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Spendor L3/5A Questions

zim bida

zim bida

AK Subscriber
Subscriber
Hi All,

I'm very seriously considering purchasing a pair locally, but am not completely familiar with all the iterations and permutations of these famous speakers.

I'm attaching some photos from the original listing (which the seller, very nice guy, has taken down until I come and listen)

How do I know if these are the 15 ohm versions or the 11? The seller said that he measured resistance at the speaker terminals and got 7.5 ohms - does that indicate that these are the 11 ohm versions? I see some threads indicating that these serial numbers should indicate older 15 ohm versions

Anything I should pay particular attention to in checking these outs - faults specific to these I should be aware of?

lastly I'm thinking of driving these with a Conrad Johnson MV75a - 6550 based tube amp - does that combination seem to be a good one? The seller felt that his Fisher 400 didn't have quite enough power for these

thanks



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Hi all, I did some more research and asked around in LS3/5a specific groups, so I am going to answer my own question, in case anyone in the future comes looking for this info

these are 15 ohm versions, identifiable by 3 factors: serial number under 7000, gold badges, and "white bellies"; i.e. the white ring around the dustcap which is a residue specific to the KEF woofer on the 15 ohm models.

I did get the speakers

20211119_125408.jpg

and they are shockingly good for their size, I think I may need to try them with a little subwoofer though
 
Last edited:
6550"s should be fine but be careful about getting them too loud as they're just not made to push that much air. Its happened to me quite a few times where they seemed ok until a strong bass line opened up and when they bottom out, its frightful...female vocals shine through on those babies. congrats!
 
zim bida said:
Hi all, I did some more research and asked around in LS3/5a specific groups, so I am going to answer my own question, in case anyone in the future comes looking for this info

these are 15 ohm versions, identifiable by 3 factors: serial number under 7000, gold badges, and "white bellies"; i.e. the white ring around the dustcap which is a residue specific to the KEF woofer on the 15 ohm models.

I did get the speakers

View attachment 2399919

and they are shockingly good for their size, I think I may need to try them with a little subwoofer though
Click to expand...

Man, that's one hell of a bedroom system!
 
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