Spendor D9.2 Run In

jjss49,

We're in agreement, but when I think about it, it is a little surprising that they would have gone so overboard on the treble.

A couple of years ago I auditioned at length the Spendor Classic 100's in a hi-end system.  For comparison, afterwards we subbed in a pair of D7's (no D9's in the store, and just before the .2 version came out).  There was no real comparison.  The Classic 100's sounded significantly better by every metric: fuller, better balanced, etc. etc..  It's my understanding that they also use the same tweeter, so obviously some else significant was going on.

@roxy54

We’re in agreement, but when I think about it, it is a little surprising that they would have gone so overboard on the treble.

terry miles, who for many years succeeded derek hughes at spendor (post sale of the company to philip swift) as their main designer, remains active on the spendor user board -- he has recounted how the company has felt the need to ’modernize’ its sound in light of what it sees as market trends... even successive iterations of the classic models have had the treble/upper midrange energy dialed up slightly each time (of course, despite this, in absolute terms, the classics remain quite natural sounding) - think this explains why/how the d9/d7 have been pushed so far in that direction...

terry is ’one of us’ so to speak, still feeling connected to the bbc heritage, more natural style of sound... interesting that he recently departed spendor and now works with alan shaw at harbeth

jjss49,

That's interesting. I didn't know that he had gone off to Harbeth, and I had just guessed at the rest. I understand that market pressures must be very strong.

When I settled on D7’s, I demo’d a couple dozen different speakers before finalizing. Spendor D series, to me anyway, is neutral, and sounds the best in its price range and higher. Brighter speakers include Focal Kanta/Sopra, Magico, Paradigm Persona, B&W 800 series, etc., and warmer speakers include Harbeth, Sonus Faber, classic Spendor, Vandersteen, etc.

Just my opinion. YMMV. Everyone hears differently.

No right or wrong answers. Everyone prefers a different tonality. I say steak is better than lobster - you say lobster is better than steak. Both are correct for themselves