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ADS L910 or L1290: which to choose??

M

mcgeorge

Member
Anyone have direct experience with the ADS L910 and the L1290? Would the L910 have deeper or louder bass via the larger woofers? Would the L1290 have tighter bass, better drivers or crossover components? How would the midrange/highs compare? How does the SQ compare?

Looking for a step or two up from Boston Acoustics A200's (great high-end detail) and Advent Maestros (better midrange and bass)....
 
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Although the L1290's likely image better, I'd be hard pressed to pass on a pair of 910's. Do the 910's come with their stands? The L910 and the L1530 are some of the best that ADS had to offer. The L910's were meant as studio monitors and the L1530 were targeted to the large living room crowd. There are some here at AK that feel the L1090 and L1290 are the most well balanced of the ADS offerings.

Dave
 
mcgeorge said:
Anyone have direct experience with the ADS L910 and the L1290? Would the L910 have deeper or louder bass via the larger woofers? Would the L1290 have tighter bass, better drivers or crossover components? How would the midrange/highs compare? How does the SQ compare?

Looking for a step or two up from Boston Acoustics A200's (great high-end detail) and Advent Maestros (better midrange and bass)....
Click to expand...

I was faced with the same decision, looking for something a step up or two from my A200's.

I saw some ADS 1230's advertised and nearly went and checked them out.

That was until I heard the Polk SDA's if you have the room and can snare a pair or 1C's or even 2B's you won't be sorry.

The A200's are great speakers but the SDA's are a jump above them.
 
Although the L910's and L1530's require a fairly large space to sound their best as well, they are not as placement critical as SDA's. The Polk's require you to space them properly from each other as well as from the rear and side walls. If you can work within these parameters, they do indeed sound pretty astonishing. Depending upon your space, the L1290's may be your best choice. I can tell you that my L1090/2's displaced a pair of Dahlquist DQ-30's in my main listening space.

Dave
 
I've got a fairly large (to me) semi-finished basement about 25' x 25', so there's room for SDAs. I actually had a pair of SDA-2a's that I traded for some Advent Maestros... the 2a's needed to be recapped and modded to improve things, but they put out plenty of bass (not nearly enough high-end detail) and there's nothing better to play the Santana and Abraxas albums than some SDA's.

I'm looking for something with the high-end detail of the A200's Seas tweeters (though they get harsh, I love the detailed attack of percussion, strings, horns) with the midrange smoothness of the Maestros and fantastic bass. Good luck to me, I suppose.

Looking at a beat-up set of L910's (no stands, not really sure they work). Also probably going to keep a look out for SDA-1c's or (if I get particularly lucky) SRS-2's... cause those Santana albums just aren't the same without SDA.

In the meantime, I thought an old pair of ADS might cover most bases really well. Never heard a pair in person...

(Also occurs to me I'd better learn how to Craigslist some of the current stock b4 my wife gets pi$$ed)
 
I think you would be pleasantly surprised by ADS speakers. In a room that size, a set of L1530's or L1590's would be a good fit. And I could never characterize the ADS tweeters as harsh and the mids are buttery smooth, yet capable of the attack needed for convincing percussion.

Dave
 
+1 to what Dave said. I am a happy ADS owner (570, 980,1290,1530).

I think you will be impressed with either 1290 or 1530. These are not too often for sale for a good reason. I never heard the 1590 but they should be great too. Dave's 1090 might be the best balnced of the bunch.
Laz
 
I might add I never went and listened to the ADS so maybe they will be a huge step up.

I have my A200's in my bedroom system, my wife let me because they go flat against the wall and they sound much better than in the big room. Probably because they don't play loud that well.

Good luck with what ever you choose.
 
Where are you located? There is a set of ADS L1530's on the Denver, CO craigslist. Those would definitely be room filling! I'd take those right along side my Polk SDA SRS II's, too!
 
I prefer the towers as they are easier to optimize location in a room for great soundspace...
 
avguytx said:
Where are you located? There is a set of ADS L1530's on the Denver, CO craigslist. Those would definitely be room filling! I'd take those right along side my Polk SDA SRS II's, too!
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Why is it I can't find that Craigslist listing??

SRS-2... I am envious. Just heard a recording that would be fantastic on those: Dave Brubeck Quartet at Carnegie Hall (2nd disc- Castillian Drums on to the end...unreal!!)
 
Click on my user name and chose the option "find all posts by avguytx" and you'll see it in the list.
 
Good Lord! Those are phenomenal monsters. I wonder if the guy will ship...

Now I wonder why I couldn't find those when I went to Craiglook or Craigslist/Denver...

I'm going to personally check out some L910's next week, but they're apparently beat up and who knows if they actually work... No stands either... but better than nothing.

But it sure seems that the L1090's, L1290's, L1590's and the '30-versions are fantastic.

That and a set of Polk SRS-2's and WOOOHOOO... then I'd feel deprived since I didn;t have Vandy 4's or DQ-10's or something....

I'm just getting used to a pair of Maestro's.... had to disconnect my A200's b./c the tone is so different I couldn't A/B btwn them without hating them both.

Malcolm
 
I'm suprised you'd hate the A200s. They are a nice speaker. I owned those and some A150s. The a/d/s/ L1230s and L1290s won out, but I had lots of respect for the A150s and A200s.


The Advent Maestros are post- Henry Kloss period. Also, don't know if you knew this, but Andy Petite/Kostasos, who was the daddy of Boston Acoustics, worked for Henry Kloss at Advent. Kloss Admired Andy's work greatly.

Also attached to Kloss are Winslow Burhoe and Romlinson Holman (of Apt Holman fame, later of THX fame).
 
Oh- don't get me wrong! I LOVE the high-end detail of the A200's (though they get shrill with some material). In general my A150's put out more perceived bass. But the whole line is great- especially the A200 + A150 together.

The Maestros are relatively lame on the high-end detail, but the midrange seems much more natural (made both the A200's and A150's mids sound a bit "megaphonic"- never noticed it prior to the BA/Maestro comparison)... and they kick out a hell of alot more bass (at least, high bass that's easily noticeable).

If only I could reconcile the very different midrange quality the Maestros would bring the low end and mids, and the Bostons would bring the more sparkly top end.

So I figure- heck with this! What's a step or two up from here? What would be the speaker I'd want to keep forever?

Malcolm

ps- if I thought it had a chance of working, I'd graft the SEAS tweeter onto the maestro.
 
I put the A200 back next to the Maestro.... the Maestro seems to have some lower midrange the A200's missing, and the A200 has some high-end extension the Maestro doesn't.

What's the best-imaging speaker with great balance and detail that I could find used for under $2k? Not as worried about high volume.
 
Both fine speakers and others have pointed out one will have deeper resonance in bass while the other tighter and more accurate. The L1290 does present a balanced sound and if one might tend to believe "newer" might be better in terms of improvements in parts and materials, the 1984 L1290's could be considered up to 8-10 years "better".
 
I've got L1290's and L880's and I actually prefer the L880's. They have one single woofer that's bigger but they're not as inefficient as the towers and I think they have less recessed mids than the towers....
 
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