In article ,
aktching wrote:
To Dave: We are in the US. Spendor's American distributor is unlikely
to have the same facilities that may be available back in the UK.

I'd risk a phone call to Spendor. Unless things have changed, you're
likely to get an honest answer.

--
*Errors have been made. Others will be blamed.

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

In article ,
Stewart Pinkerton wrote:
The HF1300 would indeed be the problem, as there simply *is* no modern
equivalent.

I'm surprised no-one has produced replacement voice coil/diaphragms, as
they're easy to replace. And there must be millions out there.

--
*My designated driver drove me to drink

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

News wrote:

: I'd risk a phone call to Spendor. Unless things have changed,
: you're likely to get an honest answer.

My uncle did all the obvious things (in the USA, not sure if he called
Spendor UK). The parts he needs are not available.

If we use a different driver, then (a) we have to modify both speakers
doubling our expense, and (b) we end up with severely "redesigned"
speakers, but redesigned with tied hands because we keep the cabinet
and crossovers meant for the original driver. To me it makes more sense
to buy a used SP-1/2(E) which was properly redesigned for new drivers.

In article , Dave Plowman (News)
writes
In article ,
aktching wrote:
To Dave: We are in the US. Spendor's American distributor is unlikely
to have the same facilities that may be available back in the UK.

I'd risk a phone call to Spendor. Unless things have changed, you're
likely to get an honest answer.


I believe they are now run by Phil Swift one of the co-founders of
Audiolab....
--
Tony Sayer

"aktching" wrote in message
...
Stewart Pinkerton wrote:

: "Dave Plowman (News)" wrote:
: You'd have to explain this, as 'repair' simply involves fitting
: replacement drivers if they are faulty. Possibly exchange units if
: available. The bass units should still be available, but the HF1300 mid
: range probably not. But I'm surprised Spendor can't update them with
: modern replacements. Have you actually asked them - or are you relying
on
: what your dealer says?
:
: The HF1300 would indeed be the problem, as there simply *is* no modern
: equivalent. Inded, sourcing a truly equivalent bass/mid driver would
: also be difficult, as simple polypropylene cones are no longer used.

Non-availability of the original tweeter is the basic problem. Even if
we find a "close" replacement, the speaker may not have the same
balance and the pair will certainly be mismatched. So we'd be talking
about redesigning the pair.


Sure but you will doing more than that if you migrate to different
speaker...??

Call me daft, but I have the HF1300 as a tweeter (no?) and, FWIW, Wilmslow
Audio offer the Coles CE3000 (at 25 nicker apiece) as its 'ideal
replacement'...???

Alternatively, contact Dave Smith of DK Loudspeakers on 01708 447344 but
bear in mind these words I found on the Net:

"By all accounts he is one of the few people who can still rebuild
loudspeakers. A couple of things to consider - I'm told that he is retired
(ex BBC), and I'm not sure how much work he needs or wants these days. I
also don't know if he deals with international business. He can be contacted
on 01708 447344 (no e-mail or web site)."

A very nice guy with a hoaching *wealth* of knowledge about quality
Brit/'BBC' speakers. (Tip: If you want to make it a quick call - *don't*
mention Sonus Faber...!! ;-)

Keith G wrote:

: Even if we find a "close" replacement, the speaker may not have the
: same balance and the pair will certainly be mismatched. So we'd be talking
: about redesigning the pair.
:
: Sure but you will doing more than that if you migrate to different
: speaker...??

I am not OP but always interested in Spendors. :-)

Your reply makes no sense to me. If OP buys Spendor SP1/2, BC-3,
Harbeth, etc., he would be buying a speaker designed by experienced
qualified teams who could adjust all of the parameters. (These models
have also been reviewed by many independent reviewers.) And he'd
certainly be buying a pair of matched speakers!

That's different from a user changing just one part of a balanced
design like BC-1.

: FWIW, Wilmslow Audio offer the Coles CE3000 (at 25 nicker apiece) as
: its 'ideal replacement'...???

Maybe so, maybe not. In this business where all vendors make sky high
claims it pays to be skeptical. Sure, vendors would describe their
offerings as "ideal". But has the resulting speaker been reviewed? Any
word as to why Spendor didn't use this "ideal" unit when it became
available?

: Alternatively, contact Dave Smith of DK Loudspeakers...

I suppose it doesn't hurt to call but it could be probitively expensive
to ship a pair of speakers back and forth internationally to be
rebuilt, even assuming that Mr. Smith accepts the job.

On Mon, 29 Aug 2005 09:42:41 GMT, aktching wrote:

Stewart Pinkerton wrote:

: Basically, given that the BC1 was always known for loose bass and a
: certain thickening in the midrange, I'd be inclined to give it best,
: say a fond farewell, and buy a pair of modern Spendors or similar.

