[clayeva]

Would someone please give their opinion as to running a pair of Spica TC50s with a Yamaha M85(260 WPC) amplifier. Is there a safe way of running the overpowered amp with these speakers? Thank you for your help.

 

[yashicaman]

Of course you can run your Spicas with a powerful amp. Just take it easy on the volume control. Actually, it is better to have more power than too little power. Clipping eats speakers. So you should have no problems with a Spica big amp combo. Enjoy.

 

[manofmathematics]

Yes, yes, yes! I always love it when these speakers are brought up. The TC-50's are nothing short of outstanding. Imaging is very, very important to me and the TC-50's are some of the best imaging on two stands.

They aren't exactly the easist load, however. 4ohms and I believe 84dB sensitivity. Very similar to Magnepan, which is another speaker that I'm very familar with. 260wpc (I'm assuming that is into 8ohms) sounds good enough, but is your Yamaha rated into 4ohms? I've found with speakers like the Spicas and Magnepan that wpc isn't really most important. What is important is high current delivery and a solid power supply capable of easily handling 4ohm delivery and comfortable down into 2ohms.

 

[clayeva]

Thank you for your help, the M-85 amplifier puts out 330 WPC @ 4ohms. But I will give the Spicas a go with the yamaha amp. Again, thank you for your input!

 

[wuwhere]

I had a pair of TC-50s years back. They benefit on speaker stands, a foot or two from the back wall toed in.

 

[NightOwl]

Quote:

Originally Posted by manofmathematics /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yes, yes, yes! I always love it when these speakers are brought up. The TC-50's are nothing short of outstanding. Imaging is very, very important to me and the TC-50's are some of the best imaging on two stands. They aren't exactly the easist load, however. 4ohms and I believe 84dB sensitivity. Very similar to Magnepan, which is another speaker that I'm very familar with. 260wpc (I'm assuming that is into 8ohms) sounds good enough, but is your Yamaha rated into 4ohms? I've found with speakers like the Spicas and Magnepan that wpc isn't really most important. What is important is high current delivery and a solid power supply capable of easily handling 4ohm delivery and comfortable down into 2ohms.

x2
Your Yamaha will be fine, but you may find the combination tilted towards the treble. You will never get deep bass (they're a small speaker after all), but the imaging is fantastic. As wuwhere says they HAVE to be on stands and you will have to experiment with positioning for your room. When I had the Spicas, I drove them with an Audiolab 8000a or an Audible Illusions/Bedini 25/25 and really liked them.

 

[AndrewF]

Wow- brings back the memories. TC-50's were the first high end speakers I ever heard, and they just blew me away. I was in college in the mid 80's and saved up for them, with the tall Spica stands. For the money, I don't think anything came close to them with acoustic and vocal music- just the most gorgeous sound. Unfortunately, they had absolutely no bass at all and I kept blowing them, even when I upgraded to decent quality separates (PS audio, if I remember correctly). They were just the wrong speakers for a college kid who liked to play a little loud rock once in a while (ok, pretty often). I even purchased the subwoofer at one point, only to find that it didn't really do a whole hell of a lot either. Eventually sold them for a rock solid pair of Energy speakers, which lasted until a couple of years ago when a tweeter finally died.

For what it's worth- if you like the Spica sound, and have the money, check out Naim gear. I've got some Credos now, running off older cosmetic Naim amp and preamp (old gear but it's great and lasts forever). The Credos remind me a lot of the Spicas, but have bass and are a lot less fragile. Credos are discontinued now, but you can find them used, or get into whatever newer models Naim has around that price point.

 

[chadbang]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wuwhere /img/forum/go_quote.gif I had a pair of TC-50s years back. They benefit on speaker stands, a foot or two from the back wall toed in.

Yes, placement is a lot more important to the Spicas than what's powering them. I powered mine to ample (loud) volume with a 60-watt Adcom 535. Also leave as much room as you can on the sides. Toeing-in is crucial. You won't hear the magic unless you do. Tilt them so you can just see a sliver (maybe two inches) of the inside edges of the pair being toed in. You can download the set up manual somewhere on the web, sorry, I forget where. The old equalateral triangle set up - longer to the apogee than across the base. When you hit the right set-up, you'll know it, although a matter of an inch or two with the placement makes a huge difference with the Spicas. It took me three days the first time to get it right. Now, I can do it in a half hour. The imaging should be rock solid. The imaging of a recording with a centered vocalist should also keep the vocalist "in place" from straight-on listening(head level) up to the ceiling (tilting your head upward). I never had a problem with the TC-50's bass, although I did finally add a touch of subwoofer for fun. I still have my TC-50s, currently resting, and won't ever give them up.

 

[chadbang]

Here you go. Manuals.

Spica Speaker Manuals

 

[AndrewF]

If you do a search for "Spica Speakers" you will pull up a website of a guy who has very lovingly catalogued all that there is on the web.

I was happy to see that Stereophile had also had the same problem I did- blowing the voice coils. So it wasn't just me.

I wish I could hear the TC50's again.

 

[dadster]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AndrewF /img/forum/go_quote.gif If you do a search for "Spica Speakers" you will pull up a website of a guy who has very lovingly cataloged all that there is on the web. I was happy to see that Stereophile had also had the same problem I did- blowing the voice coils. So it wasn't just me. I wish I could hear the TC50's again.

Thanks Andrew, spicaspeakers.com is a labor of love. I agree with the posts above. Big amp not an issue. The Spica's are a 4 Ohm load, so you may want to be sure the amp is happy driving a small impedance load. Stands are a virtual necessity, Spicas need to be at ear level and don't do well against a wall.

A subwoofer really helps; I don't think there are any real matching issues with adding a sub, with home theater, subs have become available quite good at a reasonable price. Taking the low-end load off TC-50's lets'em perform cleanly at much higher volume levels.

Thanks again for the mention of my site, there is also very knowledgeable group of Spica folks in Yahoo groups. See my 'Resources' on my site for a link. The board is about all things Spica and there Audio engineers and someone that still communicates with Spica designer John Bau, who monitor and post there.

 

[Matrixnobu]

Man! I miss my Spica's!