Spica TC-50's vs 60's. Differences + Maintanence.

Thanks all for your advise. I went ahead and purchased a pair of the TC-60's, just to check them out. I do have a "Cardas type" listening room to play with them in, atleast for the next two months. I just wanted to get something with great imaging and decent sound to see if it makes any changes in my brain chemistry! I'll let y'all know what I think.

The TC-50s are better and more balanced than the TC-60s. The 50s sound smoother, have superior imaging and soundstaging, with just the right amount of speed, detail and air. Also, the sealed enclosure makes integration with a sub better. I've been through over a dozen speakers in the last decade, but I still have the 50s.

The 60s, while a decent speaker, sound more like mid-fi. I think Mr. Bau lost the "Spica" magic when he tried to get too much bass out of them. However, he may have succeeded in creating a speaker with wider mainstream appeal- closer to boom sizzle than high end. (And they do not come close to going down into the low 30Hz range, as mentioned in one of the above posts.)

My wife made a comment the other day ... she said "We can put your speakers in the living room and tell Isabella (our young daughter) that if she's naughty the speakers will eat her !". Gives you an idea of what my wife thinks of the aesthetics of my Spicas.

2cents. I agree with the above posts. Had the 50's years ago and blew the tweeters twice in about three years, even in my small room. Second time I could not get them repaired (for what reason I forgot) so I traded in my damaged speakers for the 60's. When I got them home I immediatly noticed a more abundant and punchy bass and maybe a touch more detail. Sound was more "mainstream and less Spica" -but overall speakers are more alike than different. Never blew any drivers on 60's and have used them for many years. (tweeters are not metal).
I found that both these speakers don't work as well in a really large room-even with a sub. It also seems that with laid back electronics you will get a deep soundstage, but with more upfront quality electronics the imaging magically gets pushed out above and beyond the outsides of speakers with an eerily well focused vocal prescence in between.
Highly recommend Spica- big ugly Angelus too. As far as the 50 or 60- it depends on your listening habits. If you don't need much volume at all go with the 50's... but realistically... Also remember- adding a properly matched sub will not really allow you to get more volume out of these gems but should be beneficial overall.
By the way- I have the manual.

I have owned both. I definitely prefer the TC-60 and still use it in my primary two channel rig with ACI (Audio Concepts) subwoofers. My TC-50 had very poor fit and finish. The wood veneer started to peel off. I blew one tweeter in it, using an Adcom 545 amp at the time. The TC-60 is more dynamic and extends lower while maintaining the sonic signature of the TC-50 (ie excellent imaging and soundstaging). The oak finish on my 60's has held up well. The TC-60 is rear ported, is biwireable and has the same dense foam material around the drivers as the 50 did, but in a slightly different shape. I don't push my speakers much, but have been happy using a Hafler Transnova 9500 (250 watts) for years and now a Musical Fidelity A3cr (120 watts). The TC-60 also has a slightly larger (taller)cabinet in the same sloping design as the TC-50. The 60 will play louder than the 50, but neither speaker is designed for high spl's. I think they excel at vocals and instrument spacing. They will get a bit congested at to high of volume.

I have heard the same comments Sean made about the drivers for the 50's being discontinued but the 60's still being available. John Bau did design both and painstakingly matched drivers for each stereo pair. Once you have to replace one, you may lose abit of the magic because the replacement will not be matched.

I hope this helps. As I said, I have enjoyed my TC-60 for many years now and have not felt the need to upgrade. I am sure there are many better alternatives at higher prices, but for me they still bring me into the music.

Regards,
Paul

On the subject of maintenance I believe that both drivers are still in production for the TC-60, but that the TC-50 LF driver (which is shared with the Spica Angelus) is out of production. Whether audax has an equivalent replacement I don't know. Madisound had info on their web page some time back.
That said I own a pretty old pair of Angelus (I've had them 6 years, and I think they were 7+years old when I got them) and the drivers are operating flawlessly. Replacement has not been an issue.
In an interview with Jon Bau he states that the TC-60s were his favorite design, which rather contradicts the statement above that it is not a true Jon Bau design.
I think I could happily live with any Spica speaker, but if I was to buy the Tc-50 I'd budget for a quality subwoofer.
http://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/equipment/0900/spicafever.htm

BTW to enjoy the fabulous soundstage they have to be a long way from the rear walls, pretty much along the lines of the Cardas room setup :
http://www.cardas.com/insights/index.html

I would go as far as to say that Spicas would be a total waste of money if you did not setup the room correctly, since there are better speakers out there in terms of dynamics, bass etc for the same money (e.g. Epos). However, with correct setup the transparency and imaging are pretty hard to beat for the price.

I believe the TC-60's were designed by John Bau before selling the company to Parasound(?). The TC-60's were ported and went quite a bit deeper than the TC-50's (low 30's HZ). The TC-50's had a reputation for blowing tweeters. I'm struggling to remember but I think the TC-60's were were suggested with use of amps up to 60 Watts, had an impedance that dropped to about 5 Ohms and were bi ampable/wireable. Take these figures with a grain of salt. The TC-50's were reported to be both bright and warm. Go figure. In my expereience I found both models to be rolled off in the treble and bass with the TC-60's going deeper but not much tighter. They need to be set up correctly to get the very good imaging/soundstage they are capable of. The TC-50's with their sealed boxes were considered to be good candidates for subwoofers. The consensus was that stereo subwoofers were bettter than a single one and that the Kinergetics models worked better that Spica's own subwoofers. With the price of subwoofers,cross overs and amps the Vandersteen 2's started to look like a better bargain. I usually prefer sealed boxes but IMHO the bass output of the TC-60's makes them a better bargain for about $100 more on the used market. For small to medium sized roms they are both very good values on the used market.

I have owned two pairs of TC-50's, I slightly modded one pair with cardas wiring, Edison price jacks. Sound became a little smoother, but not by much. You can remove the felt from the front baffle which will dramatically alter the sound, you have to choose which way you like it in combination with rooms, equipt. etc. biggest improvement was to switch speaker cables to cardas golden 5 hexlink. Last year I had to replace one tweeter, one went bad, you can get exact replacements from Madison Sound, it is on the web. Audax replacement tweeters were $25 or so each, pretty cheap. The new tweeters took a few weeks to burn in and loose the racy treble.
I have never heard the TC-60s but I believe they are not a true John Bau design, Spica was bought by another company. I have heard from one dealer that the TC-60 was not as good in some ways as the TC-50. The TC-60 is ported, uses different drivers, I think a metal tweeter, probably can handle higher power, probably a little more efficient, may be slightly deeper in bass(?)