An odd a/d/s/ yard sale speaker find...

[Aptone]

those are hanger sockets for a nail or something.

Seems to me that you would have to be careful to get two nails nicely spaced and level to hang a speaker and not have it be askew. It might make more sense to have one boomerang cutout in the center of each side and not in the corners if they really are hanger holes. Plus there is no lip on the holes in my pair of L200c to hold the nail head, so it would be precarious to try to use them as hangers. I am skeptical they are for nails.

 

[Blue Shadow]

We'll get the soundmotor answer soon enough. I know you asked him about that, I was just working on my post count.

 

[soundmotor]

Seems to me that you would have to be careful to get two nails nicely spaced and level to hang a speaker and not have it be askew. It might make more sense to have one boomerang cutout in the center of each side and not in the corners if they really are hanger holes. Plus there is no lip on the holes in my pair of L200c to hold the nail head, so it would be precarious to try to use them as hangers. I am skeptical they are for nails.

@Blue Shadow is right. Headed nails (vs. finish) or small screws were used to hang it this way. The boomerang is actually the lip, there is a hollow space behind it so the lip will go over the hanger head and secure it. If they are black, the hollow maybe hard to see. I don't have any original packing or manual to check but there may have been a hanger template included or spacing listed in the manual. I just don't remember that detail. The mounting did get used but infrequently. To do it right you also had to have an access hole for the speaker wire on the mounting surface if you wanted them to be totally flush. I called it art loft; a style not everyone was into.

 

[Hanleyster]

How has nobody mentioned that AW stands for all weather yet??

These are meant to be outdoor speakers.

 

[soundmotor]

I had a pair in black. Mine came with the cool, thin, one-legged metal ADS stand that screwed into the threads on the bottom of the speaker, and tilted them back slightly.. I very much regret letting them go, to this day. They had amazing output and were quite punchy, in a good way. All who heard them had trouble believing all the sound was coming from them alone. Really nice find.

EDIT: I didn't read closely enough. I thought you had L200, don't know the AW40. Sorry.

The stands were the F400 and look good w/ L300 & L400 cabs too. They were originally introduced w/ the L400 as part of the SubSat 2300 and became so popular that ADS offered them for the other models. They were made for a long time and are the easiest stand to find of ones they made. They do pop up on ebay, often with speakers.

 

[Aptone]

@Blue Shadow is right. Headed nails (vs. finish) or small screws were used to hang it this way. The boomerang is actually the lip, there is a hollow space behind it so the lip will go over the hanger head and secure it. If they are black, the hollow maybe hard to see. I don't have any original packing or manual to check but there may have been a hanger template included or spacing listed in the manual. I just don't remember that detail. The mounting did get used but infrequently. To do it right you also had to have an access hole for the speaker wire on the mounting surface if you wanted them to be totally flush. I called it art loft; a style not everyone was into.

Thanks Soundmotor, BlueShadow is right. I have more closely inspected my pair of ADS 300 here at work and I can see the lip, and even some scratch marks of a previous owners attempt to hang. I could not see the lip on the L200c but will have to look more closely. The L200c also have a separate mounting bracket and tapped holes top and bottom like your AW40 do.

With respect to the all weather designation, we heard earlier in the thread that the dome was plastic. Is the AW40 woofer cone plastic too?

I have thought about using some of my smaller ADS speakers on a covered outdoor porch, but have been concerned about the paper and cloth drivers. The AW version would be a nice option.

 

[soundmotor]

Thanks Soundmotor, BlueShadow is right. I have more closely inspected my pair of ADS 300 here at work and I can see the lip, and even some scratch marks of a previous owners attempt to hang. I could not see the lip on the L200c but will have to look more closely. The L200c also have a separate mounting bracket and tapped holes top and bottom like your AW40 do.

With respect to the all weather designation, we heard earlier in the thread that the dome was plastic. Is the AW40 woofer cone plastic too?

I have thought about using some of my smaller ADS speakers on a covered outdoor porch, but have been concerned about the paper and cloth drivers. The AW version would be a nice option.

The brackets are a waaaay more useful and a better mounting method. ADS stopped using the fabric dome on all new home speaker models in ~1989/90. For all intents and purposes the AW40 appears to be an L200e with a new name so plastic cone & dome on the drivers. Carryover models like the L200-400, inwalls, & car product got an "e" or "is" designation denoting the change to plastic. As far as outside use, covered w/ no direct water exposure (rain) and intermittent humidity should be fine most of the year although I'd probably bring them in over winter. ADS was spec'ing cloth/paper served speakers into bathrooms & patios in the early 80s.

 

[jdurbin1]

Yeah, I didn't mean the ones on the AW40's - those are the same spring-loaded type we continued to use after the acquisition - but the threaded ones I have seen on some earlier L-series stuff. The spring-loaded type was a definite improvement.

John

These are springers, no hole under the red/black dots for bananas.

 

[soundmotor]

Teardown results, still not listened to -

Tweeter: 206-0132, 4-96 build date (no idea how this differs from a 206-0126)

Woofer: 206-0422, 4-96 build date (IIRC same woofer as CSAT/AW4 plastic cab speaker)

XVR: 501-0197-01 (IIRC, last 2 digits denote 1 revision)

Appears to be a 5 element design which would be the same as the CSAT/AW4 on a larger PCB. Have not flipped it yet to see components. Might be what -01 refers to.

 

[jdurbin1]

Those look like the same cast metal cabinets that were used for the L200...

John

 

[soundmotor]

Those look like the same cast metal cabinets that were used for the L200...

John

They are and not cast, an extrsion with epoxied in front & rear walls. Weren't the later L210/310 cast?

 

[soundmotor]

Minor update: Had 20 minutes over the weekend to listen.

Did not drag my L200e set out for comparison but I did not hear any revelation that leads me to think these sound better or worse.

 

[jdurbin1]

Yes, L210/310 are cast - cabinet is one piece and the faceplate is a 2nd cast part that installs into that part.

I missed that these had the glued in back plates - my bad.

John

 

[Jonathan Ty]

Original AW4 posts...

 

[Ramseybella]

I had for a short period a pair of L300c models.
My take well no big deal sort of Realistic minimus 7's on a little steroids.
Sold them a week later.

 

[plugto]

View attachment 1238644 Original AW4 posts...

A pair on Ebay right now with serial numbers 4756 and 4757 very strange that this pair is one number below the one pictured by you at 4758

https://www.ebay.com/itm/133715113492?hash=item1f220ab614:g:yfMAAOSwC0Zgaj0Z

 

[jdurbin1]

Yes, but those are the better known AW4, not the unusual AW40 model that prompted soundmotor to start this thread. Unfortunately, his original images are long gone and I don't think I saved copies at the time.

John