While the A2’s clearly are compact, it is clear from the first few notes of any song you select, the sound they produce is anything but small. As we have established with both the Spendor A4's and A7's, the drive-units integrate seamlessly and the A2's paint a big-audio-picture. While the soundstage produced is of the wide-screen variety, the A2’s compact dimensions mean that the low frequency drive unit isn’t very large;. in fact, it is the same drive unit that is specified for the A1 bookshelf speaker, measuring 150mm or 5.9 inch's. It stands to reason then that a driver of this size won't push that much air, particularly given the A2's cabinet size, but the beauty of such a small speaker is it requires less space around it to perform well, and most importantly, less space behind it. Using the rear wall to reinforce the bass output ensures that the A2 doesn't leave you feeling short-changed in any way, shape or form. When critically listening I played a range of Burial tracks, Sbtrkt's Pharaohs and even James Blake's, Limit to your Love, all of which were deliberately selected to get a sense of the depth of bass these little speakers can produce. And honestly, the results were outstanding. While it’s fair to say that the low frequencies aren't necessarily earth-shattering, what the A2's do deliver is a taut, tuneful and nuanced bassline with a sense of realism, nothing is overblown here but distinguishing between a bass guitar or electronic bassline is an easy task; no muddling, nothing is indistinct. Still, if you like your bass to go just a little deeper, a suitable subwoofer will fill in the missing elements below the 36hz the speakers are capable of delivering; and of course, if your room is a little larger the Spendor A4 and A7 are ready, willing and able for a small increase in price!
Obviously the system we have been running them with is far from an entry level pairing, but we have often found the other Spendor's in the range exhibit an unfussy nature, tending to work well with any brand of electronics we choose. So we thought we might match them with Rotel’s new amplifier, the A11. Priced at £450, it delivers 50 watts of class A/B power, into an 8 ohms load, which is more than sufficient current to control the reasonably sensitive A2's and to cut a long story short, they pair beautifully, with the baby Spendor's delivering a lovely, rounded and mature sound despite the mismatch in the respective prices point of these two products.
