ADS L810. Educate Me, Please.
- Thread starter gdmoore28
- Start date
Ron Z
New Member
My theory is the 810s were voiced for rock. My teenage brother and my teenage self both bought 810s, my parents bought 710s. I drove mine with a Citation 12 and later a mid 80s Denon PMA integrated. I always kept them a foot away from both the wall they were on and a foot off of the floor. Never noticed any boom. I do like my bass, I now have my parents' 710s with a dual sub setup.
just purchased a pair fir $100 from original owners. Cloth grills walnut. Near perfect shape. I have them about 10” off the ground on stands running it from a vintage Marantz 2245. Sounds great even at low levels prob due to its efficiency. Nice miss and highs. Clean and precise I woukd day even over my Polk 7b in which the peerless tweeters sound more laid back or Warmer as some describe. I
actually turned the base up two notches from flat as I thought it lacked in that Dept from the recapped KLH 5 I had in their place. Nice to audition different speakers. Keepers for now.
7whales7
Addicted Member
German engineering! LOL!
7whales7
Addicted Member
It's a nice problem to have! I to have Polk 7b's peerless...they are sitting...the 810's bumped them out for now... maybe for a long time...I should A/B them again when I have time.
. Several years ago but wanted to respond. I have a 84 pair of polk 5jr's with the front port. Bought them for my mother then and she RARELY used them and mostly sat idle for most of those years. She passed away at 95. I brought them home and was pleased to found out they were still working albeit some drift. Some tweeter soldering and some fuse cleaning helped that. BUT.....i did find the tweeter SL1000 very fatiguing. I had them out on the floor about 5 ft from the wall and tilted back like you would a klipsch Heresy etc. No stands however. The imaging and sound staging i am getting out of them is unreal! They are sharp though. Since them i have them on my desktop about 5.5ft apart and 1ft away from the walls.They are not pointing at me directly at all and almost more out then in. The center image is incredible!! Make these things disappear. Think the goal is to try an not locate the speakers and you will find the magic. That all being said.....lol..... i had to eq that treble down even in that positioning. Have been using Boom 3D. Not using the 3D portion as it sounds like crap to me. That being said they have a very excellent 30 band EQ. Dialed all kinds of stuff out of these things and especially at 6.3k. Added some tasteful bass and WOW! Took me many hours of listening to get to this spot but they sound SOOOO good. The Boom program also has a Fidelity knob that i just set at noon. There is also a volume slider which to me acts much like a compressor. It is incredibly impressive. My first inclination was to turn that up at least 50%. After almost 2 years with this program i just keep it really low and let my ears and feels be the guide. Have it set probably less than 8% at the moment listening to Loreena Mckennit. Great reference for me to hear all the timbers and if her voice or violin is killing me....etc. Anyway....yeah......EQ!!!!!
. Once you get that eq'd it should be pretty close to set it and forget it although i like the ability to be able to do some tweaking now. Could never do that with my low powered tube mono-blocks and large horn speakers with a tube preamp. What i got was what i got. What i did get, to the very positive, is a remembering of that sweet revealing sound. Let your ears be your guide in using eq. Frustrating as hell sometimes but you can find it. These Polks would trigger some developing tinnitus(61 now) but after dialing in this EQ with the much maligned SL1000 i think they sound amazing. These speakers sound amazing! Guess i knew what i was doing when i went shopping for them for my mother back in 84.... haha. Also....all original crossover parts....knock on wood. Sounds incredible. Did the caps reform? I am in want of nothing sitting here listening tonight. Just was listening to some of Bowie(Five Years) on Amazon HD and now Loreena. Just phenomenal! The end. Maybe...hah. Damn edit button. Edit...crap. Powered 8" subwoofer used to round out. ALSO....couldn't get that eq dialed in for awhile but i finally switched to The Clash "London Calling" to help me dial in some things. That REALLY helped(snare drum,cymbals.. etc.)!
