Spendor BC-1

[southall-1998]

These are only 15 min away from me.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Spendor-BC1-H ... rmvSB=true

S.

[Dr Bunsen Honeydew]

I would bloody well leave them there as well

[Fretless]

Those BC-1's have a pleasant,warm and laid-back presentation. Very refined and non-confrontational.
De-wadding them would tighten up the performance, making them more detailed and dynamic.
The sound character is similar to my Arcams, just 'bigger' with more presence.
I considered buying them once but found them too expensive (new).

[Classicrock]

They are probably a better listen than many incisive modern designs. With the right amplifier they may be OK but not the most revealing. At the current bid price they are a snip but probably will go much higher. Seller is quite honest in description in terms of suitability for rock.

[_D_S_J_R_]

Those BC-1's have a pleasant,warm and laid-back presentation. Very refined and non-confrontational.
De-wadding them would tighten up the performance, making them more detailed and dynamic.
The sound character is similar to my Arcams, just 'bigger' with more presence.
I considered buying them once but found them too expensive (new).

Right - BC1's do NOT have wadding inside and removing the foam/bitumen linings would totally destroy any pretence to low colouration, as the boxes were deliberately tuned BY EXPERTS WHO LISTENED!!!!!!! I disagree with the Doc on this point, as 'proper' speakers were designed properly and with great care and were NOT built as cheaply as possible to a low price. Any butchery to these will invalidate any resale value and they'll end up having to be parted out as spares IME, which is a shame if they're a nice looking pair.

The BC1 (this is a pair that came after the mid 70's difficulties and with studs on the grilles instead of the Velcro which my warped grilles have) is now a desirable collectors item and will finish at £500 at least I suspect. Leave them to it and put them on 18" stands (the Beeb used them even higher and bass boom wasn't an issue), or ignore then and Doc-mod some Mission 770's instead

Do I defend BC1's too much? Yes, I suppose I do, but I've known and loved this speaker since 1974 and used it with a very wide range of gear. On orchestral music, it's amazingly good for a speaker of the period and a small 'window' in the midrange is absolutely sublime, but it only ever did 'rock' in smaller rooms without too much volume - any 'head banging' makes it sound as if it's going to shake apart. I tried to be negative in a recent AOS thread started by Rexton, because I didn't want this model to be murdered by people who don't understand it.

Shane, save hard for some Cubes. The bass and midrange available from the Doc's latest drivers is far better for a wider range of music and rooms than the BC1 and colouration is so low as never to be an issue IMO. The treble sparkle is great too, but maybe not with a small Naim amp - the AP40 you have coming will be far better...

[Dr Bunsen Honeydew]

They are fart boxes that wouldn't recognise a tune if it was painted on them. Designed by overpaid idiots who because of diplomas and white coats thought they knew something, and conned the BBC into paying them for the original design concept (if you can call it that), and then decided to try and cash in on the BBC name themselves onto a gullible public. Who should have bought Goodmans.

[Fretless]

DSJR. I bow to your superior knowledge. I did not know that the BC1 has no intenal wadding. Certainly, and for a long time, I would have jumped at the chance of getting a pair at the price of the currently offered set. I really did like the rich and creamy sound of the Spendors and would have been very happy with them.

My ears want different things nowadays (Cubes) and I hope the Spendors find a good home somewhere.

[_D_S_J_R_]

P.S. I don't believe MDF was available in the early 70's and either chipboard or birch-ply was the material of choice. The idea was to tune the box vibration down into the bass and away from the midrange, and for the period, this worked well. You can do it far better and more cheaply these days and the drivers are better designed too.

P.S. Doc, you and I are going to have to severely disagree on this 'white coat fart box' point. BC1's don't 'fart,' they boom if not set up properly IME, but they do voices and acoustic instruments very well and as I've said above, times have moved on in leaps and bounds. Spencer Hughes was not what I'd call a 'narrow minded white coat.' In fact, he had a great sense of humour and respectful understanding of the trends in the flat-earth late 70's, but couldn't change the BC1 design as it was selling well as it was and in particular professional applications. He was one of the true gentlemen of the time, a kind and generous soul and with none of the patronising and sanctimonious 'attitude' of the type Alan Shaw (Harbeth) has in spades I still like Harbeth speakers though and SHL5's in any form will eat BC1's alive now, and so they bloody well should!

[Dr Bunsen Honeydew]

Alan Shaw is worse because he is a pretend white coat without the diplomas, he was / is a salesman, so basically just a bullshitter.

[Classicrock]

Judging by your avatar Richard the Doc also appears to be a white coat wearer.