Sound Artist LS3/5a

These look pretty interesting. Most BBC monitors are like 2grand minimum

3 Likes

I saw this too. Always been curious to hear a pair. Also how they would perform with a sub (or subs).

1 Like

I would think as with most small speakers they would probably benefit from a sub

Looks like a great desktop speaker. If I didn’t have various speakers already I’d pull the trigger.

Harbeth P3ESR graph from Stereophile…

…and even with the 100hz bump “Zero Fidelity” felt it still sounded like a “small speaker” when listening to metal and electro – not with the Sound Artist, which had more bass. I say I would not need a sub, but I’m not a “basshead”.

He seemed to think Elac and Klipsch were the way to go, though, if you wanted… let’s say, more quantity (volume), but less quality (quote “LS3 5as can make Klipsch or Elacs sound broken in comparison”).

Yeah, they’re in my list.
By the way, they’re 600$, shipping included.

Imo the p3esr sounds very open and large for it’s size, generally most people I have met have said the nicer ls3/5a sound very open and big, so this is pretty interesting, I wonder if amp and dac pairings are at play here

1 Like

He was probably just talking about the bass sounding “small-speaker-like”, when he pushed the Harbeths (too much?). To be clear, he never said the Sound Artist sounded “more open and large than the Harbeths”. Just that with electronic music or metal, the Sound Airist had more bass.

1 Like

Ah gotcha, I can see that then, the ls3/5a style aren’t designed to be bass monsters anyways lol, interesting that the sound artist has more low end

2 Likes

Being 11 ohm are these needing gobs of power?

Most of the 3/5a style monitors are somewhat inefficient, but nearfield you actually might find that they don’t need as much as you would think, but in a room they can be pretty demanding, but I can’t speak to the sound artist speakers

1 Like

Okay so maybe a used P3esr is a smarter choice with my gear then. Not a bad thing by any means lol just a bit more costly.

I would be willing to be that’s a much higher quality speaker than the sound artist but you pay for that lol

1 Like

plus subwoofer(s) lol

@M0N the a23+ can do that right? I’ve never incorporated subs. I would go with something like a rel or two for example.

Also still have the Yamaha a-s2100 if that’s better suited for this.

11 Ohms and 83db sensitivity. These guys need some juice for sure.

1 Like

Do what, power them well? I would say so imo, but I would also try out your yamaha as well. Regarding subs you would just connect them via the pass through on the parasound. I like rythmik but rel is nice as well

Seems like a pain to deal with amplifier wise lol, why 11 ohms

1 Like

:man_shrugging:t2:

An engineer was having an off day :rofl:

1 Like

Zu’s are 12 Ohms. I never really had to think about it because I have a big ol power amp. But the Ohm rating is less important than the efficiency ratings when it comes to speakers IMO. a 95 db efficiency rating vs. 83, makes up for a lot of amp power.

2 Likes

Absolutely. I just can’t stand seeing an odd ohm rating is what bothers me about the sound artist lol

1 Like

Exactly. The Zu’s are at least a whole number. As if there was some calculation behind it (yes, there was). While 11 is a bit “odd”. As if that’s what they had laying around.

I’m not knocking the Sound Artist - they’re getting a lot of positive reviews. The impedance just feels random. I’m sure they did the math behind it though.

1 Like

Rather 11 Ohms than something like Infinity Kappa needing a welding amplifier by dipping down to 1.

1 Like