Broadcasting on TV and radio in the UK is split into 'Auntie' BBC and all that is paid for by the TV licence, and the independent sector funded by advertisers. Few would argue that the BBC's technical training is second to none, which explains why the broadcasting world is littered ankle-deep in ex-Beeb people who have been trained to the highest level in their field before decamping to pastures new.

The Beeb is also known for selecting only top people as technicians. So high are the general standards of accuracy and excellence within the corporation, that any product deemed to be good enough for general issue has simply got to be good.

Consequently, the BBC-flavoured Rogers loudspeakers, LS3A monitors in particular, became legends in their own lunchtime. Two such BBC top line technos are Mallory Nicholls and Lee Taylor, partners in Leema Acoustics. (Oh I get it, and to think I nearly called to ask what Leema meant...Doh!). They have channelled their desire to build fine BBC-broadcast grade micro monitors into a fully fledged loudspeaker company with a decent selection of products from centre speakers and towers, to bookshelvers and subwoofers.

Speaker designers, in my experience, come in different flavours and I would put the Leema guys firmly into The Dark Art Of The Passive-Meister bracket, rather than transducer boys. For Leema has sourced very high quality drivers from Peerless for its rugged rock-hard woofers, Tymphany for its tweeters and Seas of Norway for its midbass drivers.

They use air-cored inductors and posh Clarity caps in their huge, panel-filling, passive crossovers. The boards are PCBs, but use multiple tracks to connect everything up to allow plenty of conductor path for the power.

Art for speakers' sake

Leema speaker products are definitely for people who appreciate speakers as art in themselves. The four corners of the system reviewed here comprise two pairs of the wee Xen enclosure. Reminding me powerfully of certain other mega-performance bookshelf speakers, these do have a look all their own. The main enclosure bodies are steel, with a sodding great bracing bolt holding the sides together at the point furthest from the corners.