PMC vs. Spendor

[George680]

Hello,

One 'simple' question for the hifi enthousiast like you.

I was wondering how do the PMC Twenty5.23s compare to the Spendor A4 floorstanders speakers?

Thanks for your time.

Regards Sjors

 

[davidf]

They're both very different speakers, so ultimately this will come down to your own preferences, and more importantly, which one works better with your amplifier and in your listening room. I'd say the Spendor might pip it for small rooms, as I reckon you'd be able to get them a little closer to the rear wall than the PMCs. Both quality speakers though.

 

[nopiano]

I guess you've seen the latest WHF review? They conclude:-

"While we’ve generally liked Spendor’s products, a few of the smaller, more affordable models have tended to prioritise analysis over entertainment.

The A4 delivers both, with ease. In recent years the likes of PMC’s Twenty 23s have been our go-to compact floorstanders at this price level.

We're adding the Spendor A4s to that very short shortlist."

So you've got the same shortlist! I can only repeat David's advice that you should audition at home with your system. And don't overlook the ProAc D20r which is very enjoyable and succeeded the 18.

 

[Al ears]

They're both very different speakers, so ultimately this will come down to your own preferences, and more importantly, which one works better with your amplifier and in your listening room. I'd say the Spendor might pip it for small rooms, as I reckon you'd be able to get them a little closer to the rear wall than the PMCs. Both quality speakers though.

David,

I have always felt that anything rear-ported, no matter how small, is not going to work well bang up against a rear wall - perhaps Spendor have managed to sort this scenario?

 

[davidf]

They're both very different speakers, so ultimately this will come down to your own preferences, and more importantly, which one works better with your amplifier and in your listening room. I'd say the Spendor might pip it for small rooms, as I reckon you'd be able to get them a little closer to the rear wall than the PMCs. Both quality speakers though.

David,

I have always felt that anything rear-ported, no matter how small, is not going to work well bang up against a rear wall - perhaps Spendor have managed to sort this scenario?

Many of the Spendor models use a slot port rather than conventional round ports, resulting in lower turbulence. I can't remember which port the A4 uses, but the A4s at Bristol were doing a rather good job. There are a few speakers that use round ports that seem to work fine close to a wall too. As a general rule, I agree with you, but there are exceptions.

 

[stereoman]

I think Spendor speakers are a bit of a trial and error made. Once I was using s3e and s5e. Both had an amazing sound fluency but utterly unethusiastic tweeters took all the music spirit away. Then they decided to introduce another more vivid sounding tweeters in following models. Generally not bad speakers. I believe new A4 sound really good.

 

[Al ears]

They're both very different speakers, so ultimately this will come down to your own preferences, and more importantly, which one works better with your amplifier and in your listening room. I'd say the Spendor might pip it for small rooms, as I reckon you'd be able to get them a little closer to the rear wall than the PMCs. Both quality speakers though.

Thanks David. As far as I am aware the A4 uses a sizeable round reflex port not a slot. It may work adequately I do know as never heard them.

David,

I have always felt that anything rear-ported, no matter how small, is not going to work well bang up against a rear wall - perhaps Spendor have managed to sort this scenario?

Many of the Spendor models use a slot port rather than conventional round ports, resulting in lower turbulence. I can't remember which port the A4 uses, but the A4s at Bristol were doing a rather good job. There are a few speakers that use round ports that seem to work fine close to a wall too. As a general rule, I agree with you, but there are exceptions.

 

[davidf]

I think Spendor speakers are a bit of a trial and error made. Once I was using s3e and s5e. Both had an amazing sound fluency but utterly unethusiastic tweeters took all the music spirit away. Then they decided to introduce another more vivid sounding tweeters in following models. Generally not bad speakers. I believe new A4 sound really good.

The new tonal balance should be more desirable to more listeners.

 

[stereoman]

I think Spendor speakers are a bit of a trial and error made. Once I was using s3e and s5e. Both had an amazing sound fluency but utterly unethusiastic tweeters took all the music spirit away. Then they decided to introduce another more vivid sounding tweeters in following models. Generally not bad speakers. I believe new A4 sound really good.

The new tonal balance should be more desirable to more listeners.

Yes, true.

 

[rainsoothe]

I think Spendor speakers are a bit of a trial and error made. Once I was using s3e and s5e. Both had an amazing sound fluency but utterly unethusiastic tweeters took all the music spirit away. Then they decided to introduce another more vivid sounding tweeters in following models. Generally not bad speakers. I believe new A4 sound really good.

Maybe the system partnering was off, I still have my old S3e's lying around, and I can't let myself sell them for some reason. I think for the price one can get these second hand they destroy any new entry level speaker, and even above. They gave great slam imo, and the tweeter isn't uninvolving at all, quite the opposite (used with Naim UQ2 + Nap100 and Nac N172XS + Nap 200). Great sound coming out of those small buggers.

 

[chebby]

If well-healed enough, I would always go for speakers from Spendor's Classic range rather than their more 'ephemeral' ranges.

My last experience was listening to some SP100R2s that were/are on demo at the local Audio-T a couple of months ago. Wow!

 

[davidf]

The Classic stuff was always a little more exciting than the normal range - although I think the new ones go some way to bridging that gap.

 

[George680]

Hello,

Are there people out there that have experienced the Rega Aria Phono Amplifier?

I'm curious about the

and the

of this unit in combination with my Rega RP8 and Apheta 2.

And would like to know also if there would be a nice Power Cable upgrade.

Looking forward to get some nice reactions from you What Hi Fi enthousiasts.

Regards Sjors

 

[QuestForThe13thNote]

Don't know about that rega but I know that all rega stuff is well sought after. But on the pmc v spendor thing, I heard the spendors at Bristol and thought they were a big sound for the size. They were being driven loud and it was clear they were a small speaker though. The sound is a good detailed and all encompassing good sound with decent bass. But the pmc 25-23 which I own are more subtle, detailed and the bass is just more accurate. You'd expect me to say this but the pmc's are in a different price bracket to the spendors. But the a4 is competing with the old 20-23 speaker/price really, and it would have to be compared with that pmc, not the newer 25-23 model which just outclasses the old 20-23(which I owned too). Another thing is my amps are quite a bit better than the rega amps I think they were using at Bristol with the a4. But the pmc 25-23s transmission line, really low distortion, and improvements in mids and bass over the 20-23 make it a different proposition to the speakers in the 20-23s £2k ish price and I'd expect the spendor a4 too.

So my recommendation would be to think which amp you are going to use in deciding between the spendor and pmc, room size, as pmc's can really have loads more in amps. bear in mind too the pmc's are in a different class on the sound they produce to the spendor in working out which amp suits. Also the transmission line of the pmc's produces a lot more bass for the size of the speaker than the spendor can achieve with its arrangement, but totally different types of speaker obviously.