Quote:
Originally Posted by Glisse
It is a subscription based publication, so not appropriate to post too many verbatim quotes. I assume you know who Martin Colloms is.
I can say he found the voicing between the S3 and S5 to be different - the S3 was a little warmer, with the upper mids / lower treble being a little recessed relative to the lower mids in comparison to a flatter frequency response from the S5.
This was put in context - he felt the S3 voicing suited many modern recordings that are often a bit hot in the upper mids, whereas the S5 was better balanced with "audiophile" material. Amps and cables that worked best with the S5 would be a bit too full sounding with the S3.
He thought the mid range in the S3 was even more transparent than the S5.
Optimum room placement between the two was quite different.
The 1.6ohm impedance dip at high frequencies was inconsequential, as there is no music energy at those frequencies. Efficiency between S3 and S5 is similar. SS amps capable of high current delivery are the best fit with both models.
The magazine can be bought here:
hificritic.com
The S5 review was about 2 editions back. I did get the sense he preferred the S5, but was impressed with the S3.
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Thanks for the info. I can relate to the differences as an S5 user. I also heard the S3 at a show but wasn't able to conclude much as the environment was sub-optimal.