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Spendor A7 or Spendor A4

Jazzyguy

pfm Member
New home! The time has come for me to re-setup my system after 3 years of storage, which I did yesterday!

Exposure 3010s2
Rega Apollo
Streamer
P10 possible, pending

I’m borrowing a pair of Spendor A4’s. Amazing amazing amazing speaker. I have a small room but do have the space for the A7’s as they are virtually the same size as the A4’s according to the specs on the website.

Has anybody here heard the A7’s? How much different can they possibly be from the A4’s giving the same drive units and only a few cm difference in cabinet size?

Thanks guys
 
really loved the a7 at the bristol show . of course its only a few mins listening but they sounded very impressive , i preferred them actually to the d9 at the show . but its all a very artificial setting of course . if you like the a4 keep them !!! spend the extra on music
 
Well... I'll answer my own post from earlier this year in the event anybody else could use the info...

I just switched over to the Spendor A7 from the Spendor A4. Whoa! Completely different speaker.

I'm in a dedicated 10X10 room that's open to another room behind the listening chair. While immensely enjoying the A4's I was experiencing untidy and boomy bass. This gave me much reservation about going up to the A7. After much deliberating I made the move and here are my observations.

Interestingly, the boom is now completely eliminated and the bottom end is so much cleaner. I did however slightly change the speaker positioning as well so that could account for some of it. Either way the sound and presentation is now clean while quite noticeably deeper. The scale of volume that the A7's have over the A4's is way beyond what their physical size differences would tell you. Highs are so sweet and mids are the show stopper here just like the A4... Vocals are insanely enjoyable... Sinatra on vinyl through these A7's is just therapeutic.

On another note, I opted for the optional grills. I know there was some curiosity out there on how they are fitted and what they look while fitted. The grills themselves have small magnets that grab onto the driver's allen screws, holding the grills into place... A few unboxing pics...

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Thanks for reading!
 
If you don’t mind me saying,...........Word of caution about those grills.
If they’re kept on permanently, over time you may get fading of the wood cabinet front & if when you take off the grills or want to sell em, you could end up with two different shades of wood.
Not a problem unique to Spendor by any means, but half-grills on a wood finish cabinet can suffer from shading.
Anyway, enjoy the new sounds!
 
Love my A7s, also in dark walnut. No grilles for me though..

Guinniess, how long have you had them? Did the finish darken over time? I ask because on thing I liked about the A4s that these replaced was the finish. Both are dark walnut but the A4 had a nice dark deep finish with a red tinge. These are a lot lighter and I'm hoping they darken over time. Although research tells me they might lighten further. Have you noticed any changes at all?
 
I've only had them a couple of months. I cover them up when not in use for a few days to prevent fading as they are in a conservatory. I have wooden blinds and UV film on the roof and certain windows where the sun comes through.
My previous Credos were badly faded by the time I'd done the UV film.
Anyway they sounded great in the dem room and just as good at home with my Naim 82/250 ☺
 
If you don’t mind me saying,...........Word of caution about those grills.
If they’re kept on permanently, over time you may get fading of the wood cabinet front & if when you take off the grills or want to sell em, you could end up with two different shades of wood. Not a problem unique to Spendor by any means, but half-grills on a wood finish cabinet can suffer from shading.

Some years ago I bought a pair of ex-demo cherry A5s which were badly part-shaded due to them being left in the dealer's window with the grills on. It was a different branch to the one I use who got them transferred to their store & sold them to me at a bargain price. I wanted them for my conservatory & installed them without the grills to try to even-up the shading. It was very successful & within 6 months they looked perfect. I never put the grills on again & the guy who bought them from me about a year ago thought they were in mint condition. Having been exposed to lots of bright sunshine in the conservatory they had lightened a bit but it was even, having swopped them left to right every month for about a year. I now have a pair of Cherry A5Rs which again were a bargain buy (£700 off) after they had been discontinued. They were brand new unopened box. Again I have used them in my conservatory without grills & after 15 months they still look brand new with no signs of shading. Also I had been assured a few years ago by Rob Coe of Spendor that the drive units would not come to any harm in the bright sunlight. I do not know if other colours react the same but just thought I would share my experience on the shading issue.

