Warm, voluptuous, and inviting, they have the sort of sound that one can bathe in. Compared to ribbon speakers, electrostatics or very transparent dynamic speakers such as the Paradigms, there is a significant amount of warmth/richness/coloration in their delivery but that is expected and even intentional.
The whole idea behind having thin walls is that their compliance moves resonances away from the critical midrange and into the lower regions where it does less harm. I guess this does make the bass and lower midrange sound warmer and richer than they should be but this also further adds to these speakers’ undeniable charm. The major upside of this approach is the absolutely fabulous midrange. Vocals sound incredibly natural and highly convincing and there is a superbly lyrical and immediately emotionally involving quality to the delivery. It’s not only that the mid-band is superbly liquid, but it is also highly faithful to the source, much more so than most other cabinet speakers, even if they come across as being more transparent.
Timbrally, the LS5/9’s are also incredibly convincing. Not only vocals but also drums and other percussion instruments sound so much like the real thing that it becomes something of a brain-twister trying to rhyme this with their loose bass and overall very warm delivery. Indeed, the convincing aspect is not so much in terms of dynamic impact but definitely in terms of tonality and natural character. Arguably, these speakers are not ideal for hard-rock nor are they best suited for those who prefer a very revealing and analytical delivery, but I would also not label them as slow or thick and they are certainly speedy and dynamic enough to be comfortable with all music styles.
Moving on to the floor-standing LS5/9f’s, initially, what stands out is a considerably fuller and deeper bass but also a fuller tonality. And, initially, this makes them comes across as less transparent than the LS5/9 monitors. Listening for longer, though, the floor standers quickly grew on me. While tonally fuller than the monitors the floor standers’ timbre again strikes me as very natural and, for example with grand piano, even more convincing than with the monitors. Not only is the floor standers’ bass deeper and fuller, but it also has more slam and in that aspect, I certainly prefer them over the monitors.
The LS5/9f’s retain the smooth and relaxed Graham sound and do not all of a sudden become Wilson-like, but with the floor standers, the bass is definitely more solid. The LS5/9 monitors’ bass was already in some ways reminiscent of the Apogee Duetta Signature bass but now, I really am getting actual flashbacks to their voluptuous and fulsome bass. For a cabinet loudspeaker, that truly is something special.
Soundstage-wise, the floor standers retain the big sound of the monitors but, perhaps due to their fuller and deeper sound, they are slightly more visible sonically. By that, I mean that the sound is slightly less detached from the cabinets than it is with the monitors. Perhaps this aspect also contributes to the sense of the monitors being slightly more transparent than the floor standers.
Interestingly, I also ran into the LS5/9f’s at a recent HifiLive show in Valencia, Spain, where they sounded utterly fabulous and audio buddy JW even commented that these provided the most involving and most emotional delivery of all system at the entire show. And I have to agree. There was no match for the naturalness and faithfulness in these speakers’ midrange. It’s just that I am also a bit of a bass-fetishist, especially in terms of tightness and articulation, and so I also admire speakers such as Magicos, YG’s, and Gauder. But these are all very expensive. On the more affordable end, I could mention the Paradigm Persona range. However, while seemingly more transparent and definitely cleaner, more linear, and more revealing, the Paradigm Persona B’s do not evoke in me the same emotional connection that the Grahams do. And neither do any of the other aforementioned brands, not in the same way, at least. Such is the interesting world of audio. As in life, one simply cannot have everything or every audiophile parameter box ticked.
Above and below: the bass reflex holes are directly open to the speaker’s internal air mass, they do not have a tube.
Ultimately, between the LS5/9 monitor and LS5/9f floor stander, it is very much a matter of personal preference. One needs to choose between more bass extension and solidity and fuller tonality on the one hand and more transparency and invisibility on the other hand. If I’m honest, I would be hard-pressed to choose because they’re both so very pleasing. The bottom line is that these speakers have more in common than they differ from one another and so, perhaps, one could simply decide based on visual preferences or budget.
Typo? …for Stirling Broadcast, Graham has been working…
Fantastic loudspeakers. Somewhere along the way we have lost something in a lot of modern designs.
Thanks for pointing out that crooked sentence. Now corrected. And indeed, I agree:-)
Christiaan, recently I started listening to two new pairs of stacked LS3/5a’s in close quarters. All I can say is that very often you will hear a kind of “rightness”, a kind of more “there” there than I experienced with other designs. I cannot pinpoint why this is, but I am convinced that besides thorough engineering a lot of listening was part of the design process of these BBC designs. With deep understanding of music and human ears. Addressing the technical matters that really matter for our ears and balance them in a design seems to be the way they did it. The hunt for dynamic range and resolution, like in photography, does not bring us closer to the emotion by default.
