Al Pacino''s gift to impressionists was a line from The Godfather - you know, the one about how every time he breaks away, they dra-a-ag him back. For Michael Corleone, it was the hold of la Cosa Nostra. For me? The humble BBC LS3/5A. Just when I thought that Rogers'' new LS3a clonette would be the last I''d ever write about the Greatest Small Two-Way Monitor In History™, BAM!! another LS3/5A wannabee appears. Only this time, the tale doesn''t involve wishful thinking: the Stirling LS3/5a V2 is real. It exists. And it''s very, very special. Let''s back up a bit, though, to get all of you up to speed so that you may appreciate the importance of this latest chapter in the edda. Most LS3/5A aficionados, especially those who communicate by mouse, know the following: 1) The genuine, KEF-driver-equipped original is no longer made in any serious, serial production form, though one or two entrepreneurs will argue to the contrary. Any new LS3/5As that turn up are made from ''new-old-stock'' drivers and parts, while cabinets are less of a problem. 2) Genuine LS3/5As of various stripes now command crazy money on eBay. 3) Reviving the speaker, which specialists estimate could still sell up to 500 pairs per annum, has proven to be just about impossible because KEF no longer makes the drivers for OEM users, the company with the tools and dies for the drivers- Harbeth - has no interest in resuscitating the speaker for fear that it will affect sales of its own mini-monitor, the material used for the grilles is hard to come by and licensing permission from the BBC is complex.
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