Scored a pair of The Advent Loudspeakers*

The Advent Loudspeakers... I was over at Summit Sound, and the owner wanted to show me the LaScalas that someone had ordered and how huge the boxes were that they wouldn't fit through the front door. So we went to the storage garage out back. I did notice how big the LaScalas were, but what I also noticed was a pair of forgotten (but in good shape) speakers. I took a closer look and saw the words "The Advent Loudspeaker" on them. I asked Gary where they had come from and he said someone had just left them. I figured I'd ask how much he'd sell them for and after thinking for a few seconds he said "$50". Well, you didn't have to twist my arm too hard for me to jump on that deal and 1/2. These have the orange "fried egg" tweeter which still work and we figure they are '73s or somewhere therein. Not really sure how to date them (yeah. I know "Get their number first" badumtsss). The woofers definitely needs a refoam, but that's no problem. I am thinking of upgrading the crossover in these (I'm thinking the original caps have probably drifted out of spec awhile back). Any reccomendations there? I figure if I like them I may try and locate another pair and try the "Double Advent" setup that I've heard so much about.... I tried posting a pic but my phone won't let me

 

Get Photobucket app for dat

 

The speakers behind are a Boston Acoustics A60 (on a stand) and a Paradigm SE-1 on top of that

 

Retro cool man. I like em

 

You can trace bookshelf speaker design through the decades there. The Advents are absolutely gargantuan comparitively

 

Pretty. Are those a 2-way system? The orange tweeter? A 12 inch woofer frame but a 10 cone?

I once took a pair of 12" Pyle Driver speakers and used a die grinder to shave off the sides so I could slip them into Advent cabinets.

 

I think those Boston Acoustics are the more refined of the two speakers in your room, though you'll love the bass on the Advents in comparison.

 

The Boston's are quite refined indeed... Those are the speakers that got me into acoustic suspension in the first place.

 

Those are the ones... how was the sound with the Pyle Drivers?

 

I think they sounded good but the tweeters were blown when I got these from a guy I know so the entire design was in disarray. I really butchered them up. They ended up with a big piezo horn kinda thing so they lacked mid range.

In the event yours needs surrounds, which it does, I'd opt for replacing the surrounds verses doing what I did. It would keep the designed sound intact.

 

Oh, I'm definitely going that direction. I'm going to be doing the old surround removal but I'm going to have my guy but the new ones in because I don't trust myself on getting them centered properly.

 

It's an easy enough task. They supply you with shims to keep the voice coil centered. The dust cap needs to be cut off with an x-acto knife to do that. Then slip the shims in between the voice coil and the magnet assembly.

I used a putty knife to remove the paper ring around the cone and frame. The foam then just falls off then you clean things up and glue the new foam on and glue a new dust cap on.

You're doing the right thing though. They will sound like they're supposed to sound when you're done.

 

Actually, where these have the masonite on the frames, and the surrounds are inverted and installed on the underside of the masonite, the speaker cones do not need to be shimmed thus saving the dust caps. I watched a how to video from simply speakers that was very detailed on you tube... I just don't have the steadiest of hands.

 

I own a nice condition pair in Utility cabinets, and I am third known owner of them. 1974 vintage. The woofers were refoamed and the crossover caps done around 14 years ago. I have really enjoyed them for much of that time, second owner was and is a great friend. I currently drive them with my McIntosh MC 2505/MX 114 pair and love them.

 

Very nice... Do you know what value the caps are?

 

Years ago I had double Advents. That setup really had slam. Be careful because the foam surrounds on the woofer wear out.

 

I own a pair of New Large Advents that I had recapped and restored that are currently not in use but I'll hang on to. Another great speaker from Mr. Kloss.

 

I forgot about the wood trim. The shims though are so the coils stay centered while the foam is removed and replaced. I've done the job without using them before because I didn't want to remove the dust caps, but I found out it's a better idea to use them otherwise the coils might rub after completing the job.

Nice you have someone to do it for you, I guess.

 

It's nice that they look in such good condition. Too many of these older speakers have been beat-up over the years. When you do the work to restore the original sound, they still look like crap, so the whole thing becomes pointless, as it is not worth restoring both the speaker and cabinet.

Great score!

 

It so easy to center woofers it's not funny. You don't even have to shim or do the battery trick to center them. You put the glue on the surrounds and slide the woofer in place then push the center cone of the woofer up and down and they center themselves. I've done a dozen speakers and never had a problem with them centering properly and I'm always in a rush and famous for sloppy work. If they're not centered you're going to immediately know it because they'll RUB. It's like pulling a plastic bone out of an "Operation" game, you do it wrong and you'll know right away -- a LONG time before the glue would ever dry on the surrounds. People who spend $150 for someone to refoam their woofers are being needlessly paranoid. They're basically self-centering because of the weight of the magnet and the design of the woofer surround. The only hard part is scraping off the old foam! Like I say, rub the glue on the edge of the surround, place the woofer in the basket and bounce the the dust cap up and down and they'll center.

 

Ok... good to know... I'll give it a shot... probably do the caps myself as well

 

I've had a pair of the Advent Loudspeaker in walnut cabinets in my main stereo system for the past eight years. They have a stamped date on them of November 1973, so they're almost as old as I am. I absolutely love them and don't plan on replacing them anytime soon.

 

New Large Advents here. They were completely restored and actually replaced a pair of original Advents in the utility cabinets. Love these and have no plans to replace them anytime soon.

 

Looks like mine! Have you ever tried them on speaker stands?