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GD70
Lunatic Member
Great story! A perfect example of how an EQ can make huge differences!. Several years ago but wanted to respond. I have a 84 pair of polk 5jr's with the front port. Bought them for my mother then and she RARELY used them and mostly sat idle for most of those years. She passed away at 95. I brought them home and was pleased to found out they were still working albeit some drift. Some tweeter soldering and some fuse cleaning helped that. BUT.....i did find the tweeter SL1000 very fatiguing. I had them out on the floor about 5 ft from the wall and tilted back like you would a klipsch Heresy etc. No stands however. The imaging and sound staging i am getting out of them is unreal! They are sharp though. Since them i have them on my desktop about 5.5ft apart and 1ft away from the walls.They are not pointing at me directly at all and almost more out then in. The center image is incredible!! Make these things disappear. Think the goal is to try an not locate the speakers and you will find the magic. That all being said.....lol..... i had to eq that treble down even in that positioning. Have been using Boom 3D. Not using the 3D portion as it sounds like crap to me. That being said they have a very excellent 30 band EQ. Dialed all kinds of stuff out of these things and especially at 6.3k. Added some tasteful bass and WOW! Took me many hours of listening to get to this spot but they sound SOOOO good. The Boom program also has a Fidelity knob that i just set at noon. There is also a volume slider which to me acts much like a compressor. It is incredibly impressive. My first inclination was to turn that up at least 50%. After almost 2 years with this program i just keep it really low and let my ears and feels be the guide. Have it set probably less than 8% at the moment listening to Loreena Mckennit. Great reference for me to hear all the timbers and if her voice or violin is killing me....etc. Anyway....yeah......EQ!!!!!
I’d still suggest at least checking the caps. 37 year old caps in most cases are out of spec. A recap may make a big difference in their overall balance.
Anyway, enjoy the music!
Cheers, Glenn
Thanks Glenn! I check FB marketplace periodically to see what speakers may pop up. Right after typing that i was looking and a fellow 5 miles from me had a set of Monitor 7's for sale for $180. He had put the 194 tweeters in it and had done the recap and resistors. He used Mills resistors and Solen caps(Solens i had never heard of until today). He also made sure the magnets wouldn't shift and sealed it so there would be no air leaks. So i grabbed them after hearing that they may be even better than the 5jr's i have. Cabinets and grills are in good shape but definitely not show room. My thought was "where can you buy speakers that sound this good today for under $200". I read some of these threads and see people saying they paid to much at $100 etc. I would say jump if they are in good condition! If the 5jr's start sounding really off to me again i will consider recapping for sure. They are staying put for now and will have these 7's to put in place if i need to do a recap on the 5Jr's. Hate to move things around right now to hear the 7's because i have a very nice sweet spot dialed in right now and don't want to mess that magic up at the moment....hah. Thanks again!
gizzyman47
Addicted Member
I really like my L810's "metal grills" but my L1090's sound a bit more well rounded.
Blue Shadow
Waiting for Vintage Gear from this century
Wow that story about the 5jrs is one long paragraph. I struggled through. Can I ask that you hit enter a few times while typing to make it easier to read, thanks, but on to the quote above.
We use painters tape to to mark the sweet spot when we have to move speakers outta the way to try something different. That and you'd need to save you Boom EQ settings.
Really great that you get so much perfect sound from your set up. Putting speakers where they sound great and fine tuning the EQ can do wonders.
And welcome to ak.
Hahah....thanks man all around!!! YES...save those Boom Eq's damnit!
I also have been writing them down in case they get lost in a matrix glitch.Thanks Glenn! I check FB marketplace periodically to see what speakers may pop up. Right after typing that i was looking and a fellow 5 miles from me had a set of Monitor 7's for sale for $180. He had put the 194 tweeters in it and had done the recap and resistors. He used Mills resistors and Solen caps(Solens i had never heard of until today). He also made sure the magnets wouldn't shift and sealed it so there would be no air leaks. So i grabbed them after hearing that they may be even better than the 5jr's i have. Cabinets and grills are in good shape but definitely not show room. My thought was "where can you buy speakers that sound this good today for under $200". I read some of these threads and see people saying they paid to much at $100 etc. I would say jump if they are in good condition! If the 5jr's start sounding really off to me again i will consider recapping for sure. They are staying put for now and will have these 7's to put in place if i need to do a recap on the 5Jr's. Hate to move things around right now to hear the 7's because i have a very nice sweet spot dialed in right now and don't want to mess that magic up at the moment....hah. Thanks again!
To follow up on this. Had to try these "new" Monitor 7's i got yesterday. Was going to let them sit for awhile but temptation got the better of me. Hand time on my hands. Spent a solid 4 enjoyable hours placing and eq'ing them this afternoon. I go through several tried and true albums i know inside and out for different frequency responses that i desire. So it was time to hit the Steely Dan Decade on Amazon HD to see if i was doing ok. WOW!
