The Spendor Thread..

[Rapide]

Just bought little used S-3/5's.
Initial impression running McIntosh MAC 1700: the S3/5's compares favorably with the early 15 ohm Rogers LS3/5A. Bass notes seem a little muffled.... but may open up after couple hours as the Spendors have been sleeping for several years. High end a little smoother than the Rogers... which is good. Imaging of the LS3/5A more stable (should be...at 4 times the cost !).

Next will replace the Caikleen RBR treated Celestion Ditton 10's in Marantz 2010 kitchen system with S3/5's. Hope it's an upgrade. The 1970's Dittons excell in midrange.. but bass players sit waaay back.

Later hope to compare 3/5's with Rogers JR149's, Proac Tablette III's, Tablette 2000's and Frankenstein Tablette 50's with 1SC mid/bass drivers. So far, the Performance/Cost ratio of the Spendors is the best.

 

[Rapide]

Replaced kitchen system Celestion Ditton 10's with Spendor S3/5's. Clearer bass, better presence, lower effeciency, can go a little louder befor sounding congested. USA msrp of S3/5 was $949 with 3/4" vifa and high 4,500 kHz crossover. USA msrp of $1,249 was for "improved" S3/5se (Special Edition) with 3/4" Scanspeak from SP100 and lower 3,500 kHz crossover. My question is.. have you heard both and is the SE really a substantial upgrade worth 30% more ? Unfortunately have heard the S3/5R and R2 are tilted towards the high end. Listen mostly to pre '73 Blue Note jazz, B3 and Till Bronner type music. I have found that the narrow dispersion of the S3/5 (7 ft from floor) requires tilting downward or you must stand on a chair for best presence.

 

[Art K.]

Replaced kitchen system Celestion Ditton 10's with Spendor S3/5's. Clearer bass, better presence, lower effeciency, can go a little louder befor sounding congested. USA msrp of S3/5 was $949 with 3/4" vifa and high 4,500 kHz crossover. USA msrp of $1,249 was for "improved" S3/5se (Special Edition) with 3/4" Scanspeak from SP100 and lower 3,500 kHz crossover. My question is.. have you heard both and is the SE really an upgrade worth 30% more ? Not interested in S3/5R or R2 as I have heard they are tilted towards the high end. Listen mostly to pre '73 Blue Note jazz, B3 and Till Bronner type music. I have found that the narrow dispersion of the S3/5 (7 ft from floor) requires tilting downward or you must stand on a chair for best presence.
View attachment 2207295

Very nice. I will say that I hate bright speakers and S3/5R2 is not at all bright. They are one of all time favorite speakers! Enjoy!

 

[Rapide]

Thanks, Art. Will keep an open mind on the S3/5R2.
Although the cabin kitchen is only 12x14.. I roughed in a large picture window to back yard (fruit trees and strawberries) and snow-capped Mt Grizzley across the valley. Visitors gravitate to kitchen... phototropic.. so upgraded from KLH 21 table radio to Spotify, BluDento AptX-HD, Sansui AU-555, Spendor S3/5. I enjoy conversations with less obtrusive music floating down from above... or when making bread alone with Diana Krall.

 

[Rapide]

Sooo... instead of Noah Jones ... you listen to Wolf Blitzer on your S3/5SR ? Hmmm... an acquired taste.

Nice to have the space for serious stands for those excellant speakers.

 

[Art K.]

 

[ditton works]

I simply love my SP2/2’s.
Totally fixed the hardened surround’s.
They are tireless to listen to, I’ve been playing them constantly for three months or so.
Not many speakers pass the three month period in my house.
I do switch mine around after a while, either ProAc Studio 100’s or Celestion SL600si.
The Spendor’s just please me so much I haven’t even thought about switching to the others .

now working on a poorly pair of SP3/1.

 

[Rapide]

Excellant review of rare (in US) Spendor SP3/1.... not a wasted word or moment. Thanks for posting.

