Hi folks, and welcome to this month’s article from us here at Audio T Brighton. We’re in for a bit of domestic speaker bliss this month because we’re taking a look and listening to a classic British speaker brand, namely Spendor loudspeakers. Spendor have many designs in their portfolio and we couldn’t possibly cover them all in this blog, so we will concentrate on models from the A-range of floor-standing loudspeakers; the A2, A4 & A7.

Our colleagues at Audio T in Reading have written a similar blog this month on one of their smaller siblings, the Spendor Classic 4/5 stand-mount speaker and you can read about that here.

Spendor - a potted history...

Spendor have always had a reputation for making fine speakers and we were recently given the opportunity to have a listen to a few pairs at our store in Brighton. We liked them so much we’ve taken some of their range on permanently and thought a fresh take on their qualities would be nice to write about in this month’s blog.

Spendor is a fusion of the creators, Spencer and Dorothy Hughes, who morphed the ‘Spen’ and ‘Dor’ to establish the brand name.

Spencer’s knowledge gained as an engineer at the BBC helped to create his first loudspeaker, the BC1, a design that has since gone on to become a bit of a classic.

To Spend Or Not To Spend?

50 years on from the Spendor BC1, the company has continued to evolve and currently has an extensive range of speakers, starting with the A-line, which is the focus of today’s article. The full range of Spendor speakers can be seen on our Audio T website or by visiting Spendor’s own website.

The Spendor company is a rarity in hi-fi manufacturing, in that they manufacture all of the cabinets in-house as well as the crossovers and drive units themselves. This allows complete control over the manufacturing process, with results we all can see and hear.

The quality of finish is near-unrivalled in the industry and several other manufacturers have, until recently, utilised the cabinet craftsmanship of the skilled carpenters at Spendor. The manufacturing process is a joy to behold - just watch the video below for evidence…

Spendor A2 - the baby of the line-up...

The Spendor A2 really is a quart-in-a-pint pot speaker. Measuring just 786mm(H) by 150mm(W) by 258mm(D), the A2 will slot in many places you wouldn’t expect a floor-standing speaker to go and as I expect you will find out, placement is easier than many a small stand mount speaker and without the bass overhang generated by positioning close to boundary walls. Now that isn’t to say careful positioning shouldn’t be undertaken, because any speaker will sound at its best when positioned well and matched with quality electronics. However, Spendor make bold claims about the room friendliness of their designs and for the most part, we’d have to agree.

At 85dB and 6.6 ohm minimum impedance, the Spendor A2 aren’t a challenging load for any decent amplifier but you will need some power to drive them to reasonable levels because of their low sensitivity. Spendor suggest 25 - 125 W/ch but we would err towards the upper limit of their recommendations to allow sufficient amplifier headroom.

Spendor A2 manufacturer specs can be seen here.

Spendor A4 - the middle man...

black spendor a4’s on dem at audio T in brighton

Unlike A4 v A2 printer paper, the Spendor A4 is the larger of the Spendor A2 and Spendor A4 loudspeakers. Measuring 861mm (H) by 165mm (W) by 284mm (D), the Spendor A4 are a substantially larger speaker and although the rated frequency response in the bass region (34Hz) v A2 (36Hz) is not significantly different on paper (whoops another paper reference!), the Spendor A4 sounds fuller and more dynamically free, certainly more than the additional 2Hz bass extension would suggest. It is also more sensitive at 86dB/W and will go louder much more comfortably than its baby brother.

More detailed Spendor A4 specs can be found here.

Now for the big Spendor - the Spendor A7...

oak spendor a7’s in our brighton audio T demonstration room

So now we get to the head-honcho of Spendor’s A-Line range of speakers.

The Spendor A7 measures 934mm(H) by 180mm (W) by 305mm (D). With a sensitivity of 88dB/W, it is an easy speaker to drive with a minimum impedance of 6 ohms. Power handling is increased to 200 Watts and the Spendor A7 rewards an amplifier with power and grip, not because it needs it, but the Spendor A7 is clearly the most capable of the three speakers tested in our blog. When we listened with our resident Naim ND 5XS2 streamer and Rega Aethos amplifier the sound blossomed beautifully. They also responded to further improvements in the front-end and amplification, as our resident Naim NSC 222 streaming preamp and Naim NAP 250 power amplifier ably demonstrated. The 4G Linear Flow Reflex bass port in the Spendor A7, unlike the normal circular port in the Spendor A2 and Spendor A4, seems to add additional control whilst delving a bit deeper into the bass. On top of that (pun intended) the mid-range and top-end of the frequency range seemed a bit more detailed and refined. We often hear that when the bass end of a speaker is improved, it creates a more natural and spacious effect in the upper frequencies, not unlike what may be achieved when a subwoofer is added.

For more technical specs on the Spendor A7 click here.

To sum up...

If the Spendor A-Line of speakers were exams, then each of our students would confidently achieve top marks in their respective speaker categories.

Beautifully made, easy to drive and exquisite sounding, you should form an orderly queue outside your local Audio T for a listen, they are that good.

As always, the proof of the pudding is in the eating, so get in touch to book a demonstration.

Thanks for reading.

Ade, John and Paul - Audio T Brighton

If you have any questions about any of the equipment featured in this article, or any other Hi-Fi or home cinema enquiries, be sure to Contact Us.

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Spendor can be found at the following Audio T stores:

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Hey Big Spendor! A closer look and listen to the floor standing A2, A4 and A7 models.