Spendor D7, D9 but no love Classic 100?

there was something in particular about the D7 treble range that made me uncomfortable

I’ve encountered this same criticism a few times, even from a Spendor dealer. I was told the D-line is Spendor’s interpretation of a modern studio monitor.

I haven’t heard the newest Classic 100s, but their predecessors, the SP100s, are still reference-grade speakers IMO. In fact, even among speakers costing upwards of $30K, I’ve yet to encounter any that I think are superior overall. Very few speakers, if any, manage such a wide array of talents. And most are tonally inaccurate in comparison (in my opinion of course).

If you want the sound of SP100s/Classic 100s in a smallish floorstander, get the A7s. My dealer thinks they’re as close as it gets without buying the new Classic range. I did get to hear the new A4s in the same room where I heard the SP100s. Aside from bass output, I think I’d be hard-pressed to discern a difference in a blind listen. That makes the A4s sort of a great bargain IMO.

If you’ve fallen for the Classic Spendor sound, I’m afraid there’s really no substitute outside of the new A-line, at least not that I’ve heard. And no, the Harbeth sound is not very similar.

The Classic series of old and the recent models are totally different in my opinion. So much so that instead of buying any of the recent versions of the 1/2 I waited patiently to buy a pair of the older 1/2e that I had owned several years previously as well. I find the Sterling LS3/6 to be more in line with what the older Classic series sounded like versus anything Spendor is making today.

I have to strongly disagree. I own SP2/3R2s and find them to basically sound like a scaled-down SP100. They're just a little less detailed and of course,  cannot play as loud.

I owned the Stirling LS3/6s for a few weeks. While very good, they are far brighter than any Spendor I've heard and quite lacking of warmth in comparison. The Stirlings produce a washboard-flat monitor sound.