Hey there,

I am new to AK and audio in general, but it is a nice change from bicycles. I work at a bike shop and love tinkering, but electronics is somewhat of a different dimension compared to the more mechanical aspect of wheels and gears.
Anyway, from work, one of my buddies gave me an old receiver a couple months ago and now I find myself reading up on this website daily. From various sources I have collected 4 receivers and two pairs of speakers. So I have some questions.
One pair of speakers are ADS L730's. 100watt nom, 175watt max, 6ohms nom, 4ohms min. SE#'s 011669-3 and 011615-3 There is a sticker on the back of one of the woofers that reads, "ADS 206-0324 Fed 02 '83". I just spent a good while reading that 16 page " A/D/S line pecking order?" thread but it didn't have a lot of info on this particular model. One of them has a tweeter missing and the woofer cone is ripped right through. The other speaker appears ok and sounds good too.

On the other side of my bedroom is a pair of Yamaha NS-A200's. I have failed so far to find any information on these at all, but they are in great condition. They sound good but seem like they are lacking in the high's/vocals. The bass is there and the woofers are moving but they don't sing like the ADS or the pair of outdoor Cambridge soundworks speakers I brought up to test. What could be wrong? Do I need more power, or is something blown.

So basically what I want to know is, are either of these any good? Are the ADS ones worth fixing? Can I get a replacement tweeter and cone/foam anywhere? Is there any way to test the different mids/tweeters/woofers individually?

Oh, and has anyone else here been to Garnicks in Lowell MA? Pretty fucking cool place.

Thanks!

I can't help a lot, but the a/d/s are worth fixing! I have a pair of L810s and I have heard only a few speakers that are better. I've not heard the 710s, but they are very similar.

Good luck!

Ed

Tell me more about Garnick's, as I'm kinda local...

And welcome, my friend, of course!

There's a fella on eBay, and also known here, who rebuilds ADS kit. And also an AK member here, that knows how to fix the ADS you have- worked for them if I recall correctly. Sorry, I cannot recall either of their names. But they are mentioned in some ADS threads here- just do a search...

I've got a pair of ADS L630s en-route to me, and cannot wait to hear them. I also have a pair of 2-way ADS L570 2s, and they are amazing.

It is really hard to top the sound of ADS. At whatever cost, fix them. They are worth it. I promise.

As for the Yamaha kit, I don't know that model well, but vintage Yamaha make for a very good speaker.

Unfortunately, I'm strongly thinking yours are the newer Yamaha NS-A200s, which are great for home theater, but are far from anything near the ability of the ADS. Nothing you could do to them, aside from replacing them with ADS speakers, will fix the sound to sing like the ADS. Sorry.

What kind of bikes do you build/run? I recently retired my KHS track bike after a recent injury...

Garnicks is definitely worth a visit. When you walk in the door you are surrounded with old pinball machines, turntables, tv's and other electronics. This place is not modern at all. It has a genuine repair shop where they will fix pretty much anything. My neighbor just had one of his guitar amps fixed there. One of the guys told me they have been there for 74 years and have over 300,000 records in the back. Each week they pull out more from the back and put some on ebay. Its worth a visit.

How can I tell if it is a newer or older model NS-A200? Is there a way to test the individual drivers (for both the Yamaha's and ADS's), to make sure they are all working?

I ride mostly bmx and downhill but I haven't ridden in a while. Were you running a fixie?

soundmotor is the AK member that worked at ADS. Richard So is the other guy that worked at ADS and repairs their speakers. You can contact Richard at:

ads_speakers@yahoo.com

Be sure to mention that you found him at AK. Good luck with your speakers as I'm sure they are worth repairing properly.