ads speakers
Robert Weinberg
dome midrange adn the twin 8 inch woofers.?
Gregory Danner
>
> what do you guys/girls think of ads L810 speakers. the ones with the
> dome midrange adn the twin 8 inch woofers.?
I have pair of ads L710's. 2 6" woofers, 2" soft dome, 1" soft dome.
Found at a garage sale along with a pair of L700's (similar, but didn't
have the 2" midrange dome, just the pair of 6" woofers and 1" soft
dome).
Had to refoam the woofers, everything else was fine. Tight, clean,
analytical sound, good depth of image, can play pretty loud when I want
them to. Bass is solid but a bit overdamped, probably down 3db at about
45 Hz. They sound great on stands that are about 18" high. I've been
listening to my 710s for about 8 months now, and am quite satisfied.
Especially considering my $$$ investment in them was next to $0.00! I
think I'll keep them until I win the lottery and upgrade to big Thiels
or Dunlavys.
The 810's, which I haven't heard in about 15 years, had a bit more bass
than the 710's due to the larger woofers in a cabinet that was only
slightly larger. You might want to check an old Orion guide, but I
recall the 710s selling for about $600/pr and the 810s maybe $750/pr in
1976. In the mid 70s ads, which sprung from German electronics
manufacturer Braun, had quite a line of nice speakers. Along with the
original Quad ESLs, the IMF (Irving Fried) studios, BBC LS3-5A, KEF, and
Spendor I recall the ads products performed very well in comparison to
lower priced speakers from Advent, EPI, Genesis, Infinity, and JBL. I
guess you could say the ads were what you would call "HI-END" audio in
the mid 70s.
Some ADS woofers had rubber surrounds (smooth material that looks like a
bicycle inner tube). These don't deteriorate at all with age. As
mentioned above, the ones I got had foam surrounds (looks like a grey
spongy plastic material) that had pretty much completely rotted away by
the time I got the speakers. I changed them myself, but if you want to
have someone else refoam the woofers, expect to spend $100-150 to get
all four done. I don't think the midranges or tweeters fail very often,
so if they make sound, they are probably fine. The crossovers in these
speakers are pretty bulletproof also.
One important thing to keep in mind is that these are definitely FOUR
ohm speakers (the dual woofers are each 8 ohms and are internally wired
in parallel). So make sure your power amp is up to handling the load.
In my system I have a DYNACO ST70 tube amp, which has 4 ohm taps for the
outputs.
Since these speakers are fairly efficient many tube amps will be
powerful enough to drive them. Also, since the speakers' natural sound
balance is just a bit on the bright (I prefer to say "analytical") side,
you may find that a tube amp tames the high end just enough to create a
really listenable balance.
Overall I would definitely recommend any of the 70s vintage ads
speakers!
"EB" Greg Danner / Audio-Video Service Center
Dave Nelson
I own a pair of L810's. they are marked 4 ohms minimum, 6 ohms nominal...
took me a while to figure out how to hook them up... Have two Dyna ST70's
in mono mode (one per channel). Excellent reproduction in the voice/guitar
range. I agree on the base being overdamped, but I'd classify it as almost
being "boomy". Of course, I've got to wonder if it's my unmodded PAS preamp
that's to blame. Only real downside is the cheapo binding posts they used
on the back. Had to retighten them ever two months or so before installing
better ones. Traded a dyna sca35 and scott receiver (can't remember the
model) for the speakers four years ago and never regretted it once.
Dave Nelson
Gregory Danner wrote in message <3748F9...@advancenet.net>...
Arthur V Miller
retailed for somewhere around $1800 with stands If I remember correctly. They
are the dual 10 in woofer version. While I've blown out the tweeters a few
times (and I hear that they are finally no longer available), I haven't had a
problem with the mids or woofer foam rot. The woofers have foam surrounds. I've
replaced the mylar caps with Solen polypropylene, and even biamped them for a
while. I recently got a new "old" amp, a Stephen Sank moddified NYAL Moscode
600. I bought the amp planning to use it with a new speaker system that I'm
planning to build. I didn't really think that I'd hear much of a difference
with this amp on the old ADS's--I figured that they were pretty much at the end
of their days. I was wrong. The moscode does a much better job of reducing the
bass bloatedness. I have heard over the years that dome midranges such as the
design used in the ADS are not too highly revered, but they sound decent to me.
