ADS models, an impromptu rollcall
- Thread starter thedelihaus
- Start date
Blue Shadow
Waiting for Vintage Gear from this century
They are better than that. Use em. The work done to make the grilles right looks good. Did you do it?
Thanks soundmotor... I own a c1500 and the matching sub. My L1290's are just itching to be biamped....I have a line on a c2000 but need to know more about it before I buy it. Just for listers, I also own 2 pairs of L810's, a pair of 1230's and many ads car amps and car speakers. I just cant get enough.. even though I will have to part with some of them soon
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I bought a pair of Braun L810A first gen models with the Aria label in 1978.
Serial numbers are 810031-042. Nominal impedance is 4 Omega and the finish is nut.
Having been in the "mid-fi" audio biz since I purchased these, have listened to many speakers. Long short. I always come back to these gems. Granted, imaging and staging are average at best, among other weaknesses. Redeeming qualities are the exqusite timbre and forward nature of it's midrange and fast bottom. (With surprising weight) Yeah, there is a "bump" in the middle, probably what contributes to the "in your face" vocals that have grown on me.
Top end is characteristic ADS bright, without fatigue. Would have to say the biggest plus would be the ease of driving them with any HIGH CURRENT SOLID STATE amplifiier. (NAD, Yama, Denon, Onkyo Integra, etc.)
Being in the audio business I could easily purchase new speakers at very low pricing. I.E.- B & W, KEF, Totem, PSB, etc. I HAVE taken a number of different speakers home and auditioned them for extended periods. Inevitably, the L810A's end up back in my room. Sentimental? Maybe. Something about Seventies "build quality". (Like my Marantz 2325)
P.S.- The perforated mesh grills CAN be adapted to fit early Braun/ADS speakers. I purchased a bronze pair on Ebay a few years ago.
They are slightly "undersized". Use wood spacers or protective vinyl molding on the grill edge. Looks sexy and very nice. (Semi transparent with all drivers visible) Don't have to remove them like the OEM cloth grills due to "veiling" or other anomalies that most grills cause.
Serial numbers are 810031-042. Nominal impedance is 4 Omega and the finish is nut.
Having been in the "mid-fi" audio biz since I purchased these, have listened to many speakers. Long short. I always come back to these gems. Granted, imaging and staging are average at best, among other weaknesses. Redeeming qualities are the exqusite timbre and forward nature of it's midrange and fast bottom. (With surprising weight) Yeah, there is a "bump" in the middle, probably what contributes to the "in your face" vocals that have grown on me.
Top end is characteristic ADS bright, without fatigue. Would have to say the biggest plus would be the ease of driving them with any HIGH CURRENT SOLID STATE amplifiier. (NAD, Yama, Denon, Onkyo Integra, etc.)
Being in the audio business I could easily purchase new speakers at very low pricing. I.E.- B & W, KEF, Totem, PSB, etc. I HAVE taken a number of different speakers home and auditioned them for extended periods. Inevitably, the L810A's end up back in my room. Sentimental? Maybe. Something about Seventies "build quality". (Like my Marantz 2325)
P.S.- The perforated mesh grills CAN be adapted to fit early Braun/ADS speakers. I purchased a bronze pair on Ebay a few years ago.
They are slightly "undersized". Use wood spacers or protective vinyl molding on the grill edge. Looks sexy and very nice. (Semi transparent with all drivers visible) Don't have to remove them like the OEM cloth grills due to "veiling" or other anomalies that most grills cause.
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A/D/S Sat 7 Sub 12 Owner
Just found this forum and was thrilled to see A/D/S getting some "love". In 1992, I wanted to upgrade from my Bose 901's...I did a lot of listening and reading and settled on the Sat7Sub12 3 piece system. Nothing sounded better. I paid $2775. Here we are in 2009, 17 years later, and I'm still enjoying them. I have used them continuously for TV audio, as well as listening to CDs and XM. Never had a problem. Even now when I go out to listen to today's speakers, I just don't hear anything that sounds better unless I spend a mint. Even then, how many speakers go down to 15Hz...I love my organ Cds! Plus I really enjoy being able to control the sub volume. They were designed by frogdesign so they have high WAF. I have the black so they really are not conspicuous. Three years ago, I biamp'ed them and noticed maybe a 10% improvement in sound clarity. I also owned a pair of bookshelf ADS 's that I enjoyed.
Someone commented that maybe ADS started to top out/go down in the 90's...my experience doesn't bear that out!!
Just found this forum and was thrilled to see A/D/S getting some "love". In 1992, I wanted to upgrade from my Bose 901's...I did a lot of listening and reading and settled on the Sat7Sub12 3 piece system. Nothing sounded better. I paid $2775. Here we are in 2009, 17 years later, and I'm still enjoying them. I have used them continuously for TV audio, as well as listening to CDs and XM. Never had a problem. Even now when I go out to listen to today's speakers, I just don't hear anything that sounds better unless I spend a mint. Even then, how many speakers go down to 15Hz...I love my organ Cds! Plus I really enjoy being able to control the sub volume. They were designed by frogdesign so they have high WAF. I have the black so they really are not conspicuous. Three years ago, I biamp'ed them and noticed maybe a 10% improvement in sound clarity. I also owned a pair of bookshelf ADS 's that I enjoyed.
