My Take: ADS L1530 and L1590/2 Comparison

JosephH

AK Subscriber
Subscriber
I have been blessed with the opportunity recently to acquire two of my most coveted speakers from my oft misspent youth. As the L2030s were always too big/expensive/rare for me, the L1530 of Telarc fame were always a Holy Grail to me. Both of my L1530 and L1590/2 speakers have had Richard So rebuilds on the midranges and tweeters, and the L1530s have had major crossover rebuilds and have been rewired as well. Powering these is a freshened McIntosh Mc2205 (200wpc). I have had the L1590s for six months and I have been very pleased with them, especially with their detail in the mid and upper frequencies. The bass was always a weak link here, as it seemed to hit a barrier, lacking in range. To say they sounded thin, would be a big overstatement, but dynamic elements such as drum strikes lacked the full dynamics of a live performance. I used about 30% of the variable loudness on the preamp.
At times the 1590's highs were harsh, so I also engaged the built in high pass switch. These two adjustments had the speakers performing at a level where I was VERY happy with their performance. I thought I had a pair of long term keepers. My listening time had doubled since they arrived. That changed when a completely rebuilt pair of L1530s came up at a fair price about 4 hours away from me. I picked them up Saturday.
To be fair, the Mrs. (Lisa) & I listened to the L1590/2 for about 90 minutes with a mix of jazz, classical and vocals. I made sure most recordings were older digital masters (GRP and Telarc) to maximize dynamic range and clarity. As we were listening to the 1590s, I wondered how the 1530s would be able to best these. The definition and clarity was amazing, we could hear fingers gliding on guitar strings and saxophone valves being manipulated. I got goose bumps several times! The low end was just OK, with the drums sounding adequate, but a bit thin to my ear.
I was set up for a quick change over to the L1530s. Wow, what a difference! The fine detail was still remarkable, but the sound was more refined, the high end edge had been removed. Not too much, but more realistic and natural. An improvement for sure. Where the L1530s really separated themselves from the L1590 was in the mid and lower frequencies. More pronounced low bass was immediately apparent, which is nice, but the amazing difference was in the overall depth of the music. Lisa, who is an (enthusiastic) audio newb, described it as "more music everywhere", which describes it in layman's terms pretty damn well. The music was fuller, richer and deeper with a much more extensive sound field. The imaging was amazing, the 1530s just disappeared and instruments were distinct, with tremendous depth and lateral separation. The male and female vocals similarly impressive. So lifelike that Lisa made the old Memorex "Is it live" joke. It is tough to describe, but it seems that where the 1590s hit the wall sonically, the 1530s had an openness and presence that extended well beyond what we were used to. in both the reproduction of the bass notes and the depth of field. They are also very easy to listen to, and cause no listener fatigue. We had them on every moment that we were home Sunday.
So, in conclusion, the L1590/2 are an excellent loudspeaker system and almost anyone would be lucky to own a pair. In comparison though, TO OUR EARS, the rebuilt L1530 is a superior loudspeaker in almost every way. I can certainly understand why they so rarely come up for sale. Mine are not going anywhere.
 
Welcome to the Wide-Side.
My impressions were similar to yours. I had to have the tweeter attenuation turned down on both models. That's a matter of personal preference as the owner, who should be chiming in here any time now, preferred them brighter.
1. I gave a slight edge to the midrange on the 1590s. It wasn't a game changer, but in A/B'ing, the frequencies covered by the mid were a bit louder.
2. Everything beneath the domes went to the 1530. The amount of low end was greater and I preferred the balance more. Although the bass was was more pronounced, it remained tight as one would expect from ADS. Couple that with the wide enclosure's ease of placement, and the 1530 is the ultimate living room speaker.
 
Welcome to the Wide-Side.
My impressions were similar to yours. I had to have the tweeter attenuation turned down on both models. That's a matter of personal preference as the owner, who should be chiming in here any time now, preferred them brighter.
1. I gave a slight edge to the midrange on the 1590s. It wasn't a game changer, but in A/B'ing, the frequencies covered by the mid were a bit louder.
2. Everything beneath the domes went to the 1530. The amount of low end was greater and I preferred the balance more. Although the bass was was more pronounced, it remained tight as one would expect from ADS. Couple that with the wide enclosure's ease of placement, and the 1530 is the ultimate living room speaker.

