Introducing the Spendor A6R
- Thread starter Art K.
- Start date
Spektre
Brit alert
After my last pair of P3's I'm done with them, they do a lot of things right but their limitations just frustrated the hell out of me.
Art K.
The Voodoo You Do!
I totally get that.
DOBIEGUY
Well-Known Member
Hey Richard
I agree with ArtK- different sound for sure.
The Harbeth P3ESRs excel with acoustic,most Jazz and vocals. Not the speaker for
head banging rock or big ,complex orchestral pieces. Any blues listener on the other hand
would find them self riveted to the detail and air around the instruments and vocals.
Recently listened to Muddy Waters 'Folk Singer' on 45. Swear you could 'hear' Muddy sweat. Buddy Guys' Blues Singer makes the hair on my neck stand!
The Spendor A6r have more range on the lower end. They also will play very loud.
I'll admit that I've been putting in more time listening to the A6rs than the P3s.
But different from others here,my Harbeths have found a permanent home.
Also, there is a large price difference between them. Both of mine were bought in the secondary market. P3s about half list are out there. Have not seen A6r since I snagged mine.
Entertaining either one? Listen to anything else?
Happy listening.
Jimmy
I agree with ArtK- different sound for sure.
The Harbeth P3ESRs excel with acoustic,most Jazz and vocals. Not the speaker for
head banging rock or big ,complex orchestral pieces. Any blues listener on the other hand
would find them self riveted to the detail and air around the instruments and vocals.
Recently listened to Muddy Waters 'Folk Singer' on 45. Swear you could 'hear' Muddy sweat. Buddy Guys' Blues Singer makes the hair on my neck stand!
The Spendor A6r have more range on the lower end. They also will play very loud.
I'll admit that I've been putting in more time listening to the A6rs than the P3s.
But different from others here,my Harbeths have found a permanent home.
Also, there is a large price difference between them. Both of mine were bought in the secondary market. P3s about half list are out there. Have not seen A6r since I snagged mine.
Entertaining either one? Listen to anything else?
Happy listening.
Jimmy
Pushed the "buy" button on a pair of oak A6Rs in sealed cartons today. I expect to have them when I return from vacation at the end of the month.
I'm thinking I will use a new Sony TA-A1ES or perhaps pickup a used Accuphase E-213 or E-350 or somesuch.
Any other recommendations in the $2k range? The seller recommended an Atoll IN200se but it looks too ugly for my home decor.
I'm thinking I will use a new Sony TA-A1ES or perhaps pickup a used Accuphase E-213 or E-350 or somesuch.
Any other recommendations in the $2k range? The seller recommended an Atoll IN200se but it looks too ugly for my home decor.
Okra
Active Member
Bumping up an old thread as I've been listening to as many Spendor's as I can. Over the weekend I auditioned Spendor AR2, AR4 and AR7. The 7s were really delightful, they displayed resonating string pluck, drum kick with waves of percussion that attacked with as much gusto as a 7" driver can and breathy female vocals that seemed to envelop the entire room, hang in the air, then float off into space.
The AR4 had the same signature Spendor sound but with less presence than the 7s. If I hadn't listened to the AR7 I likely would have been more impressed.
The AR2 is a super tiny floorstand speaker that would be fine for a very small room and lowered expectations but it was eliminated from my "I can live with this speaker" pretty soon after the first track of a Melody Gardot album. Again, the AR7 pretty much spoiled any chance the AR2 might have had.
I have yet to hear the Classic line monitors and I'm scouring the internet for older Spendor models including decades old BBC models, AR6 and and am searching for ways to compare Harbeth to Spendor but not having much luck with dealers locally even though we have a plethora of upscale audio shops in the Twin Cities. Onward march....
The AR4 had the same signature Spendor sound but with less presence than the 7s. If I hadn't listened to the AR7 I likely would have been more impressed.
The AR2 is a super tiny floorstand speaker that would be fine for a very small room and lowered expectations but it was eliminated from my "I can live with this speaker" pretty soon after the first track of a Melody Gardot album. Again, the AR7 pretty much spoiled any chance the AR2 might have had.
I have yet to hear the Classic line monitors and I'm scouring the internet for older Spendor models including decades old BBC models, AR6 and and am searching for ways to compare Harbeth to Spendor but not having much luck with dealers locally even though we have a plethora of upscale audio shops in the Twin Cities. Onward march....
Last edited:
Do you have links for these models?
Okra
Active Member
So A2, A4, and A7.
The R does not belong, some older Spendor's had an R (revised?) after the model.
