MarkAnderson
Addicted Member
Looks like neat project, but you might want to cover up those holes with something more substantial than emory cloth 
- Mark
- Mark
A/D/S line pecking order?
- Thread starter savv
- Start date
shrinkboy
Addicted Member
hey, soundmotor-- i've got a pair of L810's i found earlier this year at a thrift, and like all these L810 owners here, i've been knocked out by mine. one guy was running his (it was dingus, i think) with a sonic impact 15 watt amp, to very good effect, he reports.
to your post, i have noticed the very strong bass in this speaker, too. powerful, plentiful bass. a couple things: get them up off the floor, about 12-15 inches. also a slight tilt back, and some kind of barrier between the stand and the floor. i have mine on stands which in turn sit on two inch thick granite slabs which in turn rest on hockey pucks. this tightened things up a good bit.
to your post, i have noticed the very strong bass in this speaker, too. powerful, plentiful bass. a couple things: get them up off the floor, about 12-15 inches. also a slight tilt back, and some kind of barrier between the stand and the floor. i have mine on stands which in turn sit on two inch thick granite slabs which in turn rest on hockey pucks. this tightened things up a good bit.
soundmotor
super modified
shrinkboy said:
Wow, a nearly dead post returns!
I am glad you guys are happy with your 810s. They are fine speakers. My comment was not "The 810s have no bass!", it was that the L1230 was perhaps best iteration of the earlier speakers and if it did not have enough impact for you, you could remedy that by adding a subwoofer.
Kegger
R.I.P. 1/12/1966 - 6/1/2017
Thanks for the vote of confidence andy.
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The xovers in these are fairly substantial with above average parts. I would say the
only place they could of done better was in the caps as they are high quality electro's
but with there values "fairly large" polys would have been very expensive and large.
soundmotor may know but it looks as if these xovers are made for several other
speakers as well as some with dual woofers as there are 2 places on the board
marked woofer with a place for a second set of connections. Could be the same
xover that would be used for the L810's.
These are also 880/2 where my others are just 880, wonder if there is any difference, humm!
--------------------------------------------
The xovers in these are fairly substantial with above average parts. I would say the
only place they could of done better was in the caps as they are high quality electro's
but with there values "fairly large" polys would have been very expensive and large.
soundmotor may know but it looks as if these xovers are made for several other
speakers as well as some with dual woofers as there are 2 places on the board
marked woofer with a place for a second set of connections. Could be the same
xover that would be used for the L810's.
These are also 880/2 where my others are just 880, wonder if there is any difference, humm!
soundmotor
super modified
Kegger said:
There would be mylar film capacitors in the tweeter circuit not electrolytics. They are likely blue or gray plastic cased. ADS used them from their very first offerings. Replacing them with lower ESR films such as polypropylene can change the voicing to their detriment. If you change out the caps you may need to increase the series resistance on the tweeter by a few tenths of an ohm if the standard attenuation levels seem "off".
ADS used common circuit boards/crossover carriers across multiple designs. The crossover case in your 880 was also used on the 980, 1090, 1290, & 1590, series 1 & 2. It was also used on some earlier series products. The value of the components that populate the boards would be unique though.
Kegger
R.I.P. 1/12/1966 - 6/1/2017
sounds about right soundmotor I have not traced the layout on the xover yet to see
what's feeding what but yes there is a large blue plasic rectangle that as you say is
a cap, so that is a good thing to see they used better quality caps on the tweet. I
will probably leave those alone "maybe bypass with good PIO" I will probably upgrade
the midrange caps though.
Any idea if there are any differences between the 880 and 880/2? Xover/drivers/whatever?
Thanks for all the info you provide us on these ADS speakers, invaluable!
what's feeding what but yes there is a large blue plasic rectangle that as you say is
a cap, so that is a good thing to see they used better quality caps on the tweet. I
will probably leave those alone "maybe bypass with good PIO" I will probably upgrade
the midrange caps though.
Any idea if there are any differences between the 880 and 880/2? Xover/drivers/whatever?
Thanks for all the info you provide us on these ADS speakers, invaluable!
soundmotor
super modified
ADS/Aerial Connection
It is most amusing that you chose the Aerial 10T as your example. I was fortunate to hear the very first working samples many years back when Aerial was still deciding on the final spelling of its name.
The principal of Aerial is Michael Kelly. Michael was president of ADS until ~1986 and absolutely had influence on products such as the L880 & many, many others. The second partner of Aerial is David Marshall. David was one of the key mechanical designers for ADS until ~1990. Virtually every speaker that ADS built up to that point fell under his pen.
They don't get any better than these 2 gentlemen in the audio business.
It is most amusing that you chose the Aerial 10T as your example. I was fortunate to hear the very first working samples many years back when Aerial was still deciding on the final spelling of its name.
