I've just inherited an old pair of Spendor BC-1s that my uncle bought in the
'70s. They haven't been used for nearly 20 years so I tried them out and
they sound fantastic, but there appears to be some kind of rattle from one
of the tweeters (the middle driver of the 3, I believe the top one is a
super-tweeter?). Does anyone know if this is something that can be repaired
in the UK and if it is worth the cost, or should I just try and sell them as
not working on eBay?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

paul4mo

If you are correct, the fix is fairly simple.
The middle unit is a Celestion HF 1300. A second hand unit should be quite
easy to obtain.

However whether you repair them or sell, you should diagnose the fault. It
will get you a better price than "not working".
I seem to remember that the HF 1300's were rear mounted, so remove the front
(or back) baffle, preferably with a power screwdriver and undo one of the
terminals on the HF 1300.
If the rattle is still there, then your problem is the bass unit.

Not only were those bass units were very easily overdriven, but they
suffered from sagging suspension. This also caused the voice coil to scrape.
A popular fix in the Eighties was to take the unit out and remount it turned
180 degrees.

Bruce


"paul4mo" wrote in message
...
I've just inherited an old pair of Spendor BC-1s that my uncle bought in
the
'70s. They haven't been used for nearly 20 years so I tried them out and
they sound fantastic, but there appears to be some kind of rattle from one
of the tweeters (the middle driver of the 3, I believe the top one is a
super-tweeter?). Does anyone know if this is something that can be
repaired
in the UK and if it is worth the cost, or should I just try and sell them
as
not working on eBay?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

paul4mo

On Wed, 22 Sep 2004 12:37:40 +1000, "Bruce Lankford"
wrote:

If you are correct, the fix is fairly simple.
The middle unit is a Celestion HF 1300. A second hand unit should be quite
easy to obtain.

Hi Bruce! I'm not so confident as you about this. The HF1300 went out
of production decades ago, and those that remain are cherished items,
unlikely to be available as spares IME. Of course, if you know a
supply..........

However whether you repair them or sell, you should diagnose the fault. It
will get you a better price than "not working".
I seem to remember that the HF 1300's were rear mounted, so remove the front
(or back) baffle, preferably with a power screwdriver and undo one of the
terminals on the HF 1300.
If the rattle is still there, then your problem is the bass unit.

Not only were those bass units were very easily overdriven, but they
suffered from sagging suspension. This also caused the voice coil to scrape.
A popular fix in the Eighties was to take the unit out and remount it turned
180 degrees.

Indeed, or you can replace it with one of several modern options which
will retain the sound balance of the original.
--

Stewart Pinkerton | Music is Art - Audio is Engineering

In article ,
paul4mo wrote:
I've just inherited an old pair of Spendor BC-1s that my uncle bought in
the '70s. They haven't been used for nearly 20 years so I tried them out
and they sound fantastic, but there appears to be some kind of rattle
from one of the tweeters (the middle driver of the 3, I believe the top
one is a super-tweeter?). Does anyone know if this is something that
can be repaired in the UK and if it is worth the cost, or should I just
try and sell them as not working on eBay?

I very much doubt the rattle is from the HF1300. Far more likely the
'bass' unit which goes up into the midrange. Try inverting the entire
speaker and see if it still does this - the bass unit suspension sags. If
this cures it, turn the bass unit upside down.

You'll have problems finding a replacement HF1300 - if it is that. But
they were used on other speakers - many Celestion ones not surprisingly -
which may not be as valuable.

Or contact Spendor. I'm pretty sure they can update them at a price below
a comparable new pair.

--
*I used to have an open mind but my brains kept falling out *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

In article , Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
You'll have problems finding a replacement HF1300 - if it is that. But
they were used on other speakers - many Celestion ones not surprisingly -
which may not be as valuable.

Not all Celestion HF1300s are in a rear-mounting form with a circular
mounting plate as I think is used in the Spendor BC1s. Ditton 15s,
I think, have an HF1300 that looks like this but the four HF1300s in
my Ditton 25s (now in storage) are in a front-mounting form with square
mounting plates.

--
John Phillips

In article ,
John Phillips wrote:
You'll have problems finding a replacement HF1300 - if it is that. But
they were used on other speakers - many Celestion ones not
surprisingly - which may not be as valuable.

Not all Celestion HF1300s are in a rear-mounting form with a circular
mounting plate as I think is used in the Spendor BC1s. Ditton 15s, I
think, have an HF1300 that looks like this but the four HF1300s in my
Ditton 25s (now in storage) are in a front-mounting form with square
mounting plates.

Yes - there are many variables. However, it's possible to use just the
diaphragm/coil assembly by swopping them. If indeed it's to the same
spec. ;-)

--
*Why is 'abbreviation' such a long word?

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.