Anyone with experience with Spendor D9's?

The D9s are very different than the more traditional “Spendor” sound you may be expecting, especially as you want to compare them to other British “usual suspects”. In the D7 and D9 Spendor was looking more to a neutral to slightly detailed presentation in contrast to their more traditional warm reputation.  The bass and treble extension are excellent as is the detail in those areas. Midrange has always been a Spendor strength and continues but in a neutral way.  In their price ranges I think you should compare and consider KEF Reference, lower end Wilson, Magico A3, Audio Physic, and Focal.  These were all auditioned prior to my purchase of the D9.

@verdantaudio

thanks scott

@drrsutliff

yes, well aware... i still have spendor sp1/2’s among several others... and know that the old sound is in their 'classic' series, as it is called now... other series are definitely ’modernized’ in their sound profile

just wondering if the shift in sound palette has gone as far as upper focals, kefs, proacs etc etc which are definitely more lively and more overtly ’hifi’ in presentation

@jjss49 I would say the sound palette has moved slightly in that direction and they have an increased ability to reveal upstream issues compared to my experience with the classic Spendors.  The D9s perform as a very neutral and slightly sweet transducer if supplied by high quality power and signal. 

I have heard the originals, which I thought could be argued to be a little bright, at least in that system. They are a step back from the clinical/"hifi" when compared to Paradigm, the KEF reference line or the Sopra line in my opinion. They could stand to be more coherent but are great speakers with a lot of competition. I think Ryan and Apertura are good alternatives. 

I've owned D9s for a few years and am very happy with them.

My previous speakers were Magico S1s, and I decided to try a bunch of UK speakers and tried the typical list:  Harbeth SHL5+, 40.2, B&W 804D3, KEF Reference.

One of the dealers mentioned I should also try the D9s and I personally thought they stood out of that crowd for what I was looking for.

I really like their midrange and bass/dynamics, and their high frequencies to me were more resolving and fun compared to the Harbeth, without being too detailed like what I was finding with my Magico Beryllium tweeters.

Unlike the previous poster, I actually think coherency is one of their strong suites.   I think they are pretty nicely balanced.   I agree with the comments that neutral to slightly sweet/warm upstream components likely work best generally, as I don't find they add any warmth.   I'm running them with a Pass X250.8 and an R2R NOS DAC and I don't find them too detailed or forward at all.

There is another similar thread to this one you might be interested in... https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/any-spendor-d9-owners-out-there

Cheers