I am currently on the verge of purchasing a pair of spendor A7s after demoing at my local dealer.
My issue is, i have now spotted a pair of D7s (NOT THE D7.2) brand new for the same price as the A7s.
I have not demoed the D7s and would like some info on them.
Are the D7s the superior speaker compared to the newer A7s?
Do the D7s have the same sound characteristics as the A7s?
Has anyone had the chance to compare these two directly?
What should i go for?
I have been auditioning many floorstanders over the last few months and the spendors on first audition just blew me away.
Seeing the older D7s at the same price has now confused what appeared to be a foregone conclusion after months of demoing.
I’ve not heard the A7 but had a home demo of the D7s. I found them nice and neutral but lacking a bit of excitement.
If you aren’t into boom and tizz they might well suit you
Correct, you’d need really good partnering kit to get the best out of them, I think the D7.2 has addressed some of these issues, did you find the A7’s a big improvement over your Focals?
All the speakers that I have demoed so far have different strengths and also weaknesses against my original acoustic energy reference 1s.
So far I have tried…
Dali rubicon 6
Focal aria 926
Wharfedale evo 4.4
Proac dt8
Monitor audio gold
Wharfedale Linton heritage
Spendor a4
None have sounded a worthwhile upgrade to me.
Until my dealer suggested I try the spendor A7
After the second song I wanted them, it was a dramatic improvement over my acoustic energy’s in all aspects, bottom end, treble and a beautiful midrange.
They seem to impossibly do everything right and it was a real hairs on the back of the neck moment.
Ah ok, you have Focals in your system details so I presumed you had those. I had a pair of A4’s and liked them a lot but the A7’s are a step up in terms of dynamics and precision. I heard Focal Chora 826’s a while back on the end of an XS2 and thought they were very impressive so you could check those out, good value too
That’s quite an achievement of demo options. Although I would say at this level they are all much of a muchness.
In so far as all probably giving out as much quality in your system, but with some differences.
We would all wish to find something that’s the magic bullet and does everything within a budget.
To be fair, things can get complicated when something else outside of budget is offered at a good price.
This can be a blind blessing, as you might be in a position to upgrade everything else to get them on song.
D7s telling you more of what your systems doing and not doing, perhaps.
Yes I was tempted to keep the Focals at first and even changed my profile.
They are beautifully finished and have an initial excitement to them that wears off eventually to a headache.
Upper frequencies where very splashy with pronounced sibilance on certain material.
The Spendor A7 do have a very different sound signature to the focal.
But for me, even after initial listening, the spendors are on a different level, far better loudspeaker in all areas.
I’ve had D7s for a good few years and like them a lot. Perhaps the comments about better kit ring true. I upgraded from 250 to 300 and xps to 555 with 272 streamer and really noticed each improvement. Guess you get what you pay for. Never tried the A7 so can’t comment on that, but if you get a hairs on back of the neck then go for it. Only your ears can decide.
Hi @Hollow, If I remember correctly you initially ran a pair of A4’s with a Nova and then changed to A7’s. Which speaker did you prefer and felt best matched the Nova ?
correct, I think the A4’s are better suited for the Nova and in many ways I should have stayed there! They’re a great speaker and perhaps the sweet spot in the A range. The A7’s are very good but perhaps too good and somewhat showed up the weaknesses of the Nova
