@Richard.Dane Richard, if you want genuine 70’s era Tygan, this is the model to get! Act now, quantities are limited.
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That’s a very nice description of what the LS3/5a is about.
I’ve tried very hard to like the LS3/5a’s several times over a period of many years. I just can’t get on with them. They engage my head - not my heart. I can appreciate what they do well, which is reproduce the midrange with a tonal neutrality and lack of tonal colouration that to my ears makes everything else I’ve heard sound distinctly broken here. The problem is that’s the only thing they do that’s any good. In every other respect they are awful to average.
They are marmite speakers as were the Kans. Like the Kans, if you ‘get’ what they do and it’s important to you then there’s little else that will suffice. But for me, despite trying hard, I just can’t get over their lack of any real dynamics and their slow bloated one-note bass, not to mention their lack of ability to play loud. But I can’t deny that they have a certain charm that is very alluring despit everything. I can well understand some people falling under their spell. But as I say, in the end they appeal to my head not my heart.
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Yes I’ll sanction that! Sorry, I just dislike anyone likening Kans to LS3/5a’s in any way. Completely irrational of me!
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There are - exactly the same size…!!!
Annoying Facts… 
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Perhaps it is my love of FM radio that makes me love the intimacy of the LS3/5as.
I have owned a Chartwell pair and a pair of Sterling Broadcast. The Chartwells were bought from a City trader in Moorgate, who was clearing his cottage after his divorce. They came in an Audiomaster box which fitted nicely on the Jim Blackburn rack on my bike. He decided he would keep the Audiomaster pair. The Sterlings were a happy combination with a Rogers E20a amp.
But these days, I have none to ‘show’. Liked them very much though.
C.
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I’d call the IBL an LS3/5a derivative… With a longer-distance vision on Naim’s part than all the others’.
Thank you for your reply. Glad to hear that they play well together. I also love its minimal design and look.
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I wish you can try some Sterling ls3/5a V3. They still have the ls3/5a charm but not lack of dynamics and slow bloated one-note bass.
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I’m always open to new listening experiences. If ever I get the chance I’ll give them a listen.
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That’s pretty bizzare Max. Not sure if you’re serious. On that basis one could call everything post LS3/5a an LS3/5a derivative of one kind or another!
I am actually.
The ‘woofer’ of later models is made upon the basket of the B110; only, it can manage more power. For the rest, it looks to me like Naim’s idea of the small two-way with a 5-inch woofer and a tweeter, only taken to the limit - as is usual in almost all of Naim’s designs.
I didn’t write that the IBL is Naim’s LS3/5a, but that it’s a derivative - how Naim saw the concept.
Best
M
BTW - I’ve been curious about some LS3/5a for a long time. After years of adventurous designs from Naim - I don’t know how else to call them - I sometimes miss some domesticity… 
Everything with a 5-inch woofer and a tweeter, thought of as a monitor, yes… why not?
Hi Max, I have often thought that you (probably more than most here) would love a pair of LS3/5as for their intimate, domestic feel.
Best, C.
Hi Chris,
I often think so too. The choice of brands, models and periods is discouraging though. I’m actually browsing a little these days.
I can’t get over the fact that a shoebox like that can fetch twice or more as much as a pair of IBLs…
I tend to be a romantic rather than hard-boiled rationalist in these matters, Max. What if LS3/5as turn out to be the speakers of your life?
I tend to be very cautious about the anything of my life lately… But I’d move the system to a smaller room, or even a smaller home, and hope that they won’t desert me suddenly one morning after a few years.
All I can say is that if, one day, I stumble across a pair of Spendors etc in a house clearance say, I will snap them up. Then I will ask Richard to reopen this thread and have something to show here. I’m travelling hopefully.
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Spendor is actually an idea I like. I pretend single wiring and well kept enclosures.
Can’t say I agree with all you say but I see where you’re coming from so fair enough.
Yes, despite my misgivings about the LS3/5a I sometimes feel that way as well. It’s irrational perhaps, but even so…
My present system with large speakers goes all-out to try to create a credible illusion of reality. You really do need large speakers for this.
However as much as I love what my system does, sometimes I do yearn for music on a more domestic scale. Something that’s scaled down - less bass depth, reduced dynamics and just a smaller ‘domestic sized’ sound.A miniature version of reality. IMO this is where speakers like the LS3/5a’s really start to make a lot of sense. In this situation the requirements are such that many of their failings actually become positive and indeed necessary attributes.
So who knows? Maybe I’ll surprise myself and end up with a pair one day. I love the way they look too - so cute and sexy!
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That’s the very same for me. The LS3/5as’ proportions are perfect to me. So when I end up with one pair I’ll be anything bit surprised…
Best
M
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