What a great hobby! Advent "Smaller"

[Fast_Eddie]

Hi Gang,

I had a really fun day. The foam surrounds I ordered from Gordon W came today! I did the "Smaller" Advents tonight. On first listen, I thought they sounded an awful lot like the "Larger" Advents I have. Then I took them into the bedroom and put them on the stands in place of the Dynaco A25s.

Well, this is pretty interesting! I think my "ears" are getting better. I loved my "Larger" Advents a ton when I first got them. Somehow they have found their way into the worst room in the house- the family room home theater. Nothing sounds good down there.

Well, the "Smaller" are nothing next to the A25s. There is a little deeper bass, but there is a harshness to the Adevents that the Dynacos have none of. I'll have to a/b them with the "larger" to see if they have the same sound.

Ok, so what's so great about this hobby? The Dynacos were $6. The Advents were $5 plus the really reasonable price Gordon W charged for the odd ball surrounds. Actually cheaper than I've paid for some "typical" surrounds. The "larger" are the pricy speakers of the bunch because I bought one of those kits since they were my first re foam job. I have $50 in them all told. In other words, I've had this much fun messing around with a hobby for next to nothing. If my other hobby- strange old European Fords- were this cheap I'd be going as fast as a Nascar racer.

I haven't kept good records, but I believe with the stuff I've sold, I'm in the black on this hobby. In other words, it's free. Damn. That's really amazing! The fun I've had and the lack of money I've spent almost makes me want to sell the odd ball European Capris.






Ok, I said Almost.


Take care,

Ed

 

[Fast_Eddie]

Finished up the Boston A150s. Almost 12:30 now and I'm tired, but they sure sounded good. I need to really listen more closely tomrrow.

 

[Damage]

If my other hobby- strange old European Fords- were this cheap I'd be going as fast as a Nascar racer.

Escorts with hair-dryers aren't too expensive.

 

[Fast_Eddie]

Assuming you mean a Euro Escort, they're mighty tough to come by here in the States. Capris are cheap here, but the parts... Sigh.

 

[Charivari]

Sounds like you're really enjoying yourself there, Fast Eddie. Indeed, vintage audio is one of the rare hobbies that can give so much satisfaction for so little outlay of cash. That's certainly why I'm pursuing it as my main hobby, I can afford it.

I have a pair of Smaller Advent speakers as well and have noticed that harshness you speak of. So, it's not just your ears there, High Fidelity Magazine reviewed these speakers way back in the day when rock was young and gas was under $1 a gallon and printed a frequency response graph that verifies exactly what you've heard. DavidLD at AudioAsylum posted the graph as part of a little competition, which you can read here. Just look at that ~10 dB peak at around 1.1 kHz, right in one of the more important frequency regions.

'Course, it poses little trouble if you're not averse to using an equalizer. Using one I was able to make the Advents not just listenable, but almost enjoyable, at the cost of phase issues, etc.

Enjoy your speakers, you're doing great with your finds.
- JP

 

[Fast_Eddie]

Thanks Charivari- that's exactly how they sound! Go figure.

I wonder if the Larger have that. I'm going to guess no, but I would need to listen to them again.

Another interesting observation, the "Smaller" in the utility cabinets are almost exactly the same size as the Dynaco A25s in every dimention. Just an interesting tid bit.

Ed

 

[packrat]

I wonder what would happen to that 1100 Hz rise if the tweeter phase was reversed? It might become a dip, which might actually sound better.