Price Paid:  $2800.00 from used from private

Summary:
I''m an happy owner of this speaker and i nevere change them till they die. This are really one af the best speaker I have ever heard. For me the right word is trasparence: they are an open window on music. Too many speaker have an emphatized mid-treble to create a faked sensetion of detail. This not; they are for me the really utlimate monitor. I use them with custom made valve amp (push pull 35 W) and preamp, and I have so much air on my stage that i can Breath! The rest of my chain is Technics SL-P2000 cd player (another outstanding machine for the price) and Technics SL-1200 MKII with Ortofon MC 10 and custom superpermalloy step-up trasformer. Signal: Distech silver plus cable Power: Be-wired with Straight Wire Music Ribbon on Bass and Custom Cable on mid hihg

Strengths:
Clear as light on all the audio spectrum. Made really thery good

Weaknesses:
none

Similar Products Used:
None if they don''t discontinued production.

Summary:
I used to own a pair of Spendor S100's, but sold them, something I now regard as a mistake.

The SP 9/1's are effectively S100's in a larger floor standing enclosure. Their voicing is typicaly that of 'British' speakers, ie neutral. They are superb with all classical material, particularly organ music, where the in-room bass extension is exceptional when properly sited. Midrange is clear, the treble sweet. With Rock, they are marginally less 'fast' sounding than, say, a Dynaudio. Pity Spendor have now discontinued them due to maufacturing costs.

Although they are easy to drive, don't be fooled in to using them with inferior electronics - they benefit from tri-wiring, good amplification, and a good source. I have found a Wadia front end works well. Overall worht 5 stars at their origial saeeling price (around $6,000 I believe) but purchrased these speakers as an 'end of the line' bargain. Try them if a dealer has them.

Strengths:
Tonal Accuracy, Bass extension

Weaknesses:
Size - they are big

Similar Products Used:
Lumley LM2, Spendor S100, Dynaudio

Summary:
I just got a pair of these two weeks ago. I had been considering a number of other offerings including the NHT 2.9 and 3.3's, Martin Logan SL3's, JMLab Electra 915's and 920's and others. While the 9/1's retail price is above these, since it was recently discontinued (evidentally the cabinets ... which are really cool, BTW ... were getting too expensive to produce and Spendor was going to have to raise their prices if they continued making them) you can probably find a really good deal on them. When I heard them they just blew my mind. They are basically the S100's in a floorstanding cabinet (they go a bit deeper) and the reviews here are correct. They don't quite have the imaging of some speakers but when I heard the vocals coming out of them I wouldn't accept any of the others. As an added bonus, they are incredibly easy to drive so you can select your amp exclusively on sonic qualities, not power. (Though right now I'm still using a McCormack DNA-1 -- my old speakers dipped down to 3 ohms at some points). HIGHLY recommended!
Associated Equipment:

Melos SHA Gold Reference Preamp
CAL Icon MK II CD player
McCormack DNA-1 Deluxe Amp
Panamax 1000+ Power conditioner
XLO Reference 5A Speaker Cables
Audio Magic and XLO interconnects