Damn Porkloin, just as I was giving myself kudos for the excellent first time set up and placement of the 1530s, you come along and burst my bubble!
I certainly understand what you are saying about the mids, the 1590s were very dynamic across the domes, with the tweeter a bit hot for my taste. The 1530s are definitely more laid back in this area, but so strong elsewhere. If your room can handle the width, they are an amazing living room speaker. While we were listening, my Lisa asked why ADS would issue a new speaker that had (arguably) inferior sound. A good question, IMHO there were meaningful upgrades to the build quality and durability of the drivers, but the new 1590 footprint reflected dimensional compromises to drive more WAF by ADS in the hopes of increasing sales. To be sure, I think the natural wood grain L1590 was a handsome speaker. To a lucky slob like me with a girl who loves audio, the 1530s are gorgeous and the embodiment of the "golden age" of HiFi popularity.
 
I didn't mean to do any bursting. I held off my impressions until you gave yours.
Actually, the 1530's and 1590's belonged to another AK'r, who's an ADS fetishest to the extreme. The biggest I've gone was a pair of 1230's, and I sold them to him.
A lot of people sing the praises of the skinny tower as being free of the "baffle diffraction" of the wide tower. Obviously, with the woofer that's not an issue, and a quick application of a tape measure would reveal the tweeter/midrange surface on the 1530's to be considerably narrower.
The whole WAF thing is sad. Like you, I've got a girlfriend that likes her tunes. THAT comes with it's own set of drawbacks as we have our own places and I feel some sort of compulsion to put a pair of towers in her large living room.
I'd be curious about your impressions of the DQ-10's as compared to the ADS'.
 
I didn't mean to do any bursting. I held off my impressions until you gave yours.
Actually, the 1530's and 1590's belonged to another AK'r, who's an ADS fetishest to the extreme. The biggest I've gone was a pair of 1230's, and I sold them to him.
A lot of people sing the praises of the skinny tower as being free of the "baffle diffraction" of the wide tower. Obviously, with the woofer that's not an issue, and a quick application of a tape measure would reveal the tweeter/midrange surface on the 1530's to be considerably narrower.
The whole WAF thing is sad. Like you, I've got a girlfriend that likes her tunes. THAT comes with it's own set of drawbacks as we have our own places and I feel some sort of compulsion to put a pair of towers in her large living room.
I'd be curious about your impressions of the DQ-10's as compared to the ADS'.

No, no, I'm sorry Porkloin, I was (trying) to be funny. Unfortunately, beyond the way I look, usually no one finds me funny! No bubbles were harmed!
I was happy with how good they sounded on the first attempt of placement and I should have know they would have been forgiving given the design of the front baffles. I found the 1590s much more finicky, but still not as much as the DQ-10. With the set up of my room, it was difficult to give them the space they wanted away from one side wall. To get the best sound from my room, one speaker had to block the main hallway and I had to sit so far away that I was in the dining room! Not very practical. The DQ-10s opened up with massive power and volume, and I thought the top end sounded very musical and and spacious within these narrow set of conditions. Bass was largely MIA at any volume in the absence of a subwoofer. These have been on my "to sell" list for years, waiting for me to find the time to replace the grille cloth.
 
In the same manner that the Boston A400 sounded better than the T1000 that followed.

They gave up on physics-first looks-second and reversed it.

The wives in this time period were really starting to hate huge wide speakers and wanted something with a smaller footprint.

Thus, all the big speakers went away and pretty towers came to life.
 
I've been waiting for this post. I'm glad to hear you're enjoying your new 1530's!
 
Here is Mike's comments about these two speakers:
ADS grills with magnets / l1590 restoration thread

Copied here to keep the discussion going.
"Well, they're not quite done yet. Still have the grill installation that will most likely be next weekend but they're up and sounding beautiful. I find them to be just as good, if not better than the 1530's. That's exactly what I was hoping for. When putting them back together, I placed the insulation exactly how it was when I broke them down. Even counted the pieces from what was in each chamber and sizes ( 2 different sized pieces). I used the existing gasket for the mids and tweets, but replaced the woofer gasket with 1/8"×3/8" that I bought in a roll that I installed on the back of the woofer basket. Installed new hex screws to secure them to the pedistalls. Now for what they sound like. They're incredible. They sound very good with the dynaco, but it's like a marriage made in heaven with the big Sony. They seem more lively with the power and you don't really have to turn it up to hear the difference. The 1530's seem to have like the tubes better but could still kick ass with the Sony. The 1590's to me seem to have more headroom and produce "tighter" bass than the 30's. Maybe its how each one is chambered and size of the speaker cab itself I don't know. The detail and clarity in the music is just f*****g incredible. I'm not exaggerating!! Put on some Sade and you could easily close your eyes and think she was right in front of you. They behave like my German Shepherd, very easy going and relaxed, but give the command to attack and you'll be amazed that it's the same speaker. Now I never listened to them after I bought them and never heard a pair before, but to the best of my memory I can honestly say these are the best ADS speakers I've ever owned and I've had many. I don't know how they would compare with the likes of kef's, klipch, theils, AR's and such but I can tell you that I understand why these are considered some peoples holy grail of speakers. They produce music effortlessly. You can listen all day/night and not get listening fatigue. I run everything pretty much flat, and there is no harshness in the tweeters unless it's a bad recording, which these will speakers will let you know. If anyone out there doesn't believe what I'm writing and want's to hear for themselves. Let me know and I'll let you listen. The WAF factor is very high also. I would like to thank some members for making this project become a reality. Mr. Owl (Dan) for giving me the lead on them and helping me with the grill project. Bcarey (Bill) who gave me the lead on the grill fabricaters. Richard So (ADS gurue) for making all the drivers as new like they were 30-40 yrs ago. Mike (HVHIFI) for suggesting Glenn (Gd70) for the refinishing and of course Glenn for his work on refishing the cabs, and everyone else here on AK for their suggestions and encouraging comments for me on this project. Here of some pics of them minus the grills with my modest system that I use to drive them. Will post pics of them when the grills are done also. Anybody want to buy a pair of 1530? Need I say more."
 
