The Advent Loudspeaker

[Cayuga]

I was given a pair of 1973 Advents, the cabs are in good shape and the tweeters seem to be OK. The problem is the woofers, the foam is gone in one speaker and much to my surprise the woofer missing in the other speaker. Are these worth fixing? Can I find a replacement woofer? Your thoughts please. I will post pictures if that helps.

[F1nut]

These guys can help, http://www.abtechservices.com/

[mhardy6647]

...you may have them refoamed or refoam them yourself.
www.partsexpress.com for example has foam kits designed for the "OLA" (original large Advent) as do many other vendors.

Unless the voice coils on the drivers are open or the cones severely damaged, you likely need nothing but replacement surrounds.


FYI the canonical on-line source of info on Advent, AR, KLH, Allison, etc. (the classic New England loudspeakers) is www.classicspeakerpages.net

[F1nut]

He's missing one woofer.

[mhardy6647]

d'oh. I actually read the OP twice and though the foam was missing, not the woofer. oops. Guess I wasn't awake yet.

[tkfoh]

I have three set of these, a big advant fan, like F-1 said that a good link for you advents low end. You will like those 2 ways alot, and are getting harder to find.

[Cayuga]

So these Advents are worth fixing, I'm glad because the cabs are to nice for firewood

[TroyD]

definately worth fixing..

BDT

[Cayuga]

The question I have is the missing woofer, do I try to find an orig. woofer or do I buy new replacements?

[TroyD]

You will see them on fleabay and what not....I'd go all original if possible.

BDT

[RuSsMaN]

Post a picture of what your woofers look like, I think I have a pair (needs foam), with the old square mag structure I'd send your way for the price of shipping.

[Cayuga]

RuSsMaN, thanks that would be great. I'll post some pics tonight

[shack]

You will see them on fleabay and what not....I'd go all original if possible.

BDT

Good advice to keep them original. If RuSsMaN's don't work, I'm sure you could pick up a rough set on ebay or craigslist that has a working driver(s) and maybe even working tweeter(s) for not much more than shipping. I still bring mine out from time to time. A great old speaker with that "New England" sound.

[Cayuga]

Thanks shack, replacements are $85 each I need one but should get two if I'm going new?

[Cayuga]

RuSSMaN, this a picture of the Advent I'm looking for a new woofer for. Does this match the one you have?

[RuSsMaN]

Nope, mine don't have the wood ring, you have the 9.5" woofer that was in a 12" basket it looks like, same as the DQ-10. I'm trying to remember what I pulled these from, because I have the fried egg tweeters that went with it. Mine are all black cast baskets, with square magnets.

[steveinaz]

Advents are always worth saving....

[cnh]

RuSSMaN, this a picture of the Advent I'm looking for a new woofer for. Does this match the one you have?

That is a classic Advent. Nice to see some of the old stuff! Did someone say New England? Not only do we live up North we're fans of the New England sound! From the first pair of KLHs that 'hooked' me.

Good Luck on the search....it's definitely worth it.

cnh

[mhardy6647]

I think the performance of the all metal and the Masonite ring woofers is identical, Russ.

N.B. The same woofer was also used in the venerable Dahlquist DQ-10.

[Cayuga]

Based on the replies I'll try and keep these original. If anyone has a driver or see one for sale let me know. Thanks

[RuSsMaN]

MH, I actually pulled them out of the garage, and ended up just tossing them in garbage. The foam was seriously gone when I put them out there zip tied face to face, I cut the ties, and one woofer was in the out position (the top one), and the bottom one was fully sunk in. Neither voice coil was rubbing, but I just couldn't bare the sight of it.

I don't think they are the same, that masonite ring measured much less than the actual basket, 9.5 inches iirc, am I wrong?

[mhardy6647]

You are correct, sir.

FWIW, I have a single Utility Advent sitting rather unceremoniously on the floor in the garage... I might, consequently, have a good surplus woofer...

[nap]

That is a classic Advent. Nice to see some of the old stuff! Did someone say New England? Not only do we live up North we're fans of the New England sound! From the first pair of KLHs that 'hooked' me.

Good Luck on the search....it's definitely worth it.

cnh

Out of curiosity, can you quantify the New England sound ? Or do I need to buy a pair of Advents for myself ?

