The Spendor Thread..

[FauxHall]

Here's my new A6Rs, in dark walnut. About 100 hours into break-in.

 

[DOBIEGUY]

Well all right! Congratulations are in order finally.
Don't be affraid to experiment with positioning. The cabinet design lets you put them closer to the rear wall.
The pillows behind the speakers may defeat the port on the bottom.
Maybe get them on the rug, do the triangle set up, and hold on tight to that good looking chair.
All the best!
Jimmy

 

[FauxHall]

Thanks, Dobie! It has been a saga but I put a good bit of effort into selection and shopping as I've put this system together and it is paying off.

Now, awaiting the Sony HAP-Z1ES hard drive player for hi res files and a Pro-Ject Tube Box DS for vinyl. Getting an acrylic platter too and maybe better, thicker speaker cables (11 awg) for the 10 meter runs.

After that, I hope to concentrate on the music!

 

[audiodon]

That will be one fine system.

 

[Pilsern]

What would be the "optimum" stand height for the classic Spendor BCIII speakers ?

Thanks in advance,

 

[DOBIEGUY]

This is what Spendor had in mind regarding stands.
Take a look at what Sound Anchors makes to get an idea of height.

 

[Pilsern]

View attachment 853257 This is what Spendor had in mind regarding stands.
Take a look at what Sound Anchors makes to get an idea of height.

Thanks for your reply,
What is the height of the original "trolley" stands ?

I looked at the Sound Anchor page but I was not able to find any information about size/weight of the stands.

 

[rogerfederer]

i have a chance to buy some sp 2/2s. any thoughts? i have a soft spot for british speakers (KEF 104 a/b, had a string of wharfedales, then mordaunt short, celestion, and mission).

seller says one tweeter is bad. i see falcon has an assortment of scan speak tweeters. anyone know if they have the right one for the sp 2/2? hopefully i can check and see if it is just a wiring or crossover issue.

 

[audiodon]

Contact Spendor. They may have a tweeter. You won't be disappointed with that speaker.

 

[rogerfederer]

I got them! yes, one tweeter is dead. i'm on a business trip so trying to borrow some hex screwdrivers to get the tweeter out. i did bring a multimeter and my capacitor ESR tester. the cabinets are teak and in pretty good shape (thinking teak oil will do wonders). the grills are pretty good as well (will replace the grill cloth). the woofer surrounds are nice and supple. the speaker that works completely sounds very nice!

my plan is to ship them back home and do the restoration there. will look at boxes. will need to brace them as the speakers are heavy!

 

[rogerfederer]

tried the MTM on the bad tweet and got no value so must be dead. madisound has the replacement (so does falcon). there is a guy on the DC craigslist with 2 proac 2.5 tweets, which are the same tweeter, but one has a pushed in dome and he wants more for the 2 than the madisound price for one. will see if he will haggle... have the speakers playing now; very nice even if one is missing a tweeter!
Update: guy wouldn't haggle so i ordered from madisound (turned out was a bit cheaper to order through amazon even though supplier to amazon is madisound; goofy).

 

[rogerfederer]

Here is the crossover. None of the alcaps I've seen in my IMFs and other British speakers. I'm guessing these are not the type of caps that are likely to go bad. Opinions?

 

[audiodon]

I would replace them to get your hi pass and low pass filters back where they belong.
Those speakers are not near new.
These are 1 dB matched so matched caps are key and cap value drift may have been what blew the tweet.

 

[rogerfederer]

maybe falcon has the right caps. i'll check with them.

 

[rogerfederer]

audiodon,
thanks for reminding me to look at the caps; here is the culprit that probably took out the tweeter. now to find replacements caps. never heard back from falcon.

 

[rogerfederer]

the cap was made by acrotronics (all the caps on the crossover are arcotronics MKT caps). i'm not finding arcotronics on mouser or digikey so they may be gone. the markings on the side are: "MKT 1.60" and on the top: "1 k 63". can someone decode that for me? i think K means =/- 10% and 63 = 63 VDC. MKT = metallized polyester film (or foil). the "1" is the mystery; is it picofarad?

i've looked on google re MKT cap markings but am still confused. help!

 

[rogerfederer]

i started a new thread: http://audiokarma.org/forums/index....-crossover-cap-markings.757040/#post-10295231

i have also emailed spendor for advice!

UPDATE: got this answer from Spendor; talk about customer service:

"Dear Doug
Thank you for your e-mail and for the attached pictures – spoke to Spendor’s Technical Manager, his advice as follows:
'Any 1uF polyester cap will do: minimum of 63V, preferably 100V. They were internally selected at Spendor into 5% bands for matching'
In those days Spendor did not specify high spec audio grade capacitors: Arcotronics just happened to manufacture the products Spendor used at that time - maker of the replacement is not critically important
Best regards
Rob"

 

[audiodon]

Yep. Good people there.
Is that photo of a burnt power resistor?

 

[rogerfederer]

nope; it is a burnt MKT cap; explains the dead tweeter (as you suspected)

i just ordered all new polyester caps (5% tolerance, 100 VDC), using the guy at spendor's advice

now to work on the nice teak cabinets and replace the grill cloth!

 

[rogerfederer]

my mouser order arrived. in the meantime i had recovered the grills and cleaned up the cabinets with teak oil
pics of the recap: http://albums.phanfare.com/isolated/K2twOiOr/1/14429991