ADS-910's

GD70

AK Subscriber
Subscriber
So I'm going to buy a bunch of gear including the 910's.

I will probably get to see and hear them this Friday after work. I'm quite excited as you can imagine. They are pretty rare. If all goes well, I'll be the third owner! The seller has the owners manual, maybe some other paperwork. He sent me some pics and overall they look very nice, have the factory stands, but need a good cleaning. All drivers are original. No rips in the grills, badges present, though they need to be re glued. Unfortunately they do not have the LED outputs, or any of the optional amp cards. I've done a bunch of reading to acquaint myself with them a bit, and read about some possible issues to watch for. It was suggested to replace the caps for sure. Read a bunch of AK posts as well. Some great info. They are large beasts coming in around 116-7lbs with the stands! Luckily my almost 22 year old son is home to help me get these into the cave if the deal pans out.

So, what should I expect sonically compared to my AR3's, KLH Five's, maybe even the Angelica's", which are my overall best sounding speakers?

Thanks in advance for your advice and input!

Glenn
 
The 910's are very smooth and easy to listen for hours. They work very well with tube amps as the sensitivity is 92-93dB/W. I also have L1290's and they are little more detailed but maybe not as relaxing.

You might not need caps as they used film caps for most of them. IMO you will want to replace the female socket on the PCB for the connection to the drivers. The contacts get weak and then you'll start having scratchy sound or complete dropout of one or more drivers. I couldn't find the PC board mounted version of the socket but Mouser had an inline cable version so I used short (1"-2") stubs of wire to make a pigtail and soldered the wires into the PCB. Problem solved. I can provide the p/n if you need it. There are also several switches on each crossover that could cause some issues and might need cleaning. I soldered jumpers across each switch for my chosen settings which could easily be removed to restore the crossover. I posted a reverse engineered schematic for the crossover a couple of years back.

Here is my thread. See posts 5 and 12 for schematic and jumper details.
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=391177

Have fun. I really enjoy mine.
John
 
Nice score Glen, great looking speakers as far as I'm concerned. Have not actually heard a pair.
 
The 910's are very smooth and easy to listen for hours. They work very well with tube amps as the sensitivity is 92-93dB/W. I also have L1290's and they are little more detailed but maybe not as relaxing.

You might not need caps as they used film caps for most of them. IMO you will want to replace the female socket on the PCB for the connection to the drivers. The contacts get weak and then you'll start having scratchy sound or complete dropout of one or more drivers. I couldn't find the PC board mounted version of the socket but Mouser had an inline cable version so I used short (1"-2") stubs of wire to make a pigtail and soldered the wires into the PCB. Problem solved. I can provide the p/n if you need it. There are also several switches on each crossover that could cause some issues and might need cleaning. I soldered jumpers across each switch for my chosen settings which could easily be removed to restore the crossover. I posted a reverse engineered schematic for the crossover a couple of years back.

Here is my thread. See posts 5 and 12 for schematic and jumper details.
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=391177

Have fun. I really enjoy mine.
John

Thanks for this info John. The seller says they are working perfectly and sound great. Can't wait to hear them, though not lift them!

Glenn
 
They will be your new favorites.
You will hear things that you have not heard before in your favorite music.

Low listener fatigue. You can listen to them for hours and never want to leave the room.

I wouldn't worry about recapping them. Check the caps but don't worry about replacing them until you find a problem.
 
They will be your new favorites.
You will hear things that you have not heard before in your favorite music.

Low listener fatigue. You can listen to them for hours and never want to leave the room.

I wouldn't worry about recapping them. Check the caps but don't worry about replacing them until you find a problem.

From what I've been reading, I suspect you'll be right!
So being use to the AR3's, KLH Five's and the Angelica's, which all go very deep, how would the 910's compare? I am after all, a bass junkie!:D
 
I think they do very well in the bass. Now that being said, I have only used them with tube amps which have a lower damping factor. A friend once said it was the best bass he'd ever heard. The bass is very full and rich but clean. They might sound a bit more lean with a SS amp. I guess/hope you'll know soon.
John
 
From what I've been reading, I suspect you'll be right!
So being use to the AR3's, KLH Five's and the Angelica's, which all go very deep, how would the 910's compare? I am after all, a bass junkie!:D

Once you get them set up just play the following::

1812 Overture (Telarc recording) Play the cannon shots and the church bells of Moscow

Pink Floyd's "Dark side of the Moon"

The Who-"Who's Next"

Write us after you listen to these.
 
