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Replacing Vintage Spendors is not as easy as I thought

I have a pair of 1989 era Spendor SP1 s and was thinking of updating them as I have heard of the vastly improved technology and materials used by current speaker manufacturers.  So off I have been listening to new speakers, many of which come advertised as natural sounding, or neutral etc. My search has been a bit constrained by my Leben tube amp which is a modest 32 watts. I have heard Harbeth, Aerial Acoustic, Devore, new Spendors, Totem and a few other brands all of which lack the natural vocal qualities of my SP1s.  Some are more dynamic but at the expense of more fatiguing treble.  I have limited my search to the 5000-7500 range but am coming up empty handed.  I am sure if I was ready to spend 15,000 +  I could find a good upgrade, but college tuitions preclude such an expenditure.  Anyone out there with any suggestions?
Thanks
MP
rivinyl
larryi
4,110 posts
 
I like the Harbeth's too, and they certainly do have some similarity in sound to Spendor vintage speakers.  For me, the slight hardness/sibilance in the upper midrange/treble region in all of their speakers, except the 40.2's, is a little bit of an issue, but, this adds a little bit of zip and liveliness to the sound so that might be a plus to someone else.  I feel the same way about Tannoy speakers--just a bit too much hardness.  That is why I prefer ProAc and Audio Note.

I on't know what are the current prices on Shahinian speakers, but that is another line that is easy to listen to and is not excessively bright.
itzhak1969
515 posts
 
There are some members here that sold their speakers and regret it .If you are ststisfy with your Spendors I don't see any reason to replace them.
randyk
70 posts
 
I agree with itzhak1969.  If you enjoy your Spendors, why make the change?  Have you tried a little tube rolling with your Leben?  It might give your speakers a nice tune up.



yogiboy's avatar
yogiboy
5,766 posts
 
Since you like the BBC sound you should look into Stirling Broadcast speakers!
https://www.musicdirect.com/Search?manufacturer=Stirling%2520Broadcast&sort=popularity%7CDESC&am...
Or Graham!!
http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/graham-ls59-loudspeaker/
jbrrp1
423 posts
 
I almost went for your same speakers back in 1987, but opted instead for Vandy 2C's; either would have been my first high end speaker.  My impression of the SP1's lingered for awhile, making me ponder what could have been.
Those Graham LS 5-9 speakers really caught my ear at Axpona a couple years ago.  Wonderfully natural sounding.
Here's another thought:  you clearly like the Spendors.  Maybe consider rebuilding their crossovers with higher quality elements?  They very likely use some electrolytic capacitors that are getting tired and could use replacing anyway.  Done right, you would keep the frequency balance character of the speaker and likely get a more informative presentation of that voice that you like.
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