Spendor S5e and S6e

M

murray johnson

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Clothy,

Were the Howards a tapered Quarter Wave design like the rather nice Chesters they used to make (but bigger)?

 

Craig

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I don't get it.......he said he would not sell to anyone remotlely suspsicious looking
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Cracking buy there, puss, even if I do know sweet FA about em. Resale has to be worth it. A long hunt finally over (for now) - hope you enjoy em, and looking forward to hearing about it.

 
E

earl of sodbury

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The only possible issue with the Howards is the upward firing mid/bass driver - I seem to remember it relies on the ceiling not being too high for reinforcement, but i've only heard them briefly in Lintones: sounded great there.

However you look at it, a bit over £300 is an awesome baragin for such capable and well-made speakers. Well pounced furball!

I love my Richmond 3s (second system), but might be forced to sell them in the new year
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:(
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churz, eofs

 

enbee23

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The cat got the cream!

A mate of mine has a pair of those Castles (in Yew
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), I've spent many happy hours listening to them.
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Presentation is a little unusual in that the sound is a little diffuse, probably because of the upward firing drivers. Big soundstage but imaging is a tad vague compared to more conventional speakers. Bass in abundance though. How big is your room?!

What amps do you run?

 

enbee23

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These could be right up your street then.

Best thing my mate ever did was buy a Sugden A21p power amp and run the Howards biamped. Just awesome.

I think yours will get along just fine with two Exposures up their chuff.

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Edit: They do "breathe" better in a bigger room, can sound a little congested/thuddy in a small one. Should be fine if you keep them away from walls etc and concrete floors are useful.

I reckon it'll be braw.

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El Seano

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Damn, missed the thread entirely. That'll teach me to try to do my coursework.
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Excellent price you got there toplad. I had the s5es and loved em, only thing I found with them was a lack of potential volume with very bass heavy stuff, they look the business and sound even better though.

In the end I upgraded to s6es, I would slightly agree with the general opinion that they sound a little harder, the clarity is out of this world though and the bass region is much improved (in terms of slam and depth) to my ears at least.

I suggest a listen if you get upgraditis again, you could probably sell your s5e's for the same price as you bought them for (I think I actually sold mine for more... can't quite remember).

Happy listening.

BTW I found they worked best about 30cm from the rear wall and if put too close to the side wall aka, under 40cm, they sounded crap.

 

toplad72

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Cheers El Seanoand others

I've got them about 12' from the rear wall and about 3 foot from the side walls, with 2.5M between each cabinet and pointing straight at my listening position. The sound is spot on, justthe sort of laid back, but stilldetailed enough to be drawn into the music sound I was after.Their really pull off the balancing act ofweight and warmthvery well.

I don't want to much bass; think it kills other areas of the sound if you have too much. Still think the bass from these can dominants the music sometimes though, could always move them further foward if I want less bass

Its been a long search, I'm very happy.
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El Seano

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Very glad to hear you're happy. If bass restrictions aren’t a problem for you I don't think you'll find a better pair of speakers without spendoring (oh god, I’m so sorry for that terrible piece of humor. ) much more money.
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toplad72

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El seano

I'd be interested to hear your review of your amplification setup.

I demo’d the new Audio lab 8000s and was very impressed withcertain areasof its performance. The ability to pick out instrumentsfrom the music and create a clear open sound was really top notch, it's if the music slowed down and you could hearinstruments precisely and cleanly through the audio lab, betterthan both my Cyrus 8vs or the new Musical fidelity XT100 and PSU in that respect.

The major downside was the lean sound; it didn't have any real weight, and when a drum was struck there was no real impact to the sound.

I would think your setup will impart more weight to a very detailed sound, should be the best of both worlds.

 

El Seano

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I never listened to the 8000S I demod the 8000Q and the 8000P with the spendor s6es alongside MF A5 and the Cyrus 8vs (that was the second time id demod the cyrus, not sure why because I've hated it both times!) I would say that the tonal balance wasnt as lean as the cyrus, the cyrus' treble sounded a little uneven and very forward; somewhat like a PA rig (i cringed during jeff buckleys hallelujah).

The audiolabs are a little on the lean side but I feel this is ok when partnered with the spendors as the treble isnt too bright.

In the end I went for the monos on a blind jump. They are a hell of a lot more controlled than the 8000P which is pretty controlled anyway, the bass stops and starts as it should. The 8000P seemed to have a little overhang which did suit things like prodigy and chemical brothers and it gave the impression of a slightly softer sound.

I'm listening to 'where will I be' by emmylou harris off wrecking ball at the moment and can say that the big drum (not big on my instruments hehe) sounds very real and pretty damn big. The bass line is also bouncing along nicely, although this could be something to do with the REL I remember that this sounded fantastic on the S6es too.

I'd definately give em a demo, bloody good value in my opinion. They amplify, dont get hot, go loud, go quiet (not as well as Class A though) and for me I like them because I just dont have to think about them.

In essence there isn't anything to love (like i sometimes loved my departed sugden) but also there isnt really anything to fall out with (i sometimes hated my departed sugden;)).

I'd also give sugden a try, the new line looks the business and they definately dont have a lean sound. If you can survive with your listening room being a few degrees hotter I would give them a listen. They have probably the most physically real sounding bottom end I've heard for the money.
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(I want the A21aSE quite a lot...).

 

Dope

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I've got a pair of S5e's and I love them, they're the one thing Iwouldn't changein my system.

I run them with a MF X-150 and to be honest I find the sound with the Spendors to be a little too laid back.

If I had to do it all over again I'd be looking at a Sugden A21a or dare I say it a Naim Nait5i, both of which are meant to work very nicely with the S5e's.

 

Tel

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Nice one Toplad! Good price too!

The Spendors are the only thing I havent changed in my system in the last 18 months and are not next on the list to change either.

Hope they give you many hours of happy listening.

 

toplad72

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I've been doing serious listening over the last 24hrs and I'm well chuffed. Easy, full and never tiresome (so far), even the wife’s impressed.

I choose to demo the Spendors as a foil to the Cyrus amp and it's worked out really well.

Dope,

All MF kit with the S5e will be too laid back I feel. Nice sound though, just lacking drive (to my ears anyway).

I plan to upgrade the speaker cable and leave the system as it is after that(well maybe a Red dawn phono RCA if one comes up cheap on eBay), myprevious system lasted 9 yrs unchanged.

Is that a record?

Thanks for the help btw guys, it very much appreciated
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El Seano

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If you're happy dont change a thing (yeah right hehe). Yes i think 9 years may be a record.
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