Spendor SP1 Review

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Ditton Works

Күн бұрын

Пікірлер: 83

@Evolved_ue7 9 ай бұрын

That brought back memories 😂

@Tampo-tiger Жыл бұрын

What a great bloke, and a lovely clear, information-packed review. The whole picture is way clearer now.

@christopherward5065 2 жыл бұрын

Intriguing. It really unpacked that mix and brought out the performances of the musicians. Perhaps packing the port with straws would be a worthwhile experiment.

@Belcanto401 2 жыл бұрын

I concur with your remark on having Spendor pair with valve amps in the current digital era. I enjoy the convenience of using Roon when I listen to music therefore I am currently driving my BC1 with a valve amp. The combination enables BC1 to deliver its strength - glorious mid range and high extension without the digital “glare” (BC1 being a studio monitor is very revealing of its front end). Even though the sensitivity of BC1 is 86dB, the speaker’s nominal impedance is actually around 9 ohms which enables the speakers to be driven by a low wattage valve amp. My single ended triode valve amp only outputs 8 watts but it has more than enough power to drive BC1 in my living room (12 ft x 24 ft)

@chrisguygeezer Жыл бұрын

I went from Kef 104's to SP 1's. Great improvement. Then I went to Spendor S100's, which are Derek Hughes's first complete self designs. The 100's are just leagues better than the SP1's, nice that those were. I still run the S100's, as they still give me more, when anything else within my hi-fi chain is upgraded.

@johncarolan6908 2 жыл бұрын

Kevin, you are a wealth of information. What a great review. I look forward to watching more reviews from you. Thank you so much. Keep up the excellent work.

@dittonworks 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks.. great to meet you today

@MichaelYates 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks Kevin, excellent review and the speakers sounding really nice this end. Them school days wheeling out the TV brought back some memories oh and the half pint of milk.

@dittonworks 2 жыл бұрын

Cheers Michael

@Radfordperson 8 ай бұрын

Third of a pint in my day!

@MichaelYates 8 ай бұрын

@@Radfordperson Ahh your are correct, mine was to

@rangersmith4652 Жыл бұрын

I bought a consecutively numbered pair of SP1s (one port on the left, one on the right, like these) in about 1991/2. I still use them today, usually with foam stopping the ports, effectively sealing the units. To me they don't sound at all out of place driven by a solid state amp and playing digital source material. Since new I've played them mostly with an Adcom 545 and 565 fed by an NAD 5000 CD player with very good results -- as long as the room is rather soft and the SPL is kept reasonable. They are quite revealing of any harshness or too-present brightness in digital recordings. And though purists might never do it, they're also quite nicely paired with a sealed box subwoofer. That said, I'd love to try them with a decent tube amp.

@doctorrobin3040 2 жыл бұрын

I have just restored my Rogers Studio 1's. The digital resolution and enjoyment is high. I understand just what you are saying. Thanks from tropical Australia.

@JumbleTasteSpinning 2 жыл бұрын

what a nice room you've got there! very impressive! and amazing sound from yor beautiful setup... what a joy.

@kyleseifert3892 2 жыл бұрын

Listening to a pair right now. They are extremely good at what they do, certainly have a steady spot in my collection! Folk and Spanish guitar? Unmatched. Spencer’s last design.

@nicksundby 2 жыл бұрын

Just discovered you, great quality of information and clarity of presentation. Sub'd!

@dittonworks 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks 😊

@scottdavis0801 3 ай бұрын

Sounds great on this end! I just bought Spendor s20 coming soon?

@klaushaunstrupchristensen7252 2 жыл бұрын

Lovely sound. I think Spendors of first Spencer Hughes and later Derek Hughes are designed to have their woofer at this height. The floor box designs Sp 7/1 which was a luxury Sp 2 on steroids, did have the woofer/midrange at approximately this height and combined it with a slight rearward tilt to direct the sound towards the listener. I believe the claimed advantage would or could be that it makes it easier to keep the driver at a substantial different distance from the three nearby room boundaries. It is to often seen that loudspeakers are positioned where the bass drive is say 80 centimeters from floor, 80 side wall and 80 centimeters from the wall behind the speakers. This will as Roy Allison showed in the 1970’s give a monumental dip in the lower midrange room response. As an illustration of how bad this can turn out one just have to look at the measurements (room response) taken in Stereophile of Art Dudley’s Audio Note E. I think the Spencer and Derek knew what they were doing when they designed the speakers and trolley.

