Upgrading from an old Spendor BC1
 

RPS wrote in message ...
I have been living with a pair of old Spendor BC1 speakers. While I
bought these after careful research and auditions long ago, I have not
followed the market isince then. No doubt, much has changed.

I'd be grateful for your suggestions on what budget is rquired for a
meaningful upgrade, the next step up if you wish, in today's market. If
you can suggest a few names, primarily for classical music, that would
be even better.

A few friends have suggested Spendor's own S6, but I would like to
consider other options as well before choosing.

R

Back in 1981, I purchased a pair of Rogers Studio 1's, which are quite
similar to the BC1 by Spendor. Two years ago, I sold them and got a
pair of used Yamaha NS-1000M's, which are actually a few years older.
I have been deliriously happy with them. I strongly recommend them.
Strongly! The way the the Spendor/Rogers BBC design uses the woofer,
by running it up into the mid-range, makes it 'slow'. The Yammies are
MUCH, MUCH faster, and extraordinarily clean and uncoloured. You'll be
stunned. You'll skip sleep just to listen to them.

Upgrading from an old Spendor BC1
 

RPS wrote in message ...
I have been living with a pair of old Spendor BC1 speakers. While I
bought these after careful research and auditions long ago, I have not
followed the market isince then. No doubt, much has changed.

I'd be grateful for your suggestions on what budget is rquired for a
meaningful upgrade, the next step up if you wish, in today's market. If
you can suggest a few names, primarily for classical music, that would
be even better.

A few friends have suggested Spendor's own S6, but I would like to
consider other options as well before choosing.

R

Check e-bay for NS-1000M's. They go for $600-1500/pr, depending on
condition and the state of the ecomomy. Recently they have been
selling on the low end of that scale.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...ategory=37 02

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tegory=14 993

Upgrading from an old Spendor BC1
 

RPS wrote in message ...
I have been living with a pair of old Spendor BC1 speakers. While I
bought these after careful research and auditions long ago, I have not
followed the market isince then. No doubt, much has changed.

I'd be grateful for your suggestions on what budget is rquired for a
meaningful upgrade, the next step up if you wish, in today's market. If
you can suggest a few names, primarily for classical music, that would
be even better.

A few friends have suggested Spendor's own S6, but I would like to
consider other options as well before choosing.

R

Check e-bay for NS-1000M's. They go for $600-1500/pr, depending on
condition and the state of the ecomomy. Recently they have been
selling on the low end of that scale.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...ategory=37 02

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tegory=14 993

Upgrading from an old Spendor BC1
 

On Thu, 16 Oct 2003 11:51:22 -0000, Anthony Edwards
wrote:

On Thu, 16 Oct 2003 09:08:16 GMT, RPS wrote:

Thank you for your response. Yes I do have them on stands and have been
happy enough to have lived with them for 20+ years. The only flaw I
have ever noticed has to do with male voices (announcers on my local
classical music station) which seem to produce a very slight hissing.

Perhaps the announcers themselves are hissing? I agree with other
comments in this thread that the Spendor BC1 is a classic monitor,
and it would be difficult indeed to improve significantly upon the
BC1 by replacement with a more modern alternative.

If one did, however, then the obvious first stop is the current
Spendor range, then perhaps Proac.
--

Stewart Pinkerton | Music is Art - Audio is Engineering

Upgrading from an old Spendor BC1
 

On Thu, 16 Oct 2003 11:51:22 -0000, Anthony Edwards
wrote:

On Thu, 16 Oct 2003 09:08:16 GMT, RPS wrote:

Thank you for your response. Yes I do have them on stands and have been
happy enough to have lived with them for 20+ years. The only flaw I
have ever noticed has to do with male voices (announcers on my local
classical music station) which seem to produce a very slight hissing.

Perhaps the announcers themselves are hissing? I agree with other
comments in this thread that the Spendor BC1 is a classic monitor,
and it would be difficult indeed to improve significantly upon the
BC1 by replacement with a more modern alternative.

If one did, however, then the obvious first stop is the current
Spendor range, then perhaps Proac.
--

Stewart Pinkerton | Music is Art - Audio is Engineering

Upgrading from an old Spendor BC1
 

On 16 Oct 2003 07:43:20 -0700, (Michael
Scarpitti) wrote:

RPS wrote in message ...
I have been living with a pair of old Spendor BC1 speakers. While I
bought these after careful research and auditions long ago, I have not
followed the market isince then. No doubt, much has changed.

I'd be grateful for your suggestions on what budget is rquired for a
meaningful upgrade, the next step up if you wish, in today's market. If
you can suggest a few names, primarily for classical music, that would
be even better.

A few friends have suggested Spendor's own S6, but I would like to
consider other options as well before choosing.

R

Back in 1981, I purchased a pair of Rogers Studio 1's, which are quite
similar to the BC1 by Spendor. Two years ago, I sold them and got a
pair of used Yamaha NS-1000M's, which are actually a few years older.
I have been deliriously happy with them. I strongly recommend them.
Strongly! The way the the Spendor/Rogers BBC design uses the woofer,
by running it up into the mid-range, makes it 'slow'. The Yammies are
MUCH, MUCH faster, and extraordinarily clean and uncoloured. You'll be
stunned. You'll skip sleep just to listen to them.

