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The Spendor BC1

paskinn said:
Interesting remarks from Paul Messenger in the new edition of ''Hi Fi Critic''. He says that, for him, the best buy on the second hand market is the forty year old BC1, which , he says, still has a world class midrange and sounds better than more modern speakers influenced by fashion. And far better than the more 'desirable ls3/5a, which costs about three times as much.
I tend to agree, and would throw-in the SP1 too. Not beyond criticism, but incredibly fine speakers for small amounts of money.
Co-incidentally or not, Martin Colloms remarks on hearing some 70s Leak Sandwich speakers and expresses approval of them. This from a man in love with stuff like Wilson and Magico. Maybe speakers from the 60s/70s are nudging their way back into fashion?
About time. Modern speaker design has been going no-where interesting for quite a time now.
I'd put in a word here for some of the old Celestions such as the 44 and 66. Big, ugly, boxes that did the job .
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I read Martins review of the Magico and if you know Martin's way of reviewing and his expression of his ideas...he was not particularly thrilled with their sound. On the other hand, no body knows the Spendor BC1 like Martin Colloms....indeed, the only reviewer in the country whos ears I trust!
 
Martyn Miles said:
Incidentally, I understand Paul Messenger used to work for Spendor. Somewhere I have an appreciation of Spencer Hughes' work, and his contribution to the development of Spendor's loudspeakers, which Paul wrote for HFN after Spen's sad death.
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Paul Messenger did work for Spendor early on. The thing that amazes me is that he really does appreciate the BC1 sound till this day; considering the type of music he listens to. You can not really appreciate the full quality in every way of this classic early design unless you play lots of acoustic, classical and opera. This is where SPENDOR shines!
 
Singslinger said:
A classic Spendor thread - a topic close to my heart!

I own the SP 1/2R and the SP100/R2, both bought in preference to their comparable Harbeth models (the Monitor 30.1 and 40.1 respectively).

Am not a technical person and I only have a rudimentary understanding of sensitivities and ease of drive, so the selection was based purely on listening.
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You have a good ear. The Harbeths have always been missing the classic sound of the Spendor models and the BBC pedigree. Like anything else in life, some people have it and some can not hear it. Subjective....? well, yea...up to a point.
 
HMilstein said:
You have a good ear. The Harbeths have always been missing the classic sound of the Spendor models and the BBC pedigree. Like anything else in life, some people have it and some can not hear it. Subjective....? well, yea...up to a point.
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Interesting that you claim Harbeths are 'missing the classic sound of Spendor models and the BBC pedigree.'
Harbeth appears to be the only company firmly based on the BBC pedigree.
Spendor produce 'classic' models, but appear to have moved into other areas with some of their models.
I have posted that I owned HL Monitors and they possessed that midrange magic. Now I have later pair of BC1s, I have to say that their midrange is definitely superior to the HLs.
The HLs were definitely better on 'rock' type music, but it is a type I rarely if ever play. Moderen Harbeths seems to bridge that gap.
My little P3ESRs were as happy with Van Morrison as they were with Vaughan Williams...
 
There is a pair of HL Monitors for sale on PFM Classifieds, for £380.
I owned them for a while and they really are superb.
If I could, I would buy them back.
The problem is, two pairs of BBC 2 cu. ft. boxes would NOT be domestically acceptable...
 
I was in a general purpose 'junk shop' yesterday and they had a pair of big, heavy speakers. I would normally ignore such things but these caught my eye even though the cabinets/grilles have clearly seen better days. I was taken by the London Design Centre triangular badges on the rear of each cabinet and some vague knowledge of the manufacturer (no badges on the grilles - these appear to have been removed). Knowing absolutely nothing about them and having my car outside with an empty boot, I bought them... Spendor BC1's

I now need to hook them up and see if there's any life in the old dogs...

Do I presume these have your standard veneered cabinets? I'm wondering how they could be cosmetically refurbished..?
 
Veneered cabinets, yes.

Early BC1's may not have had the third unit, STC / Coles 4001G supertweeter.

If bass units are original ones with white surrounds, will probably have shrunk, affecting bass performance, or worse, pulling the voice coil off centre and causing rubbing.

Still, things can be done, be interested to see how you get on.

Photos?
 
Thanks for that. They are later ones with the 3-way design and Velcro-attached grilles. They have banana plug inputs and I'll be checking out the serial numbers to try to identify their age. I'll take photos and post them later.

I thought they were probably audio junk so I'm somewhat amazed to see that they may have been quite a find...!
 
 
Black surrounds though it's hard to tell as there is a gauze over the bass drivers. The serial numbers are 5816/5817 - what sort of age would that put them?
 
Thanks for pics. Looks like fairly early ones, white surrounds, probably shrunk at bit affecting bass. Midrange on these early ones was very very good.There is a simple port mod, foam round the inside of the port hole, improves bass a bit. Original stands are nice looking, but a bit too low in my view.

Bet you got these at a good price!
 
moomaloo said:
Black surrounds though it's hard to tell as there is a gauze over the bass drivers. The serial numbers are 5816/5817 - what sort of age would that put them?
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Age, look on Yahoo Spendor Group. Models with gauze are usually fitted with white surround units
 
I had an indentical pair with white roll surrounds and the gauze fitted.
Sounded superb...
They were Serial Numbers 6703/4, built in late '75 or early '76,
The very hot Summer of '76 affected the drivers and Spendor fitted new ones, with black roll surrounds, a while later.
Rather stupidly I sold them, to buy a pair of LS3/5as.

About a year ago I acquired a later pair of BC1s, Serial Numbers 10203/4.
One of the bass/mid. drivers wasn't working ( a braid to the voice coil had fractured ) but I managed to repair it.
Aural memory is suspect, but I feel they sound a little better than the earlier models.

What I recommend you do is you do is keep them !
I am definitely not letting my second pair go...

I own a pair of LS3/5as on a second system, but the BC1s are my favoured speakers
 
Radfordman said:
Thanks for pics. Looks like fairly early ones, white surrounds, probably shrunk at bit affecting bass. Midrange on these early ones was very very good.There is a simple port mod, foam round the inside of the port hole, improves bass a bit. Original stands are nice looking, but a bit too low in my view.

Bet you got these at a good price!
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Erm... £4.00

They do sound very engaging. I was listening to a bit of Joni Mitchell earlier (I've properly located them now and moved the RS3s out of the way) and I now have a huge dilemma because they sound so 'right'.
 
£4.00
WOW!
I paid about £200 for my non-working pair and felt I had a bargain when I got them working.

You don't have a dilemma.
Keep them...
 
One warning, don't use disco levels if you want to preserve the bass units. Power handling is low, so is efficiency.

Has to be bargain of the year!

I have several pairs of BC1's of various vintage, but am using Rogers LS3/6 fitted with Rogers Export Monitor bass units. These are BC1 style speakers, but with better power handling and tighter better bass.
 
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