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Model: | L1590-2 |
Category: | Speakers |
Suggested Retail Price: | $2400 |
Description: | Large 3 way towers |
Manufacturer URL: | ADS |
Model Picture: | View |
Review by jonbee on January 19, 2013 at 10:49:59 IP Address: 98.225.22.34 | Add Your Review for the L1590-2 |
Pardon me if this is a little long, but as these are vintage, ~22 years old, a little context might be helpful.
I've long had a soft spot for ADS speakers. Of the ~275 pairs of speakers I've owned, I've owned L300, L780II, L1290II, L9E, L910, L980, and now the subject of this, the L1590II. I'd admired their engineering as some of the best the 70s-80s era; the best models have a response window of +-2 db over the useable range, which translates to excellent balance. On the downside the x00 and x10 and earlier models had some hashiness to the tweeters, and while most of the 3 way models had excellent openness and transparency in the region covered by the dome mids and tweeters, it wasn't quite matched by the woofers. Part of this was due to the 550-700 crossover points demanded by the dome midranges. It was this discontinuity that prevented me from using any of them long term.
However, the top line studio monitor models, 1530, 2030, L980 and L1590, had higher spec drivers than the others, with much larger magnets in mids and tweeters (strontium cobalt in the 1530 and 2030, I believe). The much larger magnets in the mids of these models had a larger back chamber with lower fs than the "home" models, which allowed the high pass xover to the mids to drop from 550-700 hz. in most of 3 ways to 450 for L980 and 350 for the L1590. This relieves the woofer of some of the midrange duty. The woofers are also heavier in the studio models, with very massive cast aluminum frames and magnets.
When I learned this a couple of years ago I bought a pair of L980s to try and did like them better. I rewired them and added a lot of cabinet panel damping to tame the obvious panel talk and they sang nicely award, clean and with little boominess.
They were a little too polite on top for me, though, IMO. I though this was unusual for a "studio monitor".
A friend had a pair of 1590iis. I liked the mids and highs a lot better, but he was driving them with a mid-fi Pioneer receiver and they had no bass at all, not matching what I had read about them.
Recently a local pair of 1590IIs in near perfect condition showed up on Craigslist at a very good price, so I thought I'd try them in my good rig.
My first reaction upon unpacking them in my 17x20 living room is that these are huge speakers, and quite heavy, ~100 lbs. ea.
Once hooked to my Ncore NC400 amp, I had two more reactions. First- these things have bass power and depth in spades. Rated -3db at 28 hz. anechoic means full bass power in room to the low 20s. I usually use a sub but not with these. A real chest massage. The down side is the bass is on the boomy side, in spite of side braces for the large 3/4" thick panel walls. My experience with the same issue with the L980 suggests these should benefit from some effective panel damping.
The second reaction was a "WOW!" for the rest of the range. From about 150 hz. and up, these clearly are studio monitor quality- smooth, balanced, uncolored and with a very consistently voiced soundstage. Detail and harmonic accuracy was very good, without emphasis, and macrodynamics are excellent. No part of the upper spectrum was pushed or dropped, and the soundstage was very open and coherent, with good spatial rendering. Very easy on the ears, too, with little listener fatigue even at very high volumes. They will play VERY loudly without distortion.
My main speakers are Selah Audio Tempestas, which are among the most musically accurate speakers I've heard, with high-rez drivers from RAAL, Accuton, and Scanspeak Illuminators. I was surprised and pleased that above the bass range, the tonal qualities and balance are quite similar. The Selahs offer sharper focus, with more clearly defined instruments, a blacker background, and more air at the very top, but not to such a large degree as I'm used to with vintage speakers. Microdynamics are delivered with more immediacy with the Selahs.
Taken solely on their own terms, though, the 1590s offer a very convincing presentation. Only in the bass range was the comparative lack of focus and boomy coloration from those big dual 10s a show stopper in comparison with the Selahs.
I'm looking forward to tuning up the cabinets and upgrading the wiring on these.
FWIW, according to ADS, the "II" models in the x80 and x90 ranges used kapton voice coil formers rather than aluminum and better crossover designs based on newer computer simulations of speaker behavior. I can't say whether this actually made for better sound.
I'll probably do the upgrade work over the summer, and I'll post a follow up.
So- I'm usually disappointed with my vintage speaker projects. Older speakers usually sound slow and opaque, or too colored or flawed in comparison to really good modern speakers to be of much interest to me, but I'm very pleased with the L1590IIs.
Those with large rooms might find them quite good as is; for me they are very promising material for an upgrade project.
Bang (and I do mean BANG) for the buck is very high.
Given the usual caveats about parts availability for vintage products, these offer great full range, powerful and musically right performance for the usual ~$1000 or under prices for good pairs.
Product Weakness: | Bass is somewhat woolly and unfocused. Cabinets exhibit a lot of talk. Not quite as transparent as the best modern speakers Big and heavy |
Product Strengths: | Powerful bass, excellent clarity and coherence above the bass range. Low fatigue, will play loudly |
Amplifier: | Hypex NCore NC400 |
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated): | Audio-GD C-3 |
Sources (CDP/Turntable): | Music PC-> Eastern electric minimax plus/dexa op amps |
Speakers: | review |
Cables/Interconnects: | Discovery cables,Zu |
Music Used (Genre/Selections): | lots |
Room Size (LxWxH): | 17 x 20 x 8 |
Room Comments/Treatments: | Two walls of glass, eats bass |
Time Period/Length of Audition: | one week |
Other (Power Conditioner etc.): | PS Audio Power Plant premier |
Type of Audition/Review: | Product Owner |
Good review! I worked at ADS just after the L1590/II era ended. They were still in the warehouse, still in the demo room, and still in the pipeline but the new generation a/d/s/ M series were on the way. It was not until the M1590/II was there a reasonable replacement for the L1590/II but it did not quite achieve the same heights or reputation. Later with many tweaks & mods it got close but the big speaker phase for ADS had passed as it tried to make sense of home theater. (The M20 & M30 were very interesting speakers with high performance but never fully developed and just faded away.)As far as all time customer favorites go, no speaker seemed to have more of a following than the L1590 series. It is epic in both the legend and fact that surrounded it. There were rosewood versions for all models. You could get your C2000 active crossover factory modded in order to biamp them. There was a factory biamp solution that bolted onto the S1 & some S2 speakers (PA1), And, there was a customer who would open his living room sliding doors onto his back yard and mow the lawn on his rider with the L1590s blasting. He would call to tell us how great they were. The L1590s were bespoke speakers before anyone knew that word.
