Is it just me or do others really miss A/D/S?

I had a pair of ADS CM-7's back in the 90's and they were a great little monitor. You are right,they were very enjoyable.Wish I still had them...

I still remember how excited I was to find a used pair of L570s buried under a shelf at a Boston pawn shop, covered in dust. This was back in '95 I think, before my income allowed me to spend more time with better equipment. I couldn't throw my money at the guy behind the counter for those L570s fast enough.

I can't say I miss A/D/S - I recall them being a nicely balanced speaker but not very resolving when I compared them to some B&W 704 that finally replaced them, and they sure didn't throw much of a sound stage or "disappear". But I don't think I ever got to hear any A/D/S floorstanders, or anything higher up the line, so I may have missed that boat. I did enjoy those L570s for a while, but now after enjoying other things I don't think I'd want to go back. I'm glad you posted the question...it's nice to revisit memory lane every so often!

I had the 810's many moons ago and thought them to be outstanding. The owner of Aerial Acoustics worked for ADS so you might give them a listen!

I remember buying a pair of the ADS 810 speakers back in the 70's. I went to some audio store in Boston to hear them and was really impressed. I thought the midrange and tweeter looked cool too. I ended up buying them and taking them back home to Rhode Island to listen to them in my bedroom. At first, I thought I liked them but I had to keep telling myself that the ADS 810's were better than the Rectilinear III speakers that I sold to purchase the ADS. I was using Kenwood's top of the line integrated amp which put out 80wpc and a Thorens TD165 turntable, Shure V15 Type 2 cartridge and a Teac A450 cassette deck with the speakers. It was an excellent set of electronics and turntable for its day but I never could get the speakers to sound as good as I thought they did in the store.

I sold the ADS to a friend 3 months later and bought the newer Rectilinear 7 speakers but the magic was lost.

The ADS-L1290/2 was always the speaker to replace my Magnepan-SMGa but being a young adult I was never in the financial position to upgrade. It wasn't until I heard the Mirage M5si that an affordable speaker was competitive with the ADS.

Not to fret, ADS speakers still hold their own quite well! I have the L1290/2 and L1590/2, and have no thoughts of ever getting rid of them, because what else can you find that sounds so goooood for the money? And the magic is still there!

06-09-14: Dayglow
The ADS-L1290/2 was always the speaker to replace my Magnepan-SMGa but being a young adult I was never in the financial position to upgrade. It wasn't until I heard the Mirage M5si that an affordable speaker was competitive with the ADS.

Interesting. It sounds like our sense of speakers overlaps. I owned (and liked) a pair of L1090/2s for almost a decade (plus a few years with some L810s). I replaced the L1090s with Mirage M5si's in 1996, which I still have and use. I have since added an analog-sourced 2-channel system, and the speakers are Magneplanar 1.7s augmented by a pair of Mirage MM8 subwoofers.

If you like consistent in-room power response (and dispersion), transparency, midrange honesty, detail within a broader musical context, you will--like the OP--probably like a/d/s/, Mirage and the other Canadians, and possibly Magnepan.

To the OP, no it's not just you. ADS was ahead of the curve in power response, tonal balance, transparency, etc. It was a sad time for me when ADS dropped their high end aspirations for their "lifestyle" models and died off soon after.

Huge ADS fan! I have owned many pairs and still have about three or four including a mint pair of 1530's. Johnnyn53 when did the life style models come out? Are you referring to the M series as well as the Cm's and the Sat stuff? I ask because I have a pair of Sat 7's in my cabin and I'm not sure I like them as well as my L8e's or the L710. They sound great but seem lacking in the mid-range on some music.

I had some ADS but replaced them with Allison I's which made them sound like toys. Allison is THE brand I miss most.

I always liked ADS but plenty of other fish in the sea these days, so que sera' sera'.

Tandberg and Nakamichi are the lines not around these days that I miss the most.

A pair of 810's on Minneapolis craigslist list today for $250.
Also a pair of 1290's for $350.
Both look in decent shape.

Huge ADS fan as well. Closest thing I've found to modern ADS is Peachtree D5. Have a set and love them to death.

Yeah they were the first speaker "backintheday" I really noticed...they were sweet.

I just acquired a pair of 420's for a system for the grand kids . Pleasantly surprised !