now 2024, and i have L910's and L710's and still love them, i dont thnk I could not own a set of ADS speakers. SureI now use them in a second system.
Who uses ADS Speakers
I worked at ADS in The late 70s and Find they are one of the best home speakers ever.
I always loved their accuracy.
68 responses Add your response
Timely post My dad has had l810’s since he bought them new in 1980 or thereabouts. In the late 70’s / early 80’s they were paired with a big Technics receiver (I think a 5250) and then in the 80’s with a Carver MX900 receiver and now with a lower end Cambridge 100 watt receiver (axr100 I think). He’s recently inquired about replacing them with some more detailed bookshelf’s but I’m wondering if it would be worth it do look into a doing some kind of service on them. They’ve been used a lot for 40 years … but only moved once in one house move and have stayed in great shape. Sending them to Richard So seems excessive given their size. Would it just be a crossover refresh? If he gets rid of them , I’ll end up with them, so either way I’d like to ensure they are performing best as possible. any advice appreciated pic of his l810 here :
|
I bought L-880s in 1983 after extensive evaluations and used them for many years. I originally drove them with a Sony ES receiver rated at 80W/ch IIRC. I had two big epiphanies with them in terms of sound quality. The first was when I moved the speakers from low, wood stands to 30" heavy steel stands with spikes on the base anchoring to a concrete floor. The other was when I switched from the Sony receiver to Adcom electronics (GFP555/GFA555), which seemed to provide the power reserve the Sony was lacking (or something else I haven't thought of). In each case the change was more noticeable better than any change I've made in a hifi system. My dad liked them well enough that, to both get the sound and outdo me, he bought a pair of L-1090 floor standers. Both pair are now in possession of my son who loves the sound and the history. He uses the 1090's as one of several speakers that he mixes and masters his music with. I'm hoping to get the L-880s back from him at least for awhile to compare to the Paradigm and B & W speakers I now have. Perhaps things haven't improved as much as I pocketbook thought they should. |
I have a pair of L-570/2s and a pair of L-810s and will not part with either set. The 570s are mated with a Cary SL-100 preamp/PS Audio HCA-2 amp and augmented with a James Loudspeaker S10 subwoofer. Well-balanced and non-fatiguing and just plain fun to listen to. The 810s are harnessed to a Parasound P5 preamp/ATI 1802 amplifier combo, along with a Bag End Infrasub 18. All I can say is that the giddyup-factor is very satisfying. I agree with a previous post that said 810s do not sound good at lower volumes, but at 75-80db, they will put you in heaven. |
Hi Yes love ADS speakers !! I have 4 pairs of them all bought brand new from a friend who also worked at the factory in Wilmington. 3 pairs of them are in my home theater to this day ! These are great speakers and I still love listening to them !! OIne of the pairs is the 1290 II otherwise I forget the model numbers BTW - I've seen you playing numerous times with the B Street Bombers
|
I have a pair of the L710’s in my living room. They are not hitched up now, not sure why so maybe I’ll bring them up to my music room and give them a spin. These were one of the first speakers, Dahlquist DQ-10’s being another that started my hi fi journey. I’ve been into restoring vintage gear lately, DQ-10’s being one of them and it has brought back many fine memories of hanging out at the dealers trying out stuff I couldn’t afford. So I guess I’ll check out the 710’s and see how they are doing after all these years. Who knows, maybe my next project after finishing. my Rek O Kut Rondine Jr. table. Got to love audio gear from the golden ages, at least I do. |
Listening to my L1590 here as I type in my home office. SS Monoblock amps, tube preamp. Also have 710's. Had the 910's. All great. If you have any ADS speakers in the upper level that you want to keep in tip top shape, consider sending your tweeters and mids off to Richard so for a refresh before he hangs it up. |
I use ADS speakers in my main system. I have the L1290 that were completely rebuilt by Richard So (tweeters, midrange, woofers and crossovers) that I drive with a Jolida 60W tube amp. They sound great. However, I keep thinking, would more modern speakers sound better? What caught my interest are the new KLH Model 5 speakers, since they are also an acoustic suspension design. Would they sound any better? |
Thanks @rauliruegas - I was looking for a couple years for the C2000 but its really hard to find, and once I did actually find it but the sale didn't go through. I was then willing to try a Bryston 10b but all the reading I did about bi-amping these speaker just didn't really add up, and I was never that interested in a sub.... but I'm happy to read your experience and now might look at trying it again now with a sub. I don't know if I would want to wire direct to my amps, I move house too much for that. |
Dear @brownsfan @au_lait : I never heard the 1290 or other ADS speakers but my L-2030.
