Spendor D7.2 (2019)
The Spendor D7.2 is the second-generation version of the D7, a model the company itself has called one of its most successful ever. It came out in 2019 at £4,500. It's a medium-sized 2.5-way floorstander with a rear-ported, bass-reflex cabinet. It belonged to Spendor's D-Line, which sat above the A-Line and focused on resolution and transparency.
The changes from the original D7 are mostly internal. The crossover was reworked, cabinet rigidity went up, and the speaker uses Spendor's proprietary Dynamic Damping system. The driver complement is a 22mm hybrid soft-dome tweeter, a 180mm EP77 polymer-cone mid/bass driver handling midrange and upper-bass duties, and a separate 180mm Kevlar woofer that does bass only. That split is the whole point of the 2.5-way layout. Sensitivity is rated at 90dB, impedance at 8 ohms, and power handling from 25 to 200 watts unclipped. Each cabinet measures 192 × 950 × 333mm (W×H×D) and weighs 21kg. Finishes were cherry, dark walnut, and black ash real wood veneers.
Hi-Fi Choice (2019) tested the D7.2 at £4,500. It described the speaker as about as transparent as speakers get at this level when partnered with well-matched electronics, and called it one of the most revealing speakers you can buy for the money. Much of the reception says the same thing: these are honest, detailed transducers that will expose flaws upstream. A Russian forum user was blunter. With inexpensive amplifiers, there will be "squeal and dirt" - the speakers simply reveal every weakness in the chain. So matching matters. Owners report good pairings with hybrid Pathos amplifiers (the Inpol 2 mk2 and TT), Moon integrated amps from the 340i X upward, and Naim's SuperNait 3. One owner ran them happily with a tube Copland 405A.
Room size matters here. Several owners report that 12 square meters is simply too small, and the D7.2 will overwhelm such a space with bass. A more workable room seems to be around 20 square meters. One owner uses them in a 5.5 × 3.65m room with the speakers on the long wall. At least one owner strongly recommends isolation footers, specifically IsoAcoustic Gaia. Users also compared the D7.2 favorably against Monitor Audio's Platinum 100 3G and Gold 200, with the Spendor winning on midrange naturalness.
A note on provenance: a Stereophile Class A recommendation quote from Sam Tellig is sometimes attached to the D7.2 in dealer listings. That accolade was given to the original D7 in September 2014, not this second-generation model.
Known Specifications
- Type: 2.5-way, bass-reflex floorstanding loudspeaker
- Drivers: 22mm hybrid soft-dome tweeter; 180mm EP77 polymer mid/bass; 180mm Kevlar woofer
- Crossover frequencies: 900 Hz, 3.2 kHz
- Frequency response: 29 Hz – 25 kHz
- Sensitivity: 90 dB
- Impedance: 8 ohms
- Power handling: 25–200W
- Dimensions (W×H×D): 192 × 950 × 333mm
- Weight: 21kg
- Finishes: cherry, dark walnut, black ash veneers
- Original price: £4,500
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