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Once you get them set up just play the following::

1812 Overture (Telarc recording) Play the cannon shots and the church bells of Moscow

Pink Floyd's "Dark side of the Moon"

The Who-"Who's Next"

Write us after you listen to these.

Cool! I've got some tracks with some seriously deep bass passages with some organ pipes thrown in. I like a lot of electronica, house, funk, some older rock too which I grew up with!
Dark side of the moon is a standard for sure.

Glenn
 
I think they do very well in the bass. Now that being said, I have only used them with tube amps which have a lower damping factor. A friend once said it was the best bass he'd ever heard. The bass is very full and rich but clean. They might sound a bit more lean with a SS amp. I guess/hope you'll know soon.
John

I'll be driving them with my A-X9 amp, 105 wpc, which is superb, and will definitely try them with my LK-72 as well. I'm quite curious to hear them with tubes.

I think the seller currently has them hooked up to a McIntosh MA-6100 @ 70 wpc. This will be interesting.

Glenn
 
I have the ADS L 1090's and the bass is pretty darn good, tho not as good as my KLH Model 5's. Don't think you can go wrong with any of the ADS speakers, imaging is fantastic. Enjoy
 
I have the ADS L 1090's and the bass is pretty darn good, tho not as good as my KLH Model 5's. Don't think you can go wrong with any of the ADS speakers, imaging is fantastic. Enjoy

Interesting. I would think the ADS's would go deeper with dual 10 inch woofers vs. a single in the Five's, and I love my Five's!

Can't wait to hear these beasts!
 
Congrates on the ADS's Glenn,you will love them,My Braun studio monitors are the granddads of those ADS units and ive owned a few pairs over the yrs.The Original Braun sound is layed back but extremely articulate and accurate with great bass/mids/Highs ,and they voiced the ADS speakers to match.Its a long lineage Started in West Germany in the 1960's and developed without cost restrictions,my Brauns sold for the price of a new BMW at the time.
They thrive on vacuume tube amplification as well
good luck with your purchase!!

hunter
 
Congrats on the 910's. Just keep in mind we're on pins and needles waiting on the KLH 23's completion and your thoughts. :D I'm sure the 910's will be at another level. Gotta say though, we just moved to a much larger home and my KLH 5's in a large open, fully carpeted room are now everything I knew they could be and haven't experienced until now.
 
Congrats Glenn! The 910s are one of my favorite looking speakers ever - the proportions are fantastic and those little legs are the icing on the cake. My good friend has a pair and we found that they sounded much better with his Sansui 9090db over his Fisher 500C. The mids and highs sounded great, very smooth yet precise. The bass was not as "big" as I assumed it would be considering the size of the cabinets and dual woofer config. The speakers had been fully recapped and all drivers were 100%. We actually did a shoot out between the 910's and his restored KLH 23's using the Sansui on both. The 910s had a much bigger "wall of sound" presentation, but in a lot of ways we both preferred the overall sound of the 23's. His room is a funky shape, and is on the small side, I think the 23's were just a better fit for his room. YMMV, very curious to hear your impressions!
 
Congrats on the 910's. Just keep in mind we're on pins and needles waiting on the KLH 23's completion and your thoughts. :D I'm sure the 910's will be at another level. Gotta say though, we just moved to a much larger home and my KLH 5's in a large open, fully carpeted room are now everything I knew they could be and haven't experienced until now.

Congrats on the new house!
Good to hear you're getting to let the Fives stretch their legs! Mine too are in a large 18 X 22 room wih a 12 foot vaulted ceiling, about 20 feet apart. Great sound in that size space.

The 910's will be in the cave. It was tough enough getting the Fives in the family room with the WAF, but she's happy now that they are there.
I'll report back tonight after the audition.

Glenn
 
Unfortunately they do not have the LED outputs, or any of the optional amp cards.

None did as shipped for the LEDs, they were optional and rarely sold. It is uncommon to find them and they had issues. No amp cards were ever except made hand-built ones for a show sample.
 
None did as shipped for the LEDs, they were optional and rarely sold. It is uncommon to find them and they had issues. No amp cards were ever except made hand-built ones for a show sample.

Interesting. If I ever came across the LED's, what issues would I be looking for?

Thanks!
Glenn
 
Ahhh GD!

My friend, you have amassed a formidable stash of wonderful gear & these speaks will be something special!

Enjoy,
Rome
 
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