OK, for over a year I used B&W Matrix 805s (on very heavy Osiris stands). These are very good in many ways, but I wanted more--in particular deeper bass, sweeter treble, and a more incisive, clearer, sharper sound. Feeding my speakers are a VPI turntable with SME IV, a CD3, 32-5/hicap/250/Nac A5.
A few months ago I bought Spendor S100s with Sound Anchor stands as an attempt to solve the problems listed above. Their reputation is very good, and I figured if they failed, they would be easy to resell.
Unfortunately, overall I am unhappy with the result. The biggest problem is in the bass--an elevated mid-bass which bothers me on a lot of recordings (and is downright untenable on rap), plus it is not very distinct. Secondarily, they aren't as present as I would like. Third, the treble is a bit splashy and doesn't get the metallic gong part of the cymbal very well. Fourth, there is a bit of a plastic sound to drums. There is just something about them (I think the bass-heaviness) that keeps me from fully enjoying them. I am itching to put the old speakers back in (though moving the Spendors is a major chore).
Now one problem would seem to be my floors, which are very compliant suspended wood in an 80+ year old apartment building. The bass notes rattle the floor pretty badly and I can feel them in the couch. Perhaps that is the main problem on all counts. However, a big part of me thinks that if I solved that problem (by using some kind of base, like a paving stone, under the stands), I would still not be in love with the speakers, so I should just sell them.
Placement is relatively constrained, but the fronts are 4 1/2 feet from the back and 3 1/2 feet from the side walls. I don't think I'm dealing with placement issues because the bass character hasn't changed when I've moved them around.
Secondly, I know that changes to my equipment might help--but about the only upgrade I could afford in the near term (without selling the Spendors) would be to get a 72, which I understand is tighter in the bass than a 32-5.
So what do you all think? Work on the Spendors or get rid of 'em?
--Eri
Posted on: 15 August 2001 by Tuan
I have a CD3 and Exposure Super 20 (55W/channel) pairing with the B&W 805S (like yours). I found that the speakers are quite good and I like the sound. However, It becomes clear to me that the 805S speakers require more than the Super 20 to drive them at high volume (I auditioned the 805S speakers with Mark Levinson system again recently and they sound amazing). It is the apmplifier (under power) not the speaker. Mike Hanson came to my place with his 250 Naim amp and I tried it as well. Although it seems to control the 805S well but the system did not exhibit such quickness I see with the Mark Levinson amplification. I am saving up for a pair of 135s to drive them. My 805S are on Target Reference stand filled with lead shots.
Posted on: 16 August 2001 by Jon Moxon
Hi Eric
I have had a pair of S100/IIs on the end of CDS/82/hi/140 for about 5 months now. They sit on breeze blocks about three inches from the back wall (flimsy plasterboard on joits) and away from side walls. I've generally been very happy with them
I have found them on occasion to sound mushy and fat in bass through indistinct mids to splashy in the highs; at others they just sound superb with pretty much all the bite, bass speed (if not absolute extension) and drama you could wish for. That said I'm more Talk Talk, This Mortal Coil, Van Morrison than rap, so maybe we would value different things.
The inconsistency in performance, though, has been very frustrating and probably nothing to do with the speakers themselves. My 82/hi/140 has been back at Naim to be looked at for the past 6 weeks as they needed some attention. In the interim I've been using an old Marantz PM50 which has been an absolute revelation. I haven't enjoyed music so much since I trdaed up to the 82/140, so I can only surmise that something must have been seriously wrong with it.
I can't wait to get them back and hear them at their best; I am also a little scared that the Naim amps just don't gell with the S100s. If that turns out to be the case I may ditch the 82 etc and stick with the 200 quid marantz; the S100s sound that good.
My amps were dispatched yesterday (hooray!) so I should have them back within a week. I'll have a better idea then I think.
Sorry, not much help really, except the S100s can really do it given the chance so maybe persevere (??)
Jon
Posted on: 16 August 2001 by Martin Payne
Jon,
one thing that many people seem to forget is that the better amps (esp. pre-amps) will et through a lot more bandwidth than the lower range stuff.
