Advent Maestro speakers -?

[Arkay]

Today I saw a pair of Advent Maestro speakers in a friendly wholesale-dealer's place. They were in almost new condition (9 or 9.5 out of 10, I'd say) - no scratches or stains, all drivers and surrounds looked as-new. The ONLY real sign of aging was that the sheet of dense acoustic foam stuff on the front baffle (surrounding the drivers) was starting to shrink or get wavy and pull away from the baffle around the outer edges. Not enough to affect performance, but enough to be noticeable with the grills off. Otherwise, they were in superb shape. The "doughnuts" looked disgustingly cool - I liked 'em! :yes:

I don't need new/more speakers :nono:, but am getting rid of a couple pair, so I COULD get these, and they intrigue me. I searched here and elsewhere and have learned that these were TOTL in their day, part of the "Jensen era" of Advents, and that those "doughnut" midrange drivers are almost impossible to replace. Still have a few questions I'm hoping people here who may have owned them could answer:

(1) What is the sound of these like? How do these compare sonically to the original "classic" big Advents? How might they compare to AR 2ax or KLH 23 speakers (probably the closest things that I already have)? I'm assuming they will NOT equal the ESS AMT 1bs, Dahlquist DQ-12s, or DTF-700s, right? [I KNOW they can't touch the Infinity RS IIs, but that's okay - not much can.] [I'd ask about my EPIs, but I can't remember the model number on them, and it's not convenient to go look now.] How would they compare to JBL studio monitors?

(2) What kind of amp is needed/advisable to drive these? What might they sound best with?

(3) What is the impedance rating on these?

(4) He is asking US$350 for the pair. Is this too much for these speakers? what might they go for on that auction site (NO, I'm not "flipping" 'em -- shipping from Hong Kong precludes that. Just would like some sense of whether this is a low, reasonable or high price.)

Any other comments/info on these is appreciated. I don't need more speakers, but don't mind something relatively uncommon and good-sounding in "mint" shape, especially if it would represent an upgrade over something I already have.

 

[titanstats]

Seems like too much, to me. I saw a pair here a few months ago for considerably less, but didn't feel the urge to pull the trigger. The drivers did look interesting, but like you mention, the mids are probably impossible to source now.

 

[MarkAnderson]

$350 seems ridiculous, but I really don't have much on which to base that opinion.

 

[DENNYDOG]

The Heritage models don't typically go for that much which is the next model up with the dual 8" woofers. The Maestro's use dual 6 1/2" woofers. They are well built speakers but I feel that would be too much here in the states even for the Heritage models. It may be a different story if they are a rare model in Hong Kong.

 

[jhoyt]

I had a pair of these speakers recently, and they were good, but not great. I can't compare them with any of the models you mentioned, but to me they sounded like "east coast" speakers - neutral and unobtrusive. Treble and upper midrange are good. Lower mid exhibits a little cabinet resonance. Nothing glaring, it's just...there. Bass is OK, but not spectacular.

I think I bought mine for $40 and sold them on local CL several months later for $75.

By the way, when I got mine the baffle foam was coming off also. But it had enough stickum left on the backside that I was able to make it stay in place.

 

[thedelihaus]

In good working order, it's a nice sounding speaker.

I too, love that donut mid.

Jensen era Advent.

Typical cost here in Massachusetts would be $75-$150. And that's $100-$150 if in really good to near mint condition.

Speakers like the A150 from boston Acoustics and many from a/d/s/ would better 'em, however. In my opinion, that is.

 

[DaveElton]

Price does sound quite steep....FWIW, I have a pair of Advent Legacy 2's a pair of Advent Legacy 3's and a pair of Heritages,,,,,,IMHO all extremely good and true as one can get to the "Orginal Advent Sound" if you will, but with a better high-end, I also have a pair of Boston A100's that have sat and collected dust after a long comparison to the Advents.....Another fine speaker, but on my electronics, the Advents tonal balance is just Sublime..

 

[dc270]

I had the older 6003 Advent Model and thought it to be a real nice speaker. The doughnut midrange is truly a fine driver, too many get pushed in though. These can be fixed by cutting out the dented cap and refitting another one.