Someone commented that maybe ADS started to top out/go down in the 90's...my experience doesn't bear that out!!
Duffinator
Spin The Black Circle
rb, thanks for sharing, now how about some photos of your system. :thmbsp:
I just found another ADS I don't see listed above.
L1590
(I'm thinking of buying some speakers at < $1000 if I can educate myself):
L1590
(I'm thinking of buying some speakers at < $1000 if I can educate myself):
soundmotor
super modified
Welcome aboard.
The L1590 hasn't been missed, it's one of the usual topics of discussion. It's typo'd in the first post as "L-1490".
Hard to miss with the L1590s...
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wsp.hifi
New Member
a/d/s pb 1500
i found one in the local thrift store, w/ the head unit. it's in great shape but the amp on the sub unit does not power up. the slo blo was gone, and the cap to it was not on, so i replaced the assembly.. still nothing.. we are lacking in techs in the small town i live in here in alabama.... i figured for the $60 i have in it.. worst case i can convert the box into a powered sub... which i would hate to do.. any suggestions on items to test..clueless.
would like to run it w/ either my sansui 9090 or qrx 5500
otherwise it will go w/ teh nakamichi pa-5
speakers are klipsch la scala's and AR-3a's
thanks
i found one in the local thrift store, w/ the head unit. it's in great shape but the amp on the sub unit does not power up. the slo blo was gone, and the cap to it was not on, so i replaced the assembly.. still nothing.. we are lacking in techs in the small town i live in here in alabama.... i figured for the $60 i have in it.. worst case i can convert the box into a powered sub... which i would hate to do.. any suggestions on items to test..clueless.
would like to run it w/ either my sansui 9090 or qrx 5500
otherwise it will go w/ teh nakamichi pa-5
speakers are klipsch la scala's and AR-3a's
thanks
soundmotor
super modified
You have to have an RCA cable pair connected from the output of the crossover (C1500) to the input of the subwoofer module (PB1500). The crossover sends DC (as well as audio) down the RCA cable which turns-on the subwoofer. If you just plug-in the subwoofer it will do nothing and appear to be dead.
wsp.hifi
New Member
:thmbsp: it worked this time... 
i hooked it up in full, not just to the head unit, but the head unit to the amp.. wah laa... this thing gets down... rightous!!!!! thanks very much soundmotor, i wouldn't have tried that again.
testing pic
testing it w/ a sansui au-719 and one baby advent III i replace the 6.5 on and one cv surround speaker LOL still sounds really good what's going on..
i hooked it up in full, not just to the head unit, but the head unit to the amp.. wah laa... this thing gets down... rightous!!!!! thanks very much soundmotor, i wouldn't have tried that again.testing pic
testing it w/ a sansui au-719 and one baby advent III i replace the 6.5 on and one cv surround speaker LOL still sounds really good what's going on..
soundmotor
super modified
The most common problem on PB1500 was just what I described. A customer would take one apart to move it and not reconnect it fully. Yours is also somewhat rarer. Oak was less common, walnut was the majority finish. You can also improve the bass quality significantly by aiming it at the wall instead of into the room. Leave a ~3" space between the subwoofer & the wall. Also, there is a fair amount of high-frequency info coming off the woofers as the low-pass crossover is not that steep. Hang a towel or better, egg-crate foam on the wall in front of the woofers. It will attenuate the high-frequency info quite a bit.
Enjoy!
Enjoy!
wsp.hifi
New Member
wow, thanks very much! i'm going to move it when i get home. i'm planning on running a cedar 2 x 2 the length of each side for it's "feet" would you recommend another method for feet?? should i use metal spikes? again, thanks for all the help w/ this.
the previous owner put wheels on it :lol
the previous owner put wheels on it :lol
soundmotor
super modified
I just did a quick search for speaker spike kits. Here is one company I found -
http://www.oregondv.com/625spike.htm
I've never used this company so this caveat emptor. This is however a decent style to add onto the PB1500 bottom. The goal is to minimize/eliminate any cabinet movement. Wheels won't do that but spikes will. Then, all the energy directed into moving the cones stays there rather than migrating into cabinet movement also. The result should be improved sound. Spikes are a cheap but effective mod.
There are others that can be done to the C1500 such as upgrading the signal path opamps to more modern ones. I'd recommend that too down the road.
wsp.hifi
New Member
would you mind elaborating a little on this please. thanks in advance, you have been extremely helpful and i hate bother w/ all the questions.
dshoaf
That high voltage buzz
Just picked up a set of L700s this afternoon. All-original Braun drivers appear to be working properly.
Question: What's been the success of replacing crossover capacitors with these? By my calculations, these are 30+ years old now. Also, what kind of remedial maintenance should be done to the Braun drivers?
Glad there's love for these even after all the decades.
Cheers,
David
Question: What's been the success of replacing crossover capacitors with these? By my calculations, these are 30+ years old now. Also, what kind of remedial maintenance should be done to the Braun drivers?
Glad there's love for these even after all the decades.
Cheers,
David