greg928gts Posted September 1, 2003 Share Posted September 1, 2003 Spendor 3/5's on ebay for $600. These are tiny little speakers that sound o.k., but if these are worth $600, then my Khorns are worth $20,000. It's amazing how many people contacted me about these little speakers. How can people get so taken in by something so mediocre? I'm not complaining, I paid $240 for them knowing I could sell them for much more! Is this what "true audiophiles" look for in a speaker? UGGGH! Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guy Landau Posted September 1, 2003 Share Posted September 1, 2003 Were they 15 or 8 ohm? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cut-Throat Posted September 1, 2003 Share Posted September 1, 2003 I would like to know how to get a pair of these Spendors for $240! I would like a pair for my den, to place on shelves as they have no rear port. I may not use these as my main speakers, but I would certainly like a pair. For $240 especially! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guy Landau Posted September 1, 2003 Share Posted September 1, 2003 Ooops, Thought you meant LS3/5A. Sorry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg928gts Posted September 1, 2003 Author Share Posted September 1, 2003 I'm sorry Cut-Throat, but I just don't get it. People don't actually sit in a chair in front of speakers like this, close their eyes, and languish in the sound quality? Or do they? I'd say go down to Rat Shack and get a $100 pair of bookshelf speakers if the space is limited. Otherwise, "find" room for a pair of Heresy's. At least with Heresy's I'd feel like I was getting something real, not just another little box. Maybe I'm not giving Spendor a fair shake, but then again, I did put my best sounding cd in and sat back and listened for a while. I just wasn't that impressed. I wouldn't give any more than $240 for them. In fact, I bought a pair of Cornwalls a couple of weeks ago for $250! I regularly run an ad in a local classified-type booklet saying that I buy vintage audio gear and Klipsch speakers. I've had quite a few phone calls. I also check with people who are selling gear and offer them a quick sale for a lot less $. Many people just don't want to deal with selling stuff, especially if it means shipping, and stereo gear isn't exactly selling all that well in the depressed economy of Maine right now. Buy local cheap, sell worldwide at current market value. Thank you ebay! Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
speed3 Posted September 2, 2003 Share Posted September 2, 2003 Greg, Is that you in Uncle Henry's? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg928gts Posted September 2, 2003 Author Share Posted September 2, 2003 Yes, but let's keep it our little secret. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garymd Posted September 2, 2003 Share Posted September 2, 2003 How much do you think I could get for my BO$E original AM-5s? I still have the box and ceiling mounts and they are in perfect condition since I haven't used them for 15 years. They were a gift BTW. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mobile homeless Posted September 2, 2003 Share Posted September 2, 2003 I had a pair of Spender LS3/5a monitors for a brief while that I loved running with a B&K ST-202 among other things. I liked the transmission line Fried Q4 better in some ways but thought these speakers had very good tone/mids and were imaging kings (ironic all this talk of imaging). No, they are not the dynamics leaders of all time but they have other strengths. Comparing offerings from Spender or Rogers etc directly to horns is not exactly an equal comparison. The Spender speakers had a pretty neutral quality to them and were open. In addition, placement , compared to a pair of Heresy, is a piece of cake although they REALLY benefitted from GREAT stands away from wall bounderies like all monitors. And if imaging floats your boat, they would outdo any of the Heritage models in my view; then again, should imaging really float anyone's boat to be held in the #1 position? BTW, most of these British speaker are really polite and reticent sounding. A Heritage horn driven by normal SS electronics would have the EXACT opposite type of sound. But dont blow off Spender so easily. You might have been surprised in the right setup. kh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg928gts Posted September 2, 2003 Author Share Posted September 2, 2003 I doubt it. Those types of speakers just don't do it for me. Imaging or not, I just don't see the attraction to the little boring sound. I guess if I sit there and analyze it enough, I can appreciate the fairly smooth response, the lack of annoying frequency spikes, the overall tone. I don't think that's how I want the description of my 2 channel system to read. I am totally spoiled with the Khorns. Gary, LOL, you poor soul. I guess you didn't get the warning before you bought those: "Beware of Bose, Distortion Kills" You must be so much happier now with your current set up!? Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cut-Throat Posted September 2, 2003 Share Posted September 2, 2003 Well, these spendors are going to be pretty inefficient and to fully appreciate them, you are going to have to have an amp with plenty of power. Driving them with a SET amp that you drive your Khorns with is not gonna do it. That said these are never gonna sound like Khorns, but then again not everyone has room for Khorns. