How to ID a Large Advent visually?

I've seen lots of advents up on eBay, I'm wondering how to differentiate 'em all.

I've been to the vintage advent site. It was very helpful, but I'm still a bit overwhelmed and baffled by which is which- I'd like to be able to tell by one quick look.

I've seen 'em labeled Advent model 1s, Advent model 3s, and other, non-descript names.

I've seen the masonite-ring, orange fried egg tweet version- but did any otherAdvent models have the masonite ring/orange fried egg?

Later models with the updated woofer- no masonite ring. But how can you tell if it's a large Advent or another Advent model?

What's the story behind the green fried egg vs yellow?

How about the mesh grill? Exclusive to one model, or many?

Is placement of the tweet mount plate an indicator- I've seen 'em mounted "squared off"

I'va also seen Advents turned on its side with a point facing north, south, east, west?

Dude, that's a lot of freakin' questions!

The original Advent loudspeaker used the masonite ringed woofer (10" woofer in a 12" basket) and the masonite-framed "fried-egg" tweeter with the mesh grill (the first ones didn't have this grill) and came in beveled-front wood veneer and vinyl "utility" cabs.

The Smaller Advent used a 9'' woofer with a huge "spitball-looking" dust cap and a fried-egg tweeter.

The original Advent was replaced with the New Advent Loudspeaker which used the metal-framed woofer and a more "refined" looking metal-framed fried-egg tweeter and had a rounded-edge wood veneer cabs (and a utility version IIRC).

The Advent/1 (which was meant to replace the Smaller, AFAIK) used the same drivers as the New Advent, but in a smaller (typically vinyl from what I've seen) cab.

The Advent/2 used a "fiberboard-ringed" woofer and a funky dual paper cone tweeter arrangement. The cabs were either vinyl-clad or white plastic, I believe.

The Advent/3 used a 6-1/2" rubber-surrounded woofer and a single paper cone tweeter which looks the same as that in the Advent/2.

There was an Advent/4 as well, but I'm not really familiar with it.....

From what I've gathered, both the originals and the Smallers came with both orange and green tweeters. Also, there was a short period when the originals where supplied with the metal-framed woofer of the New Advent.

Hope this helps. - Mark

Here's some pics. Advent Loudspeaker, Advent/1, Smaller Advent - respectively. I'm sure I have a pic of the Advent/2 somewhere which add when I find it. - Mark

Mark is spot on with his descriptions of the early Advents. Another interesting thing they did was, on the first fried egg tweeters, the masonite square was originally oriented at seemingly random angles just so the mounting screws were accessible and only later did they standardize on the 90 degree turn from the metal backing plate.

Doug

man, most of you guys beat me to it

The easiest way to ID large advents is by the rear badge (duh..:tongue. It will say "The Advent Loudspeaker." Respectively the smaller advent says "The smaller advent loudspeaker" The same can be said for other models. Things that make different models stand out are easy to spot. Here's the rundown on what I know...

Original large advents have a masonite woofer and masonite orange tweeter.
"The New advent" made after 1977 was a large advent that had the metal basket woofer and orange tweeter. The smaller advent has a very large dust cap on the woofer and shared the same tweeter as the original large advent except for ones that had the strange green tweeter, but that's later...

The advent /1 and "the new advent look near the same with the grill off. The advent /1 has the woofer and tweeter really close together because of the small cabinet. THe large advents have the woofer and tweeter spaced about 4-5 inches apart Both models have the same drivers.

The advent /2 has a smaller version of the original masonite woofer and two angled tweeters (one down and to the left, the other up and to the right) this was supposed to help with imaging, but most argue these were probably the worst of the advent line

The advent /3 was the smallest of the original series. It has a 6" woofer with a completely round basket unlike the others. It has one small 2" cone tweeter sunk in a rectangular frame. The woofers have rubber surrounds and don't need refoaming. The drawback to the 3s is terrible inefficiency.

The advent /4 came in the early 80s, and did not stick around long. It uses an 8" woofer with a round basket and a 2" tweeter. The grill rests on the outside front of the cabinet instead of being recessed into the front.

The advent /9 had identical drivers of the advent /4 but had a slightly larger cabinet. These don't pop up much, and not alot is known about them. They look like a miniature "new advent"

and last of the originals was the x002 series. This started with the 2002, which was a reincarnation of the advent /4. The 3002 was the same as the 2002 except a soft dome tweeter replaced the paper cone and the cabinet was larger than the 2002. THe 4002 was a reincarnation of the advent /1 except with the same soft dome tweeter as the 3002. The 5002 was a reincarnation of the original large advent, using the same woofer as the "new advent" and the same tweeter as the 3 and 4002. These are said to be the best advents made. I owned two pair and I have to agree. If you want a nice wood veneer version of the 5002, look at the 5012. That was the only version of the x002 series with a wood cabinet.

All of these advents had the mesh grill. It was white until the mid 70s, when it became gray with the new advent. After the x002 series, Jensen bought advent and the Legacy series, Laureate, Prodigy, Graduate, baby advent, and 6003 were produced. All advents of that series had either brown or black grill cloth.


As for the color difference between orange and green tweeters. The green tweeter is supposed to be slightly quieter than the orange. I'm not sure if this is due to the impedance or simply the design. I've just noticed that the green tweeters seem to be softer and less harsh than the orange. I've seen a few pair of large advents with the green tweeter, but mostly they were in the smaller advent.

Anything else you might want to know? I hope I have answered most if not all of your questions...

you guys are HEROS. I appreciate the info.

My goal with this post was to be able to tell a Large Advent by quick look- no emails to seller, no instructions to seller telling what to look for, no guesses over oddly worded craigslist ads, no baffling, frustrating answers to someone's wife, ect.

I think you've helped me achieve this. :thmbsp:

Mark Anderson, yep, I do ask lots of questions. I thank you for being an excellent AKer who actually has the answers, and takes the time to answer them to boot. Muchas gracias!

Doug G, never knew that tidbit- you've probably saved me a ton of confusion in my search with that tidbit.

JP, you are always great help- thank you so much. Just so you know, I dig the idea of the x002/x012 series and found numerous leads on 'em, an unnatural amount really, but have been uncerimoniously denied, anywheres from sellers remorse to issues of "oops look what I just did" to "well I see these listed on eBay as "Eames Era" selling for $175 to $300, and even though they never sell and the seller keeps re-listing them, and mine are nicked, worn, and foam-rotted, and untested, I think they are worth the same".

Ugh.

If I come across the originals for a fair price I won't turn my back on them, but I do like the thoughts of having a 5002/5012 more appealing.

Edit 3/26/07
Here is a link to download the 8 page New Large Advent Brochure.

- Pete

Not to forget the 3-way Maestro speaker...my favorite pair if speaks...ok, so I only have 2 pairs of speakers anyway.

Nearly a year later.....Advent/2's.

The ones in the back...

If anyone wants the New Large advent brochure, you can download the PDF file here.

- Pete