Usless but interesting ....how many of you old timers started with original Large Advents?
They were my first good speaker. I replaced them with the Dahlquist DQ 10 that used that Advent woofer. And they are both on this list! http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/the-12-most-significant-loudspeakers-of-all-time/ |
Slightly OT, but I used my Advent 3 for about 15 years before I could afford something else. After I got divorced and was in a relationship I wound up gifting them to my girlfriend and was pretty impressed with their sound , at that stage 30 years old and having sat in a basement for a decade after years of heavy use. We broke up a few months later and after no communication for several months I called her out of the blue wondering if I could have the speakers back and the line went dead before I could finish the sentence... |
Nope .... back in the Jurassic age of this hobby .... (early 70’s)... Bookshelves sequentially in first system: DYNACO A25s... then EPIs..... then finally the JBL L100’s Nostalgia has its appeal in certain circles for sure . They were fine for their time in my university dorm with the MARANTZ receiver of that early age, but those old systems don’t measure up even with the budget options available today. |
Me (hand raised)! Large Advents were actually my 2nd pair of speakers but first pair of really good ones. Wish I still had them. I used them initially with a Marantz receiver but when I switched to a NAD integrated they really sounded awesome. The 40 watts per channel and dynamic headroom of the NAD brought the Advents to life. |
Although the were of different technology, the Large Advents were followed by the DQ-10, then various Martin-Logan and Magnepan models. I have been too stable in my gear for the past decade. The pursuit of the high-end seems to be similiar to my pursuit of sports cars, Bordeaux wine and to an extend...a mate. I have often wondered about the journey being more the thrill than the end? Who, or is that whom, knows. |
I clearly remember seeing/hearing the "Large" Advents in couple of homes in my childhood. They were always belonged to a friends older brother. I also recall a few popular posters that were always in the bedroom. "Keep on Truckin" or a Freak Brothers and "Stoned Again" The really cool older brothers had a black light for some other posters. |
It was between the Advents and the JBLs. The Advents did sound very good, but were power hogs. JBLs played a lot louder and being in band hearing live horns - real horns, trumpet, trombone, not Klipschorns!- blasting all day and being a teenager loud was what I wanted. Also even back then I was into scrutinizing every little detail. JBL had really nice dust cover fasteners, and looked as good behind as with the covers on. Advents looked like some kids science project. Which now I know shows they put it all into the sound. Oh well. Live and learn. JBL went on sale. I could afford them. The rest is history. |
From my first speakers, Fisher 3 way 12", I switched to large wooden Advents, then bought a second set for my Fisher quad receiver. Soon, I had a Crown preampand Phase Linear 400 on these stacked Advents. The wood ones do sound a bit better. For decades I wondered why, until B&W did a lot of laser imaging. The bezels deflect the driver's backward motion sound away from the push signal. Eventually, I got early B&W's, the ones with the KEF ovalish woofer (Used to keep the cabinet narrow to minimuze the value added tax), along with a Celestion mid tweet and a Coles supertweeter. Next were the B&W DM 14's, eventually stacked. Later I added Acoustats for the sweet Electrostatic mids, and kept them for 25 years, along with the four 14's. They were sold when I got my 803's. My telly uses 2 of the 14's on the original stands. |
They were not that bad MC. They were a fabulous speaker for the money. That donut dome tweeter managed to get down pretty low allowing a two way design. I used two of them as a center channel between my Heresy's. Everything was being driven by a Fuzz Liner 700. It was a rockin system for a collage kid. I would sell all four speakers when I was given a pair of Bozak Symphony's which I ditched when I graduated. They were so darn nasal. I could never get then to sound good. Next would be Acoustat X's and off to La La Land. |
I was very young when I was introduced to the world of audio equipment, and, the fascinating world, of the reproduction of recorded music. Listened to, and used, more often than my dad, his system, which included AR3a speakers. I soon acquired my own system, and from my singing coach / music teacher, his pair of Klipsch Cornwalls, the vertical version, when he upgraded to KHorns. Went through numerous, and I mean, numerous, equipment / speaker / environmental ( room ) changes, throughout my life, and it all has resulted, in where I am at today. Enjoy ! MrD. |
The Advents are exceptional in our history, but their predecessor, the Acoustic Research AR series (1-7), had the greatest impact. With their newly invented sealed woofer, followed by their newly invented dome mids and tweets, they revolutionized audio, holding around 33% market share of all hi-fi speakers sold in the US. These were 1/8th the size of comparible speakers and sounded better for much less money. The new transistorized electronics made the system affordable. For you relative newbies, Professor Ed Vilchur, who invented these things, as well as the three point base turntable (which became the Aristoon and Linn Sondek), partnered with speaker cabinet maker Henry Kloss, who was later the K in KLH, before founding Advent, and later, Cambridge Audio. Advent is certainly a big part of this revolution, being even more affordable than AR and KLH. Also of interest, Advents only existed to fund Kloss' development of his large screen, projection televisions. The dual diaphram, mid tweet used in the Advent was copied and presumably improved by Thiel. |
