Compare Large Advent?

They SUCK! it's a no brainer...

having lived with lots(well over 20) pairs of high end speakers over 30 years, listening to hundreds for extended periods, and currently living with no sloutch gradients, ar's and castles.....there are times when i am certain that the original large and small advents where just about perfect. in fact, a stacked (2) pair of large advents still compete with pretty much ANYTHING. chapmans,hales,allisons and sotas were up there, but those adventsjust did everything right, and you didn't have worry about what they were hooked up to. friends who still own and swear by them, think that no reasonable person could make a case for needing more (ever)

Stereophile did a review of them just recently. I also had a pair long ago, and I remember them as sounding real good even compared with much more expensive models at that time.

I have a friend that rebuilt a pair from scratch. I was amazed. Is it true that the woofer is the exact same one in the Dahlquist DQ-10's?

I as well owned a pair way back when. Had them tied to a Phase Linear 400. No idea what the sensitivity was but it took some juice to get them going. My guesstimate would be around 88dB.

I had a double advent stack in my early twenties. I still miss them. Talk about bang for the buck. I was assembling Dynaco kits to power them. My neighbors all knew I had them. They did have a few faults but at that price (about $130 bucks/pair) they were hard to beat. Doubling up the pair just magnified their strengths. I still have one pair of them in the closet, can't bring myself to get rid of em.
They were my first 'real' speaker.

FINFINDER
WANA SELL THEM,THEN I'LL HAVE 4

The cabinets are not in great shape and the woofers surrounds rotted away years ago. Every now and then I consider getting reconed woofers from ebay and firing them up just for old time sake, as yet I've never gotten around to it. Thanks for the offer.

woofers can be repaired at new england speaker,for a very reasonable price[about 70.00 a pair].bought a pair of these spkrs. for 10.00 and had this done,they sound very good,all things considered.

i have a pair, hooked up to a Denon PMA-700AE integrated amp,
(a Rotel RB-1070 will come this summer)

they have to be set up good, but when you did that, you'll have a speaker that easily beats a modern $1000 speaker,

mine for example, beat my dad's b&w dm604 s3's, on voices, if you happen to find a pair somewhere (or buy one on ebay or at a garage sale or so) pick them up, set them up and listen to them,
the sweetest voices I ever heard...

Back in the day I played 4 stacked large walnut Advents powered by an SAE amp and pre-amp, Thorens TD125 with Shure SMEIII tonearm and Stanton 681EEE cartridge.
I had 2 problems:
1. Blew many woofer surrounds (very weak) and a few teweeters
2. Couldn't isolate the turntable well enough and bass would actually pop stylus out of groove and vibration caused rumble. Maybe I should have tried some quarters 8<(.
But when everything was working it kicked some serious butt!

The spec for the 'New Large' Advent loudspeaker was 89dB/W/m. I drove mine fine for years ('79-'89) with a modded Advent 300 receiver. I replaced the electrolytic crossover caps with much better poly caps. Because they were inexpensive speakers, they were too often paired with cheap gear of the '70s and the awful sound was blamed on the speakers. I had auditioned mine from time to time with top-notch electronics of the '80s and they only sounded better. I tried double advents with a friend, but the Sansui 717 amp always popped its breaker after 5min.

The recent stereophile review was of the 'smaller 'old' advent loudspeaker', which was a dumbed-down version of the 'large' model. The side-by-side difference was not subtle, with a far more open and less-congested midrange on the 'large', along with obviously deeper more defined bass from a 2" bigger woofer.

Both speakers were redesigned in '79 (?) and renamed the 'new' (small/large) advent loudspeaker. A big part of the change was more output from a redesigned tweeter to take advantage of the less-hashy HF reproduction offered by newer transistor electronics of the later '70s (it's all relative!) The reviewer's concern of the missing high frequencies would have been much less-so with the 'new'.

I sold my Advents for VERY similar sounding Boston A200s, but have been listening to Thiel 2.3&4 since 2002. Sure, the Thiels are a far better speaker esp wrt soundstaging, but there's a lot to be said about Advent's 12" woofers and a simple crossover.

If I was forced to own a '70s speaker, I'd take my 'New Large' Advents back in a second: they could play loud, decent dispersion, a warmish engaging sound with wonderfully natural midrange for a large 2-way, and conveyed more detail and dynamics than you'd expect (as the stereophile reviewer reported).

As much as I enjoyed them, technology does march forward: I'm no Advent guru, just recalling the thousands of hours they provided my music.

Had a paif Advent Heritage from about 1991. Just put them away when I got the Spendor S8s. The Advents's had very mushy bass and compared to the Spendors, although I think they went lower. Also, switcing back to them after listening to a more modern speaker you could hear the mismatch between the tweeter and mids.

In their day though they were awsome for the money. I was happy with them for a long time and my wife still rues the day I stopped in a hi-fi store on a whim and promptly decided to replace the whole kit.

