7whales7
Addicted Member
Richard's the man to see.
ADS Opinions Sought...
- Thread starter DAA
- Start date
Here ya go jcder link to Richards Site, with that said, Welcome to Audiokarma fella. http://www.adsspeakersservice.com/
DAA
Active Member
So tonight I setup my L300s with my powered 10” sub crossed over at 95hz. Wow—-Terrific sounding! I listen at low to medium volume. These little guys throw a huge soundstage and really image well! Sitting on top of my Advents now until I get proper stands.
Running them full range from amp and filling in lows with sub. Only issue are those awful speaker wire terminals!!!
Running them full range from amp and filling in lows with sub. Only issue are those awful speaker wire terminals!!!
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Yes they are DAA! I have a pair of L400's that took a huge hit when my dog sat on the remote while I was getting a cup of coffee. Lost the woofer in one of them, but they took some serious pounding until I could get back in the room to turn the amp down. I'm working on a project that will need a couple more sets of the L400. I've passed a couple of sets in the past that looking back I wished I had picked up at the time. And yeah .. haha .. those damn spring loaded clips, I don't know, maybe it was the thing to do at that time?
Hanleyster
ambitious but rubbish
Don't waste your time with 420s if unless you have a sub or dont like bass.
L520s are great all rounders for the size.
I currently run NAD 20 speakers which are basically 690s.
I prefer the look and size of a tower speaker in my living room on either side of my TV stand.
L520s are great all rounders for the size.
I currently run NAD 20 speakers which are basically 690s.
I prefer the look and size of a tower speaker in my living room on either side of my TV stand.
J English
Super Member
I'm a big fan, have both L420s and L520s. They are un-restored as the tweeters sound OK to me. I paid $75 for the 520s and $55 for the 420s as they did not have their cloth grills anymore. I think the 520s are a pretty great all around speakers and a good entry point. I am on the hunt for 880s as I keep hearing about how great the ADS three-ways are. Those are certainly going to cost more! I think a good way to go would be to start with 520s and see if you like them. You can always flip those for what you paid, if you want to go up the ADS ladder. I have varied musical tastes, but jazz is my "base", and the ADSs do great with the genre. I use the 420s well in a room where we mostly listen at softer levels and they do very well for that purpose.
I recently sold a set of 3 880s and a pair of 570s to finance fixing the 1290s I recently bought (some yahoo removed the crossovers in them.) Can't give those up as they came with the uber-rare PA-1s. As good as the 880s sounded, can't wait to hear what the 1290's/ PA-1s can do!
There are very few ways you can go wrong with a set of ADS's.
There are very few ways you can go wrong with a set of ADS's.
I just can't understand people and what it is on their minds they would do something like that zunde? ... You might check with Richard to see if he has a set of crossovers. I can't ever recall seeing anyone selling a pair on the bay. Couple of times when I've had something extra I'll pass it along to Richard so he has stock on stuff for others.
I have A set of recapped NLA's that I like. The tweeters at times can be rough and fatigueing. Always have tweeter switch on decrease. I prefer the mids and highs of my L880's, 10" three-ways. IMO, If you can find ADS with enough bass and amp power enough, can forgo trying to integrate a sub. L880 are nice for jazz.
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Well, if you do the work SURE! But if you send them in, that'll be an additional $70.00 for a pair and roughly $12.00 give or take for shipping according to Richard So's price schedule. Hell, I've squandered more money on a bad movie for the family. Those caps are 30 plus years old, so I have no doubt you'll see an improvement. Having the caps replaced is a gift that keeps on giving. Glad your enjoying those L300's DAA.
smoke-libr8r
Active Member
L300 (or L400) with a subwoofer is one of my favorite near field or small room setups.
You most likely don't need a cap change. I've removed and measured the caps from multiple pairs of L300s and haven't found a single cap out of spec. If you are really worried about your caps, buy a cheap ESR capacitor tester ($10-15) and test them yourself. Then you will know if you need a cap change. In the long run, having as ESR meter will save you a lot of money versus replacing caps that are in spec. I have updated the caps in a few pairs of ADS speakers with fancy boutique caps just to satisfy my curiosity. I was not able to hear (via A/B testing) or measure any difference (via impedance or SPL).
One of the great things about ADS speakers is that they usually don't need any work. I believe that this is one of the reasons that ADS is so highly regarded. Unlike some other brands, people aren't basing their opinions of ADS sound quality by listening to a degraded samples of the product.
