From Spendor A5 to what? A4? A7? PMC twenty5.23?

CMPic

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Hi, I currently have Spendor A5s and they are absolutely fantastic speakers that I’ve enjoyed a lot. But I am itching for an upgrade :) Reading about the new A4 and A7 can’t help wonder if these would be a noticeable upgrade? I do like the Spendor sound. What do you think?

I use Roksan Kandy K2 amp and a Rega DAC and generally play Spotify via Chromecast Audio (my lossless collection collecting “electronic dust” these days....). My current listening room is small (About 3m by 3.5m) but I may move the setup to a bigger room in the future.
 
Think of the A7 as being the A5 with around 1 1/2 times the prescence ....

yes you will notice the difference for sure in the soundstage but .. you are dropping a bass cone with the A7 ...

so is it worth the additional expense.. the 7 will be alot cleaner in its sound but i think it may be a little bit lighter on the bass than the 5..... without a demo and comparision.. simply... no it isnt.

this is one you will need to demo i am afraid to compare.. It's too tight really to call.. If you had the a4.. then its a no brainer.. the A7 is the speaker.. but the 5 is too close to pick on a toss of a coin.
 
If I read you right, you don’t think A4 would be an upgrade over the A5 ?
 
To go from the A4 to the A7 is a simple answer .. yes.

To go from the A5 down to the A4 ... or to go from the A5 to the A7 would need a demo..

The problem is the twin driver on the A5... with its 2.5 way configuration. It gives you extra bass and range but alot of people find it can be quite a bit boomy in the wrong size room..

Neither the A4 or the A7 have this issue.. its their physical size that differs and makes it easy to swap. The A4 wouldn't exactly be first choice for party volume being the dinky size it is.. and having just the single 18cm driver against the twin 15cm of the A5. Again with the A7.. you have the same single 18cm driver .. but you have nearly 3inch higher cabinet and a couple kilos heavier which helps in the sound department especially in the lower regions of bass having those few extra inches...

But.. do you give up a 2.5way for a 2way .. thats why i said you would need a demo.

You're looking at swapping a greater bass range for something quicker, more airy and just slightly lean in comparison in overall bass but having much tighter bass.....

In a bigger room.. the A4's will get slightly lost.. the A5's need a big room.. the A7's arent really fussed..

The other reason i said about a demo is that Roksan of yours... the A4, A5 and A7 each will sound very very different on it. I had the same fun upgrading my speakers with my KA1 mkiii ;)
 
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Orobas, thanks for the response. A6s (10 years back) were said to have more bass than A5s, despite having one driver less (albeit the one driver present was bigger). So I am not sure there would be loss of bass going to A7.

What is an honest opinion of PMC twenty5.23s? They seem expensive for a speaker with a 14cm main driver, but the cabinet is big (narrow and deep) so given the size of cabinet and price people compare it to A7. Maybe the advanced transmission line does make a difference in bass... but then Spendors have their linear port too in its 4th gen. I have seen reviewers and dealers opinions, but what do people who actually listened to them think of the PMCs? There are a few available at discounted levels given the new 23i’s have come out, but are they better than the Spendor A4/A7s?

Or would twenty5.24s worth a look? They seem very deep (over 40cm deep) so may be too large for my small room (seem to have a very large box with only 17cm driver).
 
A transmission line is very very different to a port.. it enables you to utilise the length of the cabinet to specifically tune the bass to an exact frequency.. Using a smaller driver with that transmission means they can still reproduce the same lows as a bigger speaker in a ported box.

transmission lines have a 12DB roll off .. where as ported have a 24DB .. which means the transmission will have a much more extended and natural bass compared to the ported as its not cut off as hard..

however.. transmission lines are expensive to design and make, especially to sound correct, hence the price difference and therefore manufactures have to adapt to keep competitive.. in this case PMC use a smaller mid bass to save cost which can go into the design of the speaker..

hope that makes a bit of sense and hasnt made you go boggle-eyed :laugh:

The pmc will appear to be slightly slower sounding in the bass than the spendor.. but thats down to the design.. but the level and accuracy of the bass will be better.
 
Thanks, that makes a lot of sense.

How to they sound though - 25.23s vs A7s for example... Are they as good? The reviews are great for both but that doesn't a whole lot in how they compare.
 
The spendor will be a quicker tighter speaker compared to the pmc which will sound a bit more natural. Essentially...
 
You'll need to listen to them both at home. I A/B tested the 25/23s v A7 in store several times... I preferred the A7 because it just was more fun. Not as detailed as the pmcs, more forward sounding in the vocals. Tried the A7s at home and they were really good, vocals are quite present and forward. I'm hopefully going to demo the pmcs at home when things return to normality. In store there wasn't a lot between them. Pmcs more analytical... A7s smoother. You won't go wrong with either. A4 wouldn't be an upgrade. I tried these at home and my Kef LS50s sounded better than the A4's. The a4 was a little lost in the room I think, which is 20ft by 15ft. The A7s were a huge diff upgrade to the A7s. Listen to both in your environment. Both are not cheap so it's worth the home demo to be sure.
 
Thanks, that's helpful. Given the lockdown couldn't demo any. Was offered ex-demo A4s and A7s but still costing arm and a leg, so ended up getting used A6Rs instead. A6Rs were more of an upgrade to A6s than A7s are to A6Rs (A7 and A6R have the same 18cm EP77 cone, similar dimensions and 4th gen air port though crossover and tweeter may have been tweaked). Now waiting to receive them !
 
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To update, got a pair of second hand A6Rs and am very happy with them. Whilst the A5s sounds great, the A6Rs sound even better pretty much in every way. The bass is stronger despite the two way design. A6Rs are a bit taller, a bit wider and a bit deeper, but still fairly compact speaker so don't look oversized in my small room. Overall thumbs up - no regrets.
 

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To update, got a pair of second hand A6Rs and am very happy with them. Whilst the A5s sounds great, the A6Rs sound even better pretty much in every way. The bass is stronger despite the two way design. A6Rs are a bit taller, a bit wider and a bit deeper, but still fairly compact speaker so don't look oversized in my small room. Overall thumbs up - no regrets.
Many thanks for the follow up to this thread with your choice. Glad you got it sorted :)
 

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