Mitch2,
i owned the Spendor SP-100 for over 15 years and used it with a variety of amps ranging from Classe CA-300 (300 watts per channel) at one extreme to a single ended 46 tube amp (1 watt) at the other extreme, with lots of other tube amps in between. They all sounded good (although the 1w amp clearly had its limits). Based on my experience, with some occasional loud volumes, I would say the Spendors sound their best with a high-quality push-pull tube amp of 35-50 watts per channel. The sensitivity rating of 90db only tells part of the story, however. The SP-100 also has a rather flat impedance and is easy to drive.
My comments are limited to the SP-100, not the R or R2 models which are different speakers.
I considered the Harbeth 40.2 when I was in the market for a new speaker. Although I wasn’t able to compare them directly, I am pretty confident the Harbeth would have a similar tonal balance with slightly better detail. The Harbeth is not as easy a load as the SP-100 though and many people feel it needs a powerful solid state amp.
i owned the Spendor SP-100 for over 15 years and used it with a variety of amps ranging from Classe CA-300 (300 watts per channel) at one extreme to a single ended 46 tube amp (1 watt) at the other extreme, with lots of other tube amps in between. They all sounded good (although the 1w amp clearly had its limits). Based on my experience, with some occasional loud volumes, I would say the Spendors sound their best with a high-quality push-pull tube amp of 35-50 watts per channel. The sensitivity rating of 90db only tells part of the story, however. The SP-100 also has a rather flat impedance and is easy to drive.
My comments are limited to the SP-100, not the R or R2 models which are different speakers.
I considered the Harbeth 40.2 when I was in the market for a new speaker. Although I wasn’t able to compare them directly, I am pretty confident the Harbeth would have a similar tonal balance with slightly better detail. The Harbeth is not as easy a load as the SP-100 though and many people feel it needs a powerful solid state amp.