Spendor D7 vs. Harbeth Super HL5+

In the D7 vs. Classic 100 comparison (remember: made by the same company), it wasn't just the D7's tweeter that I didn't like, it was the whole upper/mid range that sounded undernourished and constrained and unnatural by comparison to the '100, plus overall there was considerably less impact compared to the wave launch offered by the '100. It's a real pity this model isn't more widely auditionable in the U.S.  But people (spouses) want narrow speakers for the décor, and Spendor now actually vaunts this narrowness in its print ads.  A sad thing.

I have sympathy for those who own the D series telling us they are not off putting or bright.


After all: I own Thiel speakers ;-)


But I can guarantee that no one listening to the Thiel 3.7 or 2.7s in my system would be putt off by "brightness."  They've converted more than one Thiel skeptic.


So I can see the Spendor D series being tamed, or working in some systems.


Still, in both encounters with the D7 they had that same hard, steely, off-putting character in the treble,  and when I heard the A series they also had a similar off-putting character in the highs.  But, horses for courses...

Hi @ddafoe ,

In contrast to professional reviewers like Art Dudley I get zero income from my masages on this forum :-)
If you a professional a reviewer you can’t afford yourself to criticize directly as I do.

Regards,
Alex.

Sounds like most are telling us what their room sounds like .

I do question the presence of that "supertweeter" in the SHL5+, that isn't there in other Harbeth models.  I know the BBC model that it's based on had one too, but why?