These speakers are amazing and i feel like i am hearing these tracks for the first time again! Fresh stuff....happy camper. Yes the 194 tweeters are MUCH sweeter and work well with this speaker. I actually think the SL1000 sounded great on my 5jr's. That being said i can see why the mention of this tweeter being far superior. Smooth as silk comparatively.
The kind gentleman that sold them to me had put in the Solen caps. I had read that they weren't the desirable ones, but at this point, i have NO complaints. What would i expect to hear going to a cap that more suits this 7C? Cheers folks for all the posts that helped me decide to pull the trigger on these when seeing the listing!
Cabinets have just a few blemishes but not bad.Grills are pretty sweet with just a tiny bit of a pilling after vacuuming. Guy put, what looks like tar around the drivers, to seal them. Ugly as sin(just...NO)!!! There has to be a better way to do that??? I was going to keep the grills on anyway so not a big deal. Sound?...glorious! Still will be listening to them near field. Have them 12" from the wall and 5ish ft apart. Angled in but still angled well outside my outer shoulders. This took some time to get dialed in but i am use to it and i find it fun to find the sweet spot! Amazing soundstage! The end.
Coming back to edit this. Decided to listen to these with the grills off just to take a listen. That could have been a mistake because they sound even better now. Didn't want to have to look at the ugly seal job the prior owner had done. Even better cohesiveness with the grills off. What a great speaker.
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MasterHiFi
Adrift In a Sea of Info
Great just absorbing all of these posts going back four years. When I first started in audio retail in the late 80s, I was rocking a pair of Polk 8t's (when Polk first started making tower designs). But to me, the 8t's sounded a bit bright, so my boss sent me home with a pair of Klipsch - I think they were KG4's. They were okay, but I really could hear the cones, which I knew would bother me long-term.
Luckily, someone brought in a pair of L780 Mark II's on trade, and with ample encouragement I picked them up at a great price. I listened to those little ADS three-ways for decades, even after I upgraded to seperates from Adcom. I still have them and love so much about them, fantastic balance, amazing midrange, and stunning at low volume, which is not as easy as you would think. A very natural, relaxed sound. Acoustic guitar will take your breath away...
But then imaging became important to me, and while they image well, it definitely sounds veiled, no air between the instruments. You can't "lose" the speakers. So I upgraded to a pair of Snell CV's. Another excellent speaker, but again I couldn't make the speakers disappear. I have my eye on a custom tube preamp that I believe will solve that issue with the Snells, yet that remains to be seen.
Along the way, I picked up a pair of L810's - minus the cabinets... Both speakers were parted out, and I was a pretty good sniper... My plan, that I am just starting, is to create some custom cabinets out of concrete. I've always wanted to try this, so why not with the L810's? I'm going to arrange the tweeters and mids vertically with a baffle rolled off exactly as wide as the driver plates to a wider "back end". I also plan to maintain separate internal enclosures for the bass drivers, perhaps even one sealed enclosure and one ported, though I haven't done any calculations yet to see what makes the most sense.
My biggest curiosity is to see what happens with the imaging once the tweets and mids are relieved of that very large baffle. Will a pair of ADS speakers finally be able to disappear? My reference is a pair of NHT SuperZeros that I picked up for fifty bucks that run on a forty year old Rotel receiver, connected to an ancient Yamaha servo sub that serves as my computer sound system. Even with the Rotel bottom-feeder receiver, those NHT's image like electro-statics. They are unbelievable. I had them hooked up for a short time to a Fisher 500C and I couldn't help but glare at my Snell's (why can't you be more like these!). Once I get my Scott 340B restored, I know exactly where it's going...
The smart thing would be to just find a pair of the NHT 3.3's and be done with it, but I'm moving to tubes anyway. Quite honestly, in the 70's and early 80's, imaging was not really a consideration in mainstream audio. Tone and balance were improving, and then with the growing popularity of Stereophile and the like, suddenly everyone turned their attention to measurements, flat frequency response was king. A speaker didn't even make it into Stereophile's Class A components unless it was flat down to 20Hz - I mean, how f'kd up is that?
Anyway, I'll come back to this vintage thread once I have the L810's up and running, and we'll see if a pair of ADS speakers can be coaxed into some transparent imaging once and for all.
Best to all of you great audioholics and all of your fantastic vintage gear. If the kids of today knew what they were missing!!
