The B&Ws don’t connect with me at all, so my money’d be on the Spendors that by all accounts are excellent. From my own experience having compared Joseph Audio speakers directly to B&W the JAs are better on all fronts and sound more like real music. FWIW.
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Thanks for your feedback, soix! |
+1 for the Spendors. I heard the D7s and they sounded musical. I did hear some rock music on the smaller Spendors and they rocked. No doubt the updated bigger brother (D9.2) will take it to the next level of scale and dynamics. But make sure that you have enough room for these speakers to breath. What is your room size?
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I appreciate the feedback @milpai. My room is 26x13 with a vaulted ceiling that goes from 8’ to 9’ to 4’ behind my listening couch. My speakers are 9’ apart and my listening position is 9’ away. There are a pair of D7’s listed in Houston and might be able to audition. I thought the D9’s would be a better fit but know the D7’s are highly regarded. |
You are welcome @bfoura. Just make sure that you have at least 36" behind the speakers. With your room, you can easily do 60" behind the speakers and 36" to the sides. This would give you the most transparent sound and the bass will not overpower the room. The imaging would also be great, such that you can hear music beyond the speaker boundaries. The D7s are great. But the sense of scale and weight of the 9 series would be on a completely different plane. If your room and budget can accommodate it, then I encourage you to go with the bigger speaker.
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More imaging and a bit more bass would be nice! The 803’s produce respectable bass but not like the sub power GE Triton 1’s or my Cornwall’s with 15” woofer. The Corns produce the best bass of all the speakers I’ve owned. I’ll play around with placement on the 803’s to see if I can increase imaging. But looking forward to demoing the D9.2’s. |
I was able to demo the Spendor D9.2’s and they were impressive. I get the faster transient thing with this particular speaker. I think they would work well for what I’m seeking right now in my audiophile journey. However, the owner was powering them with Boulder amp and preamp, along with some exotic silversmith speakers wire. Is that a fair demo? My system as noted above is nice but no where near the Boulder level components. Will I be disappointed if I get them in my system? |
Personally, I think that is one the strengths of the D7/D9 in that they don't require beastly amplifiers to really boogie or sound-good. Since they are decently resolving ( some even say harsh, hot, etc... :) ) matching them properly is good advice but then that holds pretty generally with most speaker changes anyways. I replaced Magico S1s with D9s and kept the same preamp/amp combo (Sim 740p/Pass 250.8) with them for years mostly because I just really loved the sound. After realizing I could not get my 250.8 to leave class A bias at my listening levels with the D9s, I have swapped the 250.8 for a cheaper XA30.8 (30w class A) and that also sounds amazing with the D9s too in my opinion. I've also tried a Bryston 4B3 and Benchmark AHB2 with the D9s in my home and could have lived with either of them too..., but so far the Pass sound with the D9s are my favorite.
Cheers |
I had the XA 30.5 which I really liked but it did produce heat in my already warm upstairs room and did not pair well with my Audible Illusions line stage. Always got a hum with those two. No issues like that with the Levinson. Thanks for the feed back @ |
I will echo some of the points here as well.
I did some serial box swapping and speaker testing (below and above my budget) and settled on the following (my room is very similar sized to your yours):
Linn Akurate streamer, Rega TT, Parasound JC3+ phono stage, Pass Labs XP20 pre and Pass Labs XA30.8 Class A amp powering Spender D9 speakers. Super happy finally… |
@photomax that’s a nice system. The XA30.8 has plenty of power for the Spendor’s? |
Totally.
The previous amp I tried was a Bryston 4BSST2 which was a great party amp with tons of power. But at lower volumes it had a brightness that I did not like. The Pass XA30.8 was about the fifth amp I tried and was an instant “this will work” match for the D9s.
I love this system… |
So, would you say the Spendor’s are more particular about amp matching than other speakers? |
I don’t think so?
This is my second system. In a remote area where I had concerns about reliable Internet. I added a turntable station as a result. Quite enjoy the sound. But some digital streaming (started with SONOS) sounded “bright” to me when compare to playing records. A familiar rabbit hole for many. My system then was all Rega including the speakers. I took my time, tried different things and landed up where I am. I enjoy vinyl and streaming now. I would say the Pass Labs and Spendors give a full range sound with a solid sound stage and great detail without unwanted brightness. The combination is rich without being overly warm “pipe and slippers” if you know what I mean. The amp has a little warmth to it but there are no major “hot radiator”concerns, but I live in moderate Washington state. I also liked the smaller Spendor D7 speakers but the D9s had something extra that I knew would work in my larger room.
My main system is very different: all Akurate Exakt Linn system which sounds amazing. Some might find it clinical? But I enjoy the extra bandwidth of some of the higher resolution albums that I stream from Qobuz. |
the Spendors love a class A or an ultra smooth amp like the OPs Levinson. They do not sound their best with a neutral or slightly forward presentstion.
They do like power too, their special subwoofer-not-required bass comes from their unique transmission line bottom flared port. Best bass sounding bass I have heard in a passive speaker.
The D7.2 /9.2 are truly jack of all trades speakers. The speed and dynamics of a horn speaker with none of the drawbacks.
My only misgiving with the D7 when I owned them was an occasional too far forwardness on certain recordings. In hindsight a very minor offense considering their positives. I should have kept them.
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My D9s came in the premium limited edition Ebony finish. They look amazing. Quite a narrow speaker but very tall. The footprint on the floor is smaller than many of the wide speakers though. My preference.
If you buy them new your Spendors will take some time to settle in and sound their best… |
@avanti1960 nice to hear that you think the D9’s would match well with my Levinson. It does offer plenty of power. When I heard them, they were placed close to 8’ from the back wall which had room treatments. They weren’t also spread very far apart. The owner told me he took no time to place them and pointed out they were partially on the rug and hardwood floor and they still sounded great. I’ve got someone interested in my B&W’s so maybe I’ll make a move on the D9’s soon. |
Any feedback on speaker wire on the D9.2’s? A pair of Silversmith ribbon wires were connected to them during demo. Are the Spendor’s kind of benign to speaker cables? |
