Crestwood23
He said touch it in the back
For the heck of it, last night I swapped my Rega Brio-R in place of the Fisher X-100 tubes, to see if the Spendors prefer a little more power from solid state and, you know, if British speakers prefers British amplification.
I'm actually kind of digging the combination. The presentation is slightly more fulsome (the Rega is a pretty warm-sounding amp), but the tonality is not that different from my Fisher X-100. The difference in imaging vividness is not as pronounced as I expected, and that's offset by finer detail and overall rhythmic tightness. Oh, and I had forgotten how quiet backgrounds are with solid state.
As much as I loath the expression, the Brio-R does have a reasonably tube-like character, in that it doesn't have any hint of a hard edge, and it is capable of producing much of the midrange bloom that makes tubes so inviting.
I'm gonna live with this pairing for a little while and see if prefer it. The Fisher will likewise go upstairs to the bedroom system, and be paired with the Dentons.
Congrats on the Spendors Glenn! I’m a big Spendor fan having had both a pair of SP2/2’s and a giant pair of SP100’s - all amazingly musical with a fantastic midrange. I found they responded best to SS power, although I always thought it would be interesting to try them with higher power tubes (60wpc +). Have fun with them!