I was able to audition at home for a few days both the SE and newer R. Before going on, I must say that I bought the SE, and have never been happier. Other pieces include Bryston B-60 integrated amp, Arcam CD72 and Magnum Dynalab FT-11 tuner. I've never heard the original S3/5 model, but only read suggestions the R is similar. My impressions are aligned with the stereophile measurements, which are inconsistent with many blog comments. What I found as the following: (1) The SE was overall smoother than the R, and having a more gentle (gently rolled-off), rather than extended, treble. In addition to their different tweeters, perhaps another factor is the crossover, which in the R is set at a higher frequency. For example, on one particular Diana Krall song ( forget which one) she sets the beet by snapping her fingers for a few bars. On the SE it sounded very natural. Not so with the R--it seemed too high pitched and without texture, more like a computer generated "click" sound. This was a characteristic I heard with a variety of music. The R has great treble, but it seems concentrated/shifted to the higher registers; not a smooth transition from the low/mid driver? (2) The SE had more bloom. Very hard to pinpoint the SE speaker as the origin of the music, even in my very small (10 x 11 ft2 room). I had to check that I hadn't hooked them up out of phase. This effect approaches what I once heard at a stereo shop with perfectly set up Martin Logans --a wall of sound without a source. This is not to say the various instruments/players are diffuse; they were extremely well positioned with the SE and R; (3) The R has a pronounced boost in the upper base, which, in my situation, sounded boomy--like a ported speaker too close to the wall, or akin to a "loudness" setting on an old amp. The SE has none of this. The base drops off to be sure, but in a quiet room, one can hear way below what is advertised. I could easily hear the 40 Hz Stereophile test CD signal, and it was very articulate/tight. In a small room the bass is way more than I expected given the numbers on paper. I think the R might actually sound better (at low levels mind you) in a bigger room; (4) I found the R more fatiguing, I can only surmise this was because the larger driver is reaching too high due to the relatively high frequency crossover point. It was not the extended treble that got to me, it was a slightly more harsh upper midrange. Again, I bought the SE and love them. I might have better enjoyed the R if my amp had tone controls to make adjustments. Also worth noting the R has two terminals, not four. Interestingly, I had a minor issue with one of the speakers (not really relevant whether SE or R) and sent an email to Spendor. I got back a very thoughtful response in little more than a day--very impressive.