I agree that all those switchs makes more harm to the audio signal. Please take a look to what what I posted in this thread:
Even that my 2030 goes really down in the bass I decided to add a pair of powered subwoofers and the high pass filter at around 80hz, so de 2030 frequency range is from 80hz and up and below 80 hz is handled by my Velodyne subs. The improvement was " day and nigth " because the IMD levels goes really down and everything in the whole frequency range just shines as never before. The 1290 crossover at 500hz when the 2030 crossover at 450hz so I'm totally sure on this specific improvement regards. R. |
Gotta throw in my two cents worth, as I'm also a big ADS fan. Bought my first pair of L710's in the early 80's, then onto 810's, 910's, the Sub-sat system, and currently own L1290/2's, 1590/2's and a pair of L400's with the metal grilles. They still satisfy me a lot. If I was to go to anything else, probably would be the Aerial 7T, but I'm still happy with the ones I have with Mac electronics! |
I bought a pair of ADS a few years back and worked on the crossover and bass drivers. Didnt take long before I sold them. A good speaker back in the day but a far cry from current offerings. As another points out, they can be greatly improved with a bit of soldering, a few subtractions and additions. I dont think you need to buy designer parts to get a significant improvement. |
ADS!! Holy Moly Batman! ADS car audio back in the 80’s and 90’s was the shiz-nit. When I had a paper route a zillion years ago, there was this fella who competed in the car audio sound-off events and he competed in the 50 watt and under classs for a complete car audio system, and he won it using ADS speakers in his car and a Soundstream Class A amp; he won the event and his car was published in Car Audio or something like that. I still have new in the box some 320i component speakers I never installed and some 300i plate speakers. I even have a few PQ10s laying around. My first ever ADS amp was a PQ8! Har. As far as home equipment goes, I do have some equipment back at my Mom’s house; I don’t remember the numbers but I remember when I bought it, it was A LOT of money for being a wee lad at the time... Ahhh, those were the good old days... |
Additional information. I considered replacing the inductors, but decided against it. Doing so would significantly elevate the cost of the project and probably necessitate using an external cross over. I also thought about but did not go for an upgrade on the binding posts. I bought these speakers used about 15 years ago, and they were in very rough shape. The cabinets were badly scratched and the grills were really bent up. Had the cosmetics been better, I probably would have done an even more radical crossover rebuild with better inductors for those that are in series with the drivers, where the correct inductor values could be sourced. I got as far as I could with this rebuild last winter, but put the work on hold to attend to some other goals I had for this last year. I don't enjoy the cabinet work that much, so its easy to push that kind of thing aside. |
@au_lait, it is likely that you are going to have to live with a roll off at 40 Hz with these speakers. However, it is likely that they are capable of nice tight articulate bass. The printed circuit board seriously compromises performance. If you are able to build a completely new cross over, as I did, you can eliminate the switches that enable bi amping and provide tweeter attenuation. Those switches seriously compromise performance. They are cheap and are now 40 years old. Mine completely disintegrated when I tried to desolder them. I also eliminated the tweeter protection, which made an easily audible improvement. If you don’t drive them too hard, you can probably get away with this. You will probably also get some improvement in low frequency quality by replacing the internal wiring. I used Duelund tinned copper for this. One of the things I really noticed after my crossover work is the midrange beauty. Very smooth and refined, as compared to my other speakers, both of which use a 7 inch mid-range. I would encourage anyone who likes the 1290’s and has spent the money to have Richard So recondition the drivers consider a rebuild or redesign of the crossovers. If you are handy with this sort of thing, a complete crossover redesign, like I did will afford a much improved speaker. However, for those who are less ambitious, simply replacing the stock resistors and caps will make a big difference. |
I own ADS L1290s and use as my main speakers. I live them. Had the tweeters and mids rebuilt by Richard So, and with the advise of @brownsfan I’m going to start an upgrade of the xovers using premium parts. Running them with Pass Aleph 1.2 at 150 watts, at times I yearn for a bit more bass but nothing bad enough to stop my enjoyment. |
Bstbomber. I have only owned the 200’s in my honda civic and still use my L780/2. For a fairly compact speaker the low frequencies are surprisingly present and the mids and highs are still impressive. Sometimes i just play Jimi’s Little Wing just to hear the crystalline bell ring. My question what ADS have you or would you own and why. |
Dear @dougthebiker : " the Aerials are superb speakers as well. "
You are rigth, M.Kelly is a very knowledge high levels on speaker design. Fortunatelly I own the 2030 but if not probably Aerial could " live " in my system.
