spendor se series

Andywilliams

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Hi folks
Has anyone heard the new spendor 5se or others in this range would welcome your comments good or bad.
Thanks Gonzo.:)
 
I heard the older S8 a few weeks ago. Not bad at all, very smooth as would be expected but I didn't find it particularly dynamic and the bass extension was poor give it's size and my expectations. Worth an audition though particularly if you want it more for music than movies. I'm not sure how much of an improvement the new version is.
 
Originally posted by gonzo
Hi folks
Has anyone heard the new spendor 5se or others in this range would welcome your comments good or bad.
Thanks Gonzo.:)

You thinking of changing Gonzo ?
 
Hi Rags
Yes as ive said the m&ks are great with movies but lack emotion with music.Looking at the new spendors as the floor standers with the new ports can be placed near walls without boominess.If they lack extension i can always run them with the svs. From what info ive gleaned they sound superb with the type of music i listen to(not in to rock and rapping) iam also going to in the near future be getting a roksan caspian m-1 cd player so hopefully will get decent movie and music listening.
Cheers Gonzo.
PS i will also be getting the matching centre.:)
 
Originally posted by gonzo

PS i will also be getting the matching centre.:)

I heard the C9 (not the e-model) around a year ago and I thought it was the best centre I had ever demoed. Amazing bass and lovely clear vocals, but without any harshness. Setup also had S8's which I liked, but like Daneel, I found them a bit tame during T2 demo too.

At the Bristol show I was bowled over by the Proac Response D25 floorstanders - best in show for me. :smashin: More bass than the S8's (from memory anyway) and possibly a bit closer to M&K neutral-type of sound?

Also perhaps consider PMC FB1 or the lovely new smaller GB1 (many peoples favourites at Bristol) - my dealer hadn't heard of the GB1's :rolleyes: , and when he checked with his supplier, said they would be out until mid-April. PMC's have a large front-port and should be ok near a wall too.
 
Thanks nobber ill look in to them.
With the spendor being light on extension i can run them in stereo set to small and use the svs which sounds great with music no boominess like i said the bass side is fine its just the treble side thats the problem with music.
Cheers Gonzo.
 
A friend and I heard the SE5's at the Bristol Show. They were exceptional driven by some Naim kit. They sounded better than Naim's own demo and speakers. Looks like a good(but expensive) surround option with SR5's and C5.
 
Hi monty
Thanks for the info looks like the speakers are being changed next as i havent been able to sell my m&k 850s have now ordered the roksan caspian m series-1 cd player i will change to the spendors but need to sell the m&ks to finance the change so i will just have to keep my fingers crossed i can sell them as i said the 850s are terriffic with movies but not quite so with music .
Cheers Gonzo.
 
Hello Gonzo,
I have had a demo of s5e,s6e & s8e and are all very good sounding speakers obviously incrementing in price.The s5e are very small speakers but create a much larger sound than their cabinet size which is amazeing! Excellent for Hifi if that is your passion like mine.
But in the End i had to go for a pair of Proac D15 responses which blew me away, Don't get me wrong the spendors are very good and worth the money but if you could stretch your budget i would move up in the range or maybe consider the Proacs.
 
I'm auditioning the se range this weekend as part of a complete 5.1 speaker upgrade, so this thread is interesting.

Its the small footprint that has me interested, but even though music is my main priority I'm slightly concerned by some comments about the Spendors not being ideal for movies.

I also cannot accomodate the Spendor centre and rear options as they are far too large, so I'm wondering - has anyone got any suggestions for good matching small rears, ideally directly mountable on the wall?


I'm also considering the Canton CD50 for a centre - might this be a matching disaster, or will my Ax5i amp auto-callibrate with style?



Edit - Just had a glance at the D15 specs - they are instantly going on the audition list too!
 
Anyone heard the smaller sibbling: the s3e? I'm really interested in this one, if it's as laid back, smooth, full and a bit warm as they say it's exactly the kind of speaker i want :)
 
I listened to the S5e, S6e and S8e's this weekend.

I didn't rate the 5's at all - they weren't bad, but they didn't have the wow factor. They'd be good if you really were pushed for space.

The 6's were "nice". Good all-rounders, but again - no wow factor.

The 8's were better, but they are big.


Interestingly, Mr Incredibly Clever Hi-Fi Dealer had a pair of PMC GB1's setup for me to listen to. I hadn't even thought of these as an option, and they definately had the wow factor, especially in terms of hi end, soundstage and locking things to the centre so much I had to check the centre channel wasn't being used. I was very impressed that he'd nailed what I was looking for pretty much before we'd even started demo's.

In my case I'll want them backed up by a sub, both for 5.1 and for music. They're just too small to provide much punch, but as I need small and I need a sub for 5.1, it isn't a problem for me.
 
I once had a demo of the s8e's (I was buying amps at the time) and I didn't want to take my speakers into the shop. The retailer thought they would be about the equivalent to my then main speakers: PMC OB1. Unfortunately the S8e's fell short by a long way. Despite the dealer thrashing them for 20 minutes prior to the demo. The sound just felt rather bloated and lacking and a sense of timing. I felt like the amps were 1/2 a second ahead of the speakers.
Not a bad speaker but certainly not an outstanding one. All in all i'd say it does everything that a speaker should just without any enthusiasm.
Shop around before you settle for them there's a lot better out there for the money. I ended up ending the Demo with some JMLAB micro utopia's. A very, very nice standmount. The only things that sounded similar to the OB1's.
 
AndyH said:
I listened to the S5e, S6e and S8e's this weekend.

I didn't rate the 5's at all - they weren't bad, but they didn't have the wow factor. They'd be good if you really were pushed for space.

The 6's were "nice". Good all-rounders, but again - no wow factor.

The 8's were better, but they are big.


Interestingly, Mr Incredibly Clever Hi-Fi Dealer had a pair of PMC GB1's setup for me to listen to. I hadn't even thought of these as an option, and they definately had the wow factor, especially in terms of hi end, soundstage and locking things to the centre so much I had to check the centre channel wasn't being used. I was very impressed that he'd nailed what I was looking for pretty much before we'd even started demo's.

In my case I'll want them backed up by a sub, both for 5.1 and for music. They're just too small to provide much punch, but as I need small and I need a sub for 5.1, it isn't a problem for me.

That's what all spendors are like: not the wow factor, but a laid back, warmish sound that you wish you had chosen for in half a year maybe. I went some exciting speakers as well, and after about 2 months i realized it was a stupid choice: too bright and too much excitment which caused me to turn down volume every single time.

By the way, those pmc's are interesting, i heard those are really nice speakers with those transmission lines. If you don't like the spendor sound, this is more of your taste indeed.
 
Llanowar said:
That's what all spendors are like: not the wow factor, but a laid back, warmish sound that you wish you had chosen for in half a year maybe. I went some exciting speakers as well, and after about 2 months i realized it was a stupid choice: too bright and too much excitment which caused me to turn down volume every single time.

By the way, those pmc's are interesting, i heard those are really nice speakers with those transmission lines. If you don't like the spendor sound, this is more of your taste indeed.


That's a really good reply, I know what you are saying as I was having similar thoughts during the demo. I was also trying to remember if my hosepipe speaker cable made my existing speakers brighter or smoother, I could be heading for ear splitting high end if its the former!

If I hadn't have heard the PMC's I probably would've been happy with the S6e's. Maybe..
 
The Spendor sound does grow on you overtime and only then do realise the quality of their speakers.
 

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