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ADS 910's have landed

nerdorama

nerdorama

AK member
Subscriber
I was heading to the store yesterday and a neighbor about a block away was having a moving sale. Stopped and looked around, was about ready to leave when he says there is more in the house. When I turned the corner into a basement room he had a big pair of speakers on pivoting stands. I figured they were just being stored and probably not for sale. Asked about them and was shaking on the deal about 90 seconds later. Wife was not very happy, but then asked "Can these replace all the other speakers?". If they turn out to be something I really like, she may get her wish.

They are in good, not mint, condition. Have a few water stains in the finish but no damage to the wood or veneer. The drivers all work fine but the connector between the drivers and the crossover PC board is intermittent in one speaker. For now I can wiggle it until things work but it will need a permanent fix soon.

Also, one is missing the badge. It seems an extremely long shot, but if anyone has or knows of one, I'm interested. I suppose I should ask on BT but it's not the most important issue now.

Just had to share. Thanks.
John
 

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Thanks, Steve. I'm pretty excited. The price was good and the owner loved them. He's getting ready to sell the house and travel in his motorhome. Just couldn't keep them anymore. I think he was glad that someone intending to use them was the purchaser rather than a flipper.

So far I've used them with my 7-8 watt tube amp and they do quite well. The midrange and treble are especially good. I'm thinking that biamping with SS for the woofers may be my direction. I need to gather more info about the crossovers first.

John
 
Very nice grab John . I just picked up a pair of braun 1030s and really happy with them.........I think ss on the lows is the way to go for you.....congrats....
 
John,

Congrats on a great find. They are a great speaker and may very well allow you to divest yourself of the rest of your speakers and keep peace at home. I used to have a pair and was very happy with them. They had some of the best bass I had ever enjoyed. I too had to decide to keep them or keep a pair of stacked DQ-10's.

To save you a lot of time I will attach a document I made up to help you bi-amp them passively (using the components on the cross-over) or actively, using a external active cross-over. I did both. Here is the doc. if you have questions let me know.

The jumpers are essentially replacing the pcb card that gets plugged in. You remove it and make these connections using jumpers.

I know you will enjoy them.
 

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Thank you Lux Man. That's good info and something I will use very soon. I have a Yamaha M-80 that should do bass duty very well.

wsissons,
Thanks for the encouragement. Good luck with the Brauns. I looked at your post. They look great.

John
 
Very nice score!
I have a set of L810s that I absolutely love and would love to hear a set of their big brothers. Let us know how the bi-amping works out; that could be something really special.
 
That is a very nice find, indeed!

Hope to add some ADS speaks to my stash some day too...

Rome
 
You'll love them! To my ears, they are some of the most efficient and true-sounding speakers. Musicians sound "live" in my 12 x 16 foot music room with those ADS L-910s.

The crossover panel can be unscrewed and removed and the plug connector removed. The male and female connectors can get a dose of DeoxIT and then work them gently for a better connection. You might have to rewire the connectors at some point. Also, there are slide switches on the crossovers that can get corroded (as do the fuse holders). More DeoxIT in the switches and slide them back and forth too. Be sure that the fuses in the holders are the proper rating and listen carefully to be sure that the drivers are all working. It's NOT uncommon for the tweeters to be blown.

Richard So at ADS Speaker Repair can rebuild the drivers and he has rebuilt a couple of tweeters for me--very reasonable prices (and he has spare drivers from time to time): http://www.adsspeakersservice.com/

Yes, they are rather large, but when I first heard them in 1978 (while in college and on a VERY modest work study salary!), I knew that one day I would have to find a pair for myself...it only took 30 years, in my case!
 
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Yostie70,
Thanks for the link. I had already found it and have same the docs for the 910. Unfortunately, there is no crossover schematic. The user manual has some pages that are cut off at the bottom so it makes for difficult reading.

wajobu,
I'm having the connector trouble you mention in one channel. I've used some contact cleaner and also taken the socket off the PCB and removed the contacts to respring them. Still no success. Maybe all new crossovers are coming. Then I could remove all the jumpers and switches in series with the mids and tweeters. Mouse Electronics has some compatible Molex plugs and sockets so I may buy new connectors. I didn't see a PCB mount socket, but there is an inline cable connected socket that could work with some short wire to the PCB.

