ADS BC8 refurb project

[Boston Tom]

Well here goes!
My first attempt at a complete cab,driver,grill and crossover refurbish job!
These BC8’s are extremely rare monitors and I just picked them up last night.
I will post pics of their current condition and disassembling process as I move forward with these.
The veneers and cabinet condition are in bad condition and not from years of use but probably neglect.
The previous owner had worked for ADS in the mid to late 70’s but wasn’t the original owner he purchased a few years ago and wanted to refurbish himself but he is on in his years and mobility issues. So I was happy to take these off his hands and get them back to near original condition.
That all being said the plan is to send all drivers crossovers and switches to Mr So as soon as possible.
and get to work on stripping the veneers and seeing what I can do with the boxes.
Any info as to the process and what to expect going thru these.
#1. patience don’t rush it.

Thanks,
BT
Admin please let me know if this is too many pics. I’ll adjust going forward
Thanks

 

[Spiceman50]

Hi Boston Tom!

What a great thread you started. I think this will be a fantastic project to do. It amazes me considering the rest of the condition of the cabs, how well the Tweeters and Midranges look. The domes look pretty clean and still transparent. Looking forward to following your thread.

Garry~

 

[Boston Tom]

Hi Boston Tom!

What a great thread you started. I think this will be a fantastic project to do. It amazes me considering the rest of the condition of the cabs, how well the Tweeters and Midranges look. The domes look pretty clean and still transparent. Looking forward to following your thread.

Garry~

Thanks Garry
hoping to get some additional info on these can’t seem to find much but did see a crossover schematic on Njords post. Will keep searching. A few of the switches are broken and I’m hoping a replacement can be found.
cheers.
Eager and nervous at the same time. Haha

 

[MJB1959]

Those are seemingly an uncommon ADS speaker. And congrats on the acquisition, as well as the gumption to tackle a restore on them, they sure look like a great speaker, any thoughts on their sound stage? And what are all the switches for?

 

[Boston Tom]

Those are seemingly an uncommon ADS speaker. And congrats on the acquisition, as well as the gumption to tackle a restore on them, they sure look like a great speaker, any thoughts on their sound stage? And what are all the switches for?

Hey MJB
Thanks,
Not sure of the sound stage but it’s my understanding that these were used in recording studios cir..late 70’s early 80’s
The switches are for imaging (vertical or horizontal selection of the tweeters) I’ll take a closer pic of the switch module.
Tweeter and mid adjustment.
BT

 

[baco99]

Did you pick those up in Methuen? There's a guy up here been trying to sell those for 2-3 years.

 

[Boston Tom]

Did you pick those up in Methuen? There's a guy up here been trying to sell those for 2-3 years.

Lawrence area yes.
Tearing them down now.

 

[baco99]

Lawrence area yes.
Tearing them down now. View attachment 1866041

Nice. Let me know if you need help.

 

[Spiceman50]

Did you pick those up in Methuen? There's a guy up here been trying to sell those for 2-3 years.

Have a sister and brother in law living in Maine who's been trying to get me up there to visit. I was thinking I'd take a day and drive down to Boston and see if I could pick those up, but then I didn't see the listing any more, so forgot about the visit and time got away. They look really interesting to be honest.

Thanks Garry
hoping to get some additional info on these can’t seem to find much but did see a crossover schematic on Njords post. Will keep searching. A few of the switches are broken and I’m hoping a replacement can be found.
cheers.
Eager and nervous at the same time. Haha

Did you hook them up before you started? As I say, I noticed the Tweeters and Mid's looked in pretty good shape. I've not found much on the BC8's either. As a matter of fact, about the only other time I seen anything about them was on the other thread here at AK. Gonna keep up with this thread.

 

[Boston Tom]

Have a sister and brother in law living in Maine who's been trying to get me up there to visit. I was thinking I'd take a day and drive down to Boston and see if I could pick those up, but then I didn't see the listing any more, so forgot about the visit and time got away. They look really interesting to be honest.



Did you hook them up before you started? As I say, I noticed the Tweeters and Mid's looked in pretty good shape. I've not found much on the BC8's either. As a matter of fact, about the only other time I seen anything about them was on the other thread here at AK. Gonna keep up with this thread.

