The ATC was very impressive, though, if a bit too neutral for my tastes - I definitely prefer something with a bit more character and personality, even if it isn't completely accurate sonically. For me, a system doesn't have to be the last word in transparency or resolution, I'm much more interested in engaging with music emotionally and I like something that captures its energy and spiri
Derek - Congrats on your new, yet to be delivered system. I think you are right to choose your speakers first as they have to work well in your own room with your style of music and speakers vary in character far more than amps, etc.
I have owned ATC 50 (Actives), but a long time ago and I agree totally your description of its delivery of music - accurate but uninvolving. In my words, lacking the goose-bump factor that I think you are looking for.
I'm not a fan of B&W although my experience is somewhat limited to showroom demos of 802 and 803 speakers. I'm unfamiliar with Spendor but I can imagine they may well present themselves as the best of the bunch.
Which leads into Lesson Number 2: it doesn't matter whether you're spending £10,000 or 1/10 of that, always get a demo if you can.
This leaves me with a degree of concern. I wanted to replace my old 2002 speakers with something new 3 years ago and like you, made a short list of speakers I really thought would suit my room and music preference. I was looking towards electrostatics and (as an initial pre-big outlay trial), I bought a pair of big used Quads at a great price - I liked their sound in my room. This prompted me to audition the much more costly electrostatics I had in mind, so I visited a London showroom and was as impressed as the various professional reviewers had been. I placed an order and keenly awaited their arrival - I'd sold the Quads by this time and was still listening to my old 2002 speakers. They duly arrived and were set up by the importer who ran the included Anthem room correction DSP on their bass drivers. They sounded OK, although not as I had hoped, but perhaps a couple month of use would get them singing as I was sure they could. However to my surprise and disappointment, they never matched, let alone bettered my old speakers - not just my view but that of friends, some with expert ears! I had to sell them at a huge loss! The reason for this tale of woe is just to warn about buying any costly speakers without a home trial first. Showrooms won't have acoustics anywhere near resembling your own room, so a home trial (or option to return FOC) is essential, particularly with speakers. I've since worked out why those electrostatics disappointed and it is solely down to a totally different room from the showroom or the likely rooms used by reviewers. My rash purchase resulted in a loss of over £4K so I'm still kicking myself for not arranging a home demo first.
I really hope your Spendor 9s will be wonderful in your room, but please don't buy an amp for these new speakers without trying several (at home and with your new speakers well run in) before taking that plunge. I later bought new speakers of the same type and brand as I'd had since 2002, but I auditioned 12 amps of various types (from 8 watts to over 200, Class A, AB and D) before choosing the one that sounded best and offered the best value. The "winner" was certainly not what I was expecting and was far from the costliest - it just adds more goose-bumps to my listening than the others I’d bought (used) or borrowed as demo units.
Incidentally, how did you tri-amp your PMCs? Did you ditch the passive XO and use active XO and 3 amps for the 3 drivers, and if so, did you apply Room Correction DSP to the bass amp only?
I very much doubt whether your Spendors will be improved by RC if you value the important goosebump-generating top end. Unless you allow higher frequencies to totally by-pass the RC DSP circuit, you will lose some of what you found great with the Spendor 7 demo. Bypassing top end is impossible with RC built into full-range amps such as RP in the Lyngdorf or for that matter Dirac Live in my own amp. Careful setting up will produce bigger benefits than chucking RC at any perceived problem with your Spendors. Adding subs (I don’t know if these are beneficial with Spendor 9s but certainly not with my own speakers), hugely adds to the difficulty in proper setting up, so I’m rather hoping you won’t feel the need to resort to subs – leave these for AV listening where ultimate sound fidelity is less important than being thrown out of your chair when the volcano erupts!
Please let us know how things develop. Peter
PS - You're welcome to listen to my sub-free system if your ever venturing in the direction of Portsmouth. Can be demo'd with and without RC to assess my claim about spoiling top end with RC engaged!