Falcon LS3/5A Gold Badge. Is it Gold?

“Argh, the old LS3/5A?” I hear you say. “The most over-rated, most re-created, old clunker of a speaker ever!” I understand if you are a little tired of the multiple versions, revisions, re-creations and in turn all the articles proclaiming their brilliance. Well, here we go again, but with a twist (some facts, less nostalgia).

For those not around at the time of these speakers being a current model (70’s and early 80’s), speakers of the day mostly sounded incredibly coloured and probably a bit ‘harsh’. Back then I could not find a loudspeaker that actually reproduced human voice in a way that sounded anywhere near as sweet and accurate as a live singer does. Well, not until (you guessed it) I was exposed to the LS3/5A. I loved the midrange of those Chartwells and Rogers. At the time they were so far ahead of the alternatives they really were, a game changer.

I didn’t buy a pair back then for a couple of reasons. (1) Because they didn’t play loudly enough or deeply enough for my (then) teenage tastes in recorded music reproduction and (2) They cost ten times my (then) weekly income! Recently, Falcon Acoustics have given us all a second chance to buy a brand new pair. Their considerable effort to recreate the LS3/5A exactly as it was made in the 70’s and make them available brand new, has allowed us to judge the LS3/5A in the harsh light of 2020.

In my role as a technician a few pairs of different versions of LS3/5A have passed over my repair bench in the last few decades. I always enjoyed the final testing part of the job, where I got to re-visit my youth with their particular tonal viewpoint. I now forgive them their lack of huge bass and inability to fill a large room. Due to their age (20 – 30 years) I also forgive a slight lethargy in their output. Dynamics were muted, the sharp edges rubbed off and generally excitement levels were a bit subdued, I thought.

“When I first turned a new pair of Falcons on, fresh from the carton and not run in, I was immediately taken back to my early years of HiFi discovery. The flashback was completely bizarre.”

When the day came to hear a brand new pair of what surely is the closest re-creation of this tiny BBC designed monitor, I was concerned. Had my old brain been playing tricks with my memory of these wonderful little performers? Was I to be terribly disappointed? Sure, the old ones I had made repairs on had enormous charm, but my memory suggested they did lack some detail and dynamics compared to new (as mentioned above). It turns out my memory was smack on. When I first turned a new pair of Falcons on, fresh from the carton and not run in, I was immediately taken back to my early years of HiFi discovery. The flashback was completely bizarre. Like an old familiar smell or snippet of a song from the past can transport you, I was transported. This ability is perhaps part of my soft spot for them. I also appreciate the engineering purity of the design and the fact that they were a new bench mark in midrange reproduction accuracy. The LS3/5A also offer a different presentation to more modern loudspeakers. The bottom line is, I’m glad Falcon made the effort. Having now bought a pair some 40 years later I have been enjoying them on a regular basis and loving their particular presentation. They offer an emotional connection to the musical performance in spades.

Now, to the improvements Falcon feel they have made with the revised version, the ‘Gold Badge’.

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Falcon suggests 99% of the improvements are in the crossover execution. My initial thoughts were that they sound rather similar if not a tad more brightly lit above 2 – 3khz. I put this down to running in being required and set about playing them as much as I could over the next 10 days. In that time, they clock perhaps 40 hours but not always at particularly high playback levels. During this time, I listen to them intermittently and keep coming up with the same thought. The Gold Badges are a bit brighter and maybe lack the very, very slight nasal character of my originals. This very subtle flaw rarely shows itself but is the thing that I occasionally find distracting with the Falcon original spec. I was bemused that it wasn’t apparent on these new loudspeakers. I was very interested to see whether there is more at play than a tweak of component type in the crossover.

“The time had now come for a serious listen. They were not fully run in but then neither were my originals. The GBs now had 50 odd hours and my originals perhaps 100 hours. Not the same, but I had noticed little shift in the balance of the Gold Badges during those 50 first hours…”

After a cursory look they are exactly the same on the outside (bar the sticker on the rear). A peek under the grille and nope, no changes there either. A handful of screws later, and the Gold Badge spec crossover is revealed. Indeed, it would appear that the crossover is the only change between the two versions… Interesting.

