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

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.

@wqgq_641 

I have the D7.2 and they might surprise you with your Rega Elex amp.  They are quite a bit more efficient than the A4.  I drove them with a tube amp for a while and they were spectacular. 

Great for piano and drums.