Spendor Audio Systems

Founded in the late 1960s by BBC sound engineer Spencer Hughes (1924-1983) and his wife Dorothy in East Sussex, Spendor emerged directly from expertise gained in the BBC's sound engineering department, with the company name derived from the first names of both founders. Under Spencer's initial leadership while still working at the BBC, the company launched with the groundbreaking BC1 loudspeaker design, later producing the iconic BBC LS3/5a under official BBC license, establishing Spendor's reputation for transparent, natural, and musical sound reproduction. Following Spencer Hughes' passing in 1983, the company transitioned through family ownership until 2000 when it was acquired by Philip Swift, a veteran of the British HiFi industry and co-founding member of Audiolab UK, who had previously maintained close relationships with Spencer Hughes and worked part-time at Spendor in his younger years. As current CEO and Managing Director, Swift has maintained Spendor's British manufacturing heritage at their purpose-built facility in Hailsham, East Sussex, where all loudspeakers continue to be designed, engineered, and hand-built using in-house R&D programs for both components and cabinets. The company operates across three distinct product lines: the compact A-Line for smaller spaces, the high-resolution D-Line with modern aesthetics, and the flagship Classic Series that has earned iconic status as the reference standard for audiophiles, musicians, and professional sound engineers over five decades. Registered as SPENDOR AUDIO SYSTEMS LIMITED since 1999, the company maintains its commitment to developing and manufacturing all components in the UK, serving discerning customers worldwide through authorized dealers while preserving the BBC-originated engineering principles that emphasize musical authenticity and technical precision in every handcrafted loudspeaker.