Designers and builders of Loudspeakers in the BBC tradition
About Stirling Broadcast
The roots of Stirling Broadcast are in the resale of Used, Ex-Demo and End-Of-Line Broadcast equipment, later expanding into the manufacture of a range of furniture suitable for professional broadcast and radio studios.
After a long history of repairing and servicing LS3/5a's from within both the professional and amateur arenas, we became involved in the manufacture of LS3/5a loudspeakers after purchasing and reselling the bankrupt Rogers stock as NOS.
Once an LS3/5a License had been obtained from the BBC, we commissioned the manufacture of new T27 and B110 drive units from KEF and reintroduced the LS3/5a to the market, to enthusiastic reception.
Shortly afterwards we began a path of innovation in the LS3/5a world by introducing higher quality crossovers and thin-walled, screw-back cabinets modelled after the prototype LS3/5a cabinets and as seen on the 001/002 pair demonstrated at the HiFi News shows of 2001 and 2002.
Following problems and uncertainties with the continuing supply of T27 and B110 drive units we began our relationship with the esteemed loudspeaker designed Derek Hughes, commisioning him to design a 'version 2' of our LS3/5a.
Derek utilised specially prepared SEAS and ScanSpeak drive units with high grade crossovers that accurately mimic the response characteristics of the original versions.
This version retained the LS3/5a License from the British Broadcasting Corporation and is suitable as a drop in replacement for any working pair of LS3/5as.
Several professional broadcast establishments deployed pairs of LS3/5a V2's into production environments.
In 2011 we produced two more designs by Derek - the AB-2 bass extender, an improved version of the Rogers AB-1, and then a re-implementation of the BBC LS3/6 Grade 1 monitor design, using custom versions of modern loudspeaker drive units together with a very high grade crossover.
As with our LS3/5a this loudspeaker is licensed and follows the typical BBC thin-walled design philosophy, meeting the requirements for high quality studio monitoring at moderate sound levels.
In late 2013 Stirling Broadcast added another loudspeaker to the family, this time with a loudspeaker targetted at the domestic market - the SB-88. This speaker delivers a flavour of their LS3/6 in a smaller package.
In 2019 we added a V3 version of our LS3/5a loudspeaker, utilising a much larger high quality crossover to attain the moniker “Ultra Low Distortion”.
Loudspeakers
All of Stirling Broadcast’s loudspeaker offerings have been designed by Derek Hughes, son of Spencer Hughes who, with his wife Dorothy, started the company Spendor Audio Systems.
Derek has worked in the Audio industry for nearly 50 years, both with the BBC in audio and video engineering and with Spendor Audio Systems where he was Technical Director. He has been involved with the design and production of some of the world’s finest domestic and professional loudspeaker systems and currently works as a consultant designer for several companies in the UK, and also with Cicable who sell high quality external crossovers for both the original and our V2 version of the LS3/5a, for the Spendor BC-1 and also for custom commissions.
Derek is therefore extremely familiar with the BBC style of loudspeaker design and is the ideal partner for Stirling Broadcast.
LS3/6
Built under license from the BBC, the LS3/6 is a three-way loudspeaker designed by Derek Hughes and remains faithful to the original BBC specification.
LS3/5a
Our LS3/5a, also built under license from the BBC, retains the sonic character of the original versions, whilst adding improved and extended bass response and better handling of dynamics. Our LS3/5a is offered in two versions, with the version 3 offering an ‘supercharged’ crossover to enhance our LS3/5a capabilities even more.
SB-88
Inspired by the success of our BBC LS3/6, the Stirling Broadcast SB-88 is a two-way loudspeaker that retains the essential character of the LS3/6, but in a smaller package.
AB-2
The AB-2 Bass Extender seamlessly integrates with all versions of the LS3/5a, retaining the essential musical character of the LS3/5as but providing more ‘scale’.