Hi Dave,

These days, Spendor don't seem to want to vastly promote their "classic" range and put it about that the S, SE and I suspect the A range is superior. I cannot possibly judge this...
It's bullshit, mate, perpetrated by a marketing bandwagon.

The situation was exactly the same when I had the SP100s, with the 'Classic Series' played down and touted almost as the poor relation, when in reality that was far from the case. Swifty simply wants the glory, and folk to praise the 'S-series', because that's the design he introduced when he joined the company.

The 'Classic Series' has little do with him, and is of course based on the original designs invented by Spencer Hughes in conjunction with the BBC, so he plays down that part of the Spendor product range, because that's what suits his interests.

I also suspect that the 'Classic Series' is not as profitable as the 'S-Series', as in my view, the drivers in the former are of better quality, for starters. They probably only keep the Classic Series going because of the fanaticism of the Japanese for BBC heritage speakers, and any studios that still use them for monitoring purposes.

As for the supposed 'superiority' of the S-Series, well, I guess that depends on two main factors:

1) Whether you prefer stand-mounts or floor-standing designs.

2) Whether you seek neutrality and accuracy (particularly in the midrange) in the BBC tradition, over all else, or whether you value a more modern and commercial sound, created simply to comply with current fashion.

I certainly know where my priorities would lie!

Arguably, however, the traditional BBC values of sound reproduction are better served anyway these days by Harbeth.

Marco.