 

[ditton works]

Excellant review of rare (in US) Spendor SP3/1.... not a wasted word or moment. Thanks for posting.

Replaced my kitchen system Marantz 2010 with Sansui AU-555. The S3/5's are more open with the higher power.

Thanks.
There’s a Spendor surprise coming on my channel in the next few weeks

 

[mozcho]

I simply love my SP2/2’s.
Totally fixed the hardened surround’s.
They are tireless to listen to, I’ve been playing them constantly for three months or so.
Not many speakers pass the three month period in my house.
I do switch mine around after a while, either ProAc Studio 100’s or Celestion SL600si.
The Spendor’s just please me so much I haven’t even thought about switching to the others .

now working on a poorly pair of SP3/1.

Excellent reviews! Thank you!

 

[mozcho]

Spendor's naming convention is quite confusing to me: SP 1/2, SP 3/1, SP 2/2, etc. Can I understand this as: There exist these "basic lines": SP1, SP2, SP3, etc., then those "/x" represent later iterations? Can someone enlighten me on this? I really wish to understand the scheme of things with Spendor's naming convention.

 

[Rapide]

Yes, mozcho. And maybe Kevin can also address #'s w/o the "P"... S3/5, S3/1, etc.

 

[ditton works]

Spendor's naming convention is quite confusing to me: SP 1/2, SP 3/1, SP 2/2, etc. Can I understand this as: There exist these "basic lines": SP1, SP2, SP3, etc., then those "/x" represent later iterations? Can someone enlighten me on this? I really wish to understand the scheme of things with Spendor's naming convention.

Basically that’s right.
SP2 then SP2/2 was MK2 version and so on, I’ll post the Spendor family tree.

 

[ditton works]

Yes, mozcho. And maybe Kevin can also address #'s w/o the "P"... S3/5, S3/1, etc.

The “P” on the SP3/1p stands for Ported.
SP3/1 is sealed/infinite baffle, SP3/1p is rear ported.

another review here. SP2/3E

 

[mozcho]

Basically that’s right.
SP2 then SP2/2 was MK2 version and so on, I’ll post the Spendor family tree.

This is really helpful, appreciated!

 

[mozcho]

The “P” on the SP3/1p stands for Ported.
SP3/1 is sealed/infinite baffle, SP3/1p is rear ported.

another review here. SP2/3E

Another excellent review! I really love to hear those speakers in reviews like this, but I know that what I heard was the sound of my tiny computer speakers, not the real McCoy, yet they sounded so pleasant regardless!

 

[mozcho]

I have a pair of SP1/2, how's it compared with the your few pairs? Also, Spendor is selling modern designs in the A and D series. Wonder how these new lines defer from the older ones sonically?

 

[ditton works]

I have a pair of SP1/2, how's it compared with the your few pairs? Also, Spendor is selling modern designs in the A and D series. Wonder how these new lines defer from the older ones sonically?

The SP1’s are slightly more vintage than mine but in a good way.
Your SP1/2 has the same bass driver as my SP2/2 and 2/3 but a three way (2&1/2) variant, there is also a much newer variant of the SP1/2 designated SP1/2r2 and the even newer Classic 1/2.

 

[ditton works]

The SP1’s are slightly more vintage than mine but in a good way.
Your SP1/2 has the same bass driver as my SP2/2 and 2/3 but a three way variant, there is also a much newer variant of the SP1/2 designated SP1/2r2 and the even newer Classic 1/2.

I think P in SP might stand for Polypropylene? Like the B in BC1 stands for Bextrene. I don’t know that for sure? Some people think BC stands for Bextrene Celestion/Coles but that would be BCC1!? I think it Is Bextrene Cone 1=BC1

 

[mozcho]

Basically that’s right.
SP2 then SP2/2 was MK2 version and so on, I’ll post the Spendor family tree.

Do you have a bigger version of this chart? The current one's resolution is a bit on the low side, some words are not clear to me...