OK! I must save this thread...It is a very interesting discussion at hand...Not a debate...Just a lot of fun!
I think I am qualified to participate. I have a stacked pair of Original Large Advents, a pair of KLH 23's, a very rare pair of KLH 30's (like the 6's but in thinner true bookshelf size cabinet), a rare pair of KLH 7's (Like the 6's but with a 50% larger cabinet) and a little pair of KLH 26's (very similar to the 22's?). I will add into the discussion a pair of AR-2ax's and a pair of the Jensen made Advent Legacies of which I have 2 pair.
This is just my opinion and it is from memory because some of these speakers are not in use at this time. I may be cheating a little bit because I have not done an A/B comparison between any of them in the same room on the same system.
Here goes....For shere bass response a single Large Advent would probably measure lower than any, but the AR-2ax has amazing bass also! The KLH 23 will shake the earth also! It's tweeter may be a little stronger than the LA as I remember. The AR-2ax is very balanced in the high end. Remember it's a 3 way and has that generations first "super tweeter" a .75 inch dome that crossed over at 14Khz! But all the other 2 ways that we are discussing seemed to have slightly subdued highs by todays standards. Probably designed that way to eliminate the impact of tape hiss. The KLH 7 is a great speaker with it 's larger cabinet you'd think would enhance the bass to amazing levels but it didn't impress me that way. I think it needs it's woofers resealed and maybe some crossover tweaking and they are sealed like Fort Knox! So I haven't done any of that yet! The newer generation Advent Legacy is really a great speaker too IMHO! It is voiced like the old LA's (great bass) and adds a sweet dome tweeter that sings real nice! The little 26's amaze me as much as any of the others because they are so strong for their size! They don't look like they could sound that good!
This must be said though...If you stack the Advents nothing else we have discussed quite gets where they do! I am not sure what it is but as good as the bass is on a single LA it doesn't come near the impact as the doubles! Then the high end on the stack is nearly perfect! On the single LA I was always wanting more but not the doubles. So with the LA stacking factor thrown in that might put a kink in the one on one debate.
Right now, if I had to live with only one pair of the speakers I've mentioned (leaving out the stacked LA's) I would probably vote for the AR-2ax's, then the KLH 23's then the LA's. But, if space were a factor I would happily live with the great KLH 30's which sound very close to the others and you can get them off the floor! Likewise for the 26's (the space to performance factor). And if I listened to modern jazz and instrumentaly strong music I would love the Advent Legacies as the main choice because of that nice tweeter! By the way I also have the little KLH 14's and I believe it's the 19's too (single fullrange drivers) and of course theres the Advent Pinnacle Towers! Now you see why I have around 36 pairs of speakers!! Somebody needs to lock me up somewhere! :sigh:
The thing is...you can hear the Kloss - Allison etc. influence through all of these speakers. I am definitely a New England sound nut! I think any of these are great speakers! If you narrow the discussion to whats the best 2 way accoustic suspension speaker that is 24 inches or taller that might be a good one! The LA is 25 1/2 " tall as is the KLH 23. How about the KLH 5 against the AR-2ax or the AR-3A or the AR-5a. Just more food for thought
! Best! Franksta
- Mark
