Incoming: ADS L730s

toodletunes

Well-Known Member
Pretty excited to have some ADS L730s arriving this weekend. They will take the place of some DCM TimeFrame 600s that occupy the near field position in our big room, the source of most of our listening. I've come to realize that the TF600s may be a bit 'laid back' for the more critical listening done in that near field zone (the other set of speakers is Boston Acoustics A-400, keepers deluxe). The TimeFrame 275s we have in an upstairs bedroom aren't going anywhere................perfection.

A bit of backround on the ADS interest: I first heard some 810's ( I believe they were 810's) about over thirty years ago, and they made quite the impression. I'd been using New Large Advents with an NAD 3080, all of which are still around and in use, and was quite content. WAY before being infected with Vintage Audiotitis in '07. Sometime in early '09 I stumbled across a nice looking pair of Brauns in the local Goodwill, and called the person that was then a sounding board. He said they were failure prone, and even at a modest price, best avoided. How interesting that they showed up in a Craigslist posting of his shortly thereafter for over five times the Goodwill price. In the interim, a bit of research yielded the Braun/ADS provenance, and I tried to keep an eye out for something.

Last week, while getting the wind back in my sails subsequent to a week's hospitalization, I came across an ebay listing for a pair of L730s for a reasonable price. The seller is kindly bringing them by this weekend. For those who have used these, or similar ADS, some placement questions. I intend to put these on stands that are about a foot high. I know that will have the tweeters at below ear level, although close, as most listening done on the speakers in this area is while sitting. Current arrangement allows for a comfortable foot to eighteen inch placement away from the wall behind them. Further out and they start to get past the stereo credenza. Think that will suffice? As they are acoustic suspension, hoping the potential rear bass issues are minimized. So much for again availing myself to the gracious AK community for experience driven thoughts.

Now for the wacky kicker. This morning, what pops up on CL but a listing for a pair of ADS L420s, reasonably priced. Am I looking at replacing the Boston Acoustics HD-8's in our 'office', part of a modest system? Does this mean that when it rains, it pours?

Sheesh
 
Glad to hear you found pair of L730's as they are quite nice. I buddy of mine scored several different ADS models in a single purchase with a near mint set of L730's among them. While we both agree that his L710's and L810's best the L730's by a slight margin, the L730's are an excellent speaker and best most of his other hoard of vintage bookshelf speakers. I would speculate that the L420's will be an improvement over the BA HD-8's, as ADS was able to replicate most of their signature sound down to their lower end models better than most manufacturers.
 
Depending on where in Indiana you are located, you might be able to meet up with us here in Brownsburg sometime. I currently own L500's, L570/2's, L810's and used to have L620's and M12/90 floor standers. I'm hoping to find some L630's next, as I'm curious to see (hear) how they compare to my friend's L730's. He made a run to North Carolina last year and came back with L1530's, L810's, L710's, L730's and a free pair of Braun's (similar to the L810's) that the seller thew in for good measure. He also wanted to buy the L910's (with factory stands), but ran out of room in his vehicle. He and I are currently on a quest to find our favorite stacked sets of vintage bookshelf speakers. So far, my Polk Monitor 10's with (his loaned to me) Monitor 7s on top are besting my Grafyx SP10's with the SP-8's above. While at this place, we stacked his 2 pair of Boston Acoustics A-100's and they were excellent, as was his 2 pair of A-70's. While I did not get a chance to hear them, he likes his 2 pair of Polk Monitor 10's stacked best. We tried stacking his KLH Fives with mine, but did not like that as much as stacking his KLH 22's above my KLH Fives. He has also stacked 2 pairs of Large Advents and Dynaco A40's as well with excellent results. I hope to find 2 pair of KLH Sixes to stack those.
 
Welcome to the biggest fetish club at AK. Normally, I'd go on about the folly of collecting several renditions of pretty much the same speaker and cluttering your house much to your wife's dismay, but it all falls on deaf ears. You're hooked now. Just go with it.

A shout-out from your 730s' little brothers in Kent.

780-1-and-2.gif
 
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Sometime in early '09 I stumbled across a nice looking pair of Brauns in the local Goodwill, and called the person that was then a sounding board. He said they were failure prone, and even at a modest price, best avoided. How interesting that they showed up in a Craigslist posting of his shortly thereafter for over five times the Goodwill price.
Sheesh

Good cow! :mad: That's called sticking the knife in your back - and then twisting it! Hope you've managed to find a better "sounding board" since then.

GeeDeeEmm
 
Welcome the the ADS fetish club! I think you'll be quite happy with your L730's.
Your listening space seems you'll have no problems positioning them. Your stands should be fine. Please post a few pics once your all setup!
Cheers, Glenn
 
Good Morning and thanks for all the nice replies. Indeed, yesshows77, being in Carmel, I'm a mere spin around 465/74, and your suggestion sounds dandy. Myself, I've tried stacking Minimus 7s. Perhaps I missed the point on that one. Porkloin, whatever did you use on the cabs of the (?) 420s to get that beautiful lustre? When it shows like that in a photo, you know there's something going on. GeeDeeEmm, an emphatic yes on a less self interested sounding board. And very nice looking BR style setup drum rig. And to the smile invoking avatarred Glenn, you remind me to take a photo before removing the TF600s also. Will make a note to photograph room from both listening perspectives, at the risk of overkill.

Most your your speaker preferences lean toward acoustic suspension design? Got a Sansui 2000/KLH Model 17 system upstairs that just wows on every listen.........................................

