Spendor SP100R2 still a relevant speaker?


Was about to pull the trigger on some Tannoy Turnberry's but then found a beautiful pair of Spendor SP100R2's with stands that are within a long drive distance from me if I wanted to buy them.

They have some age on them, wonder if they can perform as good as the Tannoy or even better.  They are at the same price too $6k.

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Yes, one is a Tannoy and the other is a Spendor.  

Both should have pretty rich midrange and run on the warm side, so different but not so much.

I have heard SP100’s many times, a good friend owned a set for many years, it is a terrific speaker on many kinds of music. Kind of doesn’t do anything wrong, gets alot right, and always sound approachable and makes nasty recordings sound decent. They are pretty efficient so using a good tube amp can get the vocals to be super sweet. Spendor as a company has been poorly handled in this country in recent years, maybe they are making a comeback now. I still have my Epos M22’s and there have been many times I have been tempted to go for the Spendors but the price keeps going up. The speakers have always top notch especially their original heritage models.

Tannoys have been around forever too, perhaps even more old fashioned than Spendors. When I have heard them at shows over the years, they kind of struck me as sounding somewhat like a refined horn-loaded speaker, dynamic but there can be some honky affects on some female vocals that can creep in, but maybe it depends on setup. They too are very efficient, so many Tannoys owners use tube amps to drive them.

Simple.

Listen to both.

Buy the one you prefer.

One man's opinion on this means nothing to you.

You have your ears and he doesn't

Yes, very much so.  Many people prefer either the Mk1 or the Mk2 to the Classic 100, as there have been subtle shifts to its voicing over time.  If it's a good deal and appears in good condition I would pounce.

Thank you everyone.  They are a good deal with stands, same price as the Tannoy actually.

I'm seriously giving it thought, it's a four hour drive, so I guess if I listened and didn't like them it's not too bad.  

I owned the SP100's for years and enjoyed them greatly. They sound good (though different) with amplifier and cable changes, but always truthful and enjoyable. I don't think you'd be disappointed. By the way, they're heavy!

The original SP100s outperform the 100R2s, but the latter should still be very good. The upside to the R2 variants is they won’t suffer the driver surround hardening problem of the earlier models. I would be happy to own a pair of 100R2s driven by 40 watts+ of tube power. I like just about any Spendor better than the Harbeth counterpart. 

I have heard the Spendor and the Tannoys, to me the Spendors are very easy to listen to, but perhaps a bit polite, the Tannoys are more engaging with better dynamics, plus you can tweak the treble energy to your liking. Plus with the Tannoys being 3db more efficient makes them easier to drive with single ended valve amps.

If you read the reviews my impressions are pretty much supported by the reviewers.

Thank you for the input @alan60 that's pretty much what the owner is saying too, that Tannoy might be a bit more energetic compared to the Spendor.  I'm still completely lost now.  Only one I have heard is the Tannoy.