I did hook them up and only one was giving sound. Might have been the small NAD receiver I was using.
I also didn’t try to hard as I knew they were going to be dis assembled. As I was taking stuff apart I noticed the woofer on one was not connected and some of the tweeters And switch connections were barely soldered The crossovers are pretty basic And in good shape. Also couldn’t find any info for the part. Might be a one off Small batch design Just for these. P/N is 204-0018. With a monster coil that sat at the bottom of the cabinet on a block of wood with a hole in middle I thought it was strange. Not really secured. I think one of the Mids might have been gone over by Richard So
due to a date of 3/07 and the initials of RSE. I could be wrong.
Once I get these sent out I will be concentrating on stripping the veneer off the cabs and hopefully salvageable.
Cheers
BT

 

[Spiceman50]

Looks like a really fun project honestly it does. I was looking at the pics of the crossover and the thought occured to me I wonder how they wired those Tweeters up? Red and Purple wires right?

 

[David_NC]

Sounds like a fun (but pretty big) project! I've never heard of that model, and it'll be interesting to hear how the compare to other ADS models. In a way, it's probably just as well the veneer is ruined. Patching it up often doesn't look as good as fresh veneer anyway, so I bet they'll end up looking really nice.

 

[elitopus]

Are they wired up so only one tweeter is working at a time, depending on which way you have the switch? That would kinda make sense. Vertical placement would use the upper tweeter, and laying on their side would use the sideways tweeter.

N/M, I see you already said that’s how they’re wired. Pretty cool!

 

[Boston Tom]

Looks like a really fun project honestly it does. I was looking at the pics of the crossover and the thought occured to me I wonder how they wired those Tweeters up? Red and Purple wires right?

They went to the switches the reds for tweeter The yellows Or (-) common. were via the imaging switch. The purples went to the mids switch. If you look at the pic of the crossover the top solder joints went to the speakers and are clearly labeled on the board. Lucky for me.

 

[Boston Tom]

Nice. Let me know if you need help.

Thanks for the offer might take you up on that.

 

[GD70]

Well here goes!
My first attempt at a complete cab,driver,grill and crossover refurbish job!
These BC8’s are extremely rare monitors and I just picked them up last night.
I will post pics of their current condition and disassembling process as I move forward with these.
The veneers and cabinet condition are in bad condition and not from years of use but probably neglect.
The previous owner had worked for ADS in the mid to late 70’s but wasn’t the original owner he purchased a few years ago and wanted to refurbish himself but he is on in his years and mobility issues. So I was happy to take these off his hands and get them back to near original condition.
That all being said the plan is to send all drivers crossovers and switches to Mr So as soon as possible.
and get to work on stripping the veneers and seeing what I can do with the boxes.
Any info as to the process and what to expect going thru these.
#1. patience don’t rush it.

Thanks,
BT
Admin please let me know if this is too many pics. I’ll adjust going forward
Thanks
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I think you'll have lots of helpers and others following along this resto journey!
I commented on the ADS FB page as well.
Cheers! Glenn

 

[GD70]

Any thoughts on which veneer you restore them with?
I'd also contact Richard So with any questions, as well as sending all the drivers to him. They will be basically brand new when he's done with them.

 

[nerdorama]

Watch out for those rectangular Jones sockets. They were used on the 910’s as well and are a fail point. The contacts lose their spring tension and get intermittent.

You have a project on your hands. Good luck with it and keep up the reports.
John

 

[Spiceman50]

They went to the switches the reds for tweeter The yellows Or (-) common. were via the imaging switch. The purples went to the mids switch. If you look at the pic of the crossover the top solder joints went to the speakers and are clearly labeled on the board. Lucky for me.

Yes, this makes sense. Great pics too! Dont be surprised at some point in the future someone will thank you for your contrabutions here.

 

[Boston Tom]

Well got one cabinet prepped waiting for the walnut veneer to arrive. Little more prep to do like adding wood hardener and some wood repair on the corners works like bondo but for wood with no shrinkage. And sands well. Also had an email exchange with Richard So. Will be sending them off next week after proper packing. Looking to see if a friend can make new badges these are foil backed. Will see.
BT