Speaker Asylum: REVIEW: Spendor SP 9/1 Speakers by GEO

Let me begin by saying that this speaker is no longer in production and has essentially been replaced by the FL-10. I have not had the pleasure of hearing the FL-10 so I can not make an honest comparison. I can say however that this speaker was Spendor's statement speaker with respect to its classic line of speakers (SP 100, 2/3, 1/2 and the like). The FL-10 an others in that line are a different breed.

The SP 9/1 is a captivating loudspeaker. I have owned this speaker for over a year and the speaker's ability to draw the listener into the music still amazes me. The nice thing about this speaker is that it just plays music the right way. It is difficult to think about the speaker in terms of how it soundstages or how it images because you are drawn into the performance. The notes sound right and the groups sound like musicians playing together. The spekaer is very coherent and has an organic sound. It isn't the clearest speaker I have heard nor does it have the best bottom end. (sometimes a reflection of the associate electroncs). What it does do is make you forget that you are listening to a bunch of electronics reproducing a recording. It puts you right there with the musicians not in terms of the sound of the instruments but it puts you there emotionally when the group is locked in. Your foot taps and your head bobs and you don't even realize that it is happening. It sneaks up on you and draws you in.

If I had to break the speaker down I would say that the top of the speaker is very smooth and effortless. It is not the most extended speaker up top that I have heard but the rendering of high frequency information seems to be true. The shimmer of cymbals and the leading edge of strings sounds the way it is supposed to sound. The attack is right and it never lends itself to being aggressive.

The midrange is fantastic. Vocals and strings in particular are very pure sounding and this combined with the smooth top cause the speaker to be fatigue free.

The bottom of the speaker is probably average. With a 50 watt tube push-pull (Graaf 50/50 quite nice) the bottom was never an issue the articulation was always very good although the speaker only goes down to a very good 40 HZ. With my Unison Reaseach Smart 845s set at 0 negative feedback the bottom was just off enough to bother me at times and cause me to consider making a change. This was always a tough call because the speaker does so much right. I have considered Merlins or a horn (for a low poer application). I have since tweaked my amp by adding 3 db of NFB and I changed the coupling caps to exotica teflons. The difference is stagerring. That last bit of articulation is there and I can't imagine having any other dynamic loudspeaker. I still may do a horn if I ever go with a 2A3 of SE or PP 45. I have heard my speakers with a pair of Fi 300B monos (thanks to Chrisp) and those amps work on these speakers (I only listen at moderate volumes in a 13x22 room). For those interested, these speaker do need some help on the bottom because the bass driver is huge and heavy with quite a bit of dampeing material on the cone.

All in all, this is a very very satisfying speaker and one that probably should be considered a classic. I listened to tons of speakers before I bought the SP 9/1 (without listening to it) because I really did not hearing anything else the I fell in love with. I did talk to many many people about the SP 9/1 and they all said basically the same thing. That it is a great speaker the competes with things twice as expensive and it is a joy to listen to. I took a chance and it paid off.

REVIEW: Spendor SP 9/1 Speakers Review by GEO at Audio Asylum