Spica TC-50 "Legendary" Imaging Vintage Speakers With Upgrades

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General:

You won't believe how well these simple yet elegant speakers can image until you hear them. They simply disappear and throw some of the most convincing imaging I've ever heard. 

I owned a pair just like these when I was in college and could not wait to hear them again. You know how time passes and things that you remember as amazing can be disappointing? Well these were just as impressive as when I first heard them 30 years ago. 

The only reason I replaced them with another pair of time aligned speakers, the Thiel CS1.2, is because of the increase in bass. If you're fine with moderate bass or willing to mate them with a sub, then these are absolutely worth a try. 

This particular pair comes in an elegant dark wood finish, not the teak that most come with. The wood is in very nice condition with no scratches. The grills are also in near perfect condition, and so are the elaborate fabric baffles. 

These will need to be set on stands for the tweeter to rest at ear level in order to get the best results. Please note the pictured stands are not included.

All drivers are working 100% as they should. 

This particular set was sold once before to a good client of ours who took them to the next level by upgrading the tweeters with a Morel model. The Morel is known to be much smoother and less grainy than the original Polydax, along with a high quality 4 Ohm L-pad attenuator to dial in just the right amount of high frequencies. 

Brand Background:

Spica (spī'kə) was started by John Bau in 1978 and continued until its purchase by Parasound late in 1993.

The February, 1988 interview with John Bau in Stereophile covers Spica's early efforts and the history of the company through the launch of the Angelus. In November of 1995, Parasound announced that it was suspending Spica development. In the announcement Parasound discussed the market pressures it was under, pledging that TC-60 production would continue through the spring of 1996.

This is the former Spica Headquarters on Bryn Mawr Dr. in Albuquerque, New Mexico. 

Ownership:

Second Owner

Amplifier Recommendation:

50W - 100W

Connections:

Single set of 5-way binding posts capable of accepting spades, bananas, or bare wire. 

General Sound:

Smooth, uncolored, undistorted natural and clean

Cosmetic Condition:

7 - Some Wear and Light Scratches

https://skyfiaudio.com/pages/our-rating-scale

Working Condition:

Working perfectly and tested in our lab and listening room.

Included:

Speakers and speaker grills. Speaker stands shown in photos are not included.

Packing:

Will be packed using our highly developed in-house process and custom packing materials.

Original MSRP:

$600

Dimensions - Each:

15.5" (394mm) H by 13" (330mm) W by 11.6" (295mm) D.

Weight - Each:

30 lbs.

Age:

1988

Reviews:

https://spicaspeakers.com/pdfs/absolute-sound-tc50-9-86.pdf

Link to Manual:

https://spicaspeakers.com/pdfs/spica-tc50-manual.pdf

Recommended Cables:

Kimber Kable - Speaker Cables - Good

Kimber Kable - Speaker Cables - Better

Kimber Kable - Bi-Wire Speaker Cables - Best

Testing Process:

Our speaker evaluation process starts with a visual inspection of all drivers. We are looking for damaged or deteriorating woofer surrounds, dented tweeter domes, and cone damage. We also inspect the speaker connection points for loose or broken connectors.

After the initial visual inspection we connect the speakers to a reference amplifier with our preferred test tracks. With the speakers placed with proper distance we listen to each driver to make sure that they are producing the intended frequencies with no signs of distortion or rattle. During listening tests with test tracks we check for proper stereo imaging and bass response at various listening levels. If there are any audible signs of issues, the speakers are taken to the bench where we perform a frequency sweep to isolate the issue so that it can be resolved by component repair or replacement.

Specs:

Two-way, stand-mounted loudspeaker. Drive-units: 1" soft-dome tweeter, 6.5" pulp-cone woofer. Low-frequency alignment: sealed-box with Q=0.78. Crossover frequency: 2kHz. Crossover: high-pass slope, approximately first-order, 6dB/octave; low-pass slope, fourth-order, 24dB/octave, Bessel; both drivers connected with the same polarity. Frequency response: 60Hz-17kHz -3dB. Sensitivity: 84dB/W/m. Nominal impedance: 4 ohms (3.6 ohms minimum at 4kHz). Amplifier requirements: 25-100W. Maximum power handling: 50W continuous, 100W peak.