Music for York House

Relative price

above typical

Among the 26 loudspeakerss in the catalogue, this one is above typical.

A band places a component against its peers and carries no price. It is deliberately the only price indicator on this page: a second one, measured against a different set, would narrow the two together far enough to give the figure away.

What it is

BBC-licensed flagship eligible-class monitor in Graham range. Original BBC LS5/9 was a 1980s standard for BBC TV studios worldwide. Derek Hughes reproduction uses 200mm Volt bass driver (UK-made) + 34mm Audax tweeter.

CRITICAL CONSTRAINT VIOLATIONS IDENTIFIED 2026-05-05:

1. HEIGHT VIOLATION: 460mm cabinet height exceeds the 324mm physical cavity height by 136mm. The LS5/9 cannot physically fit the cavity. Was passing depth-check silently because the audit had never included a height check. Rule added to eligibility_filter.py.

2. DIMENSION SWAP: previous catalog stored dimensions as (275, 460, 280) labeled W×H×D. Canonical sources (TAS, HiFiReport, The Ear "wide baffle and shallow depth") confirm W=280, D=275. The depth value happened to pass the 285mm rule either way (275 and 280 both pass), masking the swap.

3. PLACEMENT MISMATCH: Graham Audio's own manual states the crossover "equalises the overall response for optimum performance in free space". Reviewers (Sound Advocate, The Ear, HiFi-Advice) place at 3-4 feet from front wall. The audit's reference cavity placement defeats the crossover tuning. Placement-tolerance penalty applied: -2.0 final-score points (see eligibility_filter.PLACEMENT_TOLERANCE).

CONSEQUENCE: LS5/9 is NOW INELIGIBLE for any slot under the audit's physical constraints. It dominated 19/30 slots in Round 3 — those slots must be rerun with the LS5/9 excluded. Round 4 will use the corrected eligibility pipeline.

STATUS UPDATE 2026-05-03: PROMOTED FROM §7 REFERENCE TO FULL ELIGIBILITY under revised speaker depth rule (max 285mm = 305mm cavity − 30mm rear clearance). [SUPERSEDED 2026-05-05: re-examined and now ineligible on height grounds.]

Hi-Fi-Advice: "absolute charm... voluptuous and fulsome [bass]... lacks tightness and punch" — bass character that requires free-space placement to be controlled. SoundStage: "BBC proposition will make a lot less sense, sounding gutless and thin" if positioned wrong relative to walls.

200mm bass driver + 87dB sensitivity + 100dB peak SPL = significantly more dynamic capability than P3ESR-XD2/Falcon-GoldBadge in free-space placement. [Cavity placement defeats this advantage.] Pairs well with valve amps (good 8Ω load) AND solid-state. Easier to drive than most BBC-derived sealed designs.

What the reviewers said

full-size BBC monitor for nearfield critical listening Graham Audio + Hi-Fi News reissue reviews· Tonal body

the midrange keeps on shining The Ear (van Es) 2014· Presence & articulation

exceptionally neutral and open The Ear (van Es) 2014· Tonal body

bass is well defined... tight The Ear (van Es) 2014· Bass control

as neutral as the BBC intended The Ear (van Es) 2014· Tonal consistency

restricted by the internal volume The Ear (van Es) 2014· Bass extension

How it scores

Voice

• Tonal body 77 from listening evidence
• Presence & articulation 82 from listening evidence

Bass

• Bass control 76 from listening evidence
• Bass extension 70 from listening evidence

LowerVolume

• Tonal consistency 76 from listening evidence

Specifications