ADS L810 for reasonable price?
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calabashak
Not a replica, no mask
I saw them when they were listed, but...
The seller has some interesting feedback -
http://www.toolhaus.org/cgi-bin/negs?User=donramon2&v=60
I have never dealt directly with this seller, but in so cal their reputation is a bit, um, dicey.
The seller has some interesting feedback -
http://www.toolhaus.org/cgi-bin/negs?User=donramon2&v=60
I have never dealt directly with this seller, but in so cal their reputation is a bit, um, dicey.
Duffinator
Spin The Black Circle
Cloth grils were used for many years and the metal grills on ADS (not Braun) didn't show up on the 710/810's until 1980. No cost cutting measures and the fabric is one of the most durable I've seen on a speaker. The frames are very heavy and not likely to break unless someone is a thrasher. The grills on my 1975 L710's are in perfect condition. They are also wood veneer like most of the mid and top line ADS speakers. Only the lower end smaller bookshelf speakers had vinyl. The ones for sale are series I speakers. Some say the earlier speakers were better but unless they had the Braun drivers, and I don't think these do as there were not made at the original ADS factory, they probably all sound pretty close. Even then there probably wasn't much of a difference. So if you don't feel like paying twice as much for metal grills these are not a bad price for eBay.SoCal Sam said:
Some don't like the metal grills as they claim you can hear ringing from the metal. The bronze metal grills on the 1980-1982 bookshelf speakers had no cloth lining on them. My L1090's from 1983-1984 have cloth lining the inside to eliminate any ringing. So while I agree the bronze metal grills look very cool they may not have been the best grill cover.
SoCal Sam
Lunatic Member
Those L810's look like my L620's that have the cloth grill and vinyl veneer. While I have no complaint of the sound, they look cheap especially when ADS made real veneer cabs with hardwood quarter rounds.Duffinator said:
Incidentally, this same seller had another pair of cloth grill L810's over the summer that sold for just over $200.
Wornears
Age & Treachery
Heed what Duff has posted above. My cloth-grilled, walnut veneered L-810 are early in the series (although likely not I), and I've also owned metal-grilled L-620 (with the cloth damping on the grill edge). Gave those to my daughter to survive college.
First, the L-620 sounded fantastic with the metal grill. Trailered a pair of Dynaco A-25XLs. One of the best two-ways I think you can get for the money. They were not vinyl covered, but veneer, too. I've mostly had ported speakers over the past 30 years, but ADS opened my ears to sealed ones. Led me to AR-91s and Advent (large).
Second, the build quality of the clothed grilled, walnut-veneered L-810 takes a backseat to none of the competitors of the era in that price range. The grill frame is strong, the cloth is some precursor to ballistic nylon, and the fit and finish of the cabs it top notch.
Braun vs. ADS drivers. I have swapped out the stock ADS 3/4-inch tweeter in my L-810 with an ADS 1-inch, and a Braun 1-inch and would be very very hard pressed to tell the difference among them IME. I can't comment on the other drivers, but I think you'd have to have stellar ears to hear the differences in ADS vs. Braun drivers.
First, the L-620 sounded fantastic with the metal grill. Trailered a pair of Dynaco A-25XLs. One of the best two-ways I think you can get for the money. They were not vinyl covered, but veneer, too. I've mostly had ported speakers over the past 30 years, but ADS opened my ears to sealed ones. Led me to AR-91s and Advent (large).
Second, the build quality of the clothed grilled, walnut-veneered L-810 takes a backseat to none of the competitors of the era in that price range. The grill frame is strong, the cloth is some precursor to ballistic nylon, and the fit and finish of the cabs it top notch.
Braun vs. ADS drivers. I have swapped out the stock ADS 3/4-inch tweeter in my L-810 with an ADS 1-inch, and a Braun 1-inch and would be very very hard pressed to tell the difference among them IME. I can't comment on the other drivers, but I think you'd have to have stellar ears to hear the differences in ADS vs. Braun drivers.
Duffinator
Spin The Black Circle
All of the bronze metal grill speakers had wood veneer cabinets unlike earlier (maybe) and later models. I have bronze metal grilled L420's, the bottom of the rung from this vintage, and they have wood veneer cabinets. While nowhere near as nice as my 810's still nice for an inexpensive speaker.Wornears said:
Duffinator
Spin The Black Circle
No worries. BTW, you can buy bronze metal grills and make them fit earlier models. Thanks to Hawkeye Mike's suggestion I purchased some bronze metal grills from eBay a couple of months ago for my 710's. The seller advertised them as L520 grills, which they were, but since the cabinets are the same size at the 710's they fit. Grills from a 620 will fit the 810 cabinets. You have to bend out the edges a bit to make them fit properly but it works. I did this in case my 710's end up in my son's room at a later date as I like the idea of the added protection the metal grills offer. :thmbsp: But one thing nice about the cloth grills is they filter out the dust. My older 710 tweets and mids are much cleaner than my 420's, 810's, and 1090's.SoCal Sam said:
thedelihaus
Nocturnal transmissions
Grills from a 630 and a 730 will also fit the 810s.
