ADS L980's

AMT-3 Mojo-Edition - More soul-diddling lower end (not boomy or unpleasantly overbearing) than you could shake a stick at. My neighbor Norm "feels" when I listen. I swear a waft hit me when I rounded the corner into the room one time.
45 Hz
"Specs" are like talk. Cheap. How do those 980's make you FEEL?

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There's no doubt you can feel them. Still getting to know them.
 
These are excellent speakers! Spent all day listening to them. Except for the 910's, and the Angelica's, these are absolutely stunning sounding.
 
These are excellent speakers! Spent all day listening to them. Except for the 910's, and the Angelica's, these are absolutely stunning sounding.
I knew you would like them Glenn. They're one of ADS' best. Only bested by the big floor standers. They're better than 1290's in my opinion.
 
In the pics I posted in the Freezefest, there's some pics of you and Mike talking to HVHIFI Mike about some headphones. I'm pretty sure you would have heard the Angelica's there, and we all probably talked some as well!

Yea, I did see us in the pics, and yes, I do remember seeing/hearing those Angelica's. That was a fun day - I'm sure we did talk at some point.
 
Wait a minute, Glen, you are now rocking a set of 980's as well as the 910's? And for doing a refinish no less. That sounds like a nice proposition, as you know, I have the 980's in a stack with the smaller, but equally nice sounding L880's. Not sure why the 980s would sound bad to anybody, unless they had a serious hearing problem, or some kind of fuse or wiring maladjustment. Mine sound sublime, the 4 of them even better. Glad to hear they appeal to your hearing. View attachment 870152

I am just reading some of these posts and saw this. I never said the 980 sounded bad to me...lol. It did when I got them but the drivers needed redone. Maybe that experience dampened my excitement for them....I don't know. I really liked the sound but it simply didn't do anything for me as far as getting a wow moment. Rather than have them sit here and never listen to them, I sold them to a guy who loves them....but he loves the ADS line and has other models. They are like new and wanted them used....not sitting here collecting dust.
 
I am just reading some of these posts and saw this. I never said the 980 sounded bad to me...lol. It did when I got them but the drivers needed redone. Maybe that experience dampened my excitement for them....I don't know. I really liked the sound but it simply didn't do anything for me as far as getting a wow moment. Rather than have them sit here and never listen to them, I sold them to a guy who loves them....but he loves the ADS line and has other models. They are like new and wanted them used....not sitting here collecting dust.

Well, that's completely centsless!
Good job.
 
Quality time with the 980's today. So far, these are outstanding!
As I type this, I'm listening to Stevie Ray Vaughn with Johnny Copeland - Tin Pan Alley Live at volume! Holy sheeiiittt!
I'm like four feet from Stevie, his sweat splashing me in the face and in my glass of bourbon! I can hear the guitar amp humming in the back ground when their are gaps!
Incredibly natural, dimensional, immersive sound. So glad I have these!
If you ever have the opportunity to get a pair of these, run to them!
 
A man how has never heard an ADS that he doesn't love. Well they do have a lot of family sound built in and that makes em pretty good to start with.

We need to know how they sound compared to all those other wooden boxes of different sizes and shapes you have all over the room.
 
My ADS fetish buddy thinks that my (Richard So refurbed) 3/4 inch tweeter in my 780s (which I believe the 980's have) are a hair nicer than the 1" in the bigger models. This may discount the foil bypass capacitor I've inserted into the mix. My industrial damaged hearing can't tell the difference, but I do prefer the bigger midrange driver of the larger models. You have the best of both worlds.
Stevie Ray Vaughn's sweat splashing into your face and drink does not paint a pretty picture, by the way. Is that why the fifth row is commonly regarded as the best seat in the house?
 
Been listening quite a bit to mine too today, in fact, I am playing them solo, giving the L880's a rest. Playing some vintage Boz Scaggs, as well as some west coast fusion(Karizma), and some other stuff, I am one happy owner to be sure. I have pretty much stopped looking for new speakers, and take what the speaker gods might offer from here on, like Glen, I have enough speakers, and a lot of good ones at that. The thing that has me fixated even more with my ADS collection is having added a new amp, I went for modern and got the Cambridge Audio CXA 80, which has proven to be a great match, better than I expected it would be.

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Been listening quite a bit to mine too today, in fact, I am playing them solo, giving the L880's a rest. Playing some vintage Boz Scaggs, as well as some west coast fusion(Karizma), and some other stuff, I am one happy owner to be sure. I have pretty much stopped looking for new speakers, and take what the speaker gods might offer from here on, like Glen, I have enough speakers, and a lot of good ones at that. The thing that has me fixated even more with my ADS collection is having added a new amp, I went for modern and got the Cambridge Audio CXA 80, which has proven to be a great match, better than I expected it would be.

