Spendor A7.2 review

We are massive fans of Spendor’s original A7 floorstanders. These slim, easy-to-accommodate towers launched in early 2018 and went on to win our premium floorstanders Award that very same year. Amazingly, the Spendors held onto that Award for six consecutive years right up to 2024 and were only edged out last year by ProAc’s excellent D20R.

The new Spendor A7.2 clearly has a huge legacy to uphold. On the surface, it looks like Spendor’s engineers have played it safe. The 93.4cm tall cabinet is the same size as before, and that is a good thing. One of the attractive aspects of the original design was just how easy it was to accommodate in a typically cosy UK listening room.

That original A7 was capable of filling larger spaces with sound, of course, but remained compact enough not to dominate in smaller environments. Such an easy-going nature remains rare in a pair of floorstanders of its price and quality, and we are pleased that this new version retains that trait.

Build & design

As before, the enclosure is beautifully made. Its edges are crisp, and the structure feels rigid yet well-damped. Spendor’s attention to detail is impressive, from the care taken to ensure that the floor spike/speaker cabinet interface is as solid as possible, to the high-quality, real wood veneer applied to our review sample.

These are expensive speakers, but the build quality reflects that. They aren’t unusually heavy at 17.7kg each, making them easy to move around, should you need to.

However, Spendor’s engineers haven’t just been twiddling their collective thumbs, as there are significant changes to this second-generation model. The A7.2’s tweeter is a more conventional 27mm polyamide soft dome rather than the 22mm wide surround unit used in the original. There is no longer a protective grille over the tweeter to protect it from prying fingers.

The crossover network has been redesigned, too. It now hands over to the company’s well-regarded 18cm EP77 polymer mid/bass unit at 2kHz rather than the unusually high 3.7kHz of before.

Unexpectedly, Spendor has also moved away from the previous generation's rear-firing slot port to a traditional tube design that sits towards the middle of the rear panel rather than at its base. The single-wire speaker terminals also move up the back panel, which we feel looks less tidy than the original’s low-down location.

The combination of the drive unit, crossover and porting changes has resulted in making the A7.2 less sensitive than its predecessor (85dB/W/m vs 88dB/W/m) and a touch more demanding to drive with a nominal impedance that is rated at a rather precise 6.75ohms (minimum of 5.4 ohms) against the 8 ohms (min 6ohms) of the original.

Compatibility

In our view, the small impedance changes don’t make any significant difference, but the drop in sensitivity means the A7.2 needs a more muscular amplifier than before if used in larger rooms or played at higher volume levels.

Any speaker at this level deserves suitably talented partnering equipment. We use our reference Naim ND555/555 PS DR music streamer for the bulk of testing, and also get good results with a Rega Planar 6/Nd7 record player. Good price compatible amplifiers include Naim’s Nait XS3 and the Cyrus 40 AMP, with the latter in particular working well. We also connect our Burmester 088/911 MkIII pre/power to hear how these speakers cope when fed a top-class signal.

Our comparison speakers are the Epos ES-14N, which are similarly priced large standmounters (£3750 / $4500 / AU$7495), the PMC Prodigy 5 floorstanders (cheaper at £1995 / $2999 / AU$3399) and our reference high-end ATC SCM50 speakers.

We don’t have a pair of original A7 to confirm this, but from memory we would say that these new speakers have become fussier about positioning relative to a back wall. We can’t recall the originals sounding so boomy when placed close to a room boundary.

Our listening room is 3 x 7 x 5m (hwd) in size, and we end up with the A7.2 around 80cm into the room, positioned well away from the sides. We angle them to cross a little behind our heads when we are seated at our main listening position. This gives us a solid and expansive stereo image with precise focus and a convincing sense of depth.

Sound

We are listening to The Imperial March (from Star Wars) by John Williams and find much to like in the Spendor A7.2. They sound agile and insightful, uncovering plenty of detail and arranging that information in a composed and organised way. We can track low-level instrumental strands without issue, even when the music becomes dense.

The sound is nicely projected, well free from the enclosures, which strongly suggests that the work Spendor has done on the asymmetric bracing and damping in the cabinet works well. There is a good sense of scale here and a decent amount of bass authority for the speaker’s size. The tonal balance sounds a little fuller than before, though it is still fair to describe it as generally neutral rather than warm or full-bodied.

Instrumental textures are nicely rendered, and there is little to complain about when it comes to leading-edge definition or the A7.2’s outright refinement. These are clear and highly resolving speakers, just as would be expected at this price, so if there is anything wrong in the recording or your system electronics, they won’t hesitate to reveal it.

Those familiar with this John Williams piece will know it is dramatic and challenging when it comes to dynamics. The A7.2 cope pretty well, though we do find ourselves wanting the speakers to let go a little and deliver the sound with greater enthusiasm.

We feel much the same way when we play Michael Jackson’s Jam. These Spendors have a measured delivery that we can appreciate, but are a little shy when it comes to communicating the momentum and drive in this piece of music.

We’re not totally convinced by the revised porting arrangement here, either. Low notes may have a bit more weight and power than before, but we would like them to be more agile, even and articulate. We didn’t have any such bass complaints about the original.

Verdict

As we work our way through our music library, taking in music by Bach, Prince and Jill Scott, we find that we’re less impressed by these new Spendor floorstanders than we hoped for. They tick most of the boxes - detail resolution, clarity, stereo imaging and seamless integration between the drivers - but they don’t pull us into the music in the way the best speakers at this price should.

The A7.2 is a capable performer, but not one that screams class leader anymore.

Review published: 7th April 2026

SCORES

• Sound 4
• Build 5
• Compatibility 4

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