I bought cloth early or late 810 grillss (no cross braces in the center) for my 630s, and they fit sublime. I gave them to Peter (PBDA) and they fit his 810s perfect- he gave me his re-covered (in tan tweed) 810 grills with the cross brace, that, if I remove the cross brace, they'll fit my 630s just fine.
I'll say the black or bronze grills look the nicest, but the dust buildup, as Duff says, is filtered out with the cloth grills much better, and as the sticky ADS/Braun domes collect debris easily enough, I find the cloth grills very helpful.
Even with the cloth lining on the metal grill, supposedly to help ringing, the dust still gets in.
a dust buildup on the sticky domes has got to affect the sound a bit, and it's just about impossible to get off. Damage to the tweets/mids can result from trying it too hard.
I bought cloth early or late 810 grillss (no cross braces in the center) for my 630s, and they fit sublime. I gave them to Peter (PBDA) and they fit his 810s perfect- he gave me his re-covered (in tan tweed) 810 grills with the cross brace, that, if I remove the cross brace, they'll fit my 630s just fine.
I'll say the black or bronze grills look the nicest, but the dust buildup, as Duff says, is filtered out with the cloth grills much better, and as the sticky ADS/Braun domes collect debris easily enough, I find the cloth grills very helpful.
Even with the cloth lining on the metal grill, supposedly to help ringing, the dust still gets in.
a dust buildup on the sticky domes has got to affect the sound a bit, and it's just about impossible to get off. Damage to the tweets/mids can result from trying it too hard.
soundmotor
super modified
Wornears said:
Everyone starts somewhere and ADS did so with cloth grilles.
Your comments on their build quality are spot on in my experience especially when you compare them to other New England competitors of the same era such as EPI, Genesis, AR, Advent, Boston & so on. ADS was the most sturdy of the lot.
To find a speaker from the same era that narrowly exceeded their quality or build materials, JBL is likley the only major US brand that did so. Overseas competitors such as some Celestion & KEF, B&W, Canton, & of course Braun would have to be looked at as well.
Wornears
Age & Treachery
Soundmotor. I agree that JBLs of that time would be the only U.S. speaker in that range with better build quality. My '60s and mid-'70s JBL have great cabinets and driver construction. Amazing veneer and tough grill cloth (foam grills are another story as we know). I have a pair of JBL L-36s from 1977 that look basically brand new even today.
My AR-91s of the near same time frame have heavy duty cabs and great drivers and a beastly crossover, but the cheap plastic-framed grills detract considerably to their overall look IMO. Great sound though when you put some wpc at them. I've done A-B-A-B with my L-810s and the AR-91s. The 810 can best the 91 at low-mid volumes, but throw wpc at the AR and they really barrel you over. It would be very hard for me to decide which to give up based on sonics, but the L-810s would likely stay because of their looks and overall ease to live with. Early AR always seemed more about putting the money in the sound produced than the appearance of their speakers. It took a while for Teledyne to completely flip that policy and the AR-91 is early enough to miss the full slide., I think.
Another quality speaker of stout build quality and decent sonics (except for the binding posts -- but JBL and everyone seemed to cheap out on them in this era) are Yamaha NS 690s (mine are very good matched up against the L-810s) and NS-1000 (way ahead based on the comment on AK). I can't believe how my NS-690s are braced inside. Cast woofer drivers, decent/good crossover design, OK grill cloth, but a bank vault cabinet.
My AR-91s of the near same time frame have heavy duty cabs and great drivers and a beastly crossover, but the cheap plastic-framed grills detract considerably to their overall look IMO. Great sound though when you put some wpc at them. I've done A-B-A-B with my L-810s and the AR-91s. The 810 can best the 91 at low-mid volumes, but throw wpc at the AR and they really barrel you over. It would be very hard for me to decide which to give up based on sonics, but the L-810s would likely stay because of their looks and overall ease to live with. Early AR always seemed more about putting the money in the sound produced than the appearance of their speakers. It took a while for Teledyne to completely flip that policy and the AR-91 is early enough to miss the full slide., I think.
Another quality speaker of stout build quality and decent sonics (except for the binding posts -- but JBL and everyone seemed to cheap out on them in this era) are Yamaha NS 690s (mine are very good matched up against the L-810s) and NS-1000 (way ahead based on the comment on AK). I can't believe how my NS-690s are braced inside. Cast woofer drivers, decent/good crossover design, OK grill cloth, but a bank vault cabinet.
