SpeakerTalk

[centaurus]

hi all,

i'm selling a pair of Spendor BC1a with the internal M50 amps for a friend (no, this is not a classified ad - just getting an idea of what to offer locally). they work fine. a few questions. are these more valuable with the amps or without? i think the BC1 are passive and BC1a are active, correct? mine are fairly early - serial numbers 1,700 - so they should have alnico magnets.

seems these speakers are pretty common in europe, but not so much in the US. i'm in the SF bay area.

let's pretend they are mint (which they are far from) - i just need a baseline.

thanks,
Robby

[audiolabtower]

Sorry, I don't have a US perspective. In the UK good pairs of BC1s go around £200-400 with cabinet blemishes, but a lot depends on timing and luck etc, you may get a lot more for mint. Frankly they are very undervalued at those prices for the midrange quality of good pairs, the bass lets them down for head bangers nowadays, but for orchestral classical or opera they can still show todays speakers a thing or 2.

Strictly speaking they should be described as powered, not active, since the mono internal amp drives the passive crossover. Powered versions do not have that much of a premium since amps have progressed in the meantime.

Fitting the reflex tube from the later production does improve the bass. 1700 would be early pairs from 1972. They should have white surrounds on the bass unit if original. Many of these flatten out with time significantly reducing performance. Latter black surrounds lasted much better. They should be alnico with 40W rated bass unit if original, if not they will have been swapped at some time. The later ferrite's have more flux and better bass control and more sensitivity.

Your best bet is luck to find an enthusiast who appreciates the special midrange qualities of BC1s and is not interested in blasting the roof off

[centaurus]

thank you very much for the info! the woofers seem to have been replaced at some point as the surrounds are black. i'll fire them up tonight and let y'all know what i think.

if they were passive, i'd go head-to-head with my Yamaha NS-1000M - but as it stands, the yammie's would have the edge being they are being driven a pair of vintage McIntosh MC-60 tube amps

Regards,
Robby

[audiolabtower]

1000M? very nice, very clean, tight bass, I like 'em with the midrange turned down

Try some decently recorded vocals to get the BC1 'feel' ?