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SUT's -Looking for one with some meat on the bones

I have Spendor D-7 speakers, with all tubes in my system.  The Spendor's are a little threadbare in the upper mids thru the lower highs in my listening room and I was trying to find a SUT with a little meat on the bones.  My wife runs from the room when I try to spin any LP's.  

  I am using a VPI Classic 3 Signature with a HANA SL cartridge.  I bought the Spendor's solely based on internet reviews, but am beginning to wish I had not.  I have never really cottoned to digital music and these speakers seem to go after that type of sound.   I am a lover of British speakers since the 70's, but these have zero relationship to what made me a fan of the UK sound.  

  Not trying to find a fat bloated sound, but very much miss the sweetness of acoustic instrument, string and vocals.  I may be suffering from oldtimers disease.  Analytical modern sound is not my idea of musical enjoyment I am afraid.
  
mckinneymike
three_easy_payments's avatar
three_easy_payments
2,097 posts
 
I have D7s as well and run all tubes in my front end through a Pass XA30.8.  I too am currently using a Hana SL   I have a Zesto Allassa SUT that I'm really happy with in that it provides fantastic flexibility and doesn't alter the sound at all to my ears.  I'm not sure the SUT is your solution unless you think your phono signal is being altered somewhere? 

How long have you had the D7s?  They take quite a while to run in and I don't think the higher frequencies really rounded out until I put over 200 hrs on them.  I never noticed a difference in the character of the speakers between digital and analog sources.  What phono pre are you using? I have a Herron VTPH-2A and couldn't be happier with the overall synergy.
tomwh
150 posts
 
Was just a thread on SUT's.  Loading and matching where somewhat discussed.  Also a link which is very informative.  

That being said get a Denon 103 not the 103 r.  It is cheap and is very full bodied.  Talk to Dave at intact audio.  He can wind anything.  Most people only know and care about Hi Fi.  Sounds like you want the beauty of what real music contains.

Enjoy the ride
Tom




agrippa
160 posts
 
While I’ve never heard the D7s specifically I’ve heard a good few Spendor models, but never one with "threadbare" upper mids and lower highs or lacking meat on the bones, as this is where Spendor generally really shines.

I’m very tempted to blame the room acoustics rather than the speakers if such is the case, in which case a SUT will do nada unless you use it to provoke just the bloated sound you don’t want.
mckinneymike OP
88 posts
 
I have owned many fine speakers since the 1970's and sold high end audio until the early 2000's.  There has been a seismic shift towards analytical sound in the effort to chase details in my mind since that time.  I have a nice digital frontend, but it is only for background listening as I still far and away prefer my analog rig to relax and enjoy my music.
 
There is no doubt my room is a weak link in my system, but in 30 years listening in this very room, I have never experienced this type of tipped up sound.  It is not a small room measuring 16 by 24 with 10' ceilings, with a fair amount of soft, somewhat plush furnishings.  These speakers were so hyped I thought it would be an obvious fit as I have always enjoyed many different British speakers.
  
  The most logical fix is to replace the speakers, but in this day and age that is less easy as we have fewer and fewer quality B&M operations.

  Looking for a band aid that probably doesn't exist in this case. 
  
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