I like the sound of these over the big Advents, it does sound more refined and detailed to jmy ears.
Good luck with your possible aquisition.
DC

 

[wank]

Way overpriced, imo.
I've got a pair of 6003s (my second) and find agree with DC, for the most part. They're essentially the same as the Maestro as far as drivers go, but with a bizarre shaped furniture grade type cabinet.
With underpowered amps, they sound really really boomy or rock n' roll humpy in the bass, but smooth out really well with more (100+) power. I had written them off a couple months ago when I was using them with a low powered Marantz receiver, but hooked them up to 150watts of Mitsubishi, and they woke back up.

I think Dennydog is mixing the 3-way (donut mid) early Maestro with the later 2-way (w/ 2 woogers) Maestro models. I do hear really good things about that Heritage model though.

 

[Holy_Cow!]

I have a pair of Advent Heritage towers (two 8" woofers and a tweeter) in my HT setup as the surround speakers. With ADS M-12's as the mains (also two 8" woofers, tweeter and a midrange) I get a very full and nice sound. I sometimes listen to music in "6 channel stereo" mode with just the ADS and Advents on and it sounds great to me. I'm probably going to buy a pair of Advent Maestro's today for $150 and think it will be worth every penny (but I like the Advent sound). By the way I spent $200 for the ADS speakers and $150 for the Advent Heritage's and don't regret those decisions at all, they sound really nice.

 

[jleon92f]

I paid $369 back in the 1980's for mine Brand New!

 

[Vermontaigne]

I know this thread is 5 years old, but I picked up a pair of these for next to nothing, and refoamed them. I removed all of the deteriorating foam rubber that they attached to the front of the speaker, under the grill. I don't know why they had it there, doesn't seem to have performed any acoustic function. The surrounds were so deteriorated I peeled them off with my fingers, and really didn't have to scrape anything off of the woofers. The sound is pleasant. The cabinets are large enough to permit some nice bass resonance on, for example, Pentangle's bass viol. They don't give a real sharp image, but they do pull off various percussion quite well.

The coil in one woofer was a bit sticky, but a half hour of high volume got it reset. They're not as accurate as my Paradigm 5SEs or as rich as my Wharfedale towers, but they are perfectly respectable speakers that I can listen to with pleasure and without fatigue. I know lots of folks are down on Jensen-era Advents, but they sound better than my Polk 7s, especially at the bottom, and those are speakers that some folks regard well. My Jensen-era Advent mini-towers are decent speakers, too.

 

[leftfielder]

Also noting this is a very old thread I'll add that what the op was/is going to pay is way way to high. I own a set and got them for a whopping $60 . They need gobs of power, a weak receiver or amplifier will not push these speakers. Yes the foam on the baffle is kinda of a hassle because it does deteriorate over time just like foam surrounds do.

 

[taineasy]

Today I saw a pair of Advent Maestro speakers in a friendly wholesale-dealer's place. They were in almost new condition (9 or 9.5 out of 10, I'd say) - no scratches or stains, all drivers and surrounds looked as-new. The ONLY real sign of aging was that the sheet of dense acoustic foam stuff on the front baffle (surrounding the drivers) was starting to shrink or get wavy and pull away from the baffle around the outer edges. Not enough to affect performance, but enough to be noticeable with the grills off. Otherwise, they were in superb shape. The "doughnuts" looked disgustingly cool - I liked 'em! :yes:

I don't need new/more speakers :nono:, but am getting rid of a couple pair, so I COULD get these, and they intrigue me. I searched here and elsewhere and have learned that these were TOTL in their day, part of the "Jensen era" of Advents, and that those "doughnut" midrange drivers are almost impossible to replace. Still have a few questions I'm hoping people here who may have owned them could answer:

