Spendor SP-1 Loudspeakers and stands
I am helping a friend to sell his equipment. He wants it to go to a home where it will be used and cherished. There’s no ‘middle man’ cut going to me - I’m just helping by putting buyer in touch with seller.
Also available: Quad 34 / 306 / FM4 Pre and Power Amplifiers with Tuner
Spendor SP-1 Loudspeakers with Spendor stands
Walnut finish
Serial No's: 4405 & 4406
Complete with Spendor stands (and optional castors)
One owner from new, bought in April 1987
Size (h/w/d): 63.5 x 29.5 x 30.5 cm
Cabinet volume: 44 litres
Cabinet construction: Thin walled multiply, heavily bitumen damped and lined with acoustic foam. Reflex tuned with large offset ducted port.
Sensitivity: 87dB
Bass roll-off: 41Hz
Recommended amplifier power: 12-150 wpc
Recommended placement: Free space mounting on open stands
The SP-1 has three driver units but two of them are tweeters, so it more like a two-way than a conventional three-way speaker system. The 8” bass-mid driver is polypropylene and crosses over to the mid-tweeter at 3 kHz and then to the super-tweeter at 13 kHz
The tweeters are the Celestion HF 1300 and the Coles 4001G.
The Spendor SP-1 speakers are somewhat legendary, having been developed as an offshoot of the BBC loudspeaker research project that produced the LS3/5a among others.
Condition is excellent apart from a few very minor scratches. One of the stands has a very small amount of crazing and cracking to the paint where two of the castors attach to the frame.
There is a small plastic hook attached to the rear of one of the speakers with a self adhesive pad, which was used to hang spare speaker cable.
Contemporary Reviews
Hi-Fi Choice (June 1988):
The SP-1 has evolved into a subtle and musical sounding performer in the true Spendor tradition.
Offering an easy amplifier load plus improved bass power, articulation and clarity, reduced midrange distortion and a higher sensitivity, the SP1 can give a decently high acoustic level. It possesses a clean, neutral tonal balance and should be equally valuable for medium level monitoring or domestic use.
The SP-1 receives a warm recommendation.
The Absolute Sound:
This visually attractive medium-sized box speaker offers startling tonal accuracy and midrange coherence. It has the unusual virtue of doing (tonal) justice to excellently recorded material while being relatively forgiving of inferior input.
…. a precisely focused "holographic" image is generated, with good depth, though less width than wide-dispersion, forward-pointed speakers can generate.
….the midrange coherence and tonal accuracy make the SP-1 an exceptionally satisfying speaker, one of the best anywhere near its price. The apotheosis of the British box monitor, and a classic.
Price: £500
The current equivalent model from Spendor is the SP1/2R2 which, if bought new, will cost you £3,995.00!
Collection only. Lancashire - Preston/Southport area.
This sale is only open to AoS members with 50 posts or more.
If you are interested, please send me a PM.