When you say “The hunt for dynamic range and resolution, like in photography, does not bring us closer to the emotion by default” I wholeheartedly agree! And this is precisely what I am advocating in many of my articles. Annoyingly, the two often seem to be even contradictory… Ultimately, I can only describe what I hear (and feel) in relation to other products and the reader can distill from it what is important to them.
Dear Christiaan, thank you for this article. I own a pair of Graham LS3/5 (no A),
9 ohm – 83 db, and I m using it with a small new tube amplifier from Luxman, 10 watt – 6 ohm. They sound great together. I was just wondering how it could be this amplifier matched with Graham LS5/9 or even the new LS6. They both have the same specs, 8 ohm – 87 db . Many thanks . Best regards
Hi Simone, While I have not heard the LS3/5’s in a long time and not in the context of my reference system I can, however, tell you that the LS5/9’s sounded a little too soft and relaxed to me even when powered with the relatively powerful Ayon Spirit III tube amp. Even if the specs are the same I fear that the bigger bass drivers do require more oompf from an amplifier in order to be well-controlled. However, if you like your sound a little round and are not looking for the tightest bass or biggest slam then you might consider testing one of the bigger models with the Luxman.
Would love to hear these Graham speakers with the all new Yamaha A-S3200 Integrated amp! Did you see the latest review on this amp on Low Beats.de ?
I read it indeed and as someone with plenty of Yamaha-experience, I think the A-S3200 may pair very well with Grahams.
Hi, which Bryston amplifier would have more live music like sound while paired with for Graham LS5/9f speakers.
Hi Biju, that would be the 3B Cubed! 14B Cubed is also an option but frankly overkill.
Hi Christiaan, thank you for great reviews! I wanted to ask you an opinion: I am interested in a pair of Graham LS5/9. I have an YBA cd player (CD2 Classic series) and an older YBA 1 alpha preamp, which I like for natural,neutral,airy sound. In this time I’m using them with a pair of ATC actives 50 Anniversary edition (incredibile speakers), that, it hurts me, I need to change because in the new room I have a normal living room and I need smaller speakers. What do you think of using the YBA preamp and a power amp 3BCUBED? the 4Bcubed is out of budget, and I read in your previous review that the 3B3 is a great amp anyway. It would match perfectly with the Graham too , as you said here. I listen to progressive music, also symphonic prog, with a lot of variations and classical music reminiscences. For me bass extension is not so important, it’s more important that the bass section is fast, and controlled. I like neutral sound but with a tip of smoothness in the upper end, and a good sense of rhythm. Otherwise which other amplifiers do you suggest me in the price range of the 3Bcubed of little more pricey?
Hi Christian,
I wanted to rekindle this beautifully written piece with the LS5/5’s. I currently have the BHK Pre -> Bryston 4B3 -> Grahams LS5/5
I was thinking of the Absolare Signature Integrated or the Audionet WATT. do you think any of these combos would sound better than my current combo with the LS5/5 ?
Hi Cell, Ouf, this is a difficult question that requires a good amount of speculation on my part. I’ve not heard the LS5/5 but have spoken with the Dutch distributor about them and I think I have a good sense of how they sound relative to the Graham speakers that I reviewed. I’ve read many Audionet reviews and have a feeling that I would very much like the brand but I’ve yet to hear a unit in a controlled environment.
Absolare, I know only of a friend’s system in which I have heard the all-tube top preamp + mono power amp combo combined with components that I am relatively unfamiliar with and without making any comparisons.
All that said, I am pretty sure that you can expect a leaner, tighter, faster, and more direct sound when going from BHK/4B3 to the Audionet amp. However, the sound will also be less smooth and less rich, less romantic if you will. I’ve only heard the full-tube Absolare pre-power combo and not the hybrid integrated and to be honest, I really don’t know what to expect of it at all.
Hope this helps a little bit.
Christian, what does your „good sense“ tell about the sonic differences between LS5/8 and 5/5? What can I expect from the 3-way design and slotted front of the 5/5? You should indeed review the 5/5, maybe once again in direct comparison to the 5/8! Thanks and best regards, Balázs
Having read all the documentation, I would think that the 5/5’s may sound livelier and more open in the midrange than the 5/8’s, less warm perhaps, but not having heard them, I can only guess. A review has been discussed and may still materialize, but nothing is planned for that ATM.
I have the LS5/9 and since 2 months the 5/5 also. I never heard the 5/8, but based on the Christiaan 5/8 review and comparison with the 5/9 (” I do not personally see the benefit of the LS5/8’s over the LS5’9’s but I should also note that I do not tend to listen very loudly”), the 5/5 are way much better of both 5/9, and 5/8 too……the 5/5 sounds like a big floorstanding speaker, and it has a midrange woofer which adds much more details to the presentation. It seems nore neutral than the 5/9 because the 5/9 presentation has a midrange more forward (voices seem in evidence). With the 5/5 you have a more complete speaker, in the bass region too, obviously. If you buy one of them I do not suggest you to buy the original stands, because a model like the Foundation Designer stands gives much more quality to the sound. I had the origina foundation designer for the 5/9 and now I have build a replica for the 5/5.
