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…
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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.
Sidebar: Specifications
Description: Three-way, stand-mounted, reflex-loaded, dynamic loudspeaker. Drive-units: 8" Bextrene-cone woofer, 1.25" soft-dome tweeter, 0.75" soft-dome supertweeter. Crossover frequencies: 3kHz, 13kHz. Nominal impedance: 8 ohms. Power handling: 55W program, maximum. Maximum sound pressure level: 101dBA.
Dimensions: 25" (635mm) H by 12" (305mm) W by 12" (305mm) D. Recommended stand height: 8" (203mm).
Price: $570/pair (1978); no longer available (2013).
Manufacturer: Spendor Audio Systems Ltd., G5 Ropemaker Park, South Road, Hailsham, East Sussex…
John Stronczer, Bel Canto Design's technical spark plug, meets my definition of an electronics renaissance man, ranging as he does from designing single-ended amps that glow in the dark (the Orfeo) to digital processors (the Aida). Actually, digital circuitry is one of John's specialties, dating back to his days at Honeywell.
The Aida is a prime member of Bel Canto's "operatic" series, which includes the Tosca and the Fidelio. John told me that the Aida was developed to provide a digital audio source that could compare with and be enjoyed alongside a high-quality analog system. In…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: 64x-oversampling, fifth-order Delta-Sigma (single-bit) D/A converter, accommodating sampling rates of 32, 44.1, and 48kHz. Digital word length: 16- or 18-bit, automatically selected. Output connections: balanced XLR and single-ended RCA. Input connections: one RCA coaxial, 75 ohms, and one AT&T optical. Frequency response: 0Hz–20kHz ±0.1dB. Maximum output voltage: 1.4V RMS. Output impedance: 100 ohms. THD: <0.005%. Signal/Noise ratio: 120dB. Power dissipation: 12W.
Dimensions: 17.25" W by 11.4" D by 2.5" H. Weight: 11.6 lbs.
Serial…
Sidebar 2: Review System
Preamplifiers included the Jadis JP-80MC, the Air Tight ATC-2, and the Sonic Frontiers SFL-2 Signature. CD transports were the Micromega Trio CD2, California Audio Labs' Delta, and the Accuphase DP-90. After experimenting with several 75 ohm digital interconnects, I settled on Mapleshade Electronics' Omega Mikro-D and Acrotec's D5010 datalinks as offering the most synergistic sonic match. Reference D/A processors included the Sonic Frontiers SFD-2, Theta's DS Pro Gen.III, CAL's Alpha processor, the original PS Audio UltraLink, and the Accuphase DC-91.
The…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
The Bel Canto Aida had one of the lowest output levels I've measured from any processor: just 1.4V when decoding a full-scale, 1kHz sinewave. Unusually, the output level was identical from the unbalanced and balanced outputs. Although the Aida had a low output impedance of 90 ohms, the 1.4V maximum output level may not be enough to drive some power-amplifier/loudspeaker combinations to adequate listening levels without an active preamplifier. The Aida doesn't invert absolute polarity; a positive-going impulse on a CD produces a positive-going output signal. The…
Introduced nearly eight years ago as the first recordable digital format for consumers, DAT both failed to appeal to its target market and was blocked from formally entering the USA for four years by the RIAA, who feared for the copyright of its members' recordings. However, the DAT medium was enthusiastically snapped up by professionals and semiprofessionals, who found its combination of reliability, CD-compatible signal format, and editing ease ideal for mastering. Sony currently offers a small range of consumer models, from the diminutive Walkman-sized TCD-D-7 DATMan to four-head cassette-…
J. Gordon Holt wrote again about the Sony DTC-2000ES in December 1995 (Vol.18 No.12):
When the review sample of this Super-Bit-Mapped DAT deck returned from RH's testing facility, the drawer-close spring was broken. (The unit had been used, perhaps, 30 hours during my tests, 3 during his.) I was able to jury-rig a repair of this, but shortly thereafter one of the pivots popped out of the tape-loading bar and disappeared into the innards of machine, making it impossible thereafter to load a tape.
Fortunately, the unit I'd purchased (yes, I decided to take the plunge, despite the…
Sidebar 1: Dis'n'DAT
DAT is a format unlike any other. The tape cassettes use 1/8"-wide tape running at 0.3"/second, and run on what is basically an ultra-miniature VCR that records in a series of diagonal stripes across the tape (helical scan). The recordings have extraordinarily robust error correction (footnote 1), and can use several kinds of place markers that together constitute a rudimentary, but effective, editing system.
A start identifier (ID) signals the beginning of a recorded selection, and can provide a seek point for high-speed searches to specific locations on the…
Sidebar 2: SCMS Scams
What really pisses me off about SCMS is that it wasn't even necessary. The CD standard already included a provision for placing a marker flag that would prevent any digital copying, but for whatever reason, it seems no CD manufacturer ever used it. (This may have had something to do with a Supreme Court ruling that consumers have the legal right to duplicate copyrighted stuff for their own private use.) But that CD anti-copy flag could be used to invoke a modified SCMS that would limit duplication of copyrighted material to a single generation, but would still allow…