Has anyone here had any experience of Spendor A1’s or A1.2’s?
I’ve been running a pair of A2’s with ND5 XS2/Nait XS3 as an experimental replacement for my Neat SX2’s. I love the fuller or warmer sound they give compared to the Neat’s. Voices and instruments sound more fleshed out or solid on the A2’s too in comparison. After a few weeks in my small UK sized living room, I’ve concluded that they sound too big. The bass is too much so I’m looking for alternatives and wonder if the A1’s might work.
Speaker choice is so personal. I am using Spendor A4.2’s with my Nait XS3 and ND5XS2 and I like them very much in my room. The Spendor’s have rear bass-ports, while the Neat’s have down-firing bass-ports, and that probably is why you feel the bass is a bit too much. The Spendors need plenty of room between the speakers and the back-wall.
Thank you for your reply. The 4.2’s would definitely be too much speaker in my living room in terms of their sound and preservation of matrimonial harmony. On the face of it, the A1’s look like a likely candidate given their small size and design.
It can be so difficult to find the right speakers. Sometimes it requires nothing more than positioning or toe-in of speakers to let it suddenly fall into place. But sometimes new speakers are needed. End of last year, I traded my Tannoy speakers for the Spendor A4.2’s. I only heard them at the dealer, so it was a bit nerve wracking. You never know how speakers will sound in your room and with your system. If at all possible, you should home demo the A1’s to make sure these match your preferences.
I had a short period a few years ago with the A2’s connected to Uniti Atom and I remember enjoying the sound of them but at the time, I decided my money was better spent upgrade to the separates I have now. Having spent a few weeks again with another pair of the A2’s, I really do want to like them. I’ve managed to get their positioning pretty spot on so they’re nicely focused and there’s so much they do right except for the over bearing base.
Out of interest, are you using naim’s own interconnect and NAC A5? I started playing around with different cable combinations and ended up with Kudos KS-1 and Chord Clearway x din-din. This fixed the over blown bass and improved soundstage and imagining no end but I felt it tamed the speaker rather like when fitting a bung in a bass port.
I am using AudioQuest speaker cables. I tried NACA5 twice, but it was not a success. I use a Russ Andrews interconnect with built in attenuation, especially to solve channel imbalance at low volume. I also use an IsoTek net-filter. All that put together is working for me. Oh and don’t forget the 3.13 firmware, which works very well on the ND5XS2.
NAC A5 worked a treat with my old UnitiQute and Neat SX2’s but (subjectively) didn’t fit with the Unity Atom/Neat SX2 or ND5 XS2/Nait XS3/Neat sx2. I replaced them with a cable I can’t remember the make of but I think it was called Black Link and this seemed to work quite well except for an overly forward or hard edged midrange.
I put the Neats back in a couple of days ago and tried various cable combinations and speaker positions, including setting them closer to the wall behind. I settled on NAC A4/Lavender for best balance albeit with a slightly diffuse and flat image. I think overall the Spendors are much more satisfyingly musical to these old cloth ears at least. With the Kudos KS-1/Chord Clearway X din, the bass is nicely controlled and well defined. There’s a nicely defined and focused image but I would say overall, the system can sound a bit tamed or unable to let its hair down fully. Trade off’s I guess. I’ve just checked the firmware and it’s on 3.13. I do feel some speaker auditioning coming on at some point soon.
ps Is it just me? I seem to have accumulated a cupboard full of speaker cables and interconnects over the years. I don’t know how that’s happened
As someone who also has a small room, fairly recently moving to good standmounts (and good quality stands) from floorstanders, has made all the difference.
In this respect you may well find that the Spendor A1s are very much to your taste.
I’m a huge fan of Neat but that is neither here nor there. Spendor certainly have their devotees here with Naim.
Just an update for anyone interested. The games have continued.
I arrived home yesterday after working away. Later in the evening I settled down to listen to some music and I wasn’t enjoying the sound with the Kudos KS-1/Chord Clearway X din-din combo with the Spendor speakers. I was too tired to start messing around with wires last night. My wife and dog probably wouldn’t have appreciated the disruption either so I left well alone.
This morning I had another listen and still, the sound wasn’t right. Tonally it sounded a little lightweight and overly smooth to my old ears so some further experimentation commenced. Long story short, I’ve ended up with the Black Link speaker cable/lavender which is exactly the combination I had connected when the Spendors came into the house in the first place and it’s really sounding very nice.
That is completely normal. Any change can sound ‘better’ initially, but if you leave it for a while and than come back it sometimes is not so much ‘better’ than you thought. When I change something, I often revert the change after a while (if possible) to see if I still feel the same way about the change. Especially with things like cable changes, speaker positioning etc.
Thank you and yes I think that must be exactly what’s been happening. There might be more though. I purchased the Spendors ‘lightly used’ from a thoroughly decent seller on a well known auction site. Although he said he thought they were probably run in, I’m having my doubts now. It’s quite possible that while I’ve been (impatiently) swapping cables in order to get a sound I like, the speakers have been gradually getting into their stride. It’s also possible that I’ve been (subconsciously) trying to recreate some elements of the Neat’s presentation too. They have been my main speakers for some years.
I’ve had Radio Paradise playing this morning and it’s just sounding natural and lively. That forward or stressed upper midrange or lower treble is gone and so is the overblown bass. I think I might just leave well alone. I don’t know if it’s an upgrade exactly from the Neat’s. They’ve served me well but I’m loving the natural sound I remember from my earlier trial of these Spendors.
The Spendors need to be properly run in, before sounding at their best. I have the same experience when I got mine last December. Some patience is required
Before i bought my current speakers, i had a pair of Spendor A9’s. I would say it took the best part of a Year before they came fully on song. They got better and better all the time and i was impatient, but patience does pay off in the end.
. I do feel some speaker auditioning coming on at some point soon.