Thanks Christian. It certainly does. When and if you do hear the LS5/5 do let us know what your dream pairing is.
Hi Christiaan, could you suggest me a pair of speakers, which have many qualities of the Ls5/9, such as the detail, the total finesse, the transparency, the natural midrange response, the ability to portray each single sound layer of the track and great depth and imaging….
but bigger than 5/9? Apart the 5/8, other brands I mean, to have more impact, more physical presence than the 5/9? Not only bass response, physical global impact I mean.
thank you
David
Actually, I think the Qln Prestige Five’s may be just what you are looking for! Unlike the smaller Qln monitors, they have the Graham’s lushness, liquidity, and natural midrange along with prodigious and super-deep bass. But they are priced quite a bit more extravagantly…
Thanks for the idea, I didn’t know Qln speakers honestly, I search informations about them. How would you consider Wilson Benesch speakers?
For my thoughts on WB, please see my review on this site. In short: they’re very different from Graham.
Ok, WB are different and less “monitor” than Grahams. It’s always difficult to make comparisions without listening, also because you listen to a whole system and not only the speakers. For me, for example, the 5/9 are not warm, they have the medium-range more forward, and this is clear, this is part of the original BBC project, but I don’t feel them warm honestly, they can change their sound and character depending from the recording, if the recording is dryer, they sound dryer, if the recording is warm they sound warm, as a monitor, keeping always an eye on fine detail and resolution. They don’t have always the same sound. Maybe other speakers are always dry for example, I feel that the 5/9 are more natural sounding. This is only my opinion of course with respect. When I had the ATC 50 actives they had a more liquid and fluid sound and a lot of more sense of rhythm and slam, but now I heard even more details than with ATC, which costed a lot more. Maybe now it’s also thanks to the very good Swiss Physics 5 and 6A preamp and amp I use. So, it’s difficult to keep the good things of the 5/9 adding more impact and presence, maybe the 5/5 would be the ideal upgrade.
I was torn between the 5/8 and the 5/9 but can surely follow why you’d find the monitors to sound more natural. When focusing on the midrange, I think I agree. Ultimately, the 5/9’s do so many things so very well that it will be hard to make a marked improvement by going to another model, even from the same vendor, while maintaining everything you like about them. Oh well, you have to try of course. Best of luck!
The Qln you suggested, could be similar to Marten? thank you again
Qln, either the P1 or the P5, don’t sound like Marten at all.
Hi David
I have the integrated Accuphase e560 2 x 30 A watt (actually measured to 55 watt) with the LS3/5 speakers – it’s good. But what do you think about the constellation with the LS5/9? Would the Accuphase be too “laid back” in your opinion? Thanks!
Hi Soren, what do you mean with “constellation”? Actually Christiaan already replied you. Anyway if you are interested I have a pair of LS5/9 on sale in ebony finish. If interested you could contact me writing to : dvlever @ gmail .com (attached) regards
Hi Christian
I have an integrated Accuphase E560 with 2 x 30 A watt (actually measured to 55 A watt) with LS3/5 speakers and this combo is very good. But what do you think about this amplifier with the LS5/9? Can this amplifier manage these speakers? The difference between the sensitive of LS3/5 and LS5/9 is 4 db – 83 db and 87 db. Would that make an difference?
Thanks.
Hi Soren, I think the E560 would be more than adequately powerful with the LS5/9’s. Not only is the bigger model more sensitive, it also sounds more spritely and expansive than the LS3/5’s.
Hi Christian
Sorry about my late reply, but thank you very much! The new thing to me is, that you’re telling me, that the LS5/9 is more spritely and expansive. I didn’t know that, and it’s very interesting for me to know. Thank you!
Indeed, due to its small drivers and small enclosure, and potentially for crossover, or other reasons, the LS3/5’s sound a little restrained to me and indeed less expansive.
Yes, you’re right. The only thing I’m worry about is the bas reflex system. I really like the bass on the LS3/5. Yes it is a small speaker, but the bass is dry and precisely. Maybe the bass reflex system will make a more soft, inaccurate and laid back sound. Thanks!
Not at all, the 5/9 woofer is very accurate, quick, the bass is , of course compatibly with the dimentions, very articulated, precise, and also they have an excellent power handling.
As David mentioned, the LS5/9 does not sound slow but you’re right, it is a bass-reflex design versus a closed cabinet design. This will bring inherent differences and depending on the room, one or the other might work better. Certainly with speakers, it’s always best to audition them in your own room prior to purchasing.