Need help with Spica TC-50 / Kinergetics setup

There is definitely a market for Tc-50s in good condition. I own Spica angelus, and I will not part with them. I am more doubtful that there is a market for your subwoofers. I think you could possibly get $300 for the tc-50s.

Spicas excel at imaging and subtlety, but are not so good at bass, high volumes or dynamics. If your interest is primarily home theater and you're more interested in dynamics and bass then I think you should sell the spicas and get something more suited to your tastes.

If you really like the sound of the spicas and would like to fill in the bass and add a little more dynamics I can suggest a used REL strata subwoofer. I use this with my angelus. It is a self powered subwoofer, so it eases the load on your amplifier and mates perfectly with the main speakers. The only down side is that they cost upwards of $700, even when used.

I hope this has been helpful.

I have found that spicas need to be at least 2-3 feet from rear and side walls and that I have to sit at a distance roughly equal to the spacing of the speakers (I have a 5' equilateral triangle).
Only then do I get the imaging ... but wow, what imaging.

For reference I borrowed some Spendor S3/5 minimonitors from a friend for a weekend. These are a relatively new design and get great reviews, and cost about $900 a pair new. In short my spica angelus were far, far better speakers in just about every respect, especially in imaging.

I came away from this realizing that I;d have to spend a lot of money to better the spicas on imaging and microdynamics, though I could probably better them on bass, loudness and macrodynamics for about $500.

If you just want loud and bass then probably $500 should replace the tc-50s, but if you want loud, with more bass and dynamics AND anything approaching spica imaging/soundstage I think you should prepare to part with more than $1000. If you have that kind of money then Green Mountain Audio Europas seem to be the speaker that all of the ex-spica people are raving about. I've never heard them myself (I don't have that kind of money to burn :-( )

I'm afraid that I can't help with the kinergetics. It could be the room ... some rooms just suck out the bass. It could be that your amplifier is running out of power (passive subs must really suck current from a power amp).

I do know that a REL strata will complement the tc-50s very well, and may well give you what you're looking for overall. Musicality with a bit of grunt. However it will probably set you back a bit. Mine cost $800 used. No it's not for sale ! :-)

Something of a compromise between the spica imaging and having a bit more bass might be a used pair of Epos es-14s, though these are rear ported and will have to be a couple of feet from the rear walls. They're nice speakers and are about $500 or less used. Other possibilities are Mission 753s. If you really want bass then I liked B&W DM603s ... real rockers, but not for classical.

Hey, you're in SF area. If you're interested, and if you're anywhere near Fremont then feel free to email and drop by to hear my Spica Angelus / REL strata setup. It might give you an idea about whether a better sub would fix things.