When I was ordering my bow, Rob said that he figured that the recurve limbs equaled about 3 # of performance over the longbow limbs. In other words, it would take a 3# heavier LB to shoot the same speed as any particular recurve.
I liked the looks of the longbow riser so I ordered the longbow riser with recurve limbs.
I later got the longbow limbs as I like them better anyway.
Not much difference in performance that I can tell. In my opinion, the longbow limbs are just a tad quieter than the recurves, but not nearly as quiet as a straight, or a mild R/D longbow.
Either way, the Lee is the best shooting bow that I have, and maybe have ever had.
By the way, longbow smooth?...yes.
Longbow accurate?...yes.
Longbow faster?...probably not.
Which do I prefer?...obviously longbow.