Advents for a Song

[steelhead97]

I picked up a pair of "The Advent loudspeaker" today at the local thrift. They had rotten foam but i bought them anyways assuming drivers were still working. Got them home and played at low volumes they were!! I have heard good things about Advent This one has a date on there as being designed by KLOSS in 1969.... These don't appear that old but then again i may be wrong. Can anyone help me out from the pics?? Yeah my first Advent and $4 for the pair!!

 

[Urizen]

Great score on a true classic.

Btw, I would not play these anymore until you complete your refoam.

Looking forward to your restoration!

Regards,

Ken

 

[Divotdog]

Those are going to be a fun and worthwhile project :thmbsp:

 

[wank]

It looks like you have a serial number on one of them - that would tell you something about the age of them. But quick glance by me says you have a "Utility" Advent from the first year or two.
Earliest Advents I've dealt with were 1972, and they didn't have that silver backplate w/ "designed 1969" text. Also, I recently read that up until 1973 they pretty much tacked the tweeters on at any randome angle to get the screws in, then shifted to the 45 degree turn with points at top and bottom. Yours qualifies as random, but looks replaced because it has the grill over the tweeter.
Nice find.

 

[grateful]

Yes I agree those are very early Advents.

 

[steelhead97]

thanks guys, there is warranty information as well as information on the advent loudspeaker tacked on the back. I have serial numbers for the speakers, they are not consecutive but pretty darn close... UO8228 and UO8208, so does that help you with how old these are?? I was thinking more like late 70s or 80's but I'm not even close to being an expert just going on the exterior finish alone which is a dark brown but more of a synthetic than the wood grain feel that i see in the old ones. I won't be playing themn anymore but I would like to get them refoamed asap so i can give them a listen to see what the hype is all about... :yes: :yes:

 

[CUlater]

!

Great speakers!

Yours look like some of the very early ones - I saw a single one in a local SA a few weeks ago that had that silver rear panel, and the tweeter mounting plate had a 1969 date stamped on it! If it's partner had've been anywhere around then I would have scarfed it up in a minute for the collector value.

Check your tweeter mounting plate - most of them have a date of manufacture stamped on them.

Congrats!

 

[ekmanning5]

Congratulations. Great spreakers (I'm listening to mine now), and an easy refoam (if I can do it anyone can). Hope you enjoy them.

 

[wank]

Well, they're within the first 10,000 Large Advents made. They sold, what, 500,000 in ~10 years. Sounds like first year to me. What is that, '71?
Only thing that bothers me is the mesh over the tweeter. So the date stamp may say 1973, and not be the year of mfg. of the box.

 

[Fast_Eddie]

My first refoam was a pair of Advents. Great pair to learn on. They're really fantastic speakers. As said, they're a classic.

Great score!

Ed

 

[Twenty20Man]

On all my advents the Drivers are all date stamped. you should be able to figure out whats original and whats been replaced. I know when they first came out they didn't have the grill on the tweeter but the they made they change within the the first year or so if memory serves.

 

[Doug G.]

Advent also made the grilles available to owners of the earliest units free of charge if they wanted them so those could still be real early ones if the previous owner added them.

You scored real well on an early pair of utilities. I would say 1969 or 1970.

Doug

 

[Unican_Eric]

My advents have the mesh over the screens as well. Except for the bad refoam by the previous owner (thats why I got them cheap) they sound excellent.
Good score.

 

[Fisherdude]

I just got a pair last week at my local GW! Spectacular condition! Every corner is perfect, veneer is gorgeous, even the grills are nice. Didn't get quite the deal you did, though. $19 each!

They need foam, of course, but all four drivers are perfect. Sounds lovely for the few minutes I tested them.

Serial numbers are A174837 & A174984. Both tweeters have the grills, and both tweeter backing plates are dated June 6, 1975.

The surrounds are obviously not a "standard" shape. I assume these are readily available from the usual sources?

 

[joelongwood]

I just got a pair last week at my local GW! Spectacular condition! Every corner is perfect, veneer is gorgeous, even the grills are nice. Didn't get quite the deal you did, though. $19 each!

They need foam, of course, but all four drivers are perfect. Sounds lovely for the few minutes I tested them.

Serial numbers are A174837 & A174984. Both tweeters have the grills, and both tweeter backing plates are dated June 6, 1975.

The surrounds are obviously not a "standard" shape. I assume these are readily available from the usual sources?

The foam is readily available........just make sure (if they are the masonite ring style woofers) to attach the surround the opposite of those in Unican_Eric's pic. The surrounds should be concave when viewed from the front. The 4 mint Large Walnut Advents (mfg. date Aug 1975) I picked up curbside for FREE were my first re-foaming job and were surprisingly easy. Unfortunately, although there is no voice coil rub on one of the woofers, when driven beyond normal listening levels, it exhibits symptoms of a tired spider. There's a lot of slapping sounds going on, due to what I assume is over excursion of the woofer. Hey, for the price I paid, I can afford to either get it repaired or get a replacement. As for the sound, all I can say is.................sweeeeeeeeeeeeet! Enjoy.