Thanks Stewart. Do you have any opinions about the models I listed?
These just happen to be available used right now: SP1/2E, BC-3, a
couple of Harbeths and Dynaudios. Someone suggested ATC. Please feel
free to suggest others.

I recall the BC3 as being 'larger than life', but certainly an
impressive performer with serious bass weight! The SP1/2E is
definitely a worthy successor to the BC1. with a more neutral balance
and even more transparency. The ATC range are personal favourites of
mine, but you find them a little too 'in yer face' after the polite
musicality of BC1s.

As you can tell, my uncle keeps his components a long time, so we would
want the proverbial best (upto $2000-2500, used is ok,
classical/jazz/vocals, 50 wpc solid state amp)!

I have one of those, it cost me £1,000 some ten years ago. It's a
Krell KSA-50 mkII, still a classic amp after all these years!

A US company called Green Mountain Audio is getting good audiophile
press here, my uncle said it reminded him of the way BC-1 was talked
about 30 years ago, but I don't know if you have heard it. I posted to
this ng because most of our other options are British.

Don't know that one, as I'm UK-based.

--

Stewart Pinkerton | Music is Art - Audio is Engineering

Stewart Pinkerton wrote:

: I recall the BC3 as being 'larger than life', but certainly an
: impressive performer with serious bass weight! The SP1/2E is
: definitely a worthy successor to the BC1. with a more neutral
: balance and even more transparency. The ATC range are personal
: favourites of mine..
:
: Don't know [Green Mountain], as I'm UK-based.

Do you have an outright recommendation or two among UK models (and
others you know) we should include in our list? Music is mostly
classical/jazz/vocals, often at low volume (late night life-style,
sensitive neighbors), should work with 50 w/ch solid state amp. We are
extremely lazy about repairs: we would gladly pass the world's best
speaker if it keeps blowing drivers and choose the second best that
keeps on working.

On Mon, 29 Aug 2005 13:03:41 +0100, Chris Morriss
wrote:

In message , Stewart
Pinkerton writes
On Sun, 28 Aug 2005 22:50:24 +0100, "Dave Plowman (News)"
wrote:

In article ,
aktching wrote:
: If they are still working and he likes them why change the BC1's -

They need serious repair by now. Getting them repaired is certainly an
option, but not a straightforward one as our local dealers as well as
Spendor don't want to do it.

You'd have to explain this, as 'repair' simply involves fitting
replacement drivers if they are faulty. Possibly exchange units if
available. The bass units should still be available, but the HF1300 mid
range probably not. But I'm surprised Spendor can't update them with
modern replacements. Have you actually asked them - or are you relying on
what your dealer says?

The HF1300 would indeed be the problem, as there simply *is* no modern
equivalent. Inded, sourcing a truly equivalent bass/mid driver would
also be difficult, as simple polypropylene cones are no longer used.
Basically, given that the BC1 was always known for loose bass and a
certain thickening in the midrange, I'd be inclined to give it best,
say a fond farewell, and buy a pair of modern Spendors or similar.


Simple polypropylene cones are used all over the place.

Sorry, brainfart, I meant Bextrene, much loved by KEF and which fell
out of fashion with the introduction of the original polyprop-coned
Mission 770.

I think you'll
find that the bass unit in the BC1 used a coated Bextrene cone, which
certainly aren't available (*)

(*) I know this as I was speaking to the Richard Allan 'Recone Lab' only
last week about putting a new voice coil on one of my old and much loved
HP8B bass units. Fortunately the cone is perfect, it's just the voice
coil former that has developed blisters, so it's worth having the unit
rebuilt.

--

Stewart Pinkerton | Music is Art - Audio is Engineering

aktching wrote:

: Stewart Pinkerton wrote:
:
: : I recall the BC3 as being 'larger than life', but certainly an
: : impressive performer with serious bass weight! The SP1/2E is
: : definitely a worthy successor to the BC1. with a more neutral
: : balance and even more transparency. The ATC range are personal
: : favourites of mine..
: :
: : Don't know [Green Mountain], as I'm UK-based.
:
: Do you have an outright recommendation or two among UK models
: (and others you know) we should include in our list? Music is mostly
: classical/jazz/vocals, often at low volume (late night life-style,
: sensitive neighbors), should work with 50 w/ch solid state amp. We
: are extremely lazy about repairs: we would gladly pass the world's best
: speaker if it keeps blowing drivers and choose the second best that
: keeps on working.

Oops, forgot the most important part: budget = 2500 USD, but we can buy
used.