@mikeyb6639 2 жыл бұрын

My brother owns a set of these and they do sound great but I would agree with you totally There not as balanced across the board of music but with the right piece of music they can sound wonderful. Love your reviews. Cant wait to show bro your review and your information on the history of them. 👍🏻 Realy appreciate the time you put in to bring this information to us. Thanks Again. 😁👍🏻

@hoobsgroove 2 жыл бұрын

you could try some stiff thin card in the port coat it with fibreglass resin, place it in the middle the port about an inch and a half from either end, in the vertical plane attach it with double-sided tape if you don't want it permanent or blu tack.

@davidcarr2216 2 жыл бұрын

A sound to bring a tear to an analoguist's eye

@davidmee7239 2 жыл бұрын

Great sound just from my little Creative computer speakers. Wilton Felder never sounded so good. Had a pair of Mordaunt Short MS400's with the EMI bass/midrange and Coles super tweeter. One of the Coles gave up working after a while and could never get a replacement at that time. I recall the speakers sounded a bit hollow/harsh at higher volumes.

@shaunyweavey2470 2 жыл бұрын

Modern tech seems to make some vintage speakers shine .

@hocheye 8 ай бұрын

Many modern loudspeakers have elevated midrange and top end! This sounds fantastic at initial listening, but ends in listener fatigue over time. Many go up for sale.

@chriswright5016 2 жыл бұрын

Great review mate. I think the BC1's had a "foam ring" in the port. Love the sound of these. They represent a wonderful era of home listening. That sound never goes out of style for me. Not the most resolving of speakers, but the voicing is just glorious.

@dittonworks 2 жыл бұрын

You’re correct Chris, they had foam in the ports on BC1 and SP2 and SP2/2. Still not checked if these should have or not lol

@patrickorourke8468 Жыл бұрын

Great informative review thank you! I would be interested in your thoughts on the suitability of pairing these with a modern hybrid integrated amplifier such as Dayton which uses tubes in the pre amp and solid state in the amp? I know that I can otherwise find a restored receiver from the 80s at a similar cost but would not have the convenience of integrated streaming over Bluetooth. Perhaps those are 2 separate questions 1) are these going to sound good if using mp3 or cd as primary source? 2) any thoughts on buying a modern hybrid receiver over a restored vintage receiver if I am planning on streaming? sadly I lost my vynil collection many years ago… thanks again!

@dittonworks Жыл бұрын

These were used on fairly modern equipment. They’ll sound fine with your equipment I’m sure

@martindevon3204 2 жыл бұрын

Nice. Nearly impulse bought them a few times

@NosEL34 3 ай бұрын

I dont know if you will see this but I am not familiar with the Spendor sound or speakers...in my home anyway. I have & had plenty of modern speakers, have SS & tube gear & was thinking of grabbing a pair of Spendors locally for cheapish. Between the SP1's & S8e which would be better to try out? I dont expect either to be my daily driver..im just always interested in something different. Both are local, great shape, $700 obo Thanks 👍

@dittonworks 3 ай бұрын

SP1’s are by far the more musical speakers

@NosEL34 3 ай бұрын

@@dittonworks thank you for taking the time to reply & share your opinion 👍

@D1N02 2 жыл бұрын

These look like the B&W DM4's similar driver setup but the DM'4 seem to have more damping and heavier build.

@dittonworks 2 жыл бұрын

B&W copied the design

@D1N02 2 жыл бұрын

@@dittonworks rascals!

@stepheno889 6 ай бұрын

I would say the sp1s are superior in every way, build and sound

@markyruss 2 жыл бұрын

We had them big square ones I think they tanoy, 4K now ha ha

@danilofabbroni3067 Жыл бұрын

HOW THE SPI1 DO COMPARE WITH THE SP9/1?