I believe I paid $250 (new) for my first pair of large walnut Advents and I must add, they had a lifetime guarantee so all the drivers I blew were replaced free.

no offense but the advent heritage was not a good speaker even then. the large and small advent however would compete with the new spendor series, and others

I had them in the late 70's, liked them. I was blown away by the KEF 103.2 in 84 and gave the New Large Advents away to a friend.

I have a pair.My original high end speakers. The cabinets are in good shape with a few corner dings. The tweeters are originals. I would like to get new woofers. I do not have the old woofers. What is this about the Dahlquist dq-10s? Are they compatible?

AH the vintage large Advent speakers!! For many years 1971-1997 they were my main speakers. I had 4 stacked (tweeter to tweeter) for the fronts and singles for my rear channels. I drove the fronts with a Marantz 1200 Int amp 125 wpc. At the end I drove them with an Adcom tuner preamp and the 555 power amp. Great sound. It took the Apogee Calipers and finally the Divas for me to upgrade.
2 things:
1. At $200 per pair, they were considered cheap, so they were included in basically low fi systems. In fact with high end electronics with good power 100+ wpc, they were exceptional for the time and can easily compete with some of todays speakers costing up to $1000.
2. When stacked, they become a different beast altogether!! The sound becomes astonishing considering the system costs $400. I still have the 4 in mint condition in storage. One day I may set them up for comparision with my Divas. It'll be interesting, how they compare. IMHO they were probably best $400 new speakers ever. Mr. Kloss sure hit it right with these.

I can't claim to be an audio expert but I appreciate good sound. When I "upgraded" to my present system about 20 years ago I was talked into some DQ-20's instead of the Larger Advents that I was going to get at the time.

Two years ago I picked up some Larger Advents very reasonably priced and hooked them to the Monster Cable in place of the DQ-20's and in the exact sonic environment.

At first I saw no discernable difference but then I began to notice things that I had NOT been hearing on the Dahlquists. The more I listened across our eclectic collection that ranges from the hillbilly yodels of A. Tippin to Sinatra and Muldaur, from George Winston and the incredible diction of Streep to Loreena MacKennitt and John Anderson, from The Who and much Glimmer Twinz to Led Zep's incredible 5 [and even a few old Yardbirds] to Wagner as interpreted by Furtwangler, Flagstad and others more modern, to Josh Bell and Cash and Waylon and Willie and Big & Rich...

Anyway, you get the picture, our main speakers get played at a lot of different volumes and with a lot of different material. And across this diverse range I keep "discovering" things that weren't there with the DQ-20's. And no, my ears are not getting better with age ;^)

So cutting to the chase, I see that you keep up with the technical stuff and I wondered if you would explain why the Advent Heritage isn't as desirable as the old Larger [and Smaller] Advents. I am going to put my pair of DQ-20's on eBay and set up the dual Advent system so I need to know which years/models of the various large Advents would be best for this.

Thanks much in advance for any advice anyone can offer here; I am using a Sumo Polaris amp and a Sumo Athena pre-amp.

Most likely that Henry Kloss wasn't into the design at that time. The Large Advent was and still is the cream of the crop. When you get your second pair stack them with the tweeters close together (tweeter on top of the bottom speaker-tweeter on the bottom of the top one) You'll then hear things that you did'nt with just a single pair. The better the electronics the better these will sound!! I replaced my 1971s with 1978s (better quality assemblies)

For Moes Pizza,
Followup--You want the Large Advent. There's an Advent/1 but I don't think it's the same. Also, after you set up the Advents, remove the grill cloths!!! They get in the way of the music. If you haven't done that yet, try it--cleaner sound.

Does anyone else remember the short period during which Advent offered the "powered Advent Large Speaker?" I never heard them nor talked to anyone who had heard them, but I enjoyed my large advents. I played them with, alternately a Marantz 1060 and then an Advent 300. But the best sound I ever got out of them were when I used the 300 as a preamp and hooked up a monster mono guitar amp, just to see what they would do. Sounded great with the increased power. They like power.

The story I recall was that Henry Kloss became interested in video and was developing one of the first home-based front projection systems. He needed development money so drew on his design experience from AR and KLH and introduced the Large Advent. Due to the success of his Advent speakers, he is remembered for those to a much greater extent than his Kloss video system.

I bought a new pair of Large Advents in 1970 and by '73 had stacked Advents. My HK Citation 12 amp was not powerful and didn't like the impedance load so that was cured by building a Dyna 400 kit. I kept that system until about '80 and it was one of the best I've owned.

Was that guitar amp a Mesa Boogie by chance?

A friend has a mint pair of powered Large Advents for sale if anyone here is interested; work perfectly

Just wanted to say that I owned a pair of Large Advents and I drove them with a Marantz 1230. I had a thorens TD150 turntable and the sound was so incredible. I never heard better until I heard ADS. The only weakness in the Advents was the tweeter.. The bass kicked ASS

I agree , but the Smaller Advent was better. Sill no world-beater though .

