Tell me about vintage A/D/S speakers

I'm curious as to why you wouldn't change amps to use the L810s opposed to using the Klipsch speakers that you think sound inferior?

 

I have a pair of ADS L620's that I bought new decades ago. They were good in their time. I use them now as TV speakers in my living room, powered by an old Yamaha 100/wpc integrated amp. How do they compare with modern speakers? I swapped them out on my main stereo rig (NAD 150/wpc power amp) for my admittedly, much more expensive B&W CDM7SE's (which are over 15 years old themselves), and the ADS sounded pretty awful, by comparison.

 

I wouldn't say that the Klipsch sound inferior. The are more revealing, as are the SET amps that I use, so poor material sounds worse on them. There is a lot of bad material out there. The L810 are softer sounding and help with bad material. By the same token, they gloss over a bit of detail as well. The Klipsch sound fantastic with good material. Unfortunately there is a lot of great music that has been recorded badly. Also, and I admit that I am biased when I say this, there is nothing like the realism and correctness of a SET amplifier. The new one I am working on will put out about 13 watts, which should be good for the L810's 94DB/1watt/1metre. Then I can start listening to the so-so recordings again that the L810 will help sound better

 

Guys. I think some of us here are trying to compare apples to oranges here. I am going to take my own case (see Post 6) and try to do it as fairly as possible. Back in 1986 or 87 I bought a pair of a/d/s L990. L990's are a three way floor standing speaker. Their good sound was predominately due to a dome mid-range driver. Mid-range is where the magic happens, get the mid-range right and you can over look deficiencies in other areas. I spent about $800 on the L990's. I liked the speakers and used them until 1993 when due to a lot of constraints we bought a very audio unfriendly house. I had to stop using both the L990's and my TT. In November, 2001 we moved into our current house and I did a major upgrade to my stereo system. I ordered a pair of Audio Physics Virgo III's for my new speakers that cost $6000 and arrived in January, 2002. In the 9 weeks or so before the Virgo III's arrived I setup the L990's and listened to them. Did the Virgo III's sound better than the L990's? In every way possible!

Now for the apples to apples part. In today's money the $800 that I spent on the L990's back in '86 is about $1700 and the $6000 I spent on the Virgo III's back in 2001/2 is about $8000. That says in the same value money (today's dollars) I spent 4.7 times more on the Virgo III's than I did on the L990's. Let's say you went out today and bought a new automobile for $20K. In our world today $20K will get you a good car that will reliably get you from point A to B day in day out and if you take care of it will last you at least 100,000 miles. Now 4.7 time $20K is a walloping $94K! Can you imagine what kind of car you can get for $94K. One example of a $94K car is a Cadillac CTS-V which just happens to be the world's fastest production sedan! I can guarantee you that the driving experience in a CTS-V would be very different than in a typical $20K car. Spending five times more on something usually means you get something much better.

 

Tony is absolutely right. There is a correlation between cost and quality that takes also takes inflation into account. The L810s are a phenomenal value used. I found mine at a Salvation Army store for $18 for the pair. I recapped them with high quality paper in oil capacitors, which made them sound better (or at least I think it did) for a total cost of about $60. I got lucky, and I would not give them up because I really like them, but they didn't cost me the $1700 or so dollars of a new set of Klipsch Heresy III. That said, I don't think the Heresy II that I own are better than the L810s. They are just different. Also, I was at a high end audio store near me a few weeks ago and heard a couple of different pairs of 20K speakers. They sounded good, but not 25K worth of good....

 

I've owned a/d/s/ speakers since the 70's... My 1st set of a/d/s/ speakers is the set I should have never sold... I had the famous 2030's powered by 2 Mark Levinson mono amps and they were killer... You did not need a sub!!! My listening experience with all a/d/s/ speakers I have owned has been extremely positive as I tend to like speakers that are not in your face... Their car audio was simply put, the BEST!!! I was the Grand National Champion of the Alpine Car Audio Nationals with a/d/s/ speakers (320i's) and amps in my car... I currently listen to a pair of the a/d/s/ L730 3-way speakers powered by 2 Granite Audio mono tube amps for my main listening room... My near field listening at my desk at home is 2 sets of L200 mini speakers wired in series to make an 8 ohm load powered by a tube amp... My near field listening at work is a pair of the L300 speakers powered by a S.M.S.L. digital amp... I have not found a speakers on the market yet that totally meets MY needs like the a/d/s/... However, the KEF Reference speakers come as close as you can get in my opinion...

