Spendor A2 (1999–2000)
The Spendor A2 was the brand's entry-level floorstander, launched in 1999 and produced through 2000. It was a two-way reflex design, built around a 165mm polymer bass/midrange driver with an 18mm die-cast chassis and a 25mm Aureflex soft-dome, ferro-fluid-cooled tweeter. The crossover is an 18dB/octave Linkwitz-Riley type at 4.5kHz. Frequency response is rated at 42Hz–20kHz ±2dB, sensitivity at 86dB/W/m, and nominal impedance at 8 ohms. Each cabinet measures 860 × 200 × 260mm and weighs 20kg. Power handling is rated at 100 watts, with a recommended amplifier range of 30–100W. The pair was matched to within ±0.5dB and veneered in real walnut, with the cabinets floated on steel plates with four carpet-piercing spikes supplied.
The A2 sat below the A6 in Spendor's range, and a dealer listing from the period notes the drive unit as a Spendor/EPOS composite/paper Kevlar design. Audio (September 1995, p.99) carried dealer advertising around this era, though the A2 itself appears in the record mainly through HFA — The Home Cinema & Hi-Fi Magazine's archived review and a handful of enthusiast discussions. The original price in 1999 was £850. A second version, the A2 II, also exists, though the production split between the two is not documented. A second-hand dealer listing from later years asked £1,350 for a pair in excellent condition.
Documentation on the A2 is thinner than on Spendor's better-known models — no service manual, no detailed crossover schematic, and little in the way of official marketing material survives. What the record does show is a well-specified, sensibly engineered British floorstander from the late 1990s, one that reviewers described as surprisingly grown-up sounding for its position in the range. HFA's review noted it could sound a little rough in the upper midrange on certain recordings. An online forum user wrote that the A6 was better in almost every way — but the A2 remains a respected budget floorstander of its period.
- Type: Two-way reflex floorstanding loudspeaker
- Drivers: 165mm polymer bass/midrange (18mm die-cast chassis), 25mm soft-dome tweeter
- Crossover: 18dB/octave Linkwitz-Riley at 4.5kHz
- Frequency response: 42Hz–20kHz ±2dB
- Sensitivity: 86dB/W/m
- Impedance: 8 ohms
- Power handling: 100W (recommended amp 30–100W)
- Dimensions (H×W×D): 860 × 200 × 260mm
- Weight: 20kg each
- Finish: Real walnut veneer
- Country of origin: Great Britain
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