I was literally minutes from purchasing the Special 40's...

@ hailtothevictorz
If you want one of the best LS3/5a type of speaker I would spend the 3 grand on these! I’ve owned many LS3/5a type of speakers and IMO the Harbeth is the best of the lot!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqFIaiPT_kY
Here is a TAS review on the Falcon!
http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/falcon-acoustics-bbc-ls35a/

Exactly which BBC LS3/5 variant is best?

Some say it's the Harbeth P3 ESR, whilst others, lifelong fans of the BBC LS3/5s never seem to mention the Harbeth's at all.

Harbeth once had a licence to build the LS3/5s themselves due to its founder Dudley Harwood being an ex BBC employee himself.

For some reason, there seems to be a resistance to arrange a shootout between all of the available variations. It should be easy enough but nothing like that has been done for a few decades now.

In any case if it was me, I'd go for one of those that had screwed-in back panels, as the originals did. I remember that was one finding back then.

http://www.g4dcv.co.uk/ls35a/shootout.html

You might get lucky on the used marketplace. I bought my Rogers LS3/5A's (11 ohms) from an eBay seller in Lithuania (!!!) for $960 + shipping. At that price how could I resist! They arrived safely intact!

I certainly wouldn't spend thousands for the Falcon's or other versions! Reality check: the Rogers version listed at $450/pair in 1976 - 78! I was tempted then to buy a pair!

roberjerman

I certainly wouldn't spend thousands for the Falcon's or other versions! Reality check: the Rogers version listed at $450/pair in 1976 - 78! I was tempted then to buy a pair!

Reality check: $450 in 1976 is the equivalent of more than $2100 in 2020.