@user-xp7il2pl2x Жыл бұрын

I have a pair they sound great. Thou I have a question: when I put my ear to the Celestion HF1300 Tweeter I hear nothing. I hear the highs on the Coles tweeter not on the Celestion's on both speakers (maybe my hearing is shot) Is this something to do with the way they sync with each other regarding frequencies. Or are mine not working at all and I can even improve my SP1 even more. If i replace em. ?

@dittonworks Жыл бұрын

The Coles super tweeters are difficult to hear but the Celestion HF 1300’a will be quite obvious. You might have a problem with them.

@user-xp7il2pl2x Жыл бұрын

@@dittonworks Thank you for your reply. Your review is awesome, love those stands. Yes, it has me boggled! As they sound great but the HF1300 seem not be putting anything out. Can i ask if u place your ear on yours do you hear your minimal next to nothing from the HF1300 and very minimal on the Coles? which would be opposite to mine?

@briancampbell7712 9 ай бұрын

@@user-xp7il2pl2x you could remove the connection and hook up to a multi meter to test if they are working properly or are dead...If I heard nothing...I'd probably hunt down a replacement...

@cremersalex 2 жыл бұрын

When you put them on your wooden stands you said they didn't sound right even though you expected them to sound better because the tweeters would be at ear height. How come this wasn't the case? Thanks for another great review!

@dittonworks 2 жыл бұрын

Hi.. I explained in the video that port chuffing became apparent when the SP1 were elevated. The vertical off axis in the HF must be very good as they sounded great even on the low stands

@ammej768 Жыл бұрын

If you bought a pair second hand and assuming they had no crossover or drive unit faults, would they sound as good as 40-50 years ago? Discuss ?

@dittonworks Жыл бұрын

No.. the crossovers and drivers would most likely be out of spec

@ammej768 Жыл бұрын

@Ditton Works yea, I guess the caps would need replacing. The coils should be OK. Are these easy to get. ( I believe Spendor are still around to get them recalibrated ? )

@dittonworks Жыл бұрын

@@ammej768 Spendor wouldn’t be interested in the older ones. They’re all way out of warranty. A few loudspeaker geeks like me can get them close to original sound.

@robertrogers564 4 ай бұрын

😅@@dittonworks

@garyvincent72 2 жыл бұрын

......excellent review Kev, my only memory at that time was trying to think of a novel place of disposing of my milk every day

@dittonworks 2 жыл бұрын

Haha 😂 take it you don’t like cow juice?

@phonostageaudio4819 2 жыл бұрын

Love this Kevin.. Makes me want to try a set!! My BC1s are temporarily kicked out of the room and replaced by LS7s because I just know there are low notes there that I was not hearing on them.. If it wasn't for that they would still be there. Do you know if the SP1 actually gets any lower than the BC1?

@dittonworks 2 жыл бұрын

Hi 👋 Yes the SP1 has a bit more LF over the BC-1.. way more reliable too.

@carlosdevadip1913 Жыл бұрын

Hi, this is working good, what amp is it ?

@dittonworks Жыл бұрын

Meridian 557

@briancampbell7712 10 ай бұрын

Do you like the SP1 better than your spendor Classic 2/3?...have you ever heard a Spendor S100? just wondering because i'd love to hear how you compare the sound difference and how they differ from your favorites

@dittonworks 10 ай бұрын

Classic 2/3’s are way more versatile than SP1’s. I’ve never had S100’s.

@briancampbell7712 10 ай бұрын

@@dittonworks⁠are the classic 2/3 the next size down from the classic 100? maybe it even has more detail and cost less...what's your take?

@dittonworks 10 ай бұрын

@@briancampbell7712 Classic 1/2 is the next one up. I don’t know the Classic 100’s buddy, sorry I’ve never heard them

@patl709 2 ай бұрын

I had a demo of the Classic 100 and the Classic 1/2 in the same show room. I really liked them both. The 100 had much more bass which, while very enjoyable, did not seem as natural as the 1/2. The 1/2 seemed quicker too. On balance I preferred the 1/2.