Rogers originally intended the LS3/5A to be stacked on top of the AB1 and spikes are provided with them to do this to make mini-towers. It was thought at the time that because the drive unit in the AB1 fired vertically it would have little effect on the performance of the 3/5a when used as a stand. Experiments have shown that a significant improvement in quality can be achieved by placing the AB1s behind the LS3/5As which are on their dedicated stands. I first saw and heard this positioning used by Jo Ki in Malaysia in his system and have come to call it “Ki’s Method”, although it may be that the idea was thought of elsewhere as well.

Jo has wired his LS3/5As and AB1s in parallel and not in the conventional way with the LS3/5As fed through the AB1s. The + terminals on the AB1s and LS3/5As are wired together as are the -ve terminals. In theory this gives a bump in the bass because the LS3/5A is no longer rolled off. In practice, having heard it myself, Jo’s system sounds absolutely superb.

Pictures of Jo’s LS3/5A & AB1 system on the HiFi Unlimited blog.