 1983.

These designs by the BBC were originally created for two different environments. The smaller LS3/5A was designed to be used in small spaces like TV mobile control rooms while the LS5/9 was intended for use in larger control rooms and music studios having an extended bass response. While the LS3/5A certainly benefits from the addition of a subwoofer, according to Musical Fidelity, the LS5/9 “was designed to reproduce sound at high levels to fulfill the complete range of music genres from classical to pop music”.

Musical Fidelity LS3/5A

The LS3/5A has always been a very popular speaker but was manufactured not by the BBC itself, being licensed out to some of the most well-respected British loudspeaker manufacturers of the time: Rogers, Spendor, Harbeth, KEF, and Chartwell. All of whom had to adhere to rigorous BBC standards in order to maintain their licensing. Over time this “shoe-box” sized, sealed cabinet, 2-way loudspeaker has become a favorite with the audiophile community. However, despite its popularity its production had largely ceased by the late 1990’s.

Musical Fidelity LS5/9

Both cabinets are made from Birch plywood with either the LS3/5A Palisander veneer finish or the LS5/9 cherry veneer finish. The smaller LS3/5A sealed cabinet loudspeaker comes with a 19mm tweeter dome and an 11cm woofer, having a claimed frequency response of 80Hz – 20KHz. The larger bass reflex LS5/9 featuring a 34mm tweeter with a 21cm mid/bass unit with a reported frequency response of 50Hz – 20KHz and weighs in at 12kg (26.46 lbs) per speaker, compared to the LS3/5A’s 4.9kg (10.8 lbs).

Over time the demand for the LS3/5A has continued to be strong and several companies have risen to the challenge to re-release this model, to include; Rogers, Stirling Broadcast and Falcon Acoustics. Musical Fidelity now joins that venerable list of LS3/5a manufacturers with this version that has been built to “BBC R&D design 1976/29” and the LS5/9 built to the “BBC R&D design 1983/10”.

Specifications:

• LS5/9
  • Type: Two way, bass reflex type
  • Frequency response: 50Hz-20KHz +/-4dB
  • Nominal Impedance: 8 Ohms
  • Sensitivity: 89dB/W/M
  • Woofer: 210mm Cone
  • Tweeter: 34mm with phase correction
  • Power handling: 100 Watts unclipped
  • Cabinet: 9mm birch plywood
  • Finish: Cherry veneer
  • Dimensions: 460 x 275 x 285mm (HxWxD)
  • Weight: 12Kg (each speaker)