Thoughts and experiences on the Spendor SP100 R2

s8e is a nice speaker, top to bottom... but it has a rather recessed midrange that is the anthesis of what i feel makes spendor’s classic line of speakers so darned special

on its own the s8e is very listenable, until you compare it to sp1 or sp1/2e with subs, for instance...

@donquichotte

i have not heard the sp2/3 r2, but historically, the sp2 line was a true two way (with a single tweeter) and counterintuitively, this model was known to have most midrange and midbass warmth of all the 3 founding models (s100 the big brother, sp1 the middle brother, and sp2 the little brother), despite the bass extension to the lowest octave was most limited (almost non existent) - the cost of this warmth was a loss of transparency and tactility through the treble and mids, although the midrange still sounds quite ’beautiful’

the bc1/sp1 was the founding model, with the best midrange magic, very good treble, and decent/passable bass, tremendous overall transparency

the s100 gave you almost as good midrange magic, terrific transparency and coherence, but even more extended highs and significantly deeper weightier fuller bass -- and, very importantly, the biggest soundstage

over time i am sure the revisions to the sp2 series, leading to the r2 designation, gave it (and all their revised speakers) more treble energy and touch more bass speed, but overall, these speakers still all have a more ’rolling’ or ’enveloping’ nature of bass energy, rather than ’pounding/slammy’ bass... this applies to the big bro s100 as well, although once again, each revision improves the slam marginally

(side note - this is why spendor launched the a and d series of floor standing ’modern sound’ speakers... with greater overt transparency, speed and slam - the two lines are as differentiated in style of sound as they are in their appearance)

all this is all a long way of saying, i think the sp2 series is most compromised in terms of the legendary spendor magic top to bottom transparency and coherence, and has the smallest soundstage, so my suggestion to you would be to get a sp1/2 series speaker and couple THAT with good subs for the best sound with the more slammy bass you seek -- or -- just go for d7 or d9’s if you don’t losing a little midrange magic and timbral accuracy for modern hifi traits in the highs and lows

sorry for the meander... hope this helps nonetheless

the spendor sp100 is the ONLY speaker i ever regretted selling, and i have been at this pursuit since the early 80’s - if the price of this pair of r2’s is anywhere near reasonable, you would be well served to buy them and enjoy them (these almost never appear used) - these are not headbanger speakers - but for any acoustic, vocal, orchestral, pop or jazz music they are among the very best ever - for the balance of all traits valued by music lovers - clarity, tonality/timbre, rhythm, top to bottom coherence, full range response, midrange tactility and warmth, detail presented in a natural way - there have been various reviews over time by the leading reviewers touting their excellence, just search online and you will find

you do need proper stands and a room large enough to run these speakers well away from room boundaries or the bass response may overwhelm

other great thing about the big spendor is their (relatively) high efficiency and benign load, so reasonable powered, lovely tube amps can do the job

it is true what @twoleftears says... the successive revisions of the spendor sp series (now called ’classic’) from inception to present have led to a gradual, subtle treble lift and some damping of the bass - highly analogous to what harbeth has been doing with its speakers in .2 and .3 and ’anniversary’ and now their heavily marketed xd versions... basic character of the speaker is the same (no one will ever mistake these for a focal kanta, magico a3 or wilson sabrina and their sizzly, hyper hifi nature) but the sound is being ’modernized’ at the margins for more perceived clarity and speed and absolutely volume capability