The New Spendor Classic 1/2

I heard the classic 1/2 today.  Midrange is redicoulusly magic. Best I've ever heard.

Since someone just mentioned this thread... still nobody around here has heard the Classic 1/2?

^ Why not stay within the Spendor line? I think their widespread press coverage and Alan Shaw's content marketing strategy leads many to assume Harbeths are the better speakers. My auditions led me to the opposite conclusion.

I've owned my Spendor S100's for 28 yrs(!).  IF I ever need to make a change, I've always believed the Harbeth 40.1's would be my next 'great ones'!

Regarding the published frequency specs of the new models, Spendor has simply adopted the tactic of other manufacturers by publishing the audible limits instead of the anechoic chamber specs as they did in the past. The SP1/2R2 model also has useful bass in the 30Hz range. I imagine they realized they were losing sales because many don’t understand the meaning of "anechoic."

The SP100s are 3-way but they still retain the midrange magic and tone for which Spendor is known. If I had the means, I think I’d probably risk trading my SP2/3R2s for the new 1/2 without an audition. It looks as though they simply scaled down the Classic 100s to create the new 1/2.

I think the biggest difference will result from the cone material, which they borrowed from the D series. I think this accounts for the increase in sensitivity, which probably results in faster transients. It’s a similar material to that used in the Stirling Broadcast LS3/6, a very agile speaker.

I've also been a long time Spendor owner having started with 3/1, then 7/1, and finally 1/2e. I had my first pair of 1/2e for 6 years and then just recently repurchased a set. I see the new version has some significant changes to it and while I haven't heard it I would be surprised if it had the same magic as the originals. Part of what made the original a special design was that the main driver went up to 3k Hz before crossing over to a tweeter (letting it account for the bass, mids, and some of the highs), and then crossing over to what amounted to a super tweeter at 13k Hz. The new version seems to follow a more traditional bass, mid, tweeter design with crossover points of 600 Hz and 4k Hz.

The new design also has a frequency response of 30 Hz - 25k Hz which leads me to believe these designs and most likely the sound are more different than the same. FWIW I never purchased my 1/2e for the bass, it was always about those magical mids that were only bested in my system by my Quad 57 and Music Reference ESLs. In my opinion the 1/2e will always be one of the true Spendor "Classics"