Graham Audio LS3/5a Anniversary

REVIEW
Rafael Todes
Feb 06, 2025

There is more folklore attached to the LS3/5a’s than you can shake a stick at. This is surely one of the most iconic and long-lasting speakers in existence!

When the BBC wanted to construct a studio in the now-sold Maida Vale studios in the early 1970s, they built an 1/8 size mock up of the studio, (a similar but more successful technique than was used in the Barbican Concert Hall design) and created the LS3/5’s to simulate the properties of the studio. 20 pairs later, the 110mm drive unit was swapped and the LS3/5a was born. The monitors found their way into BBC vans for monitoring live broadcasts due to their even frequency response, bass being limited by their diminutive size of course. It was shortly afterwards that the BBC licensed the speakers to a pool of manufacturers to produce with exact specifications.

BBC Eleven

There were eleven companies given the license, only three at one time, and it was estimated in 2007 that over 100,000 pairs were constructed. This figure has increased since then as the speaker has found its way into the Pantheon of speaker classics. My awareness of the speaker happened at an audio show a decade or so ago, when I heard the LS3/5a’s fed by a passive pre and a high quality reel-to-reel, and I was blown away. It was the best sound at the show, and I was astounded that these tiny little speakers were sounding so articulate and persuasive, and so musical to boot.

This anniversary pair comes from Graham Audio, based in Newton-Abbott, Devon. Graham Audio’s designer Derek Hughes is the son of of Spencer Hughes who was involved in the original BBC creation, and thus carries the torch of apostolic succession. The units are hand built and assembled with British or European parts, in the case of these anniversary edition speakers, there are a series of upgrades which include WBT German-made audiophile grade terminals, Van den Hul cabling for the internal wiring, and a redesigned crossover with upgraded components.

The tweeter is of the soft dome variety with a perforated metal grille, surrounded by thick felt pads – with velcro to hold the main grille in place. The bass unit is 110mm bextrene-coned, made by Volt to Graham’s specifications. There are also changes to the stiffness of the front baffle using higher density materials, said to result in a reduction of vibrations. Interestingly, there is a switch at the back to control the treble response. This came in handy as the speakers supplied had no hours on the clock, and were initially on the bright side.

Breaking in

The manufacturer suggested that a reasonable break-in time was around 50 hours, so I duly left the speakers to play for around seventy hours to be on the safe side. The finish of this pair was eucalyptus veneer, and a rather beautiful one at that. Graham Audio also supplied some solid metal stands for the speakers.

Listening through my VAC 200iq’s, Allegri Reference preamplifier, and dCS Bartók APEX DAC, the amplifiers had no problem in providing enough power for the speakers, at 83db sensitivity the manufacturer recommends 50 watts, this was comfortably exceeded.

Mozart’s Rondo for Piano and Orchestra K382, Barenboim conducting and playing with the Berlin Philharmonic is beautifully recorded, and presents the opportunity to show how a Steinway piano comes across, as well as being able to illustrate the orchestra at some distance back. To extract the detail here can sort out the wheat from the chaff. My first impressions of the sound is to marvel at the large and substantial soundstage these diminutive beasts are throwing out. The piano is lightening fast, I can really hear the attack on each note, the decay is precise and highly believable.

There is a roundness and generosity to the tone, even a complexity to the tone which speakers of this size more often than not miss. While the orchestra doesn’t present with the weight I’m used to with my reference pair of B&W 802d4, at many multiples of the size and price, the result is impressive for this concerto. There is oodles of detail coming from the woodwind and strings, I can see why these speakers were used in BBC vans as they give a lifelike picture of a orchestra, and with the exception of low bass they provide extremely useful information with which to create a mix.

Pleasantly Surprised

To some large and weighty orchestral music, Mahler 5th Symphony – 2nd movement as conducted by Solti on Decca with the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, I am really pleasantly surprised how the Grahams give a sense of space. Even though the bottom octave isn’t present, there is a real feeling of the presence of the orchestra. The rapid interchanges between the different sections of the orchestra come across amazingly convincingly and there is no ‘soupification’ when the textures merge.

These speakers are keeping the textures separate, in their own boxes. The cellos and basses whilst not having my B&W’s full range capabilities, do sound credible, and interact coherently with the other textures. When the climax arrives, the speakers don’t break sweat, they keep an orderly control on the unfolding musical hysteria. There is very much a sense that they are presenting the orchestral sound as is, not embellishing or colouring the sound. Masses of detail and I am dragged onto the Mahlerian rollercoaster. Really impressive!

In the box

Listening to Forcione’s “Tears of Joy” feels like sitting in the box for a live recording. There is such a vivid sense to the presentation. The guitar is fast and percussive, the rhythmic textures snapilly portrayed, with razor sharp precision. Again there are no congestion problems when the climax arrives, just a portrayal of the main players. There’s a phase-coherence which is maximising the 3d imagery, and I can hear exactly how the mix is constructed. Clearly, ‘Auntie Beeb’ was onto a good thing here when the Corporation stumbled on these speakers.

Switching to some some jazz, Kenny Burrell and ‘Chitlins con Carne’, a high res remastered on Qobuz, the percussion-work comes across like it’s in the room. The sound of the skins being thwacked is utterly convincing! There is an effortlessness in the timing of the track, and totally on the money.

There is also a switch on the back, which has 0,-1 and +1 and gently boosts or cuts the treble.

Ohm is where the heart is

I have a pair of the earlier version of the Rogers LS3/5a which I listen to as a reference. These are 15 ohm versions and between forty and fifty years old. They have their share of magic and are the sonic equivalent of a pair of shoes that have been well-worn and are tatty but comfortable. There is a small difference in sound to their modern cousins: the Graham Anniversary speakers are much tauter, they are, to return to the shoe analogy like brand new handmade leather-soled brogues, more detail but a bit more uptight.

The treble cut control at the back serves to change the brightness when switched to -1, the bright and airy top gets attenuated, and the speaker sounds much more like its ancestor, but with more detail. Some of the air and space goes, but then so does a touch of the brilliance which works on some recordings but not others. Having switched between 0 and 1, I’d like a 4th option, a -0.5 which with the current state of break-in would strike me as ideal. This is a useful facility, a tone control by any other name, but one which changes the performance and presentation of the speaker in an intelligent way.

Rather miraculous

These speakers are really rather miraculous. For their size, they certainly pack a hefty punch, they make listening to music an utter joy, and it is reassuring to know that an idea that started life in the seventies as a BBC research project, still has legs and the power to go forward and and hold its head high in the world of rarefied small speakers and to be counted in the speaker hall of fame. This version of the classic has been intelligently developed and is stunning to look at and should be a high priority for someone searching for a compact speaker.