Spendor Classic 2/3 And 4/5 Standmount Loudspeakers For The Audio Connoisseur

At Audio T, we test everything in the shop and that means listening... a lot of listening!  Then mixing and matching components to bring synergies out in the whole system.  Loudspeakers are the final piece of this puzzle and arguably the one that can make the biggest difference.

Spendor was founded in the 1960s by Spencer & Dorothy Hughes, hence Spen-Dor.  Spencer’s applied knowledge and expertise came from many years as an engineer in the BBC sound department.  The iconic BC-1 he created went on to become one of the most iconic speakers of our time. 50 years on and the range of Spendor from the A-line, D line and Classic all have design cues, sound profile and performance that is unmistakably Spendor. The Classic range are styled and have a sound profile from the days of the BC-1, but have evolved into a very special sound.

It’s all about presentation in the end. The loudspeaker, with its crossover, bit of wiring, cabinet and drive units are going to fill your room with the illusion of a full London Symphony Orchestra, thumping Hendrix live a Woodstock or Norah Jones, whispering in your ear. 

Broadly speaking, and I’m generalising, there are 3 basic “ speaker presentations”; forward, neutral or back.  The trend today is forward, the Spendors are an involving listen,  back presentation and a sound that you listen into.  The detail in the treble is silky, gentle, direct and not at all metallic or edgy.  The bass rhythmic, supportive and precise.  Where these excel is in the mid-range.

J Gordon Holt, founder of Stereophile magazine and the father of subjective audio-equipment evaluation once wrote “if the midrange isn’t right, nothing else matters”. 

So, naturally it was straight to Metallica! Taking a Classic speaker and chucking rock at it is a bit uncouth, we’ll admit. But our job is to help you decide upon a system that will exceed your expectations not just for now, but for the long-term and assisting with critical listening is one way we can help you to enjoy your music selection even more.  There is a place for audiophile music with perfect recording settings, mastering notes and all the rest and we love helping those customers too and more often than not, their decades of high-end audio experience is a personal journey that we also learn from.

The Classic range all have the same form factor and to the eye are dimensionally very similar.  This allows for selection of the best size for room and acoustic properties for positioning.  We found the larger Classic 2/3 sounded best when placed about 1m from the front wall, 2.5m apart with a smaller toe in than most speakers.  The Classic 4/5, 1.7m apart and 50cm from the wall for better bass presentation. We suspect in both cases this is due to the cabinet design being thin walled and flexible, allowing the speaker to interact more with the room.

What is really moving about these Spendors is the way they present the music. 

The perspective, depth of sound stage and elegance of timbre; richness and warmth have become expletives in this modern age. As irrelevant as pipe and slippers, smoking jacket and cravat. But to call these speakers irrelevant nostalgia would be to miss point.  Classic does not do fashion — it’s timeless and engaging in a magnolia world.

The Spendor Classic 2/3 at £3,600 & The Spendor Classic 4/5 £1,600 are available for audition at Audio T Bristol.  

Components used to audition the Spendor Classic 2/3 & 4/5:

Accessories: 
Power cables; ISOL-8 Isolink Wave, Naim Powerline Lite  Interconnects; - Chord Shawline Analogue RCA Interconnect ,  Naim Hi-line Interconnect DIN to RCA Cable; Naim NACA5 speaker cable , stands Solidsteel SS-6&5 Speaker Stands

Sources:
CD Player Rega Saturn R, 
Streamer Naim NDX 2
Turntable Rega Planar 3 with Elys cartridge 

Amplifiers:
Naim Supernait 3 
Rega Aethos 

Music used in all the tests can be found at Audio T Bristol playlist on Qobuz : http://open.qobuz.com/playlist/2438053

Spendor Loudspeakers are available from the following branches of Audio T: Bristol, Cardiff, Cheltenham, Portsmouth, Swindon

Naim & Rega Hi-Fi products are available from all branches of Audio T.