Click pics to enlarge. Left pic from Stereophile of the S3/5R2 but Vivek's later sample has a diameter 1 cm larger. See his text.Letter from India (1): Spendor S3/5R2 by Vivek R
Editor: We met Vivek R only recently in a Virtual Home Visit. He recently bought this and emailed me this mini-review, which he posted in India's hifivision. Now, as discussed in the previous home visit, Vivek has a particular interest in BBC derived loudspeakers.
Vivek is a very cultured person, works in the finance sector, and a is a music fanatic. His wife is a journalist as well as an author of children's books. Based in Mumbai, they met in the US!
I bit the bullet and bought a Spendor S3/5R2. Creating a separate post for this as it has no comparisons with others of it’s ilk. Of course I have heard the lovely Graham 3/5 and Harbeth P3ESR in altogether different rooms and front ends - so there is no comparison to make.
It is for my bedroom and against the wall and it is not even on stands - in a shelf (and like a scene from the Gladiator “kill kill kill” the audiophiles scream)[Editor: see right pic, click to enlarge. Vivek's wife's children books are on top surface]. And it is magnificent for my purposes. And lighter on the pocket too. Sound Midrange to die for and amazing vocals. Highs without fatigue. But that you knew, right?
And bass that works well with much of rock, jazz, (you hear it, you wont feel it and not much texture), classical as long as it is not complex -e.g. with Schoenberg’s Pelleas and Mellisande, those raw emotions of love, jealousy and betrayal get a bit miniaturised. Play Kendrick Lamar and the vocals are amazing but the deep bass goes “dok-dok-dok” as opposed to “dunnng dunngg” with the Graham even - you get the drift.
Play a string quartet and it sings.
I am really enjoying this and suspect it is a keeper and not honeymoon period. Only time will tell. I am using the Clones 55pm and Elekit 8500 pre.
I googled like a maniac before I bought this and think will put in what I learned for the sake of others.
1. This is 165wx190 depth. Exactly BBC LS 3/5a turned by 90 degrees. So this is a narrower baffle - some feel it does not float voices (see stereophile review of the 3/5se - thank you my friend DJ for pointing it out), but there is one difference in specs with the R2 - see later. Don’t know if it makes a difference sonically. I have no complaints though.
2. The S3/5R2 come in 2 versions. Ones that have serial number starting 206 have a 14 cm woofer [Editor: like the pair reviewed by Stereophile] and the later 236 with a 15 cm woofer. I could not find a review comparing the two. I got the 236 version.
3. This 236 series has the same dimension of woofer as the Spendor classic S3/5. That latter version (now discontinued) has apparently better quality parts. I could not find any comparisons, but I gather that under real life conditions they are pretty similar.
4. The new and the more expensive 4/5 is reverting back to the wide baffle format. It is positioned closer to the other ones like Graham, Harbeth etc. Likely a big difference.
Cultured makes me sound like a pearl! Thank you for your kind words. Let me also add that I am an unabashed fan of you and this website!
ReplyDeleteDo months when there is Covid fly faster? Thought of posting again as I have been listening a lot in these speakers, especially a huge amount of jazz. Decided to go through all the less listened jazz CDs in my cupboard. Like this
ReplyDeletehttps://www.hifivision.com/threads/all-that-jazz.69537/post-912658
No listening fatigue. The instruments sound true to life for most part. The bass is satisfactory on almost all music.
Listen to vocals, rock, jazz, chamber and it works like magic. And yes the tone is lovely
Downsides - a couple and both have to do with scale/drama. Large scale classical does not work as well. So many instruments, the widest frequency and dynamic range are going to test most speakers/systems. This baby Spendor captures tone but that’s more or less it. You won’t “air conduct” as much.
And that is the same case with the piano too - again a test for most systems. In my main rig, you get an idea of the size and power of the instrument. Here you get it scaled down. However, still, piano chamber and jazz make music here.
I am extremely satisfied with this purchase. The audiophile is a restless soul. Read the good Doctor’s review of the Harbeth and I start drooling! You want to hear sounds that another person is listening to! Read between lines and the whole thing - what does the reviewer say and what does he really mean!!! And technical overload which is half understood mainly.
Put these speakers in the right room, with anything that is not so demanding and there is hours of magic.
Elekit-Clones 55pm and the RATOC Dac form the rest of the chain.
Indeed, we are insatiable, but you have no need for the P3ESR, given what you have already. There will be more temptations down the road...
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