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Looking for Technical Information on Spica Angelus

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Hi, All:
I'm looking for technical information on the Spica Angelus. Things like a xover schematic, modification experience/John Bau's mod recommendations, driver makes and model numbers, construction details, an owner's manual...
Anyone got anything?
Thanks,
- SJ

Follow Ups:

Re: Looking for Technical Information on Spica Angelus - tvr2500m 17:54:09 04/24/05 (0)
Thanks, all, for your posts to my thread. VERY interesting information was offered here. At least to some the Spica story is an interesting one even to this day.
Cheers,
- SJ
jbau@qwest.net - I'm in Spica country (nt) - John Ashman 10:33:50 04/24/05 (0)
.
could start by emailing vmps' brian cheney - suits_me 19:10:32 04/19/05 (5)
Was the cabinet maker for a time....
Don't the Spica owners have a yahoo group? They should.

- This signature is two channel only -
- Re: could start by emailing vmps' brian cheney - Brian Cheney 20:08:01 04/19/05 (4)
  Yes, we produced a run of Spica speakers, but it was the TC 60, not the Angelus, a very nice sounding system BTW.
  - But you've answered TC 50 questions before, haven't you? - suits_me 22:27:45 04/20/05 (3)
    Anyway, sorry, I shouldn't speak for you. I just thought you might have the tech information he wanted.
    
    - This signature is two channel only -
    - Re: But you've answered TC 50 questions before, haven't you? - Brian Cheney 07:46:51 04/21/05 (2)
      I've tested TC50's and listened to them. Building the TC60 made me uniquely familiar with it. Production costs were too high relative to dealer price for the system to stay on the market.
      - I've always tried to figure out why a good speaker like the Spica TC60 ... killed the company that made them - Richard BassNut Greene 09:52:28 04/21/05 (1)
        
        In Reply to: Re: But you've answered TC 50 questions before, haven't you? posted by Brian Cheney on April 21, 2005 at 07:46:51:
        
        I used TC50's with a pair of subwoofers from the mid-1980's to 1994 when they were replaced by EPOS ES11's that I still use as satellite speakers.
        
        The TC60's were a significant improvement over the TC50's and worth the price, even though I recall there was a significant percentage increase over the "bargain" TC50's.
        I heard a demo pair of TC60's while on vacation in Santa Fe just after Spica declared bankruptcy -- went back the next morning to buy them and they were already sold.
        I've always wondered how introducing a good speaker for the money (TC60's, IMHO) killed the company that made them.
        
        Re: I've always tried to figure out why a good speaker like the Spica TC60 ... killed the company that made them - Brian Cheney 19:03:18 04/21/05 (0)
        
        In Reply to: I've always tried to figure out why a good speaker like the Spica TC60 ... killed the company that made them posted by Richard BassNut Greene on April 21, 2005 at 09:52:28:
        
        The answer is: lack of reality contact.
        The TC60 was set to a price point of $800pr well before it went into production. The 24 and 6dB crossover had a lot of components so quality was compromised. Small ferrite core inductors were used on the woofers, and the chokes would saturate at levels above 10W steady state. Result: the sound went glassy above a certain loud level. John Bau send us "matched" woofers and tweeters that were frequently 3dB out of spec. Assembly and testing was time consuming and Spica, lacking their own factory, was paying us about $8 per speaker to assemble, test and pack.
        The real killer, however, was the bill of materials: about $370pr. With a dealer price around $400 after shipping and discounts, plus an ad campaign that included four-color full page ads in AUDIO, the speaker made no economic sense. We gave up assembly after the first run of 200pcs, and Spica set up assembly in New Mexico, but the speaker did not sell well enough to make money. Apparently Spica eventually lost enough to kill Parasound's interest in bankrolling it.

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