IMHO the newer large Advent was and remains a great speaker. I had the surrounds of mine replaced by John of VanL Speakerworks in Chicago. He upgraded my crossovers and internal wiring too. They are in my basement and I play rock while I work out using my high school receiver-a Sansui 771. With good speaker cable, and proper placement, the sound is surprisingly good. And that is in comparison to 75K of electronics upstairs. 

Hi,

I still have my two pair of original Large Advents from the early 70's with replaced woofer surrounds and updated capacitors.

Then the update bug bit and I stored them away about eight years ago. 

Since that time, I have worked my way through Magnepans: 1.2, 1.7, and 3.6, and Thiels: CS3.6 and CS5.

Anyway, this thread got me off my butt to set up one pair of the Advents in my listening room.

They are running right now with a Hegel HD25 DAC, Prima Luna Dialogue Premium preamp, and W4S ST1000 amp, all connected with Cullen cables.

I am listening to Bill Evans "Another Time" and Alan Wilson "The Blind Bilnd Owl" and you know what - they sound pretty damn good. They have that certain mellowness and ease that is just right along with good soundstage and presence.

Yea, the Advents  could be a bit tighter in the bass and cleaner in the treble, but not too much, otherwise they would not be making MUSIC!

I had a pair of Large Advents a few years ago and hooked them up to my main system. And ya know what? They did sound good. I gave my Nephew a restored Vintage Sherwood receiver, a Marantz CD player, and those old restored Advents. He couldn't be happier....

drmoran - I'd be interested in your friend's Powered Advents.   How do I get in touch with you? 

I had 2 of the small Advents and wound up giving them away,. Still have 4 of the large walnut Advents from 1976 and 2 of the Advent Prodigy towers I bought a few years later, but they all need to be re-coned. Powered them with a Yamaha Surround Sound A-1000 ..incredible speakers..

I had a pair of the large Advents 40+ years ago and for the money, they were unbeatable in my opinion.

I'd be willing to bet they'd still be able to hold their own today with much pricier speakers.

They do. No doubt....

I too had a pair of large Advent, loved them until I auditioned some
Klipsch Cornwalls. Then there was no real reason to keep the Advents sold them to a buddy,

I bought my pair from the Sally Ann store over ten years now for 10 bucks. Nice solid wood.
I had the woofers redone. I remember the service guy told me that dont under estimate these .
So since that time I bought some Alphas I had an old pair of cheaper Regas.
 I bought a pair of Mordant Shorts 908is
And yestarday i bought a pair of Paradigms 20v2s.
 And still the Advents just have more clarity and sound stage.
I run it all with a yamaha rs 700 stereo reciever.
 So my conclusion is were never satified with sound. For us its like chasing the carrot.
Next up the trangle elara ( they always sound good in the store.)

I bought 4 Large Advents (Fried Egg Tweeters) 3 years ago from a local guy that specializes in vintage speaker restoration. 
He added front to back And side to side cabinet bracing.
rebuilt x overs with quality parts, 16 g internal wiring.. 
also damped woofer frames with led tape and the magnet with some kind of puddy. This does amazing things for the midrange. 
I have to say of the 40 or so speakers I have owned these are great sounding and they work great near the back wall. I had Magnepan 1.6 and listened to the Advents 90% of the time. The only negative is if you want something Aesthetically more appealing that sound as good, you will have to spend a good deal of money. 
Im considering going to OHM Walsh 4000 or Klipsch Cornwall’s as the also work well near back wall and offer a major cosmetic upgrade but we are looking at 4400.00 or more a pair. I currently have all 4 on EBay located in Florham Park NJ. I’m now reconsidering my decision to part with these.

Well, we have all been lucky to be into the Audio hobby in the first place.  Just think, the majority of people out there are listening to music with the sonic quality of a boom box.  

An old Advent receiver, a pair of large advents and a good cd source will sound better than what the very vast majority of people are using to listen to music.....

Hi All,

I have the old Large Advents hooked up again, this time with a Coda CSI amp, and this setup sounds better than with the W4S ST1000.

The Advents sound good. Mellow with no harsh treble. Soundstage is there and there is texture to the sound. Certainly they are not my Thiel CS5's but it is pretty easy to quit listening to the speakers and just enjoy the music.

Thanks for listening,

Dsper

Hi All,

Okay, can we please discuss the Large Advents a bit more?

I am in the market for a set of stand mounts for a second system, which is the reason for this post. (Main system is PWT, EVO B4B, Don Sachs DS2 pre, DNA-500 and Theil CS5i's).

Right now I am listening to one pair of Large Advents with a CJ LP66S tube amp, McCormack RLD1 preamp, and a 12 year old Azur 640 CD player. Does not sound bad at all. Seriously.

I like the bass I am hearing from the Avents. Based on reading a lot of reviews, I seem to be zeroing in on Fritz speakers or Tyler Acoustics. I am not sure which Fritz model, maybe the Carbon 7SE Mk2, and Tyler advised he can build the Taylos or Linbrook Sigs. 

 So, the question. Any opinions on how the "house sound" of Fritz and Tyler Acoustics compares to the Large Advents?

Thanks for listening,

Dsper