LS3/5A vs Tannoy

Both are exceptionally good in all facets, but require quality electronics and cables to make them shine. For example, don't try to marry them up to a receiver, but instead invest in quality British source and amp.

Without knowing the rest of your system, any recommendations are regrettably nothing more than heavily biased value judgements with nil assurance that they will work in your system ( ... ergo ... useless opinions)

If you are a dynamics or led zeppelin kind of guy the LS35a's might not quite do it for you. On the other hand they excel at things like jazz and pop vocals, violin concertos, string quartets.

Back in the late 70's I had the 15 ohm Rogers LS3/5a, with Dynaco tubes and solid state from Yamaha and Nad 3020.
The sound was very nice and very polite in the small room they were in.Later they fell apart when placed in a larger room.
The detail and image of the Rogers was very good, but it was always like a very nice miniature of the real thing.

Thrty plus years later I had Tannoy Ardens and again tubes this time a Cary 300B, then solid state Red Dragon monos.
Both made the Tanoys sing in a large room, but not the same home as the Rogers were in.This room is twice as large again.
I also had on hand a pair of Bobby Palkovich's scary mini monitors,and to my ears they had a lot more detail than the Tanoys. but lacked the bloom of those big English beasts.

So it's about trade offs.
At least that's been my experience with the speakers and systems I've mentioned.

The best advice I could give is that you try to audition whatever speakers you are interested in your room and with your gear.
One size does not fit all.

And one other thing to keep in mind, what impresses you today, or this week or next month, may not in the not too distant future.

I have friend who changes speakers as often as he changes his shirts, and he still hasn't found the "right ones" yet.

Super old thread but maybe get someone to chime in... very "speaker poor" these days but do have a mid 80's set of 11ohm, Roger's LS3/5As that play exceptionally with my Tandberg 3012 and a set of Reference 3a De Capos with a vintage Crown Power Line stack for more aggressive music/listening. Really love everything about the LS3/5As but never feel I'm getting all they can deliver. I mainly stream Tidal lossless these days via a 1st generation AE, a Meridian Explorer II DAC and my iPad mini. Run good old Artech Prisma, Swiss speaker cable & they sit on 30" Target open stands with felt pads between the speaker box and stand platform and on carpet spikes. Any thoughts on what I can do to improve performance? The room is a fairly well dampened 26'x18' (9' rounded ceiling space and sit at the far end of the longer wall run about 5' off the back wall and 7' apart in the centerstage of the 18' wall. Thinking of vintage British integrated options from the same era and want to know what electronics people have gotten the best results from. Have a chance to pick up a Meridian 551 that I think might be a good fit. Have read that Quad separates make a nice pairing... who has 1st hand experience with these and what has mated best with the LS3/5As?
TY - BGR

Having had two pairs of LS3/5a speakers I can tell you they do not do rock well, they are great for voices and small ensembles, but are not dynamic and cannot handle much power. Other than that they’re great.

You have to remember the original design purpose of the LS3/5A. The BBC wanted a small speaker for use in mobile vans for monitoring and mixing when recording or broadcasting from off-site locations. They were particularly interested in how well the speaker worked with the human voice. They do that job extremely well, but it necessarily means they lose steam quickly as the room they are used in gets larger and higher volume is wanted - particularly with lots of bass. Comparing them to Tannoys, even the smaller ones, is a bit of an apples and oranges thing.