They're good speakers, and certainly 'classics' like the BC1, but they
don't really compare to modern speakers such as the B&W N804s, which
are in the same price bracket as the NS-1000M when it was available
new on the UK market. They were always an *exciting* listen, but
lacked the smooth neutrality of contemporary Proacs. My neighbour had
Proacs at the time I had the Yammys, and we had many a 'frank and
forthright exchange of views' about their relative sound quality!

Personally, if the poster likes the BC1, I'm sure that he'd find the
current Spendor and Proac ranges to be 'more of the same', but
generally cleaned up and with tighter bass.
--

Stewart Pinkerton | Music is Art - Audio is Engineering

Upgrading from an old Spendor BC1
 

On 16 Oct 2003 07:43:20 -0700, (Michael
Scarpitti) wrote:

RPS wrote in message ...
I have been living with a pair of old Spendor BC1 speakers. While I
bought these after careful research and auditions long ago, I have not
followed the market isince then. No doubt, much has changed.

I'd be grateful for your suggestions on what budget is rquired for a
meaningful upgrade, the next step up if you wish, in today's market. If
you can suggest a few names, primarily for classical music, that would
be even better.

A few friends have suggested Spendor's own S6, but I would like to
consider other options as well before choosing.

R

Back in 1981, I purchased a pair of Rogers Studio 1's, which are quite
similar to the BC1 by Spendor. Two years ago, I sold them and got a
pair of used Yamaha NS-1000M's, which are actually a few years older.
I have been deliriously happy with them. I strongly recommend them.
Strongly! The way the the Spendor/Rogers BBC design uses the woofer,
by running it up into the mid-range, makes it 'slow'. The Yammies are
MUCH, MUCH faster, and extraordinarily clean and uncoloured. You'll be
stunned. You'll skip sleep just to listen to them.

They're good speakers, and certainly 'classics' like the BC1, but they
don't really compare to modern speakers such as the B&W N804s, which
are in the same price bracket as the NS-1000M when it was available
new on the UK market. They were always an *exciting* listen, but
lacked the smooth neutrality of contemporary Proacs. My neighbour had
Proacs at the time I had the Yammys, and we had many a 'frank and
forthright exchange of views' about their relative sound quality!

Personally, if the poster likes the BC1, I'm sure that he'd find the
current Spendor and Proac ranges to be 'more of the same', but
generally cleaned up and with tighter bass.
--

Stewart Pinkerton | Music is Art - Audio is Engineering

Upgrading from an old Spendor BC1
 

In article ,
Michael Scarpitti wrote:
he way the the Spendor/Rogers BBC design uses the woofer,
by running it up into the mid-range, makes it 'slow'.

Dunno what you mean by slow, but there's a lot to be said for keeping
crossover frequencies out of the ear's most critical band.

The Yammies are MUCH, MUCH faster, and extraordinarily clean and
uncoloured. You'll be stunned. You'll skip sleep just to listen to them.

They're far too 'chromium plated' for my tastes.

--
*The first rule of holes: If you are in one, stop digging!

Dave Plowman London SW 12
RIP Acorn

Upgrading from an old Spendor BC1
 

In article ,
Michael Scarpitti wrote:
he way the the Spendor/Rogers BBC design uses the woofer,
by running it up into the mid-range, makes it 'slow'.

Dunno what you mean by slow, but there's a lot to be said for keeping
crossover frequencies out of the ear's most critical band.

The Yammies are MUCH, MUCH faster, and extraordinarily clean and
uncoloured. You'll be stunned. You'll skip sleep just to listen to them.

They're far too 'chromium plated' for my tastes.

--
*The first rule of holes: If you are in one, stop digging!

Dave Plowman London SW 12
RIP Acorn

Upgrading from an old Spendor BC1
 

Stewart Pinkerton wrote:

Personally, if the poster likes the BC1, I'm sure that he'd find the
current Spendor and Proac ranges to be 'more of the same', but
generally cleaned up and with tighter bass.

I do like the BC1's. I selected them 20+ years ago after agonizing
comparisons involving competing models form KEF, B&W, B&O, Rogers,
Canton, and several American companies. (Since then I have been happy
enough not to search any more. My trips to audio shops have been for
other components, or with friends on their listening sessions. This did
expose me to several very good and very expensive speakers, but nothing
I would/could consider for myself.)

I appreciate your response, this is just the kind of recommendation I
need.

Do you have any opinion on the Dynaudio and new Quad range?

In any brand, what would be the expected price range for a speaker that
would be "a step up" from the BC1's, if the concept makes sense to you?

I envy the schedule I had during my earlier purchase. Schedule of
classes often left entire days "free". I lived in NYC and had to travel
to England a couple of times for family reasons. Chicago is not exactly
wilderness but it does not match the "NYC + London" combination. That
and time make it essential for me to work much more systematically,
with a short list of brands to explore.

PS. Given that speakers are one thing the British (Japanese) have the
reputation of doing (not doing) right, I find it interesting that a
British audiophile should have owned Yamaha speakers; they must have
been quite good!

RPS