The Spendor A7.2 at a glance
The Spendor A7.2 is a two way, two driver floorstanding loudspeaker built by hand in Hailsham, England, where Spendor has developed and made loudspeakers since 1969. It represents the company's modern engineering thinking rather than its heritage BBC lineage, and it is designed to deliver full range, room filling sound from a cabinet slim enough to live comfortably in a normal living space. At 927 mm tall and just 192 mm wide, it is easy to place and easy to live with, while still reaching down to 30 Hz.
Spendor design and technology
The EP77 bass and midrange driver
At the heart of the A7.2 is a 180 mm EP77 polymer cone driver handling bass and midrange. EP77 is Spendor's own advanced polymer cone material, chosen for its blend of stiffness and self damping. That combination lets the cone move as a controlled piston while suppressing the breakup modes that can muddy the midband, which is why voices and instruments come through with clarity and body through this driver.
The LPZ tweeter
High frequencies are handled by a 22 mm LPZ, or linear pressure zone, tweeter. The LPZ design sits the fine polyamide diaphragm behind a wide surround structure that manages the pressure around the dome. The result is smooth, extended treble that reaches to 25 kHz and integrates cleanly with the EP77 driver below it, giving detail without a forward or hard edge.
The Dynamic Damping cabinet
The A7.2 uses an asymmetric rear ported cabinet with Spendor's Dynamic Damping. Rather than simply making the cabinet as dead as possible, Dynamic Damping uses a mass loaded pressure equalising system fixed to the internal structure to absorb and dissipate spurious energy at key points. This is a different philosophy from the thin-wall, lightly damped cabinets of Spendor's Classic line, which are tuned for a softer, valve-friendly voicing. The A-line approach aims for low coloration and rhythmic precision, so the speaker starts and stops with the music.
Sound character
The A7.2 has the even, honest tonal balance Spendor is known for, paired with modern resolution and drive. With a sensitivity of 88 dB and an 8 ohm nominal impedance, it is a forgiving and adaptable load. Expect a tuneful, well defined low end from that 30 Hz reach, a natural and communicative midrange from the EP77 cone, and airy, unfatiguing treble from the LPZ tweeter. It is a speaker you can listen to for hours, yet it responds to good recordings and good electronics by showing you more.
Ideal room and use case
Because it is rear ported and slim, the A7.2 works best given a little breathing room from the wall behind it, though its compact footprint means it fits small and medium rooms gracefully. It is an excellent all rounder for a dedicated two channel listening space or a music focused living room, comfortable across acoustic, vocal, rock, jazz and orchestral material. With a recommended amplifier power range of 25 to 200 watts, it partners well with modest integrated amplifiers and scales up to serious power without complaint.
Where the A7.2 sits in the range
Within Spendor's current A-line, the A7.2 is the fuller sized floorstander. If your room is smaller or you want an even more compact footprint, look at the Spendor A4.2 or the Spendor A2.2, which carry the same EP77 and LPZ design goals in smaller cabinets suited to nearfield and tighter spaces.
If you want to step into Spendor's D-line, the Spendor D7.2 and the larger Spendor D9.2 build on the same EP77, LPZ and Dynamic Damping thinking with more ambitious drivers and cabinets aimed at greater scale and resolution. For an entirely different design goal, Spendor's heritage Classic line, including the Spendor Classic 200 and the titanium equipped Spendor Classic 200Ti, uses BBC-derived thin-wall lightly damped cabinets and a softer, valve-friendly voicing. The A7.2 is the modern, room friendly choice within this family.
Building a system around the A7.2
Amplifiers
The A7.2 is happy with a wide range of power, so you can match it to your budget and taste. For an all in one route that keeps things simple, the Yamaha R-N2000A Network Receiver brings amplification and streaming together in one refined chassis, and the Matrix Audio MD-1P Streaming Integrated Amplifier offers a similarly integrated, modern approach.
If you prefer a classic integrated amplifier, the Advance Paris A12 Classic Integrated Amplifier and the more powerful Advance Paris A12 APEX Integrated Amplifier both give the A7.2 plenty of control and musicality. For those who want to explore separates and headroom well within the speaker's 200 watt ceiling, a pair of Parasound JCM250 Monoblocks paired with a capable preamp brings grip and scale.
Sources
For streaming and digital, the TEAC UD-701N USB DAC, Network Player and Preamp is a versatile digital hub that suits the A7.2's resolution. If you build around a separate transport, the Matrix Audio NT-1 Reference Digital Audio Transport feeds a DAC cleanly. Disc listeners will appreciate the Shanling SCD3.3 SACD Player, which lets the A7.2 show what it can do with high resolution recordings.
How it compares to other floorstanders we carry
Every listener has different priorities, so it is worth hearing a few designs side by side. The Amphion Argon 3LX follows a Finnish controlled directivity philosophy that emphasizes room adaptability. The Klipsch Forte IV and the larger Klipsch Cornwall IV Heritage models use high sensitivity horn loaded designs built for immediacy and dynamics. The MoFi SourcePoint 888 takes a concentric driver approach for point source imaging. Each has a distinct design goal, and the A7.2 stands apart for its hand built British engineering, its even tonal honesty and its slim, room friendly cabinet.
Come and listen
All Elite Audio is an authorized Spendor dealer with a showroom in Timonium, Maryland. Demo units rotate and not every model is always set up, so please contact us to arrange a listen to the Spendor A7.2 and to help match it with the right amplifier and source for your room.