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garymd Posted September 2, 2003 Share Posted September 2, 2003 ---------------- On 9/2/2003 8:39:15 PM greg928s4 wrote: Gary, LOL, you poor soul. I guess you didn't get the warning before you bought those: "Beware of Bose, Distortion Kills" You must be so much happier now with your current set up!? Greg ---------------- Seriously Greg, the husband of my wife's best friend in law school was a BO$E salesman and she bought them for me for Christmas to hang on the ceiling opposite the cornwalls. I just switched to channel A only when she wasn't around. The cornwalls drowned them out anyway. I'll bet I could get at least $300 on ebay for them. Maybe more. I think she spent $500 for them new and that was practically wholesale. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg928gts Posted September 2, 2003 Author Share Posted September 2, 2003 O.k., Gary, I had a little laugh at your expense. I'm over it now. I would say you're about right. I did a search on ebay and found they've been selling for between $250 and $300. It'll take good photos and a good description, but I think you could pull $300 from them. Cut Throat - I have the Spendor's on one of my other systems, an all Mac system, MR-77, C-28, and MC2100. They do love the power. Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mobile homeless Posted September 2, 2003 Share Posted September 2, 2003 Does your AES SET have the MagnQuest upgrade? I think you would be VERY surprised at the bass of good SET matched well with excellent output iron. The MagneQuest option is a big upgrade for those amps. How many SET amps have you heard? Have you tried other preamp options? btw, the Spender does do better with certain amplification. No, it's not the sound of the Khorn but, as stated, it really has other strengths. I love monitor speakers and these were excellent although more polite. kh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg928gts Posted September 3, 2003 Author Share Posted September 3, 2003 kh No, I don't think it has any upgrades. How could I tell? I have only heard this one SET amp and only three different tube amps on my Khorns, the AES SET, a Scott 299B, and a Dynaco ST-70. None of them were checked out before I used them, so who knows what kind of shape they were/are in. I can't wait to try out some new amps and/or upgrades . . . in time. How many watts per channel is my AES putting out? I've heard others talk about 300b SET amps that put out 8 watts per channel. Mine is 300b based, but I always thought it put out 3 wpc. Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Robinson Posted September 3, 2003 Share Posted September 3, 2003 Greg, I know we've talked about it before, but if you're down this way, drop in. Leo and I can show you a bunch of SET options on different gear, plus a decent dinner and a fair bottle of wine or beer (or whatever). The 300B puts out a little more power than the 2A3. We're only doing 2A3 down here currently so I think you'll cover both bases. We do have some really nice iron from MQ (including cobalt), so you could hear what a change in iron does for the sound. It's really not too subtle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg928gts Posted September 3, 2003 Author Share Posted September 3, 2003 Love to Chris, very nice offer. I'll have my weekends back after boating season is over, then begins audio/football season, which segues(sp?) into strictly audio season. Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mobile homeless Posted September 3, 2003 Share Posted September 3, 2003 In fact, the iron that was in Chris' amps that he sold to Wolfram, the Wright Sound 3.5. is the same thing they upgrade in the AES SET. It's a drop in upgrade and the transformer is called the MagneQuest TFA-204. An even bigger upgrade would be the DS-025 but I dont think it would fit. Something like the Moondogs with the MagneQuest DS-025 would be a step up in bottom and top extension I believe. Actually, there were all sorts of mods they did to the internals of that SET amp. It's considered an ok example but you could definitely make an upgrade to a different amp. Still, it's a cool little amp. Take a pic of the wiring if you can. kh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg928gts Posted September 3, 2003 Author Share Posted September 3, 2003 It's weird how things go sometimes. I accidentally stumbled into ownership of this amp, and had it here for a month before I even thought about plugging it in. I knew nothing about tube amps, let alone SET. While this was happening, I begin to lurk around this forum and start to hear about SET. What a coincidence! It all came together very quickly for me. I didn't choose this amp, it chose me! O.k, corny. But it has been a very short and strange journey for me. I bought this as part of two pickup truck loads of stuff from the wife of a deceased audio repairman for $300. You wouldn't believe the load I got for that. Right at this same time, I'm fooling around with 200 watt McIntosh amps and 18" 1500 watt powered subwoofers to "enhance" the Khorns. A month later, I'm lanquishing in midrange nirvana with this flea-sized amp. It could have been so different . . . muddle for years through buying and selling a dozen amps, read years worth of old posts in forums while e-sidling up to the forum eckspurts, endure the humiliation of having the word "Realistic" listed in my signature and thinking that was cool, go through the whole DIY thing, lose my wife, blow up the house, move into a trailer, and then finally find out that my uncle had this AES SET amp sitting down in his basement for years. Boy am I lucky I didn't have to go through all that. Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mobile homeless Posted September 3, 2003 Share Posted September 3, 2003 Classic post. One of the better ones all day. ps- the worst is yet to come! heh... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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