(1) What is the sound of these like? How do these compare sonically to the original "classic" big Advents? How might they compare to AR 2ax or KLH 23 speakers (probably the closest things that I already have)? I'm assuming they will NOT equal the ESS AMT 1bs, Dahlquist DQ-12s, or DTF-700s, right? [I KNOW they can't touch the Infinity RS IIs, but that's okay - not much can.] [I'd ask about my EPIs, but I can't remember the model number on them, and it's not convenient to go look now.] How would they compare to JBL studio monitors?
The Maestro's are very good despite the comments on "what they go for" or "what their worth, which means absolutely nothing. I own two pairs of speakers WIlson Sabrina's and Advent Maestro's. Have owned the Maestros since 1990 and they are not leaving here. When released they're was some serious cost cutting going on at Advent and they did skimp on the factory released models. The good news is if you are handy they can be improved dramatically with some upgrades.
1. remove that disintegrating foam on the baffle and replace it with some 1/2" - 5/8 open cell foam. (Foam factory in Michigan sells it)
2. replace the crappy capacitors and install some good ones such as Mundorf, Clarity, etc.
3. Remove the factory fiberglass insulation and line the entire enclosure with the same open cell foam used on the baffle. (except the inside face of the baffle) and reinstall the original fiberglass.
4. Cut some 12" x12" pieces of the same foam and stack 3-4 pieces behind the woofer, then reinstall the woofer.
5. Add a 1 ohm 10-20 watt resistor in series with the positive wire going to the mid.
6. Remove the mid and add some good cotton/wool felt at the base of the mid enclosure, put the original stuff back in but only on the outside diameter of the round enclosure leaving a hole in the center and stuff some rock wool or such in the center. Reinstall the mid.
7. Optional item ad the tweeter ever so slightly by carefully dabbing a bit of silicone on the top/tip of the tweeter dome.
8. Optional item: add a super tweeter crossed over at 14khz-15khz with a high end cap. Mine just sits on top of the cabinet.

They now make any other Advent sound like they came from Walmart.


(2) What kind of amp is needed/advisable to drive these? What might they sound best with?

(3) What is the impedance rating on these?

(4) He is asking US$350 for the pair. Is this too much for these speakers? what might they go for on that auction site (NO, I'm not "flipping" 'em -- shipping from Hong Kong precludes that. Just would like some sense of whether this is a low, reasonable or high price.)

Any other comments/info on these is appreciated. I don't need more speakers, but don't mind something relatively uncommon and good-sounding in "mint" shape, especially if it would represent an upgrade over something I already have.

Today I saw a pair of Advent Maestro speakers in a friendly wholesale-dealer's place. They were in almost new condition (9 or 9.5 out of 10, I'd say) - no scratches or stains, all drivers and surrounds looked as-new. The ONLY real sign of aging was that the sheet of dense acoustic foam stuff on the front baffle (surrounding the drivers) was starting to shrink or get wavy and pull away from the baffle around the outer edges. Not enough to affect performance, but enough to be noticeable with the grills off. Otherwise, they were in superb shape. The "doughnuts" looked disgustingly cool - I liked 'em! :yes:

I don't need new/more speakers :nono:, but am getting rid of a couple pair, so I COULD get these, and they intrigue me. I searched here and elsewhere and have learned that these were TOTL in their day, part of the "Jensen era" of Advents, and that those "doughnut" midrange drivers are almost impossible to replace. Still have a few questions I'm hoping people here who may have owned them could answer:

(1) What is the sound of these like? How do these compare sonically to the original "classic" big Advents? How might they compare to AR 2ax or KLH 23 speakers (probably the closest things that I already have)? I'm assuming they will NOT equal the ESS AMT 1bs, Dahlquist DQ-12s, or DTF-700s, right? [I KNOW they can't touch the Infinity RS IIs, but that's okay - not much can.] [I'd ask about my EPIs, but I can't remember the model number on them, and it's not convenient to go look now.] How would they compare to JBL studio monitors?

(2) What kind of amp is needed/advisable to drive these? What might they sound best with?

(3) What is the impedance rating on these?

(4) He is asking US$350 for the pair. Is this too much for these speakers? what might they go for on that auction site (NO, I'm not "flipping" 'em -- shipping from Hong Kong precludes that. Just would like some sense of whether this is a low, reasonable or high price.)

Any other comments/info on these is appreciated. I don't need more speakers, but don't mind something relatively uncommon and good-sounding in "mint" shape, especially if it would represent an upgrade over something I already have.