Stereophile
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<img src="http://www.stereophile.com/images/666Spendor_BC1.jpg" alt="666Spendor_BC1.jpg" width="250" height="521" border="0" align="right" />This smallish loudspeaker system has been getting high ratings in the English audio magazines for some years but was not available to US consumers until recently, when the small firm (literally a Mom'n'Pop enterprise, footnote 1) arranged for US distribution through Audio International.
<p>
The Spendor BC-1 is about as unimpressive-looking as any other smallish three-way loudspeaker, of which there are countless hundreds of models being made in the US at present. In fact, we were so ho-hummed by the mundane appearance of this speaker that we found it hard to connect the pair up and give them a listen.
</p><p>
<b>Listening</b><br />Let it first be said that this speaker does have shortcomings, not the least of which includes a tendency toward mid-bass drumminess and a mild but sharp peak around 12kHz, which adds a subtle hissing edge to the sound of massed violins. Above about 12kHz, the high end falls off rapidly, resulting in a perceptible deficiency of airiness. This was a source of puzzlement to us, since we find it hard to understand how a system that is claimed to cross over into its tweeter at 13kHz can have a progessively falling response above 12kHz. Perhaps the Spendor people can explain that one. . .
</p><p>
The BC-1 has in common with most British speakers a paucity of deep low-end range and of noise-making ability. The bottom, according to Spendor's own curves (and verified by our tests) falls off rapidly below 55Hz, and the system is rated at a maximum SPL (sound pressure level) of 101dBA. (The "A" refers to the so-called A-weighted frequency-resposne scale for SPL measurements. The A-weighted scale actually corresponds more closely to the ear's response at <i>low</i> listening levels than it does to high-level listening, but it was recommended Walsh-Healey Environmental-Noise Act becasue it better delineates that part of the audible spectrum that is most likely to cause traumatic damage to our hearing. It has thus become the standard weighting for most SPL measurements.) An SPL of 101dBA is very loud for any music except for closely miked symphonic material and hard rock, which latter doesn't qualify as music anyway. So much for the BC-1's liabilities.
</p><p>
Its assets include truly remarkable reproduction of depth and superb imaging and scale (footnote 2). Instrumental placement remains stable across the stereo "stage" between the speakers, and there is no tendency toward that <i>U</i> configuration where center instruments sound distant and vaguely imaged while flanking ones are definite but crowded toward the sides.
</p><p>
But the BC-1's strongest asset, its musical naturalness, is unfortunately going to be lost on most audiophiles who, unfamiliar with the sounds of live acoustical instruments, are incapable of recognizing it when they hear it. Despite their manifest shortcomings, these speakers can recreate the <i>gestalt</i> of live music like few systems
[Source: http://www.stereophile.com/content/spendor-bc-1-loudspeaker]
<p>
The Spendor BC-1 is about as unimpressive-looking as any other smallish three-way loudspeaker, of which there are countless hundreds of models being made in the US at present. In fact, we were so ho-hummed by the mundane appearance of this speaker that we found it hard to connect the pair up and give them a listen.
</p><p>
<b>Listening</b><br />Let it first be said that this speaker does have shortcomings, not the least of which includes a tendency toward mid-bass drumminess and a mild but sharp peak around 12kHz, which adds a subtle hissing edge to the sound of massed violins. Above about 12kHz, the high end falls off rapidly, resulting in a perceptible deficiency of airiness. This was a source of puzzlement to us, since we find it hard to understand how a system that is claimed to cross over into its tweeter at 13kHz can have a progessively falling response above 12kHz. Perhaps the Spendor people can explain that one. . .
</p><p>
The BC-1 has in common with most British speakers a paucity of deep low-end range and of noise-making ability. The bottom, according to Spendor's own curves (and verified by our tests) falls off rapidly below 55Hz, and the system is rated at a maximum SPL (sound pressure level) of 101dBA. (The "A" refers to the so-called A-weighted frequency-resposne scale for SPL measurements. The A-weighted scale actually corresponds more closely to the ear's response at <i>low</i> listening levels than it does to high-level listening, but it was recommended Walsh-Healey Environmental-Noise Act becasue it better delineates that part of the audible spectrum that is most likely to cause traumatic damage to our hearing. It has thus become the standard weighting for most SPL measurements.) An SPL of 101dBA is very loud for any music except for closely miked symphonic material and hard rock, which latter doesn't qualify as music anyway. So much for the BC-1's liabilities.
</p><p>
Its assets include truly remarkable reproduction of depth and superb imaging and scale (footnote 2). Instrumental placement remains stable across the stereo "stage" between the speakers, and there is no tendency toward that <i>U</i> configuration where center instruments sound distant and vaguely imaged while flanking ones are definite but crowded toward the sides.
</p><p>
But the BC-1's strongest asset, its musical naturalness, is unfortunately going to be lost on most audiophiles who, unfamiliar with the sounds of live acoustical instruments, are incapable of recognizing it when they hear it. Despite their manifest shortcomings, these speakers can recreate the <i>gestalt</i> of live music like few systems
[Source: http://www.stereophile.com/content/spendor-bc-1-loudspeaker]