 

I wish I could listen to a set of 710's... I've read everyone's postings here on this thread. Was looking for the cabinet dimensions....anybody?
Please forgive me if I have missed this information...my vision is nowhere near what it used to be~
Late Entry ..... Found the stats on the ADS L-710's

• Type: 3 way, 4 driver loudspeaker system
  
  Frequency Response: 40Hz to 23kHz
  
  Power Handling: 75W
  
  Recommended Amplifier: 15 to 150W
  
  Crossover Frequency: 550, 4000Hz
  
  Impedance: 6Ω
  
  Sensitivity: 93dB
  
  Bass: 2 x 7" cones
  
  Midrange: 1 x 2" soft dome
  
  Tweeter: 1 x 3/4 soft dome
  
  Finish: natural walnut veneer
  
  Dimensions: 21-1/2 x 12-1/4 x 10-1/2 inches
  
  Weight: 16kg
  
  Year: 1979
  

 

Anything marketed under the name 'ADS' has ADS drivers.

 

The very earliest ADS Speakers used Braun Drivers, USA assembled. ADS after the first production then began using ADS drivers.

 

My first pair of "real" speakers were L400s. I blew the woofers twice and put them in a closet, and replaced them with some POLK monitor 5s. Luckily I didn't throw them away. I pulled them out of the closet a few years ago and replaced the woofers. They, along with a pair of L7e's are the center of my 2 channel record listening system. I'm also using L710s, an ADS center channel, and 300s for the surrounds.

I recently came across something I've never seen before. I picked up a pair of L400s at a local thrift recently and noticed the 7" woofers had been replaced with 6"ers mounted off center on a plate that was screwed into the original mounting holes. I took out the woofer and it says it's an ADS driver. The plate it's mounted on is very well made. Was this maybe done after they stopped using 7" drivers and couldn't get any more? Maybe before the internet and plenty of used replacement speakers?

 

I worked at ADS 76-78 and still own several pairs.
I own a pair of the very rare BC8 Broadcast Monitors. They are very accurate and transparent.
You know you have great speakers when their smallest entry level models sound as good as their top of the line.

 

Very interesting looking speakers. I've never heard of them till now. Thanks for the info.

 

Can anyone enlighten me on the ads B7 speakers? Any info would be greatly appreciated. They look to be very rare and very good speakers.

 

They look like later releases to me based on the look of the drivers and logo. Maybe mid 90s.

 

I had a few demos of the A/D/S L1290 in the early 1980's, when they were new. I also demoed a few of the Polk Monitor series. I could not afford the A/D/S, but liked the style and the sound was good. I bought the Polk Monitor 7, which wasn't as deep in bass, but had equally accurate mid and top end. Soon after, I wound up with a slightly used pair of the Polk Monitor 10B from the same dealer. Those were about the same price as the ADS when new, but I think that I actually prefered them. The Polk RTA 12 was better than either of them, but were out of my budget range and they were really just too big for my living arrangements at the time. I think that the ADS was decent in its day, but not champion, and while it's still a decent speaker today, it has many shortcomings when compared to newer speakers. Top end performance, as well as bottom end performance was at a higher level of distortion than what a nice set of speakers can deliver today. I prefer the Polks, still as vintage examples and thse also hold up very well and are likely much more serviceable than the ADS line.

I did have a nice car system back then too and I chose an ADS amp for the power duties, and it wasn't cheap, but one of the best amps available for cars back then. Mine wasn't super powerful, but it had a flat response and stayed clean, so everything sounded great through it when good sources were used.
-Bill

 

I had a pair of ADS 910's which I bought in the late 70's. I loved them. They had a soft-dome tweeter, a soft-dome midrange, and two 10" woofers per speaker. Drove them with a simple 35 wpc Sony receiver, and that was more than sufficient.