Adding this P.S. before I hit "Post" - if anyone reads this and has a recommendation for X-over upgrades, please let me know. I can't read a crossover diagram, but I'm just smart enough to do a one-to-one parts replacement, and I can solder, so any help is appreciated. Thanks.
MasterHiFi
Luckily, someone brought in a pair of L780 Mark II's on trade, and with ample encouragement I picked them up at a great price. I listened to those little ADS three-ways for decades, even after I upgraded to seperates from Adcom. I still have them and love so much about them, fantastic balance, amazing midrange, and stunning at low volume, which is not as easy as you would think. A very natural, relaxed sound. Acoustic guitar will take your breath away...
But then imaging became important to me, and while they image well, it definitely sounds veiled, no air between the instruments. You can't "lose" the speakers. So I upgraded to a pair of Snell CV's. Another excellent speaker, but again I couldn't make the speakers disappear. I have my eye on a custom tube preamp that I believe will solve that issue with the Snells, yet that remains to be seen.
Along the way, I picked up a pair of L810's - minus the cabinets... Both speakers were parted out, and I was a pretty good sniper... My plan, that I am just starting, is to create some custom cabinets out of concrete. I've always wanted to try this, so why not with the L810's? I'm going to arrange the tweeters and mids vertically with a baffle rolled off exactly as wide as the driver plates to a wider "back end". I also plan to maintain separate internal enclosures for the bass drivers, perhaps even one sealed enclosure and one ported, though I haven't done any calculations yet to see what makes the most sense.
My biggest curiosity is to see what happens with the imaging once the tweets and mids are relieved of that very large baffle. Will a pair of ADS speakers finally be able to disappear? My reference is a pair of NHT SuperZeros that I picked up for fifty bucks that run on a forty year old Rotel receiver, connected to an ancient Yamaha servo sub that serves as my computer sound system. Even with the Rotel bottom-feeder receiver, those NHT's image like electro-statics. They are unbelievable. I had them hooked up for a short time to a Fisher 500C and I couldn't help but glare at my Snell's (why can't you be more like these!). Once I get my Scott 340B restored, I know exactly where it's going...
The smart thing would be to just find a pair of the NHT 3.3's and be done with it, but I'm moving to tubes anyway. Quite honestly, in the 70's and early 80's, imaging was not really a consideration in mainstream audio. Tone and balance were improving, and then with the growing popularity of Stereophile and the like, suddenly everyone turned their attention to measurements, flat frequency response was king. A speaker didn't even make it into Stereophile's Class A components unless it was flat down to 20Hz - I mean, how f'kd up is that?
Anyway, I'll come back to this vintage thread once I have the L810's up and running, and we'll see if a pair of ADS speakers can be coaxed into some transparent imaging once and for all.
Best to all of you great audioholics and all of your fantastic vintage gear. If the kids of today knew what they were missing!!
Adding this P.S. before I hit "Post" - if anyone reads this and has a recommendation for X-over upgrades, please let me know. I can't read a crossover diagram, but I'm just smart enough to do a one-to-one parts replacement, and I can solder, so any help is appreciated. Thanks.
MasterHiFi
I did that with a pair of Braun LV1020s back in the mid 70s when the Dahlquist DQ10 was in production. I turned the speakers upside down and placed a small baffle on the top with the drivers. It certainly eliminated diffraction and created a better soundstage.
While I initially got one driver connected out-of-phase, Dr. Guenther heard them at the local ADS dealer where I bought them (and later worked part time).
sx-70
Well-Known Member
Porkloin was straight up hilarious!
Hi folks. Hit upon this thread when just browsing for info on the Braun L810As that I have owned for many years. Anyone own these, and why is there seemingly no mention of this specific model in this thread. What do you folks think of the sound compared to the other L810 models. Any info appreciated.
7whales7
Addicted Member
I thought I remembered reading somewhere that the Brauns where a little more aggressive in the top end.. crossover /tweeters? Don't quote me on that though.... LOL. I've only ever seen 1 set of actual Brauns for sale in my area and they were 810's. So probably not to common in the States?? Just a guess. Nice score!
RTA's? Hope you aren't talking Polk RTA's. Myself, I missed out on the big Polk SDA (8 6" drivers, 4 tweets, and a 15" passive) of the mid 80's. But... I do have a pair I've restored and rebuilt crossover and they sound really really good except for the size and 165# each weight!