Spendor S8e, Dynaudio Focus 220, VA Grand Mozart

Now you talking my talk. "Strange that sally later on reviews the Zen and gives that speaker A GLOWING REVIEW AS well. However in neither review she gives a single word of comparison. I find that baffling. Frankly, this diminishes my trust in the reviewer". Thank you for seeing and believing what I;ve known for quite a many yrs now. Sally is only following a format in reviewing laid down decades ago by the old "professional audio critics". She follow the format to a T. I's dotted, T's crossed. I wouldn't pick up a copy of any audio mag even if it was free. If it comes to my door, goes immediately to the trash can.
Sally does call the Tyler/Seas "magical" How can a speaker be only in part magical in 3 of the 4 main octave ranges, low bass/midbass/midrange/highs.
I can agree with her the magnesium cone materila is 'not as forgiving" in the lower midbass as some softer cone materials , paper for one, or whatever the vandersteens are made of. No cone materail is perfect. What is truly unique and outstanding, "magical" in the Tyler/seas is the distortion level is so low , its nil. thus the fatigue factor is not an issue, which i cannot say about any other speaker i know of in my 30 yr experiences.
Take it or leave it, just IMHO.
I know of a place i can haer the Spendor, and will this week. btw like the Seas in sound, I also am not biased in reviews.

Heard the Spendor 8 today with a ARC + Cal Lab cdp set up.
Pretty difficult to judge since the cheap Cal Lab cdp and the usual smokey sound the ARC produces. But that aside, i wasn't impressed. The second issue i have is:A two way at $3100?
Of the 3 I heard today: Maggies @ $1700, Spendor @ $3100, Cabasse/Jersey(tweet/dual 7 inch midwwofers, poly cone) @ $1100. i'd walked with the Cabasse.

The hype is real about the Spendor S8e! Excellent speaker. I will name three things off the bat the others speakers mentioned in this thread can't do as well.

1. reveal sound of the hall

2. midrange neutrality

3. can render the texture instruments & voices

Good Luck!*>)

Kw6: Have you had a chance to compare SP1/2e and S8e side by side? I have been curious about how Spendor's classic and new lines would compare at similar price points.

Hi Aktchi,

I have never heard the Spendor SP1/2e. I started out with the S3/5 (which I still own). I was also tempted to go try the SP1/2e but didn't want to invest in the stands and the dealer didn't have that model in at the time. From what I am been told from people who have heard both say that the mids on the SP1/2e are creamier and more dense than the S8e. But the SP1/2e being more rolled off on top and bass not as deep but slightly richer. The S8e reveals the sound of the hall more and disapppear betters and still has the midrange accuracy, nuance, inner detail, coherence of the SP1/2e.

The S8e in a mid size room say 14'X8'X20' is among the best in class only losing out to larger speakers in regards to overall loudness and macrodynamics. BTW I don't believe in big speakers because big speakers have big distortions. If you want to reproduce music with lifelike dynamics and levels one should really be looking into custom horn systems.