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Spendor A9 : Your first impressions

Hi,

I just upgraded my 3 years old Totem Forest with the Spendor A9. It's my first experience with Spendor speakers but after 3 month of listening to find the Forest successor, I believe the A9 is the one.
My system is
Oppo 83bd SE or Imac + AE + Toslink
Dac PS Audio DlIII Cullen IV
Plinius 9200
Hovland Radia
Acoustic Zen Cables

I find the A9 very neutral and quick but the most improvement over the Forest is on timbers accuracy, they are just beautiful. It's also very transparent, so one must pay attention to the association.

They are not spectacular at first, but cd after cd, you can't just stop listening to them. I like the air between instruments, and especially with voices. The forest used to emphasize the voices over the rest, here there is more space to put everything in the right place.

The bass is clean but not very deep, which is maybe the only weakness I see. Although it doesn't bother me, as I don't like boomy speakers.
The sensitivity is over 90dB, and are easier to drive than the Totems.

I use to listen to Jazz, world and classical.

In my quest to replace the Forest (which I loved), I've tried:

802D : associated with Mac amps, and it was not great (maybe not 802 fault)

Cremona M : boomy and colored medium...not my taste at all

Some Adam speaker : aggressive highs

Peak Consult Princess Sign.: a big curtain between them and you, where is the presence and the transparency ?

Some Nola floorstanding speaker: boxy sound, which is weird with theses medium and tweeters outside the cabinet !

Devore Gibbons 8: superb small speakers, so musical, but in the same league as the Forests (slightly more expensive). I regret to not have tested the Nines.

Wilson Sophia 3: a lot of energy and obviously very good. Best bass I've heard. Not as refined mediums & highs as the Magico. 2,5 x more expensive than the A9.

Magico V2: clearly an other class, like the sophia, but I know why they are so expensive. Although for the money I believe the A9 give you 95% of these two...

So now if other people own or have listened to these A9, you are welcome to give your impressions here.

Fabien
bountchacny
bountchacny OP
13 posts
 
Hi Jaxwired,

The lack of bass is what you notice with the A's when they are new or less than 9 months/1 year old.
But i recently realized that the low range on my A9 was much more in line now with the others registers than during the first months. This is really stricking for me now, after slightly more than 1 year of use, I still get good surprises ...

I may have said it before but this is not the kind of speaker you'll fall for after 30 minutes of listening. At the opposite it will grow on you if you have the patience to wait for it.
bountchacny OP
13 posts
 
By the way I see Artmaltman have had the same experience with bass with a previous generation of Spendor, this may tell something I suppose.

Thx Art, do you still enjoy your Spendor ?

Fabien
audiodon657
3 posts
 
I now have Bountchacny's Spendor A9s and they are well run in.
By placing them closer to the rear wall you can reinforce the bass. I use a powered sub for 50hz and below. Spendor doesn't pretend to do the low-lows with mid-bass hump.
bountchacny OP
13 posts
 
Hello Audiodon,

It's been a while since I came here, I hope you 're still enjoying the A9.
Cheers.
microbiologycory's avatar
microbiologycory
1 posts
 
Ooh, can I get in line for 's A9's next? I too owned the A6's and felt they were too bass light to be called balanced, though my partnering amp was a little "nimble" itself,now I have the perfect amp, but no speakers! (JK, MA RX6 but I'm lusting after tge high end)
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