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Compare/Contrast Spendor Classic vs. Harbeth speakers

I'm in the market to replace a 20+ year old pair of ProAc Response 1.5 floorstanders. I intend to go with monitors due to not wanting to deal with the weight/s of floorstanding speakers these days.

 

I have auditioned at a dealer the Dynaudio Contour 20i and Heritage Specials. Good sounding speakers: dynamic, good soundstage and imaging, and detailed. I could certainly live with the Dynaudios, but I'm keeping my options open right now.

Next up was Harbeth 30.2XD and Harbeth C7ES3 XD. The Harbeths have the midrange magic in spades, slightly less dynamic, and imaged well. The 30.2s ran out of bottom end what seemed like the 55-60Hz range. I want a bit more meat on the bones in the lower frequencies, at least down to 40-ish Hz with the mix of music I routinely listen to. The dealer did not have the SHL5 speakers available for demo, but may be too large for my 10x16 (speakers on long wall) space.

I am interested in hearing from members that have owned both Harbeth and Spendor Classic speakers. Unfortunately, the nearest Spendor dealer is over 3 hours away. I'm interested in the 2/3, 3/1, maybe 1/2 which might be large for my space. The speakers would be 2 to 2-1/2' from front wall, listening chair 7-8' from speakers against opposite wall. The room is treated, but not overly damped.

Any feedback from members that have owned both speaker brands would be appreciated. Thank you.

hedgehog

Showing 1 response by twoleftears

twoleftears's avatar
twoleftears
5,322 posts
 

I've heard the 40.2 (dealer, show, own system) and the Classic 100.  I liked them both very much, just giving the nod to the Harbeth, but it was close.  The Classic 100 was in a very different room/system, and sounded a tad more forceful/energetic/muscular, but much more similar than different.  Over various iterations both Harbeth and Spendor Classic have been edging gradually towards a slightly more "modern" (i.e. less mellow) sound.  Both are very much worth auditioning, as is Graham, which is even more difficult to hear in the large tracts of the US.  Given the current pricing of Harbeths in the US, and the slight changes made to the XD, my recommendation is to look at gently used pairs going back one or two generations, as discussed in another recent thread.

 

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