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Which Sugden for my Spendors?

Having recently acquired a pair of brand new Spendor SP 1/2R speakers (they've been discontinued, replaced by SP 1/2R2) and having now fallen in love with the BBC monitor sound, I am now searching for a suitable partnering amp.

I found the Jeff Rowland Continuum 500 to be a bit too polite for my taste, while the Naim SuperNait was a bit too lightweight. After a bit of research, I'm now wondering if a Sugden Class A amp would fit the bill, especially since I heard the speakers driven by the A 21 series 2 when I bought them.

My question is this - is it worth the extra $ going up to the A 21 SE or even the Masterclass IA4 integrated (neither of which I have heard yet)? Or would the A21 series 2 be sufficient? How different is the SE from the base A 21 s 2 model?

Listening of every musical genre (except rap and hip-hop) is in an average-sized room that's about 12 x 15 feet and is done at lowish volume. Sources are Cambridge Audio StreamMagic 6 music streamer and 851 CD player.

Because I don't listen at loud volume, I'm looking for fine detail but with a bit of welly to give body to the music.

Any suggestions/feedback would be welcomed with much gratitude. Thanks in advance.
classact
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classact OP
36 posts
 
Chayro and Mlsstl - thanks for your suggestions, you've given me food for thought. Certainly lowering the stands might work; as for a tube amp - I'll try to get a Leben on loan from a dealer I know.

Cheers guys!
chayro
2,984 posts
 
Sounds to me like you're looking for something to give you a bit more fullness at low volume. That's a common thing for apartment-dwellers, who can't (and don't want to) turn up the volume. In my room, I've found that a rear-ported speaker seems to load the room a little better, but that's not going to do you much good, as the Spendors are front-ported, I believe. I might suggest two things - as you seem to like Cambridge, perhaps one of their better integrateds with tone controls. Not the purist way to be sure, but a little bass boost can go a long way. My friend uses Harbeths with a Leben amp and it's bass lift works wonders. The other option, also not exactly purist, is to lower the speaker height, either on a conventional stand, such as the 18" Lovan Jazz, or one of the Mapleshade stands. You can try your speakers on the floor tilted back to see how that works out before investing in stands. The Mapleshade Gibraltar looks really interesting, albeit expensive. Unfortunately, speakers are at the mercy of the room and sometimes it's just pure luck to find a speaker that clicks with the room to give us the sound we want. Good luck.
mlsstl
1,436 posts
 
Don't know if tubes are in your playbook, but I have a pair of Spendor SP1/2Es and use an Image Audio 65i amp. It has KT88 outputs (and can also use 6550s) and makes for a perfect match in my book.
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