bloodlemons
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I've had my Chartwell LS3/5a's for maybe a year and a half. As you may know, LS3/5-type speakers in general are modeled on early-'70s BBC near-field mobile studio monitors. In that respect, mine are much like all other similar models, with the small exception being that mine are gussied up in dark ebony veneer. I've ordered an ebony base and knobs for my ZMA; should make for a tidy-looking package!
My other main speakers are/were Klipsch Forte II's, a pair my father bought new in the early '90s and handed down to me with his same-era Carver gear. I have no real complaints about the Klipsch units beyond the fact that they take up a lot of space and really sound best LOUD, which isn't always practical. I am in my mid-40s and spent my time in loud bands and louder venues in my younger years. These days I am more interested in full, detailed sound at more reasonable volumes.
I came across the Chartwells accidentally, simply wandering around my local audio shop, Gig Harbor Audio here in Washington State. I was not looking for speakers! In fact, I think I was just getting my old Harman Kardon A500 given the once-over by the tech there. Anyway, I walked into the next listening room and they had a floor demo pair of LS3/5a's playing a female vocal/light rock album I was not familiar with via a Primaluna amp, IIRC. I was immediately impressed with the richness and "musicality" of the sound, and was astounded when I realized there was no subwoofer involved whatsoever. Which is kind of funny, since LS3/5a's don't have a particularly strong bass response in general. What they do have is, in my opinion, a kind of fullness and "right-ness" of tone overall that works for me, and a great deal more pleasant mid-range detail than I was used to from the Forte II's.
I didn't buy the Chartwells for several months, but I did keep thinking about them. I can't remember exactly what made me pull the trigger. I can say that Eric, the purveyor of Gig Harbor Audio, gave me a pretty sweet deal, but it was still by far the most I'd ever spent on a piece of audio gear to that point. Now, of course, my imminent ZMA holds that title and I expect that to remain the case for quite some time, maybe forever.
I have, just over the last few weeks, added stereo subs to my system, two REL T-Zero modules crossed-over to pick up where the LS3/5a's drop off on the low end. I am very happy with the results. I definitely waited too long to experiment with augmenting my low end -- probably the result of listening to those Klipsch canons for so many years, where low end was never a serious issue.
I hope that answers your questions. My ZMA is currently "testing," I believe, so hopefully I'm not too far away from putting it all together sometime very soon.
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