The time had now come for a serious listen. They were not fully run in but then neither were my originals. The GBs now had 50 odd hours and my originals perhaps 100 hours. Not the same, but I had noticed little shift in the balance of the Gold Badges during those 50 first hours so felt safe in being able to make a fair and useful comparison. I took a quick listen again to a few tracks I had enjoyed very much on the LS3/5A GB version. I loaded up ‘Luka’ by Suzanne Vega’s (from ‘An Evening of New York Songs and Stories’); ‘El Floridita’ from Don Grusin’s ‘The Hang’; and ‘Mercury’ from Mark Gillespie’s album ‘Only Human’. Then I switched to the original version loudspeakers… Sheesh! That was not what I expected. My ear must have gotten used to the balance of the GBs as the originals now sounded very mildly sucked out in their presence region. They were just not as exciting or interesting as the GBs or at least how I remembered them. Concerned that maybe I hadn’t matched the volumes I tried the test again taking careful note of levels. The display on the Star said ’67’, so a decent listening listening level but not enough to have the neighbours rushing to call the cops. Now with the levels definitely the same, I remained considerably more excited by the output of the new version. I then went off and did something else, not entirely sure why two BBC licensed designs should sound so different over at least half of their output spectrum.

I came back to them again some days later having played the Gold Badge versions some more and louder. I still wondered whether the differences between the two were partly run-in related… This time I re-tried the previous music choices but also quite a few others. Running through Donald Fagen’s ‘Nightfly’ along with the (rather demanding) Rickie Lee Jones and a few tracks off ‘Balm in Gilead’. There was no doubting that the new Gold Badge LS3/5A from Falcon had a smoother response from 1Khz and above and generally has a little more output up top overall. At least, that’s the way it sounded to me. The result was an apparent improvement in detail and listening excitement. All I could say was… Wow! This is not the outcome I expected at all. I imagined a subtle difference and one that maybe I wouldn’t even consider a definite ‘improvement’.

“I made a quite a few measurements of both at the same nearfield position. I’ll admit using a quick and dirty method (an iPhone and an audio measurement app with RTA functionality). Nonetheless, I was comparing one speaker against another, so any kind of state of the art accuracy wasn’t required, just some consistency. With many measurements taken, they all showed the same trend….”

Later still and I wanted to put the ‘run-in’ question to bed. I kept playing my potential new purchases in the hope of a ‘settling’ of the mid and high response. Nope, still no change some 15-20 hours further on. I thought that I would measure the difference and confirm that I am not hearing things just because I wanted some new toys. I present the attached chart showing a distinctly smoother mid and top with quite a bit more output at various higher frequency bands. These charts would appear to back up my listening tests. I made a quite a few measurements of both at the same nearfield position. I’ll admit using a quick and dirty method (an iPhone and an audio measurement app with RTA functionality). Nonetheless, I was comparing one speaker against another, so any kind of state of the art accuracy wasn’t required, just some consistency. With many measurements taken, they all showed the same trend.

So, to wrap up there is a significant improvement, and one I am pretty sure is going to involve the sale of my original Falcon LS3/5A and procurement of a fresh pair with Gold Badge specification… I have to say (as many have) that it is surprising that a BBC licensed design can sound quite different from one version to another. There is a clue here for budding LS3/5A purchasers. You are going to have to try to listen to the version you hanker after before laying down the cash. If this is the difference between two Falcon versions, then I wonder at the breadth of difference between the 4 or 5 other ‘versions’ of this monitoring legend. No wonder those who love the old ones from the 70’s and 80’s have their favourites. If you have the original Falcons but fancy a bit more air, sweetness and detail you are going to need to check these out.

Oh, and one other thing. All this LS3/5A listening did remind me of another part of the whole LS3/5A love affair for some. These speakers don’t force a personality onto the recordings. Well, that’s not quite true in the sense of deep and weighty bass and the ability to have some slam like a real live performance. HOWEVER, what they don’t do (in my opinion) is add unnecessary ‘HiFi’ colour or a sheen of some sort to everything played through them. You do get a feeling of being closer to what the folk in the control room were listening to that day when twiddling the knobs and hitting the record button. These speakers allow one to more easily understand what the music makers were wanting you to hear. Sometimes modern loudspeakers’ own character (a character of perfection?) is sometimes what you are hearing, as much as the music or recording. At least that’s how it strikes me and is, as I say, another reason I think these ‘old clunkers’ have such a fan base. Happy listening!

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• For – Being very nicely crafted in the UK, from solely European sourced premium components.
• For – An ability to have singers standing in your actual room!
• For – Some would say the only real LS3/5A, as its the only one employing proper KEF drive units. Of course, the drivers are not actually made by KEF but are Falcon recreations of the original T27 and B110.
• Against – Not only were they designed in the 70’s they look like it… That grille cloth!
• Against – In reality it is the midrange and the top end that is magical. The low end and overall sensitivity is bested by most modern small bookshelf loudspeakers.
• Dimensions – 305mm high x 190mm wide x 165mm deep (excluding terminals and slightly proud grille frame/cloth).
• RRP – $4499 per pair for standard real wood veneers.
• Manufactured by – Falcon Acoustics
• Distributed in Australia by – Audiofix
• Tested with – Naim Star , sited on Custom Design SQ402 stands, connected by Straightwire Symphony cables.