B.I.C. as good as they say? [Archive]

kexodusc

03-25-2005, 05:19 AM

I can't speak for the stock version of the BIC America speakers, I've never heard them, however, I do know they have decent drivers, and solid cabinetry (1/2" MDF or better), and this is something I've found rarely in the more popular brands like B&W, Paradigm, PSB, JBL, Athena, Axiom, etc at these price points. That at least is a start, and despite their plain, even ugly looks, I have little doubt about their quality and value at their price point.

As for the mods...I can guaran-darn-tee you there is much more to the crossover mod than a simple $1.00 resistor...there's a few other pieces in there as well...And if Ed's resistor costs $1, you should ask BIC why there's cost $0.15! But that's irrelevant...Any joe blow amateur DIY speaker building hack like myself who's ever built anything more than a pre-fab kit will tell you the heart and soul of any speaker is the crossover...and it's the cheapest part of the speaker...almost always!!! Buying the parts is easy, knowing which ones to buy and how to integrate them into the design is the trick and this is whay you pay Ed for. A good crossover can make bad drivers sound great, and a simple, mass-produced crossover can really limit high-end driver performance. The crossover is the hardest part of the speaker to get right...don't believe me? Visit some DIY websites and talk to some people who've been doing this for 30 years...they'll tell you the same thing. From talking with several other owners of the stock BIC speakes, I've been lead to believe that BIC really did everything they could to screw up their crossovers.

Check out my review on the DV-62CLRS (it might be under the DV62CLR here on this site). I am definitely NOT a newbie at this stuff, and I don't normally shill for products, but after talking with Ed, I took a chance on this speaker and was incredibly surprised. I replaced my Paradigm Studio CC with one of Ed's speakers, and I can't say the BIC was better, but it was damn close and at 1/3 the cost, I was more than happy....it's doing admirably while I figure out a crossover for my own center channel design (a frustrating exercise that I've put on hold until my sub and new T-lines are built) . I have a cousin who replaced his CC-370 ($350 or so) with one of Ed's modified DV62CLRS and never looked back...

For the price difference, I'd suggest talking to Ed and consider buying his extensively modified BIC's. He does quite a bit more with these than just tweaking a crossover. All drivers are tested measured and tolerance matched, something most $1000 speakers don't enjoy...drivers with too much variance are replaced....the crossover is completely rebuilt, the speaker terminal repalced...it's a whole new speaker that only shares the cabinet and generic drivers (which are actually quite good...)

Perhaps you e-mailed Ed's old address...his new one is:
efespeakers@commspeed.net

He's a pleasure to speak to and first class businessman. And considering the huge amount of speakers he buys from BIC and sells for them, I'm surprised they weren't much more polite about him. I get the impression Ed is very grateful for the large volume of referrals and praise he's received from this website and its members, don't be afraid to tell him you were talking to me, and tell him thanks again on my behalf.

One last thing: The BIC's come in a black ash vinyl wrap, which isn't unattractive, but is typical of every other speaker out there...I think there's an oak wrap too...$10-15 at parts express would buy you enough vinyl wrap that looks much nicer and there's several colours to choose from....the wrap peels off quite easy and the cabinet is super easy to re-laminate...or use real wood veneer if you want (as I've done) and make your speakers look like a million bucks!

PM me if you have any more questions...