I remember liking the A400s a lot in their day. Another wide baffle, shallow cabinet speaker. I see you have L100ts. Very nice speaker! I am the original owner of L100t3, and they bested all comers for 28 years, until the invasion of the ADS big boys.
 
Thanks Blue Shadow, Mike sure has an impressive thread! Sound is such a subjective thing, but I find it very interesting that we use most of the the same superlatives about these speakers, but come to a different conclusion. Choosing between these two speakers is truly a "no lose" proposition. As I mentioned, I love the 1590s but still prefer the 1530s. Of course the 1530's crossover rebuild and rewiring likely has something to do with that.
 
DQ-10s, only one pair, with sub just took the spot the 1590/2 were in. Enjoying them. Not that the 1590s are going anywhere other than a holding spot in the room with the other speakers I use in the main rig.
 
Thanks Blue Shadow, Mike sure has an impressive thread! Sound is such a subjective thing, but I find it very interesting that we use most of the the same superlatives about these speakers, but come to a different conclusion. Choosing between these two speakers is truly a "no lose" proposition. As I mentioned, I love the 1590s but still prefer the 1530s. Of course the 1530's crossover rebuild and rewiring likely has something to do with that.
There's ;not a lot to wear out in the 15xx crossover - except for the woofer cap, and some of the /2's bandpass caps, they were the box film caps. I would figure that a Richard So driver refurb would make a bigger difference, if either one had that.

Photo_10_CompleteMidrange.gif
 
Just so you don't have to comprehend all that you read here is the

Joseph ads speaker work: "Both of my L1530 and L1590/2 speakers have had Richard So rebuilds on the midranges and tweeters, and the L1530s have had major crossover rebuilds and have been rewired as well." As stated above and

Mike's ads speaker work: ...Thanks to "Richard So (ADS guru) for making all the drivers as new like they were 30-40 yrs ago." in his 1590s. Mike reports later in this thread that the 1530s were also using rebuilt drivers.
 
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I have both 1290s and 1230s and prefer the 1230s simply for their deeper bass extension. That info from 40hz down to 30hz makes a lot of difference in my room. I think
the back wall positioning is in favor of the 1230s too as they benefit more from the woofers being cornered in my 11 wide by 16 foot long listening room. The angled mid/tweeter panel
helps with first order reflections off my side walls too. Basically a better fit for my room in all respects.
 
We all do hear differently don't we. My bud that I got my 1530's from sold them to me mainly because he preferred his new to him 1590's. I heard both pair in side by side comparisons and I preferred the 1530's ever so slightly. My bud claimed long term that the 1590's were the ones he preferred though. Who know though as he's now landed his 2nd pair of ADS M30's and he claims they best both the 1530's and the 1590's. What I do know for sure is that I think the sun rises and sets on my 1530's and they'll be with me till I'm done listening to music. They image well and to me they seem to do everything right including their strong point of zero listener fatigue.
 
I'm immediately aware that when listening the speaker with the lowest and cleanest bass response that I'll
I'll more than likely always prefer that speaker design as it will make the top end sound better, imo.
From TAS (The Absolute Sound) regarding bass response:
"..... a system’s bass presentation affects such seemingly unrelated aspects of the sound as midrange clarity and soundstaging. Thickness in the midbass reduces the midrange’s transparency. A cleaner midbass not only makes the midrange sound more open, it also lets you hear more clearly into the extremely low frequencies. Moreover, extending a system’s bottom end has the odd effect of increasing soundstage depth and our overall sense of the recorded acoustic, even on music with no low-frequency energy."
http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/a-guide-to-better-bass-tas-197-1/
 
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