When I bought them, there was an optional circuit board available which allowed them to be bi-amped. Wish I had done that. BTW, that's not my picture; just copied it from Google images.

I'd still be listening to them if my idiot nephew hadn't cranked them up a few years ago and blew the woofers. They're sitting out in storage right now. (BTW, can anyone recommend replacement woofers for these? I might be willing to gamble a bit to try to restore them.) What I'd say, though, is that if you can get a pair of ADS speakers at a good price, go for it.

 

Try contacting Richard So at A/D/S Speaker Repair Service. He did an excellent job of finding parts for my 300c speakers.

ADS Speaker Repair Service - Richard So Electronics - We are selling ads stuff on Ebay under the store name ADS-Speakers  CLICK HERE FOR OUR EBAY STORE (http:stores.ebay.comADS-Speakers_rdc1)   We accept Paypal, Credit card, Personal or Money orde !

 

I've been a fan of ADS since the mid-70's starting with my first buy 400, later - 300 followed by 1290. For 20+ years, enjoyed them and sold as we moved from country to country. In 2001, picked up a pair of 570's which is still with us. The ADS has consistently been defined by clarity, detail and a very easy musical experience (from classical to rock). Of course, have had other speakers to compare to, Celestion D8, New Advent, Fried and still come back to ADS. Recently, have bought Wharfedale Diamond 9.1 (which we gave to my brother-in-law), Rega 1 (traded in after) and Bowers Wilkens 685 s/2. ADS still comes out on top.

 

Just additional info... 70 - 80's ADS powered by Sansui 9090DB, 2000's by Tandberg TR 2075, just last weekend (as my Tandberg needed
a channel repaired), picked up Onkyo A-9030 which is working nicely.

 

Love my L470's, they're great little bookshelves.

 

I bought a pair of L570's at a thrift a month or two ago for the price of $12.00. Shockingly good sound. In my man cave system now powered by a Fisher 500b. I use a sub to help out the bottom a little.

I love these. They sound a little more open and detailed than some of my other acoustic suspended speakers.

 

Two days ago I found a very small pair of aDs 200c s at a military thrift for $2.
Couldn't leave any ADS speakers that were just $2!

 

I will be on the lookout for ADS speakers now while Im out picking. Would love to find some larger 3 ways to try out.

 

Id like to bump and old thread- does anyone have any recommendations on brand of speaker which will mate well in timbre and tone to the old ADS L series. I have some in my 3.1 system and my Boston Acoustics center in not up to par. The late model ADS centers appear now and again, but they may be too large for my set up and most consider them not voiced similarity to the L series.

So I guess this is a long way of asking for modern day recommendations for a center that can come in the ballpark of the L series's sonic signature. This is for a third system and i understand the the dos and donts of mixing brands...but its for TV mostly anyway

Im thinking something which has warmish sound would mate best e.g. sonus faber, etc. but open to any ideas but NOT a DIY project....thanks

 

This thread brings up such fond memories.

I discovered a/d/s/ speakers by accident in late 1990. I was all set to purchase a pair of PSB speakers at a local Sony Store. They were out of stock of the model I was looking at and the salesman suggested an independent store locally that might have them in stock. It turned out the store carried a/d/s/ as well and after auditioning both, I took home a pair of L7’s ... I had those for a couple years and ended up with the a/d/s/ M20’s ... I sold them to a friend a couple years ago since at the time I didn’thave room for more than one system. They were a gorgeous rosewood and are still one of my favorite looking speakers of all time.

Regarding the centre channel question ... when I had my L7’s ... there wasn’t any a/d/s/ center channels at the time ... home theatre was just getting popular and I ended up using an a single a/d/s/ L300 for a few years. In total, I had used a/d/s/ speakers for about 17 years before finally upgrading one last time in 2007. In hindsight, I certainly was still very happy with what I had ... I simply had the opportunity to upgrade and decided it was time for something that would serve me well for the next 20 years (or longer) ... currently I have speakers from Marten Design in my main system and I will be using a pair of Totems in a second system. I will always have a soft spot for a/d/s/ ... I might have to convince my friend to sell them back to me