Legendary Harbeth LS5/12a BBC monitor with premium rosewood cabinets. The LS5/12a BBC grade 1 monitor was the replacement for the grade 2 LS3/5a monitors. The design brief for the LS5/12A was to make a monitor loudspeaker around the same size as the LS3/5A, but to have a much greater dynamic range and a more extended bass with a tonal balance similar to existing larger monitors. Speakers are in excellent condition, there are couple of marks on the bottoms (not scratches, just minor pressure marks from blunt spikes on speaker stands). Grills are in mint condition. 5 way binding posts with gold plated jumper links. Original box and styrofoam packing so shipping isn’t a problem. Includes original brochure, user guide and test certificate.
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Specifications: Two-way, stand-mounted, reflex-loaded loudspeaker.
Drive-units: Dynaudio D-260BBC 28mm, ferrofluid-cooled, doped fabric-dome tweeter;
Dynaudio 15W-7508BBC 115mm woofer with 3" (75mm) voice-coil and diecast chassis.
Frequency response: 80Hz–20kHz ±3dB at 2m with grille on.
Crossover frequency: 2.4kHz.
Sensitivity: 81.0dB/W/m (2.83V).
Nominal impedance: 8 ohms.
Amplifier recommendation: 50–150W.
Dimensions: 11.6" (295mm) H by 7.25" (184mm) W by 8.4" (213mm) D.
Weight: 15.4 lbs (7kg) each.
Original price in premium rosewood finish, $2395
From the January 1995 review in Stereophile:
“Harbeth's LS5/12A has a simply stunning midrange—significantly more neutral than the LS3/5A. Voices, while appearing to be a little more forward than I'm used to, sounded very natural. Midrange colorations there were none! And on rather complicated recordings, such as the superb new Dave Matthews Band CD Under the Table and Dreaming (RCA 66449-2), sonic soup was never in evidence, every little detail in the mix easily apparent. The imaging was also precisely focused and very stable with both frequency and lateral position, if not sounding quite as palpable as the Spica TC-60 and Dunlavy SC-I, both champs in this respect. The LS5/12A also sounds considerably more dynamic than the LS3/5A. An astonishing amount of sound comes from these two tiny boxes. While its sounds clogs up early compared, for example, with the much larger Epos ES 14, in this respect this is a loudspeaker to confound critics of "mini-monitor sound."