This can easily start to excite difficult parts of your room's response. For instance, I had a mate who had terrible problems with a 20Hz resonance with passive SBLs (which should be trailing off pretty seriously by then). Moving his speakers to fire across the narrow dimension of his room helped quite a lot with this. He also had to make a number of other changes to the room and his setup, which (together with going active!) has transformed his system.
Some top-flight systems just seem to work brilliantly when you install them, but others seem to need a lot of work to make them sing.
best of luck, Martin
Posted on: 16 August 2001 by Markus
Eric,
What are the dimensions of your room? And how is it furnished? Carpeted? Heavy chairs, bookcases, records? Lots of upholstered furniture or little? What kind of rack is your equipment on? Sorry if you already posted the answers to these questions and I simply overlooked them, but I would hesitate to sell off the Spendors and would look elsewhere first. My guess is that the speakers are simply telling you, in a more accurate way, what is on the program material you've been listening to. Because they go into the deep bass, where your 805's were, (my guess only) pretty much cutting off at about 55-60 hz, they are exciting room resonances and resonances in your furniture, racks and other stuff that the 805's just never were capable of. 'Course you know a lot of rap/hip-hop is produced with a lot of subterranean synth bass to be heard in clubs and cars with bass systems and probably nobody who produced it ever thought it would be listened to through a system like yours...
It would be instructional and interesting to see how you would do with a borrowed pair of SBL's and hear your thoughts on the comparison with the Spendors.
Have you ever tried anything like the Proac response 1's? They won't do the deep bass like the s100's but might be a better all-around performer for you
Posted on: 18 August 2001 by Eric Barry
Markus,
Room is about 13' 6" x 17'. Actually, the room is a trapezoid with one length of 15' and the other at 17'. I sit close to the wall (there is actually a bass null there).
Behind the speakers is a wall full of records. One side wall has a desk and dresser, the other cds and books. Back wall has a wide window. The room is on the dead side as you might imagine.
As to exciting resonances that the Matrix don't, the problem is not in the deepest bass at all (the deep bass is actually pretty tight in the Spendors) but in the mid-upper bass.
As far as music taste, I mostly play rock and experimental stuff (from Creedence to Sonic Youth and the Dead C), with jazz and occasional rap thrown in. The problem is not just on rap, but rap is the worst.
Peter,
I can see how rattling floorboards are an additional problem, but taking screws to the floors in a rented apartment may be further than I'm willing to go. OK, maybe a few screws (a dozen tops), but not 800.
It's possible that the speakers are merely revealing the problems upstream, but spending more money to serve the speakers that I'm not ecstatic with is not an option. Better to sell the speakers and use the money to solve my problems upstream, don't you think, than wait two years to afford a CDX and two more for an 82 (speaking hypothetically).
--Eric
Posted on: 18 August 2001 by Milan
Eric,
Can you not get your dealer to lend you a pair of speakers to try in your appartment? This would have saved the expense on the spendors before you knew what they sound like in your room.
Here is an odd alternative, Try Dynaudio contour 1.3's. They are a small speaker that generate a lot of bass for their size, not hard to drive.
Mount them on the wall to reduce the effect of the suspended floor or on filled stands. No landlord problems then.
Regards
Milan
Posted on: 18 August 2001 by Jon Moxon
The amps came back yesterday lunchtime. 82, hicap and 140 recapped, new transformer in 140 and repair to switching in the 82.
Result, very big smile. Whatever the Marantz was doing well the 82 et al are doing and more still. Presumably it still needs to break in and warm up yet too.
Eric,
You owe it to yourself to try to make the Spendors work.
Jon
Posted on: 24 September 2001 by Wolf
Gee, if you are going to sell yours what would you want for them? I have 3/5s and drool over the idea of 100's tho I'd have to squeeze them in or get rid of a chair. The chair goes...
Posted on: 25 September 2001 by Rob Doorack
Hi Eric. If the S100s' bass doesn't change no matter where you put them, try moving your listening position. That null you're sitting in could be the cause of your dissatisfaction. Or try a different stand, even something as simple (and cheap) as a couple of concrete blocks. Changing the speakers' height by a couple of inches may make a difference too.
