Has anyone compared ADS M12's with L-1590's?

Closest I've come is comparing M30's to the 1590's. The M30's won that contest. The M series for some reason don't seem to be as ubiquitous as the older series.
 
I was able to grab a pair for 250.00, took a chance hoping they were above average. It will be a few weeks before my buddy can bring them to Florida though.

ADS M12.jpg
 
Closest I've come is comparing M30's to the 1590's. The M30's won that contest. The M series for some reason don't seem to be as ubiquitous as the older series.

You are in a very small group of people that actually got to hear a set. AFAIK, there was only one production run with maybe 15-20 pairs total ever made.
 
I was able to grab a pair for 250.00, took a chance hoping they were above average. It will be a few weeks before my buddy can bring them to Florida though.

First thing you want to do is pull the bottom woofer on one and examine the crossover. If the only coils are round it's never been updated. If they look like transformers, it has the M12/90 crossover update. That is far more desirable from a bass performance standpoint. M12's or M12/90's is not really a fair comparison to an L1590, it will dust both in the bottom end. Comparing to an L1290 though will show limits in its midrange vs. the M12. The cone mid crosses over much lower than the domes. Bass performance performance of the M12/90 vs. L1290 is close if you have enough amp on the M12/90. The L1290 is much easier to drive.
 
First thing you want to do is pull the bottom woofer on one and examine the crossover. If the only coils are round it's never been updated. If they look like transformers, it has the M12/90 crossover update. That is far more desirable from a bass performance standpoint. M12's or M12/90's is not really a fair comparison to an L1590, it will dust both in the bottom end. Comparing to an L1290 though will show limits in its midrange vs. the M12. The cone mid crosses over much lower than the domes. Bass performance performance of the M12/90 vs. L1290 is close if you have enough amp on the M12/90. The L1290 is much easier to drive.
I'm always amazed by your encyclopedic ADS knowledge.
 
I was able to grab a pair for 250.00, took a chance hoping they were above average. It will be a few weeks before my buddy can bring them to Florida though.

View attachment 1023597
Those are sweet Steve! Great deal. Look forward to your sonic report, and how they stack up against the wall of AR's and the big JBL's!
Glenn
 
I'm always amazed by your encyclopedic ADS knowledge.

I make it up as I go along. So far I've been lucky and no one's been injured.

:eek:

/before I became a product "engineer" (on the org chart, must've been true), I worked tech support for ~4 years. Myself along with most in tech support, service, product development, acoustic development & engineering (where the real engineers were) were rabid about music, gear, and shit we got paid to play with every day. It sunk in.
 
I make it up as I go along. So far I've been lucky and no one's been injured.

:eek:

/before I became a product "engineer" (on the org chart, must've been true), I worked tech support for ~4 years. Myself along with most in tech support, service, product development, acoustic development & engineering (where the real engineers were) were rabid about music, gear, and shit we got paid to play with every day. It sunk in.
Dream job for many of us!
 
First thing you want to do is pull the bottom woofer on one and examine the crossover. If the only coils are round it's never been updated. If they look like transformers, it has the M12/90 crossover update. That is far more desirable from a bass performance standpoint. M12's or M12/90's is not really a fair comparison to an L1590, it will dust both in the bottom end. Comparing to an L1290 though will show limits in its midrange vs. the M12. The cone mid crosses over much lower than the domes. Bass performance performance of the M12/90 vs. L1290 is close if you have enough amp on the M12/90. The L1290 is much easier to drive.
Thanks, I did read where I might need to upgrade the coils on these to insure the bass output is optimum. I personally liked my 1230's better than my 1590's back when I had them, figured I would take a shot at these since the price seemed right.
 
I like my L1230s better than my old M9/90s - clarity and bass extension - not an answer to your question but maybe helpful anyway...
 
The M12 were replacements for the 1290s, M15s for the1590s.

The woofers are larger, therefore the cabinets were larger in both the "15" series. Other than the misstep of the inductor that that was caught early in the production but did result in some great deals for repacked/updated units, the replacement of the middome with a cone mid caused much misconception about the radiating pattern being flawed because it was no longer a dome......doesn't matter about wave physics or actual sound, perception even when totally wrong, is sometimes everything.

Not many of either were sold. We had not been able to wait for ADS to get their act together, B&W was available so.....
 
100%, there were great people there and it was the 80s. I am still good friends with many and had the good fortune to work with some again at other speaker mfg's.

Good stuff. Also an example of the value of starting at a lower position before working your way up.

Was Mike Kelly involved with the M series?
 
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