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MJB,
I've seen your pics of your L880's stacked on your L980's. I've been running my two sets L880'S stacked since getting second set last summer. I did not invert top set, as is usual practice. That is til today, inverted top set. Appears that the tweeters definitely, to my ears, like to be closer together, just like with stacked Advents. Have no idea why.
Old Guy
 
Quality time with the 980's today. So far, these are outstanding!
As I type this, I'm listening to Stevie Ray Vaughn with Johnny Copeland - Tin Pan Alley Live at volume! Holy sheeiiittt!
I'm like four feet from Stevie, his sweat splashing me in the face and in my glass of bourbon! I can hear the guitar amp humming in the back ground when their are gaps!
Incredibly natural, dimensional, immersive sound. So glad I have these!
If you ever have the opportunity to get a pair of these, run to them!
Looks like we're both happy with the barter Glenn. If I had the room I would have kept them but I'm glad they went to someone who appreciates them. They are head and shoulders above a lot of speakers out there. I'm thrilled with my 1590's on how they look and they sound incredible.
 
Been listening quite a bit to mine too today, in fact, I am playing them solo, giving the L880's a rest. Playing some vintage Boz Scaggs, as well as some west coast fusion(Karizma), and some other stuff, I am one happy owner to be sure. I have pretty much stopped looking for new speakers, and take what the speaker gods might offer from here on, like Glen, I have enough speakers, and a lot of good ones at that. The thing that has me fixated even more with my ADS collection is having added a new amp, I went for modern and got the Cambridge Audio CXA 80, which has proven to be a great match, better than I expected it would be.

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That's a good thing to hear how that Cambridge amp plays well with your ADS. I am considering myself buying the Yamaha A-S801 integrated amp to add to my system.
 
MJB,
I've seen your pics of your L880's stacked on your L980's. I've been running my two sets L880'S stacked since getting second set last summer. I did not invert top set, as is usual practice. That is til today, inverted top set. Appears that the tweeters definitely, to my ears, like to be closer together, just like with stacked Advents. Have no idea why.
Old Guy
I guess it might not hurt to try, but I have no complaints as of now.

That's a good thing to hear how that Cambridge amp plays well with your ADS. I am considering myself buying the Yamaha A-S801 integrated amp to add to my system.

I wanted the Yamaha AS 801 as well, there were a few in that same category, I went with the Cambridge based on some of the information I had found, I have two Yamaha amps/receivers, and while I like them, I was wanting to try the Cambridge for the 30 day try out from a local store, and I was immediately impressed, and it has broken in very nicely.
 
Hey Dan,
Freezefest was a lot of fun. You probably heard the Angelica's there, but didn't realize it when you were at my house!
Hopefully, Mike will organize another Hudson Valley gathering, but I think he said he needs to find another location. I don't think the fire house is available anymore.
Glenn
Looks like we're both happy with the barter Glenn. If I had the room I would have kept them but I'm glad they went to someone who appreciates them. They are head and shoulders above a lot of speakers out there. I'm thrilled with my 1590's on how they look and they sound incredible.
Yes, it worked out well for both of us!
 
OK, I inverted the L880's today, and toed in the stacks to optimize the the listening quadrant. Having the 10" woofer appx. 4' off the floor and the high frequency drivers all within, o, about 18" of each other, leaving the 12" 980 woofer serving the floor area, the 980's are on metal stands with a tilt, not unlike the old L810 stands that came with my old L810's. I used a rubberized wedge that tilts the 880's forward to perpendicular.
First impressions are that they do indeed seem to have a bit more involving sound, especially that woofer up high, it seems to encapsulate the mid and high frequencies, while creating a larger plane of low frequencies in the room.
I'll keep them like this for now, and who knows?

I can't help to think about the MV 80t speakers when I look at these without the covers on.
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just picked up a pair of Thiel CS 2.2 last weekend and did some A/B comparisons. The winner was the ADS L980. They have so much punch and clarity and a sound that is closest to live music, though that may also be related to being driven by 30 watts of tube goodness from the Scott 340-B. The Thiels sound awesome, but don't have quite the punch (driven by a beastly Ashly FET-500 and Bryston pre). The stacked Advents were 2nd in the punch/bass category and for some songs sounded better than the Thiels. The ADS L980 were always in first. The little ADS L520 pair on the end sound absolutely awesome too, but for loud music you want to feel, they fall short. Anything under 82 SPL or so, they're hard to beat. Finally, the little Aperion Verus III bookshelves on the tv stand are surprisingly full sounding for their size and have beautiful highs and mids. I'm going hook up a sub up to them now.

With Spotify, I can cycle through all 5 of these separate systems for fun A/B/C/D/E comparisons all on the same song, without missing a beat. Well, sometimes Spotify on one of the devices will be a beat or two off from the one handing off, but it's pretty sweet to just sit on my sofa and click which system (i.e., which Spotify device) is the active source.

I just had to chime in with praise for these ADS L980 speakers. Mine have water damage / swelling so I was able to get them for $300. I can't imagine them sounding better, so I'm guessing the swelling is just, well, swell.
 

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Curious if anyone here won the Goodwill auction in CO for what look like mint 980’s.

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IMO, enthusiasm got away from them.
Like GD70 added. Great speakers. But at that price there's a lot of great competition. Used and new.
 
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