Floorstanding loudspeakers — Spendor D9.2

The D9.2 is a full three-way floorstanding loudspeaker from the D-Line of Spendor, the British company whose speakers are designed and manufactured in the UK, with drive units and cabinets produced in-house. Its roots go to the late 1960s and to the BC1 monitor that Spencer Hughes built after working as a BBC engineer. The D-Line data sheets place the D9.2 alongside the 2.5-way D7.2, and the D9.2 sheet is dated 20 February 2023.

Key specs that matter

The treble driver is an LPZ 22 mm polyamide dome, the midrange comes from a dedicated 18 cm EP77 polymer cone unit and the bass from two 18 cm Kevlar composite cone units. Crossover points are 500 Hz and 4.2 kHz. Typical in-room response reaches 27 Hz to 25 kHz. Sensitivity is 90 dB for 1 watt at 1 metre, and nominal impedance is 8 ohm with a minimum of 4.6 ohm. The speaker handles 250 watts of unclipped programme, with amplifiers of 25 to 250 watts recommended. Height is 1155 mm, width 210 mm, depth 398 mm, and the net weight is 35 kg.

Engineering and use context

Because a dedicated unit covers the midrange, the pair of bass cones are relieved of that band and each driver covers a narrower range. According to Spendor, the LPZ design equalises path lengths of the sound waves and forms a symmetrical pressure environment around the dome. Cabinet construction is rigid and asymmetrically braced with Spendor Dynamic Damping, and the rear bass reflex is the fifth generation linear flow port with a tapered twin-venturi profile, which Spendor calls Formula One inspired. The crossover networks are precisely calibrated and matched, using custom-made dual layer gold-plated circuit boards, and they are anchored directly to the rigid cabinet structure with short signal paths. The satin black plinth carries height-adjustable spikes, a magnetic grille comes supplied, and every cabinet is pair matched, stained and finished by hand. Cabinet options are black oak, walnut, oak, satin white or cherry.

Pairing

The impedance dip below the nominal figure favours an amplifier that remains comfortable into lower loads. Each speaker offers only a single set of recessed precision binding posts, so a standard stereo amplifier with a single set of speaker terminals is the natural partner, and the DC1 centre was designed to join the D9.2 in a multichannel setup.

Alternatives

The Spendor D7.2 in the same D-Line is a 2.5-way floorstander with an EP77 bass and midrange unit plus one Kevlar composite bass unit.