R. |
I purchased the ADS Sub-Sat system in the early 1980's and they served in my main system for about a decade. They are my son's main system today and he loves them. I did have to replace the caps in the subwoofer amp a few years ago. Not bad after ~35 years of continued use. Michael Kelly is a true gentleman and a great speaker designer. I had dinner with him once in Boston when I sold his Aerial speakers in my audio store. Needless to say, the Aerials are superb speakers as well. |
In the late 70's or early eighties I owned a pair of A D S L1290 floor standing speakers in walnut finish. They were stunning looking speakers with the black metal perforated grille. I loved that the metal grill cover was mounted with pins that pushed into holes in the cabinet. Very easy on & off. As I( remember I listened mostly with the grill covers off. They had a very direct, clear sound and had good frequency extension (bass was emphasized). This was when digital sound was the big buzz-word, and A D S rode those coat tails. I drove them with a Luxman integrated amp (70 w) and they sounded very dynamic. Back in the day I didn't pay attention to things like stage,. image, air, etc. I just wanted things clear & loud. The L1290's filled that bill. |
@hypoman see my post about FB ADS group and Richard So who specialize in repair. Jim |
Dear @bstbomber : Yes, you are rigth the monitors in the 1812 were the BC8. I own oll LP Telarc recordings where Telarc used not only the 2030's but the 1530 that uses the same 2030 tweeter/main Midrange.
@tomic601 , you are rigth too the big enclousure in the 2030 has several problems and I took some actions about and I received advise directly from M.Kelly.
The tweeter/main mid range in the 2030's are really something exceptional even today. No, my modified L-2030 certainly is not a perfect speaker but performs at very high quality levels that are unveliable for a true vintage design.
Congratulations to A D S .
R. |
From 1974 into the 2000’s I worked for Tweeter, which was Boston’s main a/d/s/ dealer. Took dealer training and factory tours with Dr. Goderhard Guenther, Mike Kelly, Dave Marshall. I owned many models, but not the really big ones like the L2030 series. My faves were the 8”/1” 2 way in its many iterations from the Braun L500 to the L570II. They killed the goose when the tacky soft dome was replaced by the polymer dome, IMO. I also loved the Gen 2 3-ways that used the .75” tweeter. The L730 was a great one. I never felt their bass response had what the Large Advent had in terms of low end sock but Dr. G said they were simply better damped than Advents and were more accurate. |
Raui\iruegas 2030s where ADS Largest speaker they ever made and I would put them up to almost anything. I helped build The very rare BC8s that Telarc ordered They where used in Monitoring Telarc's 1812 Overture Recordings. There where I believe only a dozen made Including one pair in white For ADS President.
|
I have two pair of L570/2, one in walnut, the other in black. They sound great and I use them for my office. One tweeter in the black pair needs replacement, but I have had no luck finding one on ebay. Also a little concerned that a seller I'm not familiar with would have the sense to pack it correctly so the dome doesn't get crushed in shipment. If anyone knows of someone who does excellent repairs of dead tweeters (I suspect a voice coil open), please advise. |
Still have my ADS L520 in my bedroom and use them almost every night. I still put their bass extension, imaging, and ability to play at lower volumes but still sound FULL up against any speaker south of $1000 today. Loved that they used crossover components that were good and don't change in electrical value. Just great speakers. Yeah, they only take about 50W, and maybe they won't blow you out of a large room, but for what they are, I love them. |
Still have two sets of CM5’s in two bedrooms. My son has inherited my CM6’s which I had stand mounted and supplemented by an M&K sub. Replaced those with Aerial Acoustics 8b towers. Aerial was founded by Michael Kelly, formerly of ADS, who still operates Aerial. Fun aside - had dealer who sold me the Aerial 8b’s come to the house and try to sell me a McIntosh bookshelf to replace the ADS CM5’s. His speakers were at least three times the size of the ADS. He walked out shaking his head. Couldn’t believe the little CM 5’s had deeper, tighter, bass and we’re clearer across the spectrum compared to the larger McIntosh speakers. I wasn’t surprised. It’s why I still have them. Only very small speakers I’ve heard that were somewhat comparable to the CM5’s were the ATC SCM 7’s. The ATC’s mid and high frequency response was better - clearer and more extended highs. But they do not deliver the low end of the CM5’s. |
I bought my first pair of ADS 910 speakers in 1978. I still have them, although they need to be restored. I still own pairs of 1590/2's, a pair of 1290's, and a pair of 810's. The latter three pairs still sound great. In my opinion, the classic "fried-egg" mid-range driver used in those ADS speakers is still one of the best mid-range drivers ever designed. |