Please be sure to update your progress on the L1290s (in the other thread). I'd love to hear how things work out.
I agree with the recommendations relative to the ADS 3-ways. I own a pretty good sampling of the ADS line (from L200s to L1590s). While the ADS 2-ways are very nice, the 3-ways are better.
Will certainly do--
I should have just gone ahead and put the funds from that sale toward the 1290 crossovers, but NO I had to get greedy and went ahead and grabbed a Yamaha CR-2040 vintage receiver from someone locally for $250 cause it was very hyped on here, and the ones I've seen on ebay went for around $400-$600 so I figured if it did not live up to my expectations (which it did not) I could always flip it. Well I'm not a big ebay fan, so I have it listed locally, and so far zilcho response.
Porkloin
Oscar Heil Groupie
I may A/B a pair of 420's against my 780's this weekend, after seeing others on here claiming the superiority of the two-ways, just to make sure my memory of them is still current.
I found a set of NAD 20's on the curb on trash day a couple years ago. I was SHOCKED how great they sounded, and the bass blew me away. They are part of my son's total garbage system.
DAA
Active Member
For those of you using or familiar with the L300s, where do you cross them to a sub? I’m finding 90hz works best with the speakers running full range. Again, I don’t listen too loud. Surprised at their clarity even when low volume.
Also, what’s the scoop with 400s. I see two different kinds. Larger wood cabinet and smaller metal.
Also, what’s the scoop with 400s. I see two different kinds. Larger wood cabinet and smaller metal.
smoke-libr8r
Active Member
Yes, ADS offered several different models with "400" in the model number. All were 2-ways.
From oldest to newest...
aDs 400 - Wood cabinet, cloth grill. This was a bigger speaker than the later offerings. 206-0100 tweeter, 206-0315 woofer
ADS L400 - Wood cabinet, metal grill. 7.5" wide by 12" tall. There were at lease two different cabinet depths (~6.75" & ~8"), three different grill designs (black, bronze, bowed), and two wood finishes (walnut, oak). 206-0100 or 206-0116 tweeter, 206-0315 woofer
a/d/s/ L400e - Wood cabinet, metal grill. Same size as the L400. 206-0122 tweeter, 206-0387 woofer
The 206-0100 tweeter is a sticky dome that was used in quite a few ADS speakers (400, L400, L420, 500, L520, L620, L520, L620. L630, 700, L710, L810, L910). The 206-0116 was also widely used (L400, C400, L470, L570. L690). One could argue that this tweeter exemplified the "ADS sound" (at least for the 2-way models). The 206-0122 tweeter is not a sticky dome.
I'm pretty sure that all of the woofers were the same size and had rubber surrounds.
The ADS L400 variants that I've owned all sounded very similar. There are very subtle differences due to the cabinet sizes and possibly crossover differences, but it is almost not worth mentioning. The a/d/s/ L400e looks the same, but sounds different. It is more laid back than the ADS L400. I've not heard the aDs 400s, but I would expect that it would be similar to the ADS L400, but with better bass response due to the larger cabinet.
206-0122 should be one of the Kodak polymer dome tweeter models, used in a number of different home speaker models/series. The -0126 was the automotive speaker equivalent. That same dome material continued in various forms right up to the end, for instance it's used in the L210/L310 and the HT-series products. Not identical tweeters, but they all used the same material domes formed by heat-stamping big flat sheets of that Kodak polymer material.
There are early textile domes with sticky on the inside, then there were textile domes with sticky on the outside for a fairly long period, and ultimately these polymer dome tweeters which weren't sticky anywhere, as long as you didn't melt them or set on fire.
John
There are early textile domes with sticky on the inside, then there were textile domes with sticky on the outside for a fairly long period, and ultimately these polymer dome tweeters which weren't sticky anywhere, as long as you didn't melt them or set on fire.
John
206-0122 should be one of the Kodak polymer dome tweeter models, used in a number of different home speaker models/series. The -0126 was the automotive speaker equivalent. That same dome material continued in various forms right up to the end, for instance it's used in the L210/L310 and the HT-series products. Not identical tweeters, but they all used the same material domes formed by heat-stamping big flat sheets of that Kodak polymer material.
There are early textile domes with sticky on the inside, then there were textile domes with sticky on the outside for a fairly long period, and ultimately these polymer dome tweeters which weren't sticky anywhere, as long as you didn't melt them or set on fire.
John
I enjoyed reading that John. Thanks for the education. Curious, do you know what the sticky material they used was? I understand why they used it, just not what it was.