The principal of Aerial is Michael Kelly. Michael was president of ADS until ~1986 and absolutely had influence on products such as the L880 & many, many others. The second partner of Aerial is David Marshall. David was one of the key mechanical designers for ADS until ~1990. Virtually every speaker that ADS built up to that point fell under his pen.
They don't get any better than these 2 gentlemen in the audio business.
Kegger said:
Attachments
Fast_Eddie
Upper-middle fi
shrinkboy said:
I've got them sitting on milk crates right now. Just to be clear, the bass is tight- tightest bass I've ever had. There's just a lot of it. Not sure if there's too much, or if they're just the only speakers I own that actually can play all the bass. It will be interesting to A/B them with some other speakers once we get another Colorado get together going.
Going through other L810 posts I found this:
http://audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=1131&highlight=ads+l810
eThink posted the specs. Looks like they are damned strong in the lower end with only a 5db roll off at 20 hz. I think what I might be hearing is the first pair of speakers I've ever owned that could play that low. So it would stand to reason that you would percieve more bass. Would also explain Soundmotors thought- as a little sub would make them flat down to 20.
Dang, these are some bad ass speakers!
Take care,
Ed
Last edited:
Kegger
R.I.P. 1/12/1966 - 6/1/2017
"The principal of Aerial is Michael Kelly. Michael was president of ADS until ~1986 and absolutely had influence on products such as the L880 & many, many others. The second partner of Aerial is David Marshall. David was one of the key mechanical designers for ADS until ~1990. Virtually every speaker that ADS built up to that point fell under his pen. "
Yes I knew this as a good friend has the Aerial 10T's "that I love" we both found out
about his being with ADS some time back. Very cool! Nice guy too I've spoken with him.
Yes I knew this as a good friend has the Aerial 10T's "that I love" we both found out
about his being with ADS some time back. Very cool! Nice guy too I've spoken with him.
Kegger
R.I.P. 1/12/1966 - 6/1/2017
soundmotor
super modified
Kegger said:
I have the woofer upgrade for those BTW.
capturedlive
I got this fever, you see
A guy in my neighborhood posted a pair of nice looking L520's on eBay at a $75 start with a $150 BIN. Unfortunately, he says he's only giving local pickup privilege to the bidder who forks over the $150. Like it's more inconvenient for someone to drive up and take them off his hands as opposed to packing them, loading them in the car, hauling them to the post office, dragging them out of the car and waiting in line to do the postage thing.
Soundmotor, The M-12 towers have been my main speaker for over 15 years (I don't know if they are the orginal or revised version) and I've been quite happy with them. In fact, when I recently went audtioning new speakers with the thought of upgrading, I found that I'd neeed to spend 3K to get significantly better sound. I really like the Paradigm Signature series but they are pricy. I haven't heard the other ADS models that have been discussed, but are there particular models that would represent a significant upgrade from the M - 12's?
soundmotor
super modified
Munster said:
If they've never given you issue, they were either M12/90 series or the amplifier you have works synergistically with them. If you have walnut cabinets, the M12 series had bronze grilles whereas the M12/90 series were black.
If you've had 15 years of satisfactory service from them, I agree that there is little reason to "upgrade" unless you were able to do a side-by-side comparison. Otherwise, you might not be happy with the new ones in your set-up.
soundmotor
super modified
Kegger said:
1" tweeter, 5" midrange, 2x 8" woofers in a tower arrangement w/ walnut, furniture grade veneering & perforated metal grilles.
AlleyKat
Super Member
I have two pair of ADS, the 810's and a venerable (bought them new in early 70's) pair of 710a's. I bought the 810's when the foam finally rotted away on the 710A's woofers as I was unable to find 7" reconing kits. Although the 810's are outstanding speakers, after 30 years with my (Braun made) 710's, they are a bit too heavy in the bass. I recently was able to purchase four replacement ADS 7" woofers and will soon see if the live up to their German predecessors. If they do (or come acceptably close) I'll be selling the 810's.
Fast_Eddie
Upper-middle fi
AlleyKat said:
That's interesting, my buddy who came to hear my l810s said the same thing: "too much bass." My Rives Audio test CD and Radio Shack meter may bear that out. They do bear out that my room is a disaster sonically.
There is a 6db peak at 40 and 50 hz. There are a lot of peaks in my room though, so I'm not sure it's the speakers. In my case, I think they may be the only speakers I have that can make 40 hz, so they took a little getting used to. They sound perfect to me now.
It's cool with the test cd- you can feel 20 hz, but I can't hear a thing there. Same with everything over 16k.
Take care,
Ed
soundmotor
super modified
Fast_Eddie said:
I am beginning to think I have become a bass horndog in my sunset years. Even my L980/II's can use the assist on the bottom & they stomp the L810's in the brown note department.
Possibly the fact that a great deal of my day is spent working with multi subwoofer installs with way to much power in too small a space (a car) has something to do with it. I like it though in the way I've come to appreciate nice ink on hotrod girls........