Maybe not state of the art , but still enjoyable after 20 years. And yes the
xover is a bit confusing. My xover has provisions for mono, bi and triamp cards
and associated terminals. It helps to have the manual.
Dave Nelson wrote:
> FWIW,
> I own a pair of L810's.
> >The 810's, which I haven't heard in about 15 years, had a bit more bass
> >than the 710's due to the larger woofers in a cabinet that was only
> I
> >guess you could say the ads were what you would call "HI-END" audio in
> >the mid 70s.
> >
> >Some ADS woofers had rubber surrounds (smooth material that looks like a
> >bicycle inner tube). These don't deteriorate at all with age. As
> >mentioned above, the ones I got had foam surrounds (looks like a grey
> >spongy plastic material) that had pretty much completely rotted away by
> >the time I got the speakers. The crossovers in these
> >speakers are pretty bulletproof also.
>
Jérôme Phaneuf
that play from 80 to 500Hz. They have the rubber surround like yours. I
love their sound. It is very natural and has very little colouration. I
use them in my all-active setup. They are powered with a ss amp (yeah, I
know, but one has to make compromises in a car). I just love the a/d/s/.
Should I decide to go with the multiway approach in a home system, I would
definitely consider the a/d/s/ for woofer-midrange duties.
Funny to see how sometimes a cheap speaker just seems to "do the job right".
I guess there are *some* free rides in audio.
Jérôme Phaneuf
E.S.Audio & Metalworks
since 1990
robot...@my-dejanews.com
gda...@advancenet.net wrote:
> Robert Weinberg wrote:
> In the mid 70s ads, which sprung from German electronics
> manufacturer Braun, had quite a line of nice speakers.
Kind of a cool story here. The founder, Godehard Gunther, was a NASA
guy and subordinate of Werner Von Braun. If there was a relationship
between Von Braun and Braun hifi, I am not aware of it but who knows?
ADS was however dependent on Braun hifi only for material to resell.
They were not owned by them or even German. ADS was a US company from
the beginning. The founder however was indeed German.
GG began importing Braun in the late 1960's into the US under the Braun
Aria name. Some of the first items were the LV1020 active/triamplified
studio monitor (All active in 1970!) and the TG1000 reel to reel deck.
He also brought in many of the passive loudspeakers.
Importing wooden boxes was prohibitively expensive though. GG left NASA
and opened ADS Aria in Huntsville, AL ~1972 and then moved to MA the
next year. In ~1974, manufacturing began with US sourced cabinets using
Braun drivers and crossovers. Starting in 1975, the first manufacture of
US made copies of the Braun drivers began. In 1981, Gillette approached
GG and sold the hifi division of Braun to ADS. This relationship lasted
until 1990 when the hifi division was sold back to Gillette. It was
never profitable but the marriage brought some interesting products into
the US.
The usage of notable industrial designers should also be mentioned.
Braun used Dieter Rams for their hifi products until the early 1980's
and then Peter Hartwein picked up the ball. ADS used Hartmut Esslinger
of FROG Design in Berkeley, CA. Esslinger did the first Macintosh. Rams
& Hartwein did so many classic Braun consumer products that you would
have to be the Unabomber not to recognize them.
Another side note are where some of the people at a/d/s/ went. Michael
Kelly (Pres., Aerial Acoustics), Chris Browder (Pres. B&W USA) are
alum's as well as a list of others too lengthy to go into here.
The 710's were quite interesting. The tweeter/midrange layout was such
so that when the product was placed on a bookshelf on their side, the HF
alignment was vertical. They actually image quite nice when used that
way. The foam surrounds were because the woofer frame used for the 7" in
the 710 was an odd size in the speaker industry. Only one supplier
produced the cone and surround. It was not until that supplier switched
to butyl rubber that a change could be made. The foam surrounds were
used on the series one (cloth grille) and some early series 2 (metal
grilles).
This is the one speaker from the early period that most are familiar
with and have favorable comments about. No surprise since it was one of
the largest sellers next to the mini L200 series.
Leif
> Some ADS woofers had rubber surrounds
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