I thought people might be interested in reading my thoughts on my latest acquisition now that I’ve been listening to them for about a week.

First off, a little bit of background on the SP1s. Essentially, the SP1 was a home version of the BC-1, and like the BC-1, is a three-driver speaker, but is more like a two-way design with a “super-tweeter” - in this case a Coles 4001G supplementing the Celestion HF 1300 in the high frequency duties. An 8” Polypropylene coned in-house driver takes care of the low end, with a front facing port. The cross-over from the bass-midrange is at 3 kHz and from tweeter to super-tweeter at 13 kHz. The box is a 25” high, 12” wide and 12” deep - a conventional stand-mount design. Plenty of space behind and to the side of the speakers is essential to get the best from them. My particular pair is matched, with early serial numbers, most likely from the first year of production – 1983.

The speakers that got ousted by these venerable classics were a pair of Acoustic Energy Aegis Evo 3 floorstanders – around 5 years old and typical of modern floorstanding speakers in that they house smaller drivers and have a narrower front baffle than vintage speakers, and of course are “voiced” in a modern way. So, how far have we come in 25 years?

When I first started listening to the SP1s, I was immediately pleased (relieved?) to hear that the midrange clarity I was craving was immediately there. My research (and personal Hi-Fi Guru - Dave (DSJR)) had lead me to believe that the midrange with Spendors is generally their “tour de force” being exceptionally accurate and clear – and with the SP1s they don’t disappoint. I am going to try and desperately avoid the hi-fi clichés I have often been disparaging of – but that may prove a difficult task!

Listening to one of my all time favourite female vocalists – Tina Dico – it was just so much more realistic. Having seen Tina live only a week or so before, I know how clean and crisp her voice sounds, and I just wasn’t getting that with the AE’s. With the SP1s, her voice came to prominence in the mix, with super sweet tones and I could hear the delicate intricacies of her breathing that I just wasn’t hearing before. With the AE’s, the treble is far more “in your face” – with the SP1s it just seems to accentuate the midrange, with no harshness at all, and a delicate tone to cymbals without splashiness. So far, so good, then.

Aside from female vocalists, one of my other main areas of music interest is Electronica & Dance, particularly downtempo “chill out” types. So next up then, one of my favourite dance albums of all time – Vertigo by Groove Armada on SACD.

The album opens with “Chicago” – the opening sequence of which features a “whooshy” sound that goes from left channel to the right channel – or rather, that’s what I thought it did, on hundreds of previous listens. The SP1s made me realise that actually, the sound also repeats itself in the centre of the image, as well as the extremities – and I had never noticed before. Not only was I able to pinpoint a moving sound, but the SP1s lock a particular noise, instrument or voice perfectly in the stereo image.

Depth of image, a “3D” or “Holographic” image for me is the stuff of legend – a bit like the tooth fairy - I believed in it once, but had never seen the evidence so I assumed it to be a hi-fi myth. Well, I can’t say I believe in the tooth fairy now, but I certainly now know how parts of a recording can appear at different depths in the front to rear plain, as well as left to right. Quite how a sound can move up and down in the image though, is beyond me – I’ve taken the grills off, and there is no way the drivers can be swivelling, so how DO they do that?

On more than one occasion I have looked to my extreme left or right, wondering what the noise I heard was - only to realise it was actually coming out of the speakers! So, imaging too gets the thumbs up (and round, and up and down and front to back.)

You’re probably thinking this is all too good to be true – there must be something wrong with these speakers? Well, maybe, and at one point, I was definitely a little worried! Playing some faster, harder Dance I was left thinking “where’s the bass gone? How can speakers that big produce so little bass? Then suddenly – “thump” and there it was. The problem is, I’ve been “spoiled” by the AE’s – quite literally, it seems. I’ve heard the term “one note bass” and now I realise it’s what I’ve been putting up with for the last 5 years! Superficially, the SP1s don’t appear to go so low, but what I’ve realised as the hours of listening have accumulated is that what they actually do is accurately reproduce the bass that is on the recording, rather than artificially emphasise the lower regions. At first listen, this made the Spendors seem less impressive, but as my ears and brain are now adjusting to a more accurate presentation, I can now clearly hear the differences between bass notes and bass drums and follow them rather than just be subjected to a low end mush.

I could go on about the black canvass from which notes and sounds now emanate, the separation between instruments that I just didn’t get with the AE’s and the knife sharp detail in melodies that I am now able to follow with ease – but as you’ve probably already guessed, that I am rather taken with the Spendor SP1s, and suspect I will be investigating more modern offerings from the same brand or the similar voiced Harbeth range at some point in the future – but not for the moment – at present I just want to take any opportunity I can to get lost in the new version of music that I am being immersed in.

I’ve heard people say that these speakers are “boring” – I must admit, that’s a term I struggle with – surely all you want from a speaker is for it to accurately reproduce the recording up the chain? All I can say is – I’m happy with boring. Very happy – I have a grin on my face that looks like the frequency response of a modern speaker!