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Advent 6003 Speakers?

C

Chip - HP

Super Member
A couple of weeks ago, I picked up a pair of Advent 6003 speakers that were hooked up to some Yamaha components (M-80, T-80 and C-80) that I bought ... they needed refoaming so the price was right.

I did a little googling but didn't find much ... apparently they were the first 3-way that Advent made and were introduced in 1982 shortly after Jensen took full control of Advent ... I think I read somewhere that they are rated at 100 WPC.

I was attracked by the beautiful walnut veneer cabinets (33" H x 22" W x 8" D) that are in excellent condition ... I assumed that they were pretty good speakers since they were hooked up to some pretty nice Yamaha components.

Got them refoamed (picked them up today) but haven't hooked them up.

Anyone know anymore about them?
 

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I own walnut Large Advents but I've never heard of or seen those 6003's before. Could be that I was on audio hiatus for all of the 80's and half of the 90's but those are some beauties, how do they sound? It appears they have the same or similiar woofer to my NLA's which is a good thing, how bout you give em a full shake down and let us know what you think.
 
marshall765 said:
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=126376
Click to expand...

Thanks ... Good info on older Advents (of which I have a bunch) ... but not much about the 6003 ... except for this ...

jpdylon said:
This [6003] was the first 3 way advent. A new dough-nut midrange was used along with the tradition 10" woofer and dome tweeter from the x002 series. Most will argue that these aren't real advents in the sense that they are not the original two way design. I think they are far too strong in the midrange.
Click to expand...

jpdylon said:
... similar woofers were used in all models. For example, the 6003 woofer, maestro, legacy, or anything else with the 10" woofer all use the same driver.
Click to expand...
 
I'm not sure about these not being "real" Advents, because while the two-way design has advantages over a 3 or more way :) loudspeaker, that only works so far and then physics comes into play......and economics. Based on what I know about him, Henry Kloss wanted Advent to provide speakers with excellent performance for the money for those who could not afford something better, and one way to help reach that goal was to do a lot of in-depth research to design a 2-way system that performed nearly as well as a 3-way but which would cost much less. This was important because adding a midrange driver to a system increases costs significantly, not just because of the inclusion of the driver itself, but also its associated crossover which many times can cost more than the driver it's working with!*

But when work on the CD format was announced around 1980, which has a much wider dynamic range than the LP or cassette formats, the limitations of a 2-way design intended for the more affordable end of the market become apparent, particularly power handling. Usually the tweeters in such a design, especially one that uses such a relatively large woofer like a Large Advent, have to be x'ed over at a rather low frequency vs. something with say a 6.5" woofer, which raises the chances they will be burned out by higher volume settings or unexpected spikes in volume i.e. crescendos in classical music or for rock/pop music, intense cymbal crashes for example.

What are you going to tell your potential customers who own the latest playback source, that your company's speakers will be O.K. as long as you're really careful with the volume knob? Uh huh, that won't work. Besides sounding darkly humorous it causes your company look like they are cranky stick-in-the-muds and worse, backwards technologically-speaking, NOT good for future success.

So the addition of a mid driver relieves much of the pressure power-wise on the tweeter because it can be x'ed over much higher and in turn reduces the chances of it being burned out. And more importantly as far as the music is concerned, doing this reduces the potential for distortion since the tweeter doesn't have to handle those lower frequencies. And at the other end of the baffle: now the relatively heavy 10" woofer doesn't have to deal with as much of the delicate upper midrange spectrum & in turn it can be better optimized for the lowest bass. FYI: at least according to the 6003 brochure I have, the woofer in the 6003 is a special version of the classic Advent ten incher.


* this is because most mid xovers usually include not just a filter to eliminate the lower frequencies but also a filter to make sure the mid's output is rolled off at XXHz upper frequency where the tweeter takes over - so you could almost say there are actually two crossovers for a midrange
 
I have a pair of Advent Maestro's 3-Way. Dont now if they came before or after the 6003's. I liked the Maestro's enough to set them up in my bedroom for 2-channel HT.
 
Hopefully your acoustic foam is still in usable condition. Many yimes the baffle foam has fallen to the rot of ages. The baffle foam is an integral part to their better sound. I certainly admire the styling of the 6003 over the Maestro, all though they are close cousins in actual running gear. I think the 6003 had a sound edge over the Maestro- but certainly not by much. I have rebuilt several of these models, you should be quite happy with them when properly refoamed and recapped.
DC
 
I owned a pair of Advent 6003 speakers for 20 years. Bought those new in 1985. Those came out before the Maestro. Only made
for 2 years or so. Not many sold. People were still hot on the 2 way boxes. The best sounding speakers I ever heard. Sounded
great with a Jolida tube amp. I regret ever selling the speakers. I have heard many speakers, and these are great. I have a pair
of Klipsch speaker now- Heresy model- but these do not compare at all. I have the Heresy speakers connected to a Black Ice Audio
tube amp. The amp is great. I sell the amps. I may begin looking for a pair of the old Advents- if I can find a pair in good
condition.
 
I was just looking at a pair of Advent 6003 in walnut today, very interesting cabinet design that couldn't of measured more than 8"-10" D. which to me seemed kind of odd. But even stranger still was this weird looking red logo of some sort printed on both of the woofers dust caps. I did some quick online research while standing in front of the speakers and could not find another Photo of these speakers that had this logo design on the woofers. Any insight about this would be (as always) greatly appreciated
 
ArtMann said:
I was just looking at a pair of Advent 6003 in walnut today, very interesting cabinet design that couldn't of measured more than 8"-10" D. which to me seemed kind of odd. But even stranger still was this weird looking red logo of some sort printed on both of the woofers dust caps. I did some quick online research while standing in front of the speakers and could not find another Photo of these speakers that had this logo design on the woofers. Any insight about this would be (as always) greatly appreciated
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My guess is the original woofer foams rotted, so someone decided to "upgrade the subs" with some new, cheap car woofer. That unfortunately happens all the time.
 