Thanks to everyone else for the encouragement.

Now I have to look up the Yamaha M80 repair threads. Mine works ok, but there are some recognised issues that lead to eventual failure. I don't want it taking out the ADS woofers because I didn't do the maintenance.

John
 
ADS 910 crossover schematic

Well,

I think I have it. Here's a schematic from visually tracing the crossover for these. I haven't had any luck finding an official copy so in the spirit of DIY, here it is. Can't guarantee it 100% yet but I think it's correct. Don't know the polarity of the domes yet as I haven't pulled any drivers yet.

Anyone ever do any updates to their xovers? Suggestions? There are a number of switches and jumpers in the HF signal path and some also in the mid crossover. It seems to me that a custom built xover which omits these would have a chance of sounding a bit better.
ADS 910 xover schem.jpg
Best,
John

Edit:
I found a schematic file since this post. It has many schematics for ADS but a few of the component values don't match my crossovers. See the bottom of this link:
http://sportsbil.com/ads/
 
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What a great speaker!

I think you're doing the right thing by bi-amping them, specifically with an active filter for the LF. I've never done critical listening tests of the MF/HF with esoteric amps so I don't doubt that tubes might be wonderful. I do know, however, that those woofers respond well to dedicated high-power amps. Arm and hammer.

When you eliminate the LF inductor and wire the VC close and tight to a stout SS amp (Hafler 500 versus Carver cube) you get to hear why some people care about damping factors.
 
Hi Adam,

That's what I'm hoping to do eventually. So far I'm really enjoying the music on these speakers. Very balanced, good detail and imaging. The sensitivity is pretty good, too, at 93dB. In my room size and with a 7-8 watt PP tube amp they're doing very well. Midrange and treble are excellent and the bass is tight but full and tuneful.

Best,
John
 
Rome said:
That is a very nice find, indeed!

Hope to add some ADS speaks to my stash some day too...

Rome
Click to expand...

They were the most pleasant surprise and the most welcome addition to my arsenal since Klipsch Fortes! Go get you some before they're all hoarded up!:yes:
 
I have always thougth those look like very nice well built speakers. I would love to add a pair to my listening room some day as well.
 
The thread is a little old, but I assume you are referring to the 910's. I got them on Labor Day last fall and have been enjoying them on and off since. Right now I'm playing them with a breadboard tube amp that has PP 6B4G's and Magnequest transformers. The combo is quite nice. The 910's have reasonable sensitivity and a great relaxed and even sound across the full spectrum. They aren't as precise or detailed as more modern speakers but they are REALLY easy to listen to for hours.

I had to make a couple of small repairs to the crossover connectors, but since then nothing but enjoyment. I've been watching for other ADS speakers on the local adverts since then. Missed a good deal on some L710's which were just a little too far away.

Thanks,
John
 
nerdorama said:
I was heading to the store yesterday and a neighbor about a block away was having a moving sale. Stopped and looked around, was about ready to leave when he says there is more in the house. When I turned the corner into a basement room he had a big pair of speakers on pivoting stands. I figured they were just being stored and probably not for sale. Asked about them and was shaking on the deal about 90 seconds later. Wife was not very happy, but then asked "Can these replace all the other speakers?". If they turn out to be something I really like, she may get her wish.

They are in good, not mint, condition. Have a few water stains in the finish but no damage to the wood or veneer. The drivers all work fine but the connector between the drivers and the crossover PC board is intermittent in one speaker. For now I can wiggle it until things work but it will need a permanent fix soon.

Also, one is missing the badge. It seems an extremely long shot, but if anyone has or knows of one, I'm interested. I suppose I should ask on BT but it's not the most important issue now.

Just had to share. Thanks.
John
Click to expand...
What's with the stands? Were those an option or did the owner fabricate those? That's kind of cool. I'm assuming you have some ability to set angle on those?

Nice speakers.
 
The stands are OEM with the speakers. Don't know if they were an option or standard equipment. They have a large screw on each side with large handwheels to tighten. It's easy to set at most any reasonable angle. I think there were two styles and mine are the earlier version. The later stands had pocketed or hollowed out sides and mine are solid flat sides.

John
 
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