The absolute top dog on the pile IMO would be:
L1590 Series 1
Rosewood cabinets
206-0119 tweeters (samarium cobalt)
PA1 biamp module cutouts w/ cover panels
or
C2000 active crossover factory modded
Anti-tip basesThis would be like ordering a '70 Boss 302 and checking as many option boxes as you could get away with. IIRC, rosewood was a 'what if' not an option. A limited number of cabinets came in from the vendor (Hados Germany) just to get reaction at CES. It was good until the cost was mentioned. To get them it was a 'special' order if you knew whom to ask. I am pretty sure they all got built up. As late as a couple years after L1590/IIs were discontinued, I recall the customer service manager working with production to build up a set.
The L1590 woofers lived on in the car audio group as the 4-ohm S10. It was likely the first quality subwoofer out there in '87 but lack of development meant it got quickly outclassed as the market matured. By the early 90s there were cheaper (& better) competitive alternatives.
So IMO, the L1590 stands alone at the top of ADS speaker realm. The next tier would certainly be the L1530, L1230, L1090, L980, L910, L880, L810, L710, the minis & a few others. None however garnered all the accolades (some deserved, some not) that the L1590s did. All hail the king, I wish I had a set.
Edits: 02/25/15
Measure the existing distances, to side and rear walls. If they approach equality or even ratios, then they are likely the problem.
Multiply the woofer to floor distance by 1.5 or 1.6, and again by 1.5 or 1.6. This will give you room-gain /bass boost that is smoother.
Position them so that one number is the distance to the side wall, and one is to the rear wall.
This may well flatten the boominess, unless you have a room mode.
See how you go.
Adding vibration absorption stiffening inside the bass enclosure will raise the tuning.
Warmest
Tim Bailey
Skeptical Measurer & Audio Scrounger
If you feel the bass is woolly you need different electronics. I have a pr of L910s and used them with my pass gear, bass is tight, deep and impactful.....
I have not had the 1590s but i have had the 1290s and the 1530s and i would agree with your assessments .. the 1290s will not go as deep but i think they clear up some of the bass issues you mentioned .. albeit at the cost of needing to reinforce with a sub-woofer the end result would be interesting to compare with your 1590s
did you ever do any rehab on these, mods to stiffen cab etc?
MichiganNick
...real high-endish speakers were a pair of ADS LA400S. Probably circa 1976.
"Everyone has a plan — until they get punched in the face" - Mike Tyson
See ya. Dave
You can, pick up some Aerial Acoustics 7B, 10T or current offerings. Mike Kelly was the engineer behing ADS speaker development before starting Aerial. I agree I always loved the ADS speakers of the 80's but I couldn't afford at the time.
I didn't know that was Mike Kelly behind the ADS's. Thanks for the info.
"Everyone has a plan — until they get punched in the face" - Mike Tyson
See ya. Dave
In 1976 I used to spend the whole lunch break at a shop near the office listening to a 400 (perhaps 410) driven by a McIntosh. My boss came in one day and thought I was moonlighting there. I should have bought that speaker then. I did suggest a 910 to a wealthy friend who bought it after comparing it with Bose 901. Thats still his main speaker after all these years.
Cheers
Bill
that really says a lot. It's good to see people appreciating these gems, and taking care of them. I suspect these 1590s will be making great music long after I'm dead.
Hello,
I am interested in purchasing a pair of these and would like to know if you ever got around to doing upgrades?
It's all about the music!
Support Asylum Trader
I owned the ADS L1230 for over 15 years and have since given them to my son which is he still using today. They sound great even today. Never had one issue with the drivers, but found that the tweeter fuses were very sensitive to blowing which is probably a good thing as I would have most likely blown the tweeters from over cranking them.My brother still owns today the larger of the monitors the ADS 1530 with two 10 inch woofers and the samarium colbolt magnets on the tweeters.
These speakers were used at one time as mixing monitors at Telac Labs now defunct.
Edits: 01/22/13
One of my favorite speakers ...especially for playing rock ...loud.
Dean.
reelsmith's axiom: Its going to be used equipment when I sell it, so it may as well be used equipment when I buy it.
I too have owned several versions of A/D/S speakers over the years, since first hearing a pair of L400s in 1977. I've owned the L780 and L810 series II, and also their component 2-way 345i automotive speaker system. I kept the car speakers for over 20 years (moving them from car to car) until the mids finally gave out (still have the tweeters - but replaced the entire system with Dynaudio Esotars which truthfully aren't an order of magnitude better). My friend still has those L 400s that I heard in '77 and they still look and sound as good as new.
Picked these up about a year ago, they are so good I left them in my main rig for almost a year. I love the stands.
I was broke 30 years ago when I had them, and couldn't keep them.I was bummed to have to part with them. A true classic speaker.
great review. I miss a/d/s. I had their car audio speakers in the early 90's.
I wish you could buy a new pair today.
renovation can do it. Even should you end up w/$2000 invested, it's worth several times that in speaker value.
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