I have a near mint pair of the 6003. They are sure good looking and sound great.

I've been debating whether to sell or not. I have the feeling that I will regret it if I decide to sell but really need to get rid of some speakers
 
crazy-in-az said:
My guess is the original woofer foams rotted, so someone decided to "upgrade the subs" with some new, cheap car woofer. That unfortunately happens all the time.
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I agree. Someone replaced (sometimes called "upgraded (LOL)" the original woofers with some that happened to fit the opening. Hopefully. Some times they butcher the cabinet to make the "upgraded" (LOL) drivers fit.
 
best but unverified information I could find Manufacturer's Specifications: Advent 6003 Specs

Frequency response: 42 Hz - 23 kHz, +/- 3 dB.
Impedance (nominal): 6 ohms (minimum): 4 ohms.
Power handling (peak): 500 watts. (RMS) 100 watts.
Sensitivity: 90 dB (2.8V @ 1 meter).
Crossover frequency: 2000 Hz.
Resonance: 51 Hz +/- 5 Hz.
Harmonic distortion: Less than 1% above 50 Hz @ 1 watt; 3% @ 100 Hz;
Less than 1% above 100 Hz @ 10 watts
Tweeter dispersion: Less than +/- 1 dB (variance 30 deg. V or H to 13kHz).
Frequency range (low): 30 Hz -8 dB. (high) 23 kHz -3 dB.
Tweeter: 1" ferrofluid-filled parabolic soft dome.
Woofer: 10" high excursion; aluminum coil form.
Cabinet size (HxWxD): 28 1/4" x 16" x 9 7/16".

Weight: 46.5 lbs.

Finish: Oiled solid pecan wood top and base; black textured vinyl over dense fiberboard.
 
michigannick said:
best but unverified information I could find Manufacturer's Specifications: Advent 6003 Specs

Frequency response: 42 Hz - 23 kHz, +/- 3 dB.
Impedance (nominal): 6 ohms (minimum): 4 ohms.
Power handling (peak): 500 watts. (RMS) 100 watts.
Sensitivity: 90 dB (2.8V @ 1 meter).
Crossover frequency: 2000 Hz.
Resonance: 51 Hz +/- 5 Hz.
Harmonic distortion: Less than 1% above 50 Hz @ 1 watt; 3% @ 100 Hz;
Less than 1% above 100 Hz @ 10 watts
Tweeter dispersion: Less than +/- 1 dB (variance 30 deg. V or H to 13kHz).
Frequency range (low): 30 Hz -8 dB. (high) 23 kHz -3 dB.
Tweeter: 1" ferrofluid-filled parabolic soft dome.
Woofer: 10" high excursion; aluminum coil form.
Cabinet size (HxWxD): 28 1/4" x 16" x 9 7/16".

Weight: 46.5 lbs.

Finish: Oiled solid pecan wood top and base; black textured vinyl over dense fiberboard.
Click to expand...
Updating:
You did say the info is unverified, but this is definitely not the 6003 (or Maestro), as there's no mention of the midrange driver, and only one crossover point indicated. Cabinet dimensions suggest Legacy/LegacyII.
These specs are from an Advent 6003 brochure.
Advent 6003 specs.jpg
For comparison, the Maestro specs (clipped from, I believe, a 2006 AK post):
Advent Maestro Floor Speakers
MSRP: $350.00/pr
Drivers: 10" woofer, 4.75" dome midrange, 1 1/2" dome tweet
Power Handling : 750 watts Peak (max), 150watts RMS
Frequency Response: 42-23,000Khz +/- 3 DB, 6ohms impedance
Cabinet: MDF with Wood Accents: solid pecan bottoms and tops, anti-diffraction baffle (foam front)
DIMENSIONS: 33.5"H x 16"W x 10"D
Weight: 50 lbs (each)
 
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yup, I sure did miss the missing midrange in that, I wish I had posted a link from where I found it so I could go back and post.

the Hifi Engine seems to have them now but even their description of the midrange is hokey 1"? maybe the dust cap but your image is cut from inside the brochure. HFE would have been the first place I looked for them so probably it was not there at the time.

 
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Tube Radio said:
Would the crossovers from an Advent 6003 work with an Advent Maestro speaker?
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Work is subjective, if you have one that is not working your best bet is to repair what is there, recap replaces resistors, etc, but in theory with different boxes, I expect a different crossover (doesn't mean they used a different one, but unlikely they would spec out the same in different boxes even if the drivers were the same.
 
michigannick said:
Work is subjective, if you have one that is not working your best bet is to repair what is there, recap replaces resistors, etc, but in theory with different boxes, I expect a different crossover (doesn't mean they used a different one, but unlikely they would spec out the same in different boxes even if the drivers were the same.
Click to expand...

The issue is Jensen greatly cheapened the crossover when they built the Maestro to the point where it's just two coils and two caps.

The speakers as they were sounded pretty bad even though the caps measured well within tolerance.

Had to do a lot of work to get them sounding decent.

This topic details what I had to do.

Advent Maestro speaker question

I've got a pair of Advent Maestro speakers that were given to me today. They are in good condition and the woofers were refoamed a few years ago. I already ordered new caps for the crossover. Two things I've noticed. 1. The speaker wire terminals on both speakers has separated from the...
www.diyaudio.com www.diyaudio.com

I figured if the drivers were the same as those in the 6003, the crossover would save me a lot of work as I am still not happy with how the speakers sound even though they sound miles better than they ever did stock.
 
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