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a couple friends of mine got new speakers. They do sound good, but seem"harsh" to me and "offensive" they tried to get me to "upgrade", but I like the smoothness and accuracy of my 35 year old ADS speakers. To me they are very easy to listen to. What are your impressions? By the way, we all use subwoofers in our systems...They got Polk Audio RTI 10's & 12's...
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I agree with everyone. The difference seems to be a preference for the "new sound of speakers" vs. the "old sound". Many listeners would like the new sound, but I prefer the old sound., especially with vocals and guitars. They are using newer Emovita amps and preamps, while I have an older HK AVR 7000. The price for my receiver 15 years ago was as much as theirs today. Using that receiver with these speakers and an Atlantic Tech subwoofer seem to be a perfect match to me. These speakers were made before subwoofers came out. But I like the sound of a subwoofer. So I disconnected one woofer in each speaker and they sound perfect to me. I hope to have them the rest of my life. One note..I bought the receiver at a yard sale. They said it quit working suddenly one day. I noticed the jumpers were put in backwards(l to r amp and l to r preamp. I did not tell them what the problem was, but I knew. Some engineer goofed and make the jumpers fit either way.
The difference seems to be a preference for the "new sound of speakers" vs. the "old sound".
tweeter power handling has long dominated speaker design and necessitated 3 way designs in the past. Note that with the Braun/ADS designs, the tweeter was crossed over at 4 kHz. Which is what many manufacturers of the day implemented. The JBL L100 chose an even higher frequency - 6 khz so that they could be driven at high output levels without frying the tweeter. The problem with the JBL approach, however, is that 5" midranges have poor dispersion at 6 khz resulting in incredibly inconsistent directivity in the top octaves since the dome tweeter does quite well in its range. You end up with a strange fun house mirror effect in staging with instruments that span both drivers.
The original Advent used a 1 kHz crossover to minimize such issues, but alas many folks ending up blowing the tweeters using high powered amps like those from Phase Linear. The New Advent both raised the crossover frequency to 1.5 kHz and used ferro-fluid cooling for its tweeter.
Modern tweeters have higher power handling so they are most often crossed over at 2-2.5 kHz. There is really no need for a dome midrange since a 5" driver (with a nominal 4" piston) is smaller than the wavelength for that frequency. The odd exceptions you'll find are three way pro monitors like that from ATC that still use a dome midrange and higher tweeter crossover points to achieve a reported 109 db output level!
Since I am a coherency freak, I prefer modern two ways with more rigid cabinets using flush driver mounting to eliminate diffraction effects found with the older mounting designs. For me, a modern incarnation of the L710 is a Polk LSi9 with its ring radiator tweeter and 2.5 way design using 5" midrange/woofers.
Glad to see the Polk LSi9 mentioned. What a looked-over, underated speaker it is. Still good even by today's standards. Any problems it has are minor and can be overcome by bi-wiring and partially stuffing the rear port. I wonder how its successor the LSiM703 is. No dealers in my area.
I find it to be a very neutral reproducer. Unlike many modern designs with a rising top end, it actually rolls off the top octave a bit which is fine by me! I loath overly bright sounding speakers.
Mine are effectively three ways using powered subs to do the heavy lifting. I experimented with about a dozen combinations of low pass / high pass settings and found that 40 / 50 hz provided the most linear measured result.
That there were no good older 2 way designs. I also have a pair of KEF 103.2.s that sound good although I like the ADS speakers because the midrange sounds better (being a 3 way design)
That there were no good older 2 way designs.They were challenged by power handling or bandwidth issues that led to compromises.
The KEF crossed its 8" woofer over at 3 kHz. That's a wavelength of 4.5 inches - which means that its directivity nearing the crossover point would be exceptionally narrow transitioning to a dome tweeter that immediately changes the situation to that of wide dispersion. That's the kind of inconsistency that severely impacts coherency.
edit: One of the nice things about the Advent is its driver blending. While it had a 10" woofer (nominal 9" piston), it crossed over to tweeter at 1 kHz for the original and 1.5 kHz for the New Advent. Even at the higher frequency, that is right at a 9" wavelength. In this case, the tradeoff was at the expense of top end response due to the large tweeter. But its sins were largely that of omission, not that of an audible driver transition.
Edits: 03/15/15 03/15/15
I agree with other posts. No fatigue factor and makes a large soundstage. Only negative is if one wants an ultra detailed response with a high-end & accurate amplifier the ADS produces a slightly diffused sound (no fatigue factor).
Time for you to educate your friends. Stand pat on your convictions. I found the ADS as a line to consistently be excellent performers and lack nothing and give up nothing. Back when I was an equipment roller I found they bettered almost every dynamic driver speaker based on the acoustic suspension design. They never seemed to have a point to prove or target a competitor product or match a price point if it required compromise. I am typing this as I listen to my favorite classical station using a pair of their L300s.
Don Brian Levy, J.D.
Toronto ON Canada
Hi Cloudwalker, my friend had a pair of 710's in the late 70's. Sometimes you just remember the song and the speakers that played the song. I'll never forget those speakers playing (South City Midnight Lady) by the Doobie Brothers. I've never heard the acoustic guitar sound any better on any other speaker system.....Mark Korda
when I worked at a hi-fi shop in college. Their dome midrange/tweeter arrangement worked very well. The dual smaller woofers made for a compact cabinet.
A touch boxy sounding by today's standards, but still quite good.
...we sold a ton of them. I thought they were the sweet spot in the line. I had a pair for a few years and sold them to get a pair of L1230s. They were fun !
I use a pair of L300s in my home office. I've always been an ADS fan.
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.
One of the least fatiguing speakers I know of with a very pleasant and sophisticated sounding presentation overall.
They're even surprisingly sensitive for small sealed box loudspeakers.
What's not to love about them?
all the best,
mrh
The ADS speakers are one of the favorite among audiophiles including myself.
They are very well balanced and with a nice tube amp,they really are good.I've heard a stock rebuilt Dynaco ST70 sound really good on the ADS780s and then I heard a Hovland EL34 amp on them that was really impressive.Bottom line,ADS is a box dynamic speaker that doesn't sound like a box.
"If it measures good and sounds bad, it is bad; if it measures bad and sounds good, you have measured the wrong thing."
- Daniel R. von Recklinghausen
710s are great speakers, with either the Braun or ADS labels. Fast mid-bsass that seems somewhat lean until deep program material arrives, when they go deeper than expected. Love those sticky domes. I also have a pair of L300s on my bedroom TV. Sterling Sound used a pair of their big brother LV1020s for mastering until just a few years ago, showing that "non-fatiguing" does not necessarily mean "smeared" or "lacking detail."
WW
"A man need merely light the filaments of his receiving set and the world's greatest artists will perform for him." Alfred N. Goldsmith, RCA, 1922
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