Which to keep! Pick one of these two soeakers


Sorry about the typo in the title, I have two sets of speakers and I need to sell one. Of these two, which would you keep or which would you be more likely to consider a better choice? I’ve been running the Spendors for a while and they are very good, very transparent and I’d say their weakness is that they lack low end but I run a sub so it hasn’t been an issue. I just got the ML Ascent’s in a bundle buy of equipment and I’m really liking the looks of them in my space but I am still sure about how flat they are sonically or if they are as good as my Spendors. I’m having a hard time deciding.

1. Spendor S100 circa 1970’s

2. Martin Logan Ascent w/ new ESL panels

128x128cabkab

Whatever you do, keep the S100s because you won't realize just how good they were until they're gone. Many of us would give a limb for those. MLs might impress short term but will simply fall short in the overall musical satisfaction category. Btw, these are a speaker that both sound great and measure just as well. But if you sell them, I'll buy them!

@loomisjohnson my spendors are below 1000 serial number and are probably pretty old. I'm not sure how many they made in the 70s/80s but it would not suprise me if they are pre-1990. I wonder if I rebuild the crossovers if they might sound a lot better on the lower register. It's possible that the crossovers are out of spec and not pushing enough low frequency down to the subs.

@cabkab perhaps you can post a photo of your spendors--according to the reviews i read the s100 model was made from 1989-1994 (there was an sp100 model thereafter. in any case, i've heard it and it's vg--i'd try tinkering with the levels on your sub before i hacked into the crossovers on the spendors.

It’s true. You really shouldn’t ask others what speakers you should keep. As with all things high end audio, and especially with speakers, it’s strictly a personal choice as to what's most pleasing to your own ears. You must simply listen, listen, listen, and keep listening until you figure it out on your own.  No matter how much time and patience is required, it's the only way.