Hello everyone
I've posted some of this information in various threads before but I think given the popularity and high regard for both these loudspeakers, it's worth compiling into a separate thread.
Of the two, the Spendor requires much more break-in time, possibly up to 100 hours of listening. I learned this when reading a review in the US magazine The Absolute Sound (TAS):
http://www.avguide.com/review/tas-195-spendor-sa1-mini-monitor?page=1
The reviewer Steven Stone wrote:
"When I first began listening to the Spendor SA1’s I thought they sounded slightly tight and lean. Since I had been told that they would need some serious break-in time to sound optimal I was not overly concerned about their lack of immediate star power. According to Philip Swift, “The actual break-in period for the SA1 depends to a large extent on how loud and long you play the speakers. If you have the opportunity to let loose for many hours with a sensibly powerful amplifier and a broad selection of dynamic, wide-frequency-range program the speakers can be sounding good within a day or two. But if you play more modestly and less frequently it can take as long as 2-3 weeks for the loudspeakers to reach optimum performance. Another factor is temperature, if your loudspeakers have been recently been shipped or stored in low temperatures they may sound a bit ‘flat’ for the first few playing hours.” After approximately 100 hours of break-in I began listening in earnest''.
This has actually been my personal experience, the SA1s sounding awful (shut-in, dull and thin) when first plugged in to my Naim system but now, after about 60-odd hours of listening in the past month, are transformed completely into wonderfully lively, detailed and transparent creatures. Spendor should actually consider including a note on this subject in the accompanying user manual.
In contrast, PMC state in the DB1i's user manual that around 15+ hours of listening is all that's needed for the speaker to attain optimum performance. Again, this has been my experience, the DB1i sounded fantastic straight from the box and although improvements over the days are audible, these are marginal and certainly not of the magnitude of the SA1s. So it appears to me that PMC maybe already run their speakers in for a fair amount of time before shipping.
If you're after small, high-quality speakers and these two are on your audition list, I hope this information proves useful.
Cheers
I've posted some of this information in various threads before but I think given the popularity and high regard for both these loudspeakers, it's worth compiling into a separate thread.
Of the two, the Spendor requires much more break-in time, possibly up to 100 hours of listening. I learned this when reading a review in the US magazine The Absolute Sound (TAS):
http://www.avguide.com/review/tas-195-spendor-sa1-mini-monitor?page=1
The reviewer Steven Stone wrote:
"When I first began listening to the Spendor SA1’s I thought they sounded slightly tight and lean. Since I had been told that they would need some serious break-in time to sound optimal I was not overly concerned about their lack of immediate star power. According to Philip Swift, “The actual break-in period for the SA1 depends to a large extent on how loud and long you play the speakers. If you have the opportunity to let loose for many hours with a sensibly powerful amplifier and a broad selection of dynamic, wide-frequency-range program the speakers can be sounding good within a day or two. But if you play more modestly and less frequently it can take as long as 2-3 weeks for the loudspeakers to reach optimum performance. Another factor is temperature, if your loudspeakers have been recently been shipped or stored in low temperatures they may sound a bit ‘flat’ for the first few playing hours.” After approximately 100 hours of break-in I began listening in earnest''.
This has actually been my personal experience, the SA1s sounding awful (shut-in, dull and thin) when first plugged in to my Naim system but now, after about 60-odd hours of listening in the past month, are transformed completely into wonderfully lively, detailed and transparent creatures. Spendor should actually consider including a note on this subject in the accompanying user manual.
In contrast, PMC state in the DB1i's user manual that around 15+ hours of listening is all that's needed for the speaker to attain optimum performance. Again, this has been my experience, the DB1i sounded fantastic straight from the box and although improvements over the days are audible, these are marginal and certainly not of the magnitude of the SA1s. So it appears to me that PMC maybe already run their speakers in for a fair amount of time before shipping.
If you're after small, high-quality speakers and these two are on your audition list, I hope this information proves useful.
Cheers
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