Spendor D9 - does anyone have any experience of living with a pair of these?

Yes stunning !!!!

I have had a pair for 6 months now and they are one of the best speakers I have ever owned. 

The are so natural and have fast, tuneful bass with real extension. Unlike so many speakers these days that have one note or fat slow timeless bass. They are not fussy about placement and work really well in our bay window firing into our modest sized living room. They almost sound like a sealed speaker maybe a modern day SBL with greater depth. 

I am using them with a reference level system but with a 250DR as a power amp and even with enthusiastic volume levels the amp keeps its cool all the time so I'm guessing there rather an easy load too. 

I never get tiered of listening to them but there not as ( boring ) as Spendors of the past. 

If you can give them a try. 

Thanks DingDing. Glad you're happy with them. What pre amp are you using? And speaker cables? And how do you find the treble/leading edges - e.g. With symbols, female vocals and other high frequency elements? 

Are you not able to borrow a pair for a home demonstration? Does this mean that you are not happy with the Sopra 2 shown in your profile?

HH - I will probably be demoing a pair back home. Just curious to hear about other folk's experience, relevant or not. The Sopra 2's are stunning. But, though it's improved over time, they remain a bit hot on leading edges. The SL cables contribute - a pair of all-copper cables took the heat off just enough, beefed-up the bass and added some 'weight', generally (though I don't really have a problem with the SL's presentation in this dept.) but at the cost of the SL's detail. I'll also demo some TQ Black after Wenger's experiences. (Wenger I've lost your email!) If a cable fine tunes to my satisfaction I'd prefer to keep the Sopras.

I demo'd the D9's at the same time as the Sopra's and found them detailed and delicate and streets ahead of the PMC Twenty5 26 in the treble dept. But didn't give them a long-enough listen. In truth, I'd gone along wanting to like the Sopra's more because they look so damn good. But they did blow my socks off in a way the Spendors didn't, too. However, living with a speaker is different to demo'ing one. 

It's interesting that you like the look of the Sopra, which certainly isn't a look I'd have in my room. But that's what makes things interesting. I heard the Sopra 1 and it was very, very bright and not something I could live with. It's certainly an impressive sound, but to me what matters is being able to just enjoy music and not be thinking 'wow, that's impressive'. You clearly realise that the home situation is what counts, which is why asking others views of the Spendors, or anything else really, is ultimately of limited value. Another one to try might be the new Kudos 606, which has received positive feedback. I read on another forum that there are a lot of used Sopra 2s around, which for a newish speaker may say something. There also seems to be a view that Focal and Naim are not a good match, and I've never liked the combination whenever I've heard it. Your Macintosh may alter things of course. The Spendors are certainly different to the Sopras, which made me think that the Kudos may be a happy compromise. 

Yes, it's love/hate on the looks. Visitors describe them variously as daleks, rubbish bins, phone boxes.. Thanks for the recommend. The Mac very definitely altered things. It knocks off some of the brightness with which I've struggled for the last couple of years but retains body and detail. I tried a Mac amp, too, but lost too much detail and 'life'. The Mac/Naim pre/power combination seems to work for me. It niggles that a less bright speaker might have been the solution instead of the Mac. If my previous 252 was in with the Sopras I'd be in  agony. In any event, we shall get a pair of D9's in to try and I'll go look up the Kudos.

Eagle 

Im running a 552DR as pre and linn K20 as speaker cables as i find it a little smoother with the high frequency than NACA5.  I don't suffer any problems with the highs being harsh or unpleasant. Plus I would agree that they are a big step up from the new PMC twenty range. 

..incidentally, Hifi Shark shows only 1 pair of Sopra 2's in the UK.. I bought mine ex-dem' so am counting on not losing very much if I do sell/trade.. 

My take on Hifi has long been to sort the electronics and then find speakers that work, and never to use wires as tone controls. If a 252/250 was mine, and I wasn't happy with some speakers, I'd get different ones. I wouldn't fiddle with what was already ok in order to fix something that now wasn't. It's also my view that Naim pre and power amps are part of the same thing, so mixing and matching introduces other variables that can easily be avoided.

Another wild idea - have you thought of trying Ovator 400 and 600? Don't think I'm recommending the Kudos, they are simply an idea. I've never seen or heard them - they are far too expensive for me. 

Thanks DingDing.

Yes HH - I did it the wrong way round. I've checked out the Kudos and think they're going to be out of my price league; so will get the D9's in for a week or two and see what happens. If they do the trick, I can always borrow a 252 again to satisfy curiosity.

Took delivery of my gloss black Sopra 2s around a couple of weeks ago and love them to bits. I had Ovator 600s before - nice in their own way but to these ears the Sopras are in a different league. Looks can be a bit 'Marmite' for some but then I love Marmite, so all well and good. They're also very well made indeed.

Probably a useless contribution because I have the A9s not the D9s, but I believe the D9s are a replacement for the A9s. Anyway I took a long time to audition and the A9s won out due to their wonderful natural tonal balance, ultra fast and articulate bass, complete lack of listening fatigue (though never overly warm). No harsh treble at all - just beautifully natural and balanced (to me anyway).

EAGLE3333

I have been recommending D series Spendors for quite a while on the forum, some of the best sounding speakers I have heard. Compared to like priced Kudos speakers,  the Spendors are just at another level sonically. 

I can also highly recommend  Dynaudio speakers, if you're able, I would highly recommend an audition, they are at that same level of refinement as the Spendor D line, the new Contour line may even take the high frequency performance to a higher level. They are remarkable sounding speakers. They are more to my taste, so just like everything else it's horses for courses.

I also agree with you about their superiority to Focal and especially the PMC line of speakers that I have auditioned.

Thanks Badlands. I'll be doing some serious listening tests week after next having booked a dealer demo' and then taking the D9's home for a week.

Badlands, I was looking at the Dynaudio Contour 60 and note it's a fabric tweeter. I wonder if this is why many seem to recommend Dynaudio with Naim and why Naim with Sopra (Beryllium tweeter) is too bright for some? (Acknowledging it's always a case of personal preference) I also found this interesting article for anyone interested - http://www.audioholics.com/av-...-metal-dome-tweeters. I'll try to lay my hands on a pair for demo'. 

EAGLE3333

There are always compromises, Dynaudio have been making their own tweeters for a very long time, they are one of a very few speaker makers who do make all their own very high quality drivers.  Once you get used to their high frequency presentation, others begin to sound wrong in some way, I just don't know how else to describe it.

One piece of advice though, review a well run in pair, they have unlimited dynamics, and an extremely transparent and open sound. If they sound different from that description, they don't have enough hours on them yet, just an FYI.

Dynaudio and Naim have similar musical values, that is why they are recommended.

I did rather like the focal Electra 1028 that I auditioned though...