Rogers LS3/5A Need Help


I have an ancient pair of Rogers LS3/5As that the previous owner tinkered with (he discarded the tweeter covers and punched a perfectly round hole in the center of the dome of each tweeter to improve the frequency response; was this tweak actually a thing forty-plus years ago?). Anyway, my wife used these great-sounding little speakers in her accounting office system eight to twelve hours a day for 26 years before retiring. When we brought them home about twelve years ago, one of the little plastic speaker terminals on the back was loose, and when I tried to tighten it the wire broke off inside the speaker. Someone needs to go in and rewire both speakers and replace the original plug-in type terminals with a good set of modern binding posts. Sadly such a task is completely beyond my physical ability. I'm seeking advice from fellow Audiogoners as to what to do next. The original stickers on the back of the speakers are not the same, but the grain of the walnut cabinets lines up perfectly, so I'm reasonably certain these were a matched pair. They need someone with experience working on small speakers. I'm open to all advice and offers, whether to repair/upgrade them or to sell them outright. Before I broke the wire, they sounded terrific. I originally was going to post this in the "How long do good speakers last?" thread because of their age, but decided a fresh thread on LS3/5As is more appropriate. Thank you in advance for your opinions and any help you can offer.

With kind regards,
Mark Hubbard
Eureka, California
mark_hubbard

Showing 1 response by 213cobra

Hi Mark,

I've had multiple pairs of LS3/5a and in fact for a period 45-35 years ago I ran a "Double LS3/5a" system (ala the 1970s Double Advent System) wired in series for 30 ohms, driven by a pair of Julius Futterman OTL monoblock amps. And I've had some since then too. I know what your problem is and I've worked on prior examples for others.. I'm in Los Angeles and would be happy to assess and get them working for you.

The T27 tweeter *with the perforated dome screen intact* is part of the LS3/5a sound. I have heard of people doing the punctured dome/screenless mod but have never actually encountered it. I'll listen first to determine whether mod is worth correcting, and I think I have a leftover matched pair of KEF T27s in my closet of stuff-that-might-come-in-handy-one-day.

Anyway, if you're interested in taking me up on this, PM me here on Agon to work out the details.

Phil