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Upgrade Spendor A4 to D7.2?

My wife has suggested I upgrade our Spendor A4s to D7.2s. The last time anyone asked about Spendor A-line vs D-line in this forum was in 2019 before the 7.2's came out. We like the sound of the Rega/Spendor combination and want to stick with that 'British' sound.

The two instruments I'm looking for improvement in, are drums and piano. Drums sound kind of flat from the A4s despite Keith Moon's efforts to drive them hard. Although I suspect part of that might be my budget amp: Rega Elex-R.

There is nothing more I can do with the room (the rest of the details are on my virtual system) as it is the room we live in and my wife puts decor first.

My question is, what are your favourite test tracks for listening to drums - other than Keith Moon's drumming for The Who and the drum solo on Deep Purple's Made in Japan?

Also, what are the best test tracks for piano when evaluating speakers? I have multiple records by Keith Jarrett and own a parlour grand. I can hear the shortfall from the speakers but I want more than just Keith Jarrett for the comparison

I'm looking for tracks I can get to know well before heading to the dealer for an A/B comparison.

Thanks!!

 

wqgq_641
russ69's avatar
russ69
3,360 posts
 

I'm not sure you are going to get there with the Rega but the loudspeaker upgrade is worthwhile. I would do that then add a subwoofer and see if that gets what you want.

kren0006
1,859 posts
 

If you want to really improve and stick with British gear, do the Spendor D7.2 with Cambridge Edge. I run D7 with Edge NQ and Edge W and it is fantastic, but you could do Edge A for less $ and single chassis.

 

I looked at Rega Elex and Spendor A2 for another system but was concerned the Rega would be powerful enough, as the A2 has low 85db sensitivity if I recall 

wqgq_641 OP
56 posts
 

Thanks Kren0006, I'll look into the Cambridge Edge or save up for a Rega Aura

donquichotte
113 posts
 

Drums and bass: Vital Techtones - Drums Stop No Good. Also you could find Dead Can Dance - Yulunga (from the album Into the Labyrinth) interesting (with deep tympani, maracas etc.).

Piano other than Jarrett: a lot of options, really. For example; John O'Conor - Haydn: Sonatas, track 3 (sonata no. 47, third part) (a bit colored, but good for assessing the bass - lower treble balance, among other things). Another, better, recording I really like is Jean-Yves Thibaudet - Carte Blanche.

I found the last one on Qobuz, the others on Tidal.

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