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Replacing Vintage Spendors is not as easy as I thought

I have a pair of 1989 era Spendor SP1 s and was thinking of updating them as I have heard of the vastly improved technology and materials used by current speaker manufacturers.  So off I have been listening to new speakers, many of which come advertised as natural sounding, or neutral etc. My search has been a bit constrained by my Leben tube amp which is a modest 32 watts. I have heard Harbeth, Aerial Acoustic, Devore, new Spendors, Totem and a few other brands all of which lack the natural vocal qualities of my SP1s.  Some are more dynamic but at the expense of more fatiguing treble.  I have limited my search to the 5000-7500 range but am coming up empty handed.  I am sure if I was ready to spend 15,000 +  I could find a good upgrade, but college tuitions preclude such an expenditure.  Anyone out there with any suggestions?
Thanks
MP
rivinyl

Showing 2 responses by larryi

larryi
4,189 posts
 
I like the Harbeth's too, and they certainly do have some similarity in sound to Spendor vintage speakers.  For me, the slight hardness/sibilance in the upper midrange/treble region in all of their speakers, except the 40.2's, is a little bit of an issue, but, this adds a little bit of zip and liveliness to the sound so that might be a plus to someone else.  I feel the same way about Tannoy speakers--just a bit too much hardness.  That is why I prefer ProAc and Audio Note.

I on't know what are the current prices on Shahinian speakers, but that is another line that is easy to listen to and is not excessively bright.
larryi
4,189 posts
 
I would be auditioning Audio Note speakers--I have never heard of anyone complaining about too much treble response with their speakers and they are quite easy to drive so they work with a wide variety of amplifiers (by the way, what amps would you be using with your new speakers?  It helps with making recommendations).

Someone who is a fan of old Spendors would also probably like ProAc speakers.  I am particularly fond of their stand-mounted D2 speaker, and their floor-standing speakers with ribbon tweeters (they are more successful at blending ribbons with other drivers than most speaker companies that try to do this trick).
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