I was at the CES show in Chicago the year Henry brought the original VideoBeam TV. We watched a large format tape of Blazing Sadles on it at the Drake Hotel and if I remember drinking some very basic wine. A good time. Meet Saul Marantz there once as well when he was helping Jon Dahlquist. One of the people and company that I loved were Magnepan... After the Videobeam a person at Advent, I believe Andy Petite, helped with the Advent 2 speaker and the first version had only one tweeter (in production they did 2 at an angle) the high frequencies were shot out is such a straight line that some called it the AudioBeam. |
If this counts, the first pair of speakers I purchased just after High school were the large Advents of the time, early 90's the Advent Maestro. A 3 way design. I also purchased a Sansui RZ 9500 from local hifi shop. I remember how happy I was at that time. I still have them. Refoamed the woofers and recapped the xover and braced the cabinets. Still have the Sansui as well. I think I will always keep them. Reminder of how this all started.... |
Similar to others, the Large Advents were the first decent speakers I owned, and were purchased from Harvey Sound in NY with a Sansui AU-999 integrated amp, Marantz tuner, Dual 1219 tt w/Stanton 681ee cartridge, and Tandberg tape deck. Those speakers were in our household for over 20 years. The amp is on a closet shelf and still works, although I haven't used it in years. The Advents played lots of great music and recall many fond memories. |
Not my first set as mine was a pair of JBL L-166es but I was very lucky to find last year a pair of Large Advents in very good condition at an excellent price. I haven't really listened to them as I've been giving more attention to the newly acquired ESS AMT Tower 1's and Snell Type A-ll's. One of these days.... |
Whatjd, you nailed it. I bought a pair of second generation Large Advents (the model with the bull nose corners) after college. I ran them with a Marantz 2325 receiver, then went with an Adcom GFA 555. I owned them for about 30 years where they spent their later life in my secondary system.They sounded wonderful and led to my life-long audio addiction. |
Advents were very popular in college. My first speakers were Polk Audio 7 that sat on a stand like a Heresy. Also had a Sony V fet amp which i blew up and got scolded by the dealer. Used a Pioneer turntable. Also remember my audio dealer had a pair of Magnaplaner Timpani 3 driven by Big Audio Research tube amp. Still remember that sound. |
My Mother was listening to very bad radios and a stereo from Mongomery Ward. I purchased her a KLH compact unit (either 20 or 24 model) and it proved to me that if exposed to better sound, most could hear the difference. I also put up a mast with a great antenna and she could get many stations clearly. In the final years of her life I believe the system gave her much pleasure. Because of her age and heritage she enjoyed "big band" music and I treated her to a live performance in her later years. |
I had some crappy speakers when I was playing around with crappy radios as a kid, and then I actually built a pair of crappy speakers. But when I was a sophomore or junior in high school circa '73-'74, I bought a Pioneer SA amp and a pair of Large Furniture Advents. They are sitting next to me on the floor of my family room as I type. About 15 years ago when my son finally vacated the basement and I turned it into a man cave/home theater, I went a little nuts and acquired stacked advents on the left and right, a pair for the center, a pair for the side and a pair for the rear. I've had professional musicians tell me it's a killer setup. I also bought a pair for my daughter and came across a beautiful pair for my living room. Like I said, I went a little nuts. This was all before price inflation set in and prices are double what they were new for speakers that need surrounds. I have over the years listened to other speakers of course. Each time it seemed I would have to spend many multiples to get anything that sounded as good. And go easy on that Old Timer talk. "Well into middle age" is the preferred nomenclature. |
Everyone had them back in the day. We were into LOUD and they seldom broke, although a tweeter would go every now and then. Stacked pairs were the cat's meow. Interesting how today almost all high-end speakers are 6' tall. Wonder where they got that idea (Magnepan) and how it is working out for them? When I got my shop in 1973, I put a pair of Advents--thank you, Henry Kloss--you were the man back then!--on one of our good systems and got an instant education in how inaccurate they were when played next to our Tympani series of Maggies. BUT, then I listened to EVERY OTHER SPEAKER in my shop and figured out that boxes were always going to be limiting to the music. The electrostatics (Quads, RTR's (hybrid) and others were almost as good as the Maggies, but listening fatigue was fast and they were rather shrill and unbalanced to us. The biggest joke and the one that had us laughing the most were the Bose 901 "direct reflecting" speakers. They were removed from the store and returned the next day. What a joke they were. Anyway, education is a wonderful thing, and I had an opportunity not given to many as I had 30 different brands and various models in the shop. The only boxes that were passable were the Fulton 80's and 100's. I have not heard them in many years, but back then, they were several steps up from the Advents. We loved the Advents in their day, and appreciated them at the time. But you have to move on eventually, so glad we had them and glad they are gone now. Cheers! |
