The wonder of Spendor

[anaitiologikos]

Having dabbled in Harbeth and fallen in love with the Proac Response 2 Sig system (full details, see data on the left hand side), the past year has given me the opportunity of renewing my long-standing fascination with Spendor when I was fortunate enough to acquire a S/H pair of S3/5R's. With the kind advice of SSM, I ended up partnering these with a MF X-A100R/X-Ray combination.

About a month ago, Simon (Turn it up!) allowed me to renew my acquaintance with the much older SP1 (which I owned a long time ago, but ended up selling when I moved back from the US to Europe). Initially driving these with a valve amp, I now decided to hook them up to my T-Amp (6 watts continously).

Anyway, tonight I feel compelled to share my enthusiasm for both sets of speakers. With a (relatively) modest outlay on ancillary equipment, it is just amazing how much listening pleasure this marque has to offer. In my room, the S3/5R is probably superior to any other bookshelf speaker I have had the pleasure of owning (including Harbeth P3ESR and Proac Tablette 8 Sig) for its ability to make everything sound just right. The SP1 obviously has a different tonality, but once again, they major in making you sit back and keep listening.

There is no message here, except: for anyone wondering whether there is an easy route into audio bliss, I would suggest you consider this marque. Proac may be more accomplished in terms of audiophilia, but Spendor is just so wonderfully easy and affordable to enjoy without further questions or afterthoughts. Highly recommended.

 

[smu]

Good on ya, that's what it's all about!

 

[graham67]

I agree with the message. I have some near identical BBC derived Rogers 3 ways, sort of brothers in the SP1, BC1, LS3/6 family. The old school sound is very attractive. It is a full generous sound without skimping on detail. I have had many speakers most of which cost a lot more but for sheer enjoyment, the Rogers are hard to beat. They make great sound effortlessly. They seem to prefer transistor amps as they need a fair bit of juice to stop them sounding a bit slow.

 

[Injector]

I'm a Spendor man. Sod the pipe and slippers, they just suit my tastes.

 

[RobHolt]

Old Spendors are excellent. Quite a different sound to what you'll get from most loudspeakers today but the mid/top end can be stunning.

I've a pair of Rogers LS3/6 in my collection which are extremely close in construction to the BC1 and those can be spellbinding on the right material.

Not the last word in bass drive and grip though, and you can't really push them hard.

I've never heard the Spendor SP1 but it's something I need to do.

 

[DeCameron]

SP1s are one of my all time favourite speakers.