Spendor has a long and illustrious history in the UK loudspeaker business.

One of Spendor's earlier successes (along with the classic BC1 and of course the LS3/5a) was the then-diminuitive SA1.

The initials stood for the Spendor bass/ mid driver and the Audax tweeter – rather as the BC1 was christened after its Bextrene cone main driver and celestion tweeter.

A chunky little speaker with a much squatter shape than the LS3/5a, the SA1 built a strong reputation at the time as a serious (and to many ears superior) alternative to the LS3/5a. However, the absence of the BBC badge-of-approval probably prevented it from establishing a similar worldwide cult status.

Pricey speaker

End of history lesson. Although sticking to the core principles of the originator, Spendor is a wholly different company these days. It's still British owned and run, but since 2001, it's been owned and run by Philip Swift (before Spendor, Swift was 'Mr Audiolab' in the days before TAG McLaren and JAG).

The new SA1 doesn't have a whole lot in common with its predecessor, but it does offer
very serious competition for the numerous other LS3/5a look-alikes that several brands (including Spendor) produce.

With similar dimensions to the LS3/5a and its clones (albeit swapping width and depth), this £1,100 per pair speaker costs roughly 50 per cent more than Spendor's own award-winning S3/5R (reviewed in HFC 310).

Add a further £400 for the matching stands and you're looking at a considerable sum for one of the smallest hi-fi speakers on the market. From the outside at least, the new Spendor SA1 looks a decidedly expensive prospect that might well struggle to justify its price tag.

Rigid enclosure

However, just as one shouldn't judge a book by its cover, one shouldn't judge a speaker by its price tag or the size of its lacquer-over-zebrano-wood-veneer enclosure.

This speaker (especially when used on its partnering stand) has surprising and hidden depths that are immediately evident as soon as one starts listening and it is clearly a cut above the Ultimate Group Test of sub-£900 mini-monitors we reviewed just four issues back.

The reason lies in the very subtle and detailed approach to developing both the speaker itself and its stand in order to achieve an exceptional level of refinement in resonance control.

The enclosure uses both critical bracing and three different thicknesses of relatively light and thin panels to supply stiffness and resonance control while avoiding significant energy storage. Similar techniques have been applied to the stand, to make it light, rigid and essentially non-resonant.

Spendor's drive units

Recently, Spendor had a commanding reputation designing it's own drivers and not simply picking out drive units from OEM manufacturers. The SA1 continues that trend.

This sealed-box two-way has a new 150mm Spendor bass/mid drive unit. It uses a 90mm ep38 polymer cone, a wide surround, a high excursion motor with powerful magnet and (perhaps most significantly) it operates up to a high 4.8khz.

An unusual 22mm tweeter drive unit uses a small 19mm diaphragm and a 'proper' surround to extend its potential operating bandwidth. A single pair of high quality WBT terminals feeds a refined crossover network using top-quality components and internal wiring.

Three alternative finishes are offered, including the rather bold lacquered zebrano of our samples, a black piano lacquer and a more restrained satin-finished wenge, while concealed magnets hold the optional grille in place. In each finish, the partnering stand has a matching inlay in its central pillar. This nicely shaped tripod stand base has good spiking arrangements and fine stability.

The top plate has small compliant studs and both top and base incorporate constrained damping layers. We consider it a vital part of the SA1 package.

Powerful package

Listening tests began with the speakers well clear of walls and that brought the first surprise.

Although there's an obvious lack of low bass weight and authority here, the SA1 really didn't sound at all like a small speaker, dynamically speaking. This is nearly always the obvious limitation of very small speakers. So much so that it seemed to come with the territory.

The SA1 very effectively demonstrated that this doesn't have to be the case though. It makes no pretence at being a large loudspeaker, but this is the small box that those who like big boxes can learn to love without too much strain. Coming from a reviewer who has a strong affinity for big box loudspeakers, this is high praise indeed.

So, while it doesn't possess the full drama and vivacity of significantly larger models, it's nevertheless much more dynamically literate and informative than prejudice might lead one to expect.