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Splendor D9’s.2 vs B&W 803 D2 which I own

I’ve had the 803 D2’s for about 9 months now and enjoy them but they don’t connect with me for all music, especially more rock oriented music. They excel at jazz and even country! Because of them, I’ve become quite the jazz fan. But, most of my collection is rock of many varieties, so I’ve always been kind of curious about other options. I’m visiting Houston this week and there’s a pair of Spendor D9.2’s that interest me. I read they are pretty neutral and a bit more fast sounding. I’m thinking they could be a fit and the owner says I can audition if I’m a serious buyer. To me the B&W’s are more on the laid back side. This is based on my limited exposure to speakers but will say they are not as forward/fast as my previous Cornwall II’s or maybe even Triton 1’s. Any thoughts how the Spendor D9.2’s would compare to the 803 D2’s and if they would be more versatile for rock? Thx. 

Gear:
Livingston 532H
Audible Illusions L3 preamp
Herron phono preamp
Technics 1200 G
Sony HAP Z1 server
McIntosh MB 50 Streamer/DAC
Assortment of mid to lower level IC’s
AQ Rockefeller speaker cables
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bfoura OP
87 posts
 
More imaging and a bit more bass would be nice! The 803’s produce respectable bass but not like the sub power GE Triton 1’s or my Cornwall’s with 15” woofer. The Corns produce the best bass of all the speakers I’ve owned. I’ll play around with placement on the 803’s to see if I can increase imaging. But looking forward to demoing the D9.2’s. 
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bfoura OP
87 posts
 
I was able to demo the Spendor D9.2’s and they were impressive. I get the faster transient thing with this particular speaker. I think they would work well for what I’m seeking right now in my audiophile journey. However, the owner was powering them with Boulder amp and preamp, along with some exotic silversmith speakers wire. Is that a fair demo? My system as noted above is nice but no where near the Boulder level components. Will I be disappointed if I get them in my system? 
ddafoe
238 posts
 
Personally, I think that is one the strengths of the D7/D9 in that they don't require beastly amplifiers to really boogie or sound-good.   Since they are decently resolving ( some even say harsh, hot, etc... :) ) matching them properly is good advice but then that holds pretty generally with most speaker changes anyways.   I replaced Magico S1s with D9s and kept the same preamp/amp combo (Sim 740p/Pass 250.8) with them for years mostly because I just really loved the sound.  After realizing I could not get my 250.8 to leave class A bias at my listening levels with the D9s, I have swapped the 250.8 for a cheaper XA30.8 (30w class A) and that also sounds amazing with the D9s too in my opinion.   I've also tried a Bryston 4B3 and Benchmark AHB2 with the D9s in my home and could have lived with either of them too..., but so far the Pass sound with the D9s are my favorite.

Cheers
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bfoura OP
87 posts
 
I had the XA 30.5 which I really liked but it did produce heat in my already warm upstairs room and did not pair well with my Audible Illusions line stage. Always got a hum with those two. No issues like that with the Levinson. Thanks for the feed back @
photomax
168 posts
 
I will echo some of the points here as well.

I did some serial box swapping and speaker testing (below and above my budget) and settled on the following (my room is very similar sized to your yours):

Linn Akurate streamer, Rega TT, Parasound JC3+ phono stage, Pass Labs XP20 pre and Pass Labs XA30.8 Class A amp powering Spender D9 speakers. Super happy finally…
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