I also had some mahogany ProAc D18s in my lounge & took the grills off when in use but left them on when not in use. Due to their position out of direct sunlight I did not think uneven shading would be a problem. However I was wrong so took the grills off permanently before I sold them & fortunately the uneven shading had gone. Consequently my mahogany D20Rs which replaced them had the grills taken off as soon as they were out of the boxes & have never been on since.
 
Thanks for the advice guys/gals. Hopefully they’ll darken for me over time. Zero sunlight in the room so we shall see.

Just finished dialing them in today. Very sensitive to toe in. Even half inch made a significant difference. My small 10X10 space may have something to do with that sensitivity. So far they sound great in there.
 
A7
Just absolutely fantastic
I went for the A7 with grills following many dems with many other speakers- inc PMC 25.23 & 25.26,
C20 & S20
Preferred the A7, to me more musical, enjoyable,natural sound, open and seemed to have better lows and mids.
On the end of 300DR / 252 SC DR

Good luck
 
Thanks for the advice guys/gals. Hopefully they’ll darken for me over time. Zero sunlight in the room so we shall see.

Just finished dialing them in today. Very sensitive to toe in. Even half inch made a significant difference. My small 10X10 space may have something to do with that sensitivity. So far they sound great in there.
Just to be clear - those pictures of yours above (which I'm not going to copy!) are of the A4s, right? But you've changed to the A7s?
 
Hi,

I am an owner of the A7s also. I demoed them against the equivalent PMC ones and preferred the A7. I got them in white with the grills but prefer the look of them without grills so leave them off. I did get a pair rather than just one but the picture I have to hand only shows one!

Untitled by biotecbob, on Flickr
 
I was once tempted by a pair of Spendor S5es, as an upgrade from BC1s. They sounded superb in Audio T, Oxford.
Never did get to try a a pair at home.
Still have the BC1s...
 
Hi,

I am an owner of the A7s also. I demoed them against the equivalent PMC ones and preferred the A7. I got them in white with the grills but prefer the look of them without grills so leave them off. I did get a pair rather than just one but the picture I have to hand only shows one!

Untitled by biotecbob, on Flickr

Beautiful!
 
I was once tempted by a pair of Spendor S5es, as an upgrade from BC1s. They sounded superb in Audio T, Oxford. Never did get to try a a pair at home. Still have the BC1s...

I bought SP5e's to replace my SP1's mainly because of the size & room layout. Replaced the S5e's with A5's which have since been replaced by A5R's. Each got better than the previous model & the size really suited my small study - also now got a second pair in consevatory. Was sorry to see them discontinued but do not think I will be tempted by their successors.
 
Well... I'll answer my own post from earlier this year in the event anybody else could use the info...

I just switched over to the Spendor A7 from the Spendor A4. Whoa! Completely different speaker.

I'm in a dedicated 10X10 room that's open to another room behind the listening chair. While immensely enjoying the A4's I was experiencing untidy and boomy bass. This gave me much reservation about going up to the A7. After much deliberating I made the move and here are my observations.

Interestingly, the boom is now completely eliminated and the bottom end is so much cleaner. I did however slightly change the speaker positioning as well so that could account for some of it. Either way the sound and presentation is now clean while quite noticeably deeper. The scale of volume that the A7's have over the A4's is way beyond what their physical size differences would tell you. Highs are so sweet and mids are the show stopper here just like the A4... Vocals are insanely enjoyable... Sinatra on vinyl through these A7's is just therapeutic.

On another note, I opted for the optional grills. I know there was some curiosity out there on how they are fitted and what they look while fitted. The grills themselves have small magnets that grab onto the driver's allen screws, holding the grills into place... A few unboxing pics...

Thanks for reading!

So,
I had the D7. didn't like them.
Then I got the A4. love them. Love them.
Then I got an A6R second hand. can't settle with them. they are too airy compared to the A4
and now I'm thinking about the A7

any thoughts ?

I run my A4 with an exposure 3010s2D and a Chord 2qute
sounds great.

Also, what do you put under you spikes to keep the wood floor in tact.
 


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