Speakers for oomph and er clarity

Hi, looking to audition some speakers. This is my current set up: LP12/Lingo/Ittok LVIII/Adikt, Naim ND5 XS2 (Tidal & Spotify), Naim NAC102/HiCap/NAPSC, Naim NAP180, all on Cosmic Ash Rack. NACA5, Spendor S6E speakers.
Now wanting more p-r-a-t I guess to replace my soft room-filling Spendors. My budget: £2-3K - new not secondhand.
What should I put on my shortlist? :slight_smile:

I had a pair of Spendor S6e’s they were lovely, I used mine with 200

I personally would look at improving your PRE/AMP combo first, I got my old Spendors out recently on the end of my 300DR - they were still very good

IMO you are going to need to spend nearly all of that budget to better those Spendors

I’d either upgrade the pre/power combo as Antz says or change the rack. I had an Ash Cosmic and on changing to Hutter the difference was remarkable.
I’d probably go electronics first though, you’ll definitely get more grip and prat in doing so. You may find doing that gives the Spendors a new lease of life.

I agree with the others but can I ask why you are against secondhand? I would certainly consider ex demo if you are considering speakers.

Certainly with a limited budget - and I include several times the OP’s in that description - I would only consider secondhand or ex-dem, whether speakers or amps.

Mind you, someone has to buy new, so the rest of us can buy secondhand…!

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NAC-82 and a NAP-250, keep your HiCap unless your are feeling flush for a Supercap.

If you still feel the same about the Spendors after this then SBL’s.

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Second hand Kudos C10s?

I just finished my speaker search in the 2-3k range and ended up with Focal Kanta N1 (ex demo).

The Dali Rubicon 6 are extremely exciting (too much for me).
I listened to splendor’s - too mild
Neat EKSTRA were on the shortlist, and may be worth a listen for you.
Audionote stand mounts were good.
Audiovectors were also good, but a lot more expensive.

I am about to put my Allaes on the bay because they were too much excitement for me.

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Sorry blobdang, you probably just want to change your speakers, and all I’m gonna do is agree with trickydickie on the 82/250.

Thanks haydj, you’re the only one so far who’s answered my question :grinning:

Yes other upgrades all in good time - if I said I was upgrading my electronics guess they’ll be mainly ‘why don’t you change you’re bland over-polite Spendors’ replies? :grinning: So I’ll stick to my guns and combine re-capping my 180, 102 & hi cap with new speakers - any suggestions?

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Hi Blobdang,
Try a pair of Dynaudio Special Forty. PMC speakers are also noted for their oomph.

These are not recommendations but are possibilities. Much depends on how they interact with your room.

Best regards, BF

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Not knowing what “oomph” is in a speaker may keep some people from being able to answer…

Tannoys?

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I suspect the OP means drive and involvement (PRAT is mentioned in the opening post) which is why I suggested pairing the existing Spendors with an amp that will give more of this.

Based on the comment “you’re the only one so far who’s answered my question” the OP does seem hell bent on changing the speakers which may be the right thing to do but my experience is that drive and ‘oomph’ comes from a suitable amplifier to drive the speakers to a capability that they require.

I believe @Harry used S6E’s for a long time, he may be able to offer some insight as to the capabilities of the Spendors and what would be a suitable pairing.

I’d say PMC Twenty5.23 is a load of oomph for 3K.

Whether you like them or not is another matter. I love mine. They raise the rafters in a very big room.

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I used Spendor SE6’s for 7 years, they where matched then with CDX2/XPS/LP12/NDX as sources and 202/282 on pre with HCDR and then powered by 200 non DR

In my personal view Spendor speakers offer superb sound stage and slightly soft musical reproduction, I still have my SE6’s - they will be going on my son’s system

as I mentioned in my first response, the S6e’s are a very good floor stand thats why I mentioned in my post about the PRE/AMP route, the speakers will only give out the control of pre with the power of AMP

Neat motive sx2, I have PMC 20.23, I demo’d the neats, too much oomph for my room but may give what you want in your room.

I agree with the amp upgrades first. I have had some good second hand gear, which I’ve sold on. Look at some dealers websites for excellent quality pre-owned components. I often have a browse through Cymbiosis and Tom

Thanks all, got this shortlist for speakers - combined with service re-cap for olive 102/180/hicap - and oh go on then…upgrade amps in new year!

ATC SCM40
Pmc 25 & 5.23
Rega rx5
Neat motive sx2
Proac dt8
Kudos C10
Dali Rubicon 6
Dynaudio Special 40

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