You probably know that at Lyric Hifi we are very careful about what we stock. This is because we don't want any products in here that we can't whole heartedly recommend so the addition of a new range of loudspeakers is an event. When times are more normal we might even run some events to introduce them, and hopefully we will soon.
Spendor have been around a long time. They came out of the golden age of the BBC engineers in the 60s/70s when they collaborated with local hifi companies. Rogers, Harbeth, Kef, Chartwell and Spendor all had BBC history.
Spendor was founded by SPENcer Hughes and his wife DORothy and their first famous speaker was the BC1 which we were still selling a version of in the 1980s! This had a silky smooth detailed vocal and the only fault it had was a nice one, a slight bloom in the bass.
The company was also famous for the quality of it's cabinet finish with beautiful veneers and that hasn't changed. They have beautiful walnut, oak, black and white finishes across the range.
So when looking at adding to our range how did we make this decision?
Just now the Kef range of loudspeakers is extremely strong, with many award winning models showcasing the latest development of their Uni-Q technology which is a wonderful technical advantage. That doesn't mean that they are for everyone however.
There are manufacturers around that seem to specialise in forward sounding, detailed sounding presentation accompanied by a ported bass bloom to give the effect of bass that they don't actually have. They boast of their achievements and knowledge without any facts to back it up, just marketing-speak. Some of these, and you can probably guess the names, I believe are truly awful and destroy the music by turning it into a 'hifi sound'.
Spendor doesn't do that, it is a window to the music. I first heard the latest range pre-covid and was really impressed with how natural and unforced they sounded on a range of music, so what are the best models and what do they cost?
The A'Line range is the most popular starting from a bookshelf speaker at £1300, the A1, then to a small floorstanding A2 at £ 1800, A4 at £ 2500 and A7 at £ 3500. These are all 2 way designs and the floor standers are very clever at giving a big open sound from small cabinets. At first glance it may look like you have small cabinets for the prices however small cabinets are a huge advantage in many rooms as long as you still have a broad sound.
Above that the D-Line features 3 way designs, D7.2 at £4700 and the D9.2 at £ 8090
There is also a Classic range with the recreation of bygone looks running from £ 1600 to £20,000 but that's a story for another day!
Prices and pics appearing in our catalogue soon, A1, A2, A4, A7 and D7.2 are all on demonstration now!