[mhardy6647]

Somewhat recessed (the opposite of "forward" - cf. the JBL studio monitors) but with good transient detail (not unlike the early consumer Polk Audio "High Definition" Monitor Series loudspeakers). The New England (AR, KLH, Advent, Allison, EPI, AVID, etc.) loudspeakers also generally had prodigious bass output (albeit requiring high power to display it to best effect due to low sensitivity) with well-damped (some would say over-damped) bass.

The traditional reference to "the New England sound" was akin to listening to an orchestra from mid-hall seats in a large and well-designed concert hall. Very different than the hyper-present (even etched) sound of the "West Coast" monitors (of which, to my ear, the JBLs were the most egregious examples).

[shack]

I've always felt the "New England Sound" is typified by a speaker that excells in musical genres such as jazz, accoustic, folk, and light classical. A very smooth and "laid back" sound if you will. I think my Advents fit that description. George Benson they do well...AC/DC is not their forte. I think this description by someone else sums it up it pretty well...

Back in the day of the great two-channel receiver dinosaurs, before the great FTC power specifications wars, and before the coming of digital sound, the speakers of the day could generally be classified in either of two ways.

One, the "east coast sound" was characterized by a bump in the upper mid bass, a subdued mid-range and fairly reticent highs. This suited classical and light acoustic music since it closely approximated the sound one would find in "classical" venues such as a big, well-padded hall. Several speakers of that day that pioneered and offered this type of sound were Acoustic Research (AR) with their AR 3 and it's siblings, KLH with its Models 5, 6 and others. Coincidentally, these were started in and around Boston. Ergo, it became called the "east coast" (or "New England") sound. In addition to AR and KLH, other New England sound purveyors were Advent and Boston Acoustics. Advent was started by Henry Kloss, who was the "K" in "KLH" and which he co-founded when he left the employ of Edgar Villchur, with whom he co-founded AR to work with on the original AR acoustic suspension speakers back in the 50's.

Now, on the other coast, companies like JBL and Altec were selling speakers that offered a punched up mid-range and high end. Since their roots were in movie theatre sound, this was a natural evolution. These were used extensively in the recording studios of the day and odds are that virtually any classic rock recordings you own were made using JBL monitors. As time went on, these became popular for home use and when JBL got wise to this, they released the JBL L-100, which became the poster boy for the "west coast" sound.

[George Grand]

Drive a classic New England speaker with enough power and the laid-backness disappears.

[cnh]

Somewhat recessed (the opposite of "forward" - cf. the JBL studio monitors) but with good transient detail (not unlike the early consumer Polk Audio "High Definition" Monitor Series loudspeakers). The New England (AR, KLH, Advent, Allison, EPI, AVID, etc.) loudspeakers also generally had prodigious bass output (albeit requiring high power to display it to best effect due to low sensitivity) with well-damped (some would say over-damped) bass.

The traditional reference to "the New England sound" was akin to listening to an orchestra from mid-hall seats in a large and well-designed concert hall. Very different than the hyper-present (even etched) sound of the "West Coast" monitors (of which, to my ear, the JBLs were the most egregious examples).

Mhardy, Shack and George have pretty much summed it up, nicely. I have a set of KLHs and a set of JBL L series (from the 80s). The differences between the two is as described above.

But Mr. Grand also has a point. When I hook the KLHs up to the 200 watt x 2 SS amp they become a bit less gentlemenly!

IMO, everyone should have a set of Kloss speakers somewhere in their collection!

cnh

[Cayuga]

I love these replies, you guys have inspired me to refinish the cabs and get these Advents back to life. I just hope I can find a driver or two.

[George Grand]

I like the New England, acoustic suspension speakers cause there is very little that compares low-end wise. Ported/passive radiator/folded horn designs roll of too fast for my taste, unless you start talking huge cabinets like the BIG SDA's. If I want super-large cabs, I could probably get a pair of Bozaks right? Problem solved. That's why those guys sold a lot of speakers to begin with. No more huge cabs required.

As far as the rest of the spectrum, you can apply enough power to a New England speaker and the politeness goes away, but the sound remains accurate, and the speaker is universal in it's applications. There is little you can do for these other designs to make them acceptable for anything other than reproducing the sound of recorded ELECTRONIC amplified instruments. Rock & roll speakers.

[dkr919]

I love these replies, you guys have inspired me to refinish the cabs and get these Advents back to life. I just hope I can find a driver or two.

Here's a nice restoration example.

http://www.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls....dvent-speaker-