Spencer Hughes (audio engineer)
Spencer Hughes | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1924 |
| Died | 1983 (aged 58–59) |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation | Audio engineer |
| Known for | Spendor speakers |
Spencer Hughes (1924–1983)[1][2] was an English audio engineer who worked at the BBC research department in the 1960s. He founded Spendor to manufacture loudspeakers incorporating results of his research.
Research[edit]
One object of the research was a membrane made from a polystyrene ("Bextrene") for mid-range speakers or woofers.[3] In his letter he describes the work as follows: ″Bins full of malformed cones were produced before any measure of success was achieved ...″ And in the team worked Dudley Harwood, who founded in 1977 Harbeth Acoustics, too.[4][5][3]
Business[edit]
In 1969 he and his wife founded Spendor, the name of which is derived from the first names of both,[6] to produce loudspeakers.[7][8][4]
The first product was the BC1, which Spencer designed while still working for the BBC.[4] Several other designs followed, for example BC3,[7] SA1. Spendor also made the BBC LS3/5a under licence from the BBC.[9]
The BC1 is bigger, and was used in many radio stations, too.[6][7] In consequence the sound quality influenced many UK speaker designs.[3]
Family[edit]
Hughes and his wife Dorothy had a son Derek; he worked at Spendor (in his letter from 1980 Spencer mentioned him as assist with research and development and general running of the factory).[4] After the untimely death of Spencer in 1983 he worked with his mother in the capacity of Technical Director, producing the original versions of what is now the Classic Series[10] and is still working at loudspeakers as freelance consultant designer.[11][12]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ "Spendor Classic Brochure (2011)". Retrieved 21 March 2020. (PDF, 3,2 MB)
- ^ "HiFiVision" (in German). September 1994: 38.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ^ a b c Colloms, Martin (24 July 2018). "1.3 The BBC Contribution". High Performance Loudspeakers: Optimising High Fidelity Loudspeaker Systems (7th ed.). Wiley. ISBN 9781118706251. Retrieved 18 March 2020 – via Google books.
- ^ a b c d Letter regarding History of the BC1 by Spencer Hughes 1980, retrieved 22 March 2020.
- ^ https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/view/7270516/spendor-sp1-2r2-loudspeaker Report from December 2011 at Yumpu, retrieved 22 March 2020.
- ^ a b Holt, J. Gordon (1 October 2000). "Spendor BC-1 loudspeaker". stereophile.com. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
- ^ a b c Price, David (December 2019). "Insider Feature Spendor" (PDF). HiFi.Choice. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
- ^ Tellig, Sam (19 November 2014). "Spendor D7 loudspeaker". Stereophile. Retrieved 20 March 2020.
- ^ Holt, J. Gordon; Various (1 March 1977). "BBC LS3/5a loudspeaker". stereophile.com. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
- ^ Seydor, Paul (2 December 2008). "Stirling Broadcast LS3/5a V2 Loudspeaker". The Absolute Sound.
- ^ "Products". stirlingbroadcast.net. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
- ^ Website of Derek Hughes, retrieved 21 March 2020.