Much Obliged,
Jeff
 
Good Morning and thanks for all the nice replies. Indeed, yesshows77, being in Carmel, I'm a mere spin around 465/74, and your suggestion sounds dandy. Myself, I've tried stacking Minimus 7s. Perhaps I missed the point on that one. Porkloin, whatever did you use on the cabs of the (?) 420s to get that beautiful lustre? When it shows like that in a photo, you know there's something going on. GeeDeeEmm, an emphatic yes on a less self interested sounding board. And very nice looking BR style setup drum rig. And to the smile invoking avatarred Glenn, you remind me to take a photo before removing the TF600s also. Will make a note to photograph room from both listening perspectives, at the risk of overkill.

Most your your speaker preferences lean toward acoustic suspension design? Got a Sansui 2000/KLH Model 17 system upstairs that just wows on every listen.........................................

Much Obliged,
Jeff
Hey Jeff,
No overkill with pics here! We love pics!
The bulk of my speakers being acoustic suspension is not by design, more just blind luck and timing! Being in the NYC metro area and N.E. region lends itself to these type of speakers. Most have been thrift, garbage, yard sales or very lucky purchases from original owners. And cheap as most needed extensive restoration.
Porkloins ADS's are gorgeous! Something for all to aspire to when deciding to do a complete reveneer and finish!
I strongly suggest trying to get an opportunity to hear some of the larger ADS speakers. Some truly can be jaw dropping!
Glenn
 
I second Glenn's comment regarding the larger ADS models...just about all of them are truly special. The one thing I have noticed about ADS speakers is that almost any model with the dome midrange can still best a vast number of other well regarded vintage speakers. They seem to have a natural openness that is hard to beat.
 
Good Morning and thanks for all the nice replies. Indeed, yesshows77, being in Carmel, I'm a mere spin around 465/74, and your suggestion sounds dandy. Myself, I've tried stacking Minimus 7s. Perhaps I missed the point on that one. Porkloin, whatever did you use on the cabs of the (?) 420s to get that beautiful lustre? When it shows like that in a photo, you know there's something going on. GeeDeeEmm, an emphatic yes on a less self interested sounding board. And very nice looking BR style setup drum rig. And to the smile invoking avatarred Glenn, you remind me to take a photo before removing the TF600s also. Will make a note to photograph room from both listening perspectives, at the risk of overkill.

Most your your speaker preferences lean toward acoustic suspension design? Got a Sansui 2000/KLH Model 17 system upstairs that just wows on every listen.........................................

Much Obliged,
Jeff
The two on the left are L-780 /2's that I redid with some ancient mahogany last year. They're a bit smaller than the 730's. The one on the right is an untouched L-780 /1 that I'm cannibalizing for a center channel. The /2's have been redone inside and out and will outlast me. I'm hoping a budding audiophile emerges from my descendants that I can will them to, but alas, I will probably have to be buried with them. My own kids have been around this stuff their entire lives and still have no qualms about listening to MP3s from those little boxes they carry around in their pockets.
Shameless plug for my L-780's rebuild thread: CLICK HERE. It's the audiophile version of whipping out photos of the kids at the slightest provocation.

StickyDomes.JPG
 
730s! Regarding OP question on stands...they look pretty sharp on some F800 stands or an equivalent.

Edit: Read OP again. Question more about placement than stands.

I found the 730s I once had to be a very enjoyable listen. They didn't seem to be overly sensitive to room placement in my situation. I had mine pretty close to the wall but up on stands. Sounded great.
 
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Congratulations. Another ADS fan here. I have a nice pair 710s that I paid a whopping $10 for. Enjoy yours and welcome to the club.
 
Noce stet up --- I Love my ADS too!

I'm in my home office listening to ADS L690's which are small towers, no stands needed which is perfect for this room!

Driving them with a very clean and tasty Marantz 2270. I swap turntables and cartridges a lot but right now I have a mint Marantz 6300 with a souped up Shure M35X (I modified the cartridge with The Paradox aluminum body and a LP Gear N97xVL stylus). This system sounds amazing and all the major components were Craigslist scores.
 
Listening to the Duke on stacked L880's this evening. Enjoy your ADSs.
Lovely room.
 
Love house and the room with all the shelves and vinyl!
Is the 2nd pic where the speakers are now, or do you have two rooms with different systems?
Anyway, the 730's look great and a perfect fit!
 
Good Morning, All,

Oh, cubdog, how I used to envy hearing about those scores. Having snagged a handful now (small handful), I merely smile for the good fortune of others.
Thanks for the nice comments. It's our favorite listening room. Glenn, the second photo shows the lengthwise perspective, and the Boston Acoustics A-400 are perfect for projecting audio that 40' plus distance. Both those and the LUSCIOUS ADS 730s are being run from the Sansui 9090, never simultaneously. SX-70, the cabs are oak. Didn't realize that at purchase, and we're thrilled. Old Guy8, Thin White Duke or Ellington? Both delicious choices, thank you.

Did a 'power graze' last night, playing one or two tracks each from about fifteen albums all representing superb artistry and exceptional engineering\production. Was surprised a bit at the one, and only one, choice that the 9090/730 synergy didn't give the aural embrace to as with everything else. Suggests I should peruse some more of George Massenberg's work to see how much that was, likely, an exception.

Of course, as you have probably already surmised, I'm now on the hunt for other ADS models for some of our other systems.

The Horror
 
Was listening to Duke Ellington. Only ADS I have heard are my L880's, 10" three ways. Respond well to variety of music and like more power also. I have heard little negative about any ADS models on AK. Enjoy.
 
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