This is my fifth pair of Spendor speakers. They are utterly satisfying and the upgrade itch may have been quelled for years to come. I am a fan of the Spendor sound and have enjoyed the BC1, LS3/5a, S9e and S3e variously over the years.
These though, for me, get everything right. Unfeasibly small for the power of the output, delicate, responsive and musical. The bass goes very deep. I hardly bother to use my custom built subwoofer any more.
Take care with your amplifier. They sound great with most any amp, but really fly when properly matched. I recently sold my Quad 909 which didn't tell the whole story. The Musical Fidelity A3.2 really, really works and has added a realm of bass extension I didn't realise these speakers could produce.
Genuinely unfussy about room placement. Great recordings sound utterly natural. bad recordings are mercilessly exposed. (Pet hate: engineers who layer upper register frequency emphasis and compression on female vocals to make them sound 'breathy'. Try any Madeleine Peyroux to hear how a well recorded vocal line sounds).

Quite simply a stunningly good little floorstander. After searching for sometime to try and replace my Epos ES22's i listened to a number of decent floorstanders from a multitude of manufacturers upto about the £2000 mark then i was told that i must try the Spendor A5 which i had dismissed due to their smaller size ( a mistake) they blew me away when powered by (another suprise) reference pioneer amplification and cyrus cd8 se then again with an all cyrus setup. The detail, seperation and transparency are first rate whlst managing never to sound harsh or unlistenable at higher volume. Also the low end frequency these boxes summon from their smaller than normal cabinets is astounding. They are very flexible in terms of placement and can be backed up very close to the rear wall without ever becomming boomy. I have owned Acoustic energy AE1s , AE2s, Epos ES22s and listened to many a top speaker over the years and these are my favourite by some way and also manage to encompass all of the good traits from the above mentioned speakers but none of the flaws, these must be auditioned if you are spending £1500-£2000. Worth every penny. For reference im driving them with Tag Mclaren source and amplification.

Great speakers. In a very small room where I'm forced to place them close to a wall, they manage to provide great low bass without resonating with the room. Their sound seems marginally more lively than the 5Se model, but retains the strong Spendor feature of non-fatiguing listening. They can go very loud without breaking up, but even at very low volumes manage to provide very solid, clear bass; great for late night listening.