SPENDOR SP1 with ION OBELISK X3 and X-PAK 1

[andyrlb]

Hi guys .
At the risk of being branded a dumb arse , may I please ask you guys if the Ion is ok driving my newly acquired spendor sp1's.
The reason I ask is because of the 16ohms thing, this is new to me as I've always owned 4 or 8 ohm speakers.

Thanks in advance.
Andy185061850718508

[hifi_dave]

No problem at all. The SP1 is a benign load for your Ion.

[andyrlb]

Cheers Dave .

[wee tee cee]

SP1s are a lovely speaker mine are also on the castor stands. My good lady loves the sound they make and wont let me sell them-hope the combo gives you great music.....

[andyrlb]

Well I've been listening for a few hours now and I still have a niggling doubt that my reference 105/4's are better or should I say better to my ears, perhaps I'll give some more time over the weekend.

[Arkless Electronics]

Are you sure they are 16 Ohms? I would expect them to be 8 like the BC1 and BC2... In fact I would be amazed if they were 16!

SP1's are one of my all time favourite speakers and not that far behind the KEF 105.3's I use... although the KEF's will eat the Spendors on max loudness, big scale dynamics etc. The 105/3's were the replacement for the 105/4's btw... yeah I know:scratch: Both were very good speakers which I would not expect the Spendors to beat and were several times the price of the Spendors.

[andyrlb]

Well that confirms the niggle then !!! Off to market they'll go .
Cheers

[Arkless Electronics]

Now don't get me wrong though.... on just "midrange magic" on something like a jazz quartet of a string quartet I would expect very little in it between the Spendors and the KEF's and maybe a smidgeon better on the Spendors, depending on the exact material and user expectations... biggest difference is when it comes to "kicking butt" where the KEF's win easy peasy...

[andyrlb]

No I totally agree with you , the kefs sound good no matter what comes out of them whereas whilst listening to spendors I found myself skipping certain tunes .

[Arkless Electronics]

If standard then the crossovers and wiring in the KEF's could be modded to good effect;) This is not a task to be undertaken lightly though as the KEF's crossovers are very complicated and matched at the factory... Whilst I could do it, Paul at RFC I believe offers such a service anyway and has his own fancy inductors. It would not be cheap! The original wiring has push on connectors to the drive units IIRC so soldering all these up could help...

My 105/3's were done (very well) by the previous owner.

[andyrlb]

Thanks for info. I must admit that I've never looked inside them though some work has been done as the overload circuit has been bypassed and so too the light in upper module.

[Martyn Miles]

SP1s are a lovely speaker mine are also on the castor stands. My good lady loves the sound they make and wont let me sell them-hope the combo gives you great music.....

There are 'audio experts' who frown at castor stands, saying you need spikes.
( I can't imagine my wife being very happy at holes in our wooden floor )
Castor stands are needed with my BC1s so I can pull them out in the room.

By the way, I've never understood the idea of mounting the actual speakers on spikes.
Must do the cabinets a power of good...

[57charles]

Presumably you're aware that the bass/mid surrounds on those old Spendors are prone to stiffening up and reducing the performance?

[andyrlb]

Hi Charles, no I wasn't aware of that , visually they are perfect though .

[57charles]

They may well be visually OK but you may wish to buy some brake fluid.....ask DSJR.