Early ADS L810 disassembly?

lattiboy

lattiboy

Well-Known Member
Hi all, it appears I managed to blow (hopefully) the tweeter fuses on my ADS L810 speakers. These are the original L810s without banana plugs or an access panel. I cannot for the life of me figure out how to disassemble these things. I’ve attached some pictures. The manuals I can find online all refer to the newer models and are not helpful.


I’ve removed all the screws on the back, but it appears to have made no difference and refuses to budge. What am I missing? I really don’t want to break the seal on the front woofers and go in that way. Also, seems weird they’d have all those rear screws for no apparent reason....

https://m.imgur.com/a/KLHLT
 
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As far as I know, the earlier versions of the ADS L810's are not equipped with fuses unfortunately. In order to get at the crossover, the lower woofer needs to be removed. The back panel is not removable. I believe that the threaded holes on the rear panel are used to attach the Braun style speaker stands that were available for the earliest L810's produced.

Les.
 
What amp are you using? Tweet's are not hard to blow in those with dirty signals. They are a pity to remove but you can get them rebuilt by Richard So! Those speaks can easily drop down to 2 ohm so amp is critical. Just for the record it's most likely the tweet as opposed to the xover as ADS used very good caps. I have never heard of a cap going bad on an ADS speaker! My best friend is a retired owner and service (authorized) Warentee station for ADS and he also has never had to replace a cap in an ADS speaker!
 
I'm using a Marantz PM 7002 with a power transformer / conditioner. It's never been an issue with any other speakers I've used it on. I will remove the lower woofer tonight and see what is what. Maybe just loose wires? I know, unlikely.... Booo...
 
I think the marantz is an issue! Doubt if it is stable at 4 olms never mind lower. If not it will just keep blowing tweets (or worse) especially if you use the volume knob.
 
If you need access to the innards of the speaker, you HAVE to remove one or both of the woofers. The back of the cabinet is dadoed into the sides and top/bottom of the cabinet so you can't get inside by going that way. As others have said, it's unlikely the culprit is in the crossover. More likely is a blown tweeter. The first thing I'd do is remove the tweeter and connect a VOM meter across the terminals. If it reads "0", you've got a dead tweeter.
 
homebrew said:
The first thing I'd do is remove the tweeter and connect a VOM meter across the terminals. If it reads "0", you've got a dead tweeter.
Click to expand...

Most ohmmeters will read 0L when there is no electrical connection, meaning an incomplete circuit...no tweeter function. If you get a 0 reading, most meters will have more than one digit, maybe a 0.00 which is very hard to get with a meter since there might be some resistance in the leads and the connection between the leads and the item under test. lattiboy would like to see some nice single digit number with something after the first digit.

@2chman, I don't understand how a receiver that you doubt is stable at 4Ω is going to blow tweeters. I would think that would happen if the amp was overdriven which might be easier if the amp doesn't like 4Ω loads but most units will handle 4Ωs and just not want to play loud while getting hot and demanding too much current from the power supply. I guess I need to learn what actually happens with a 4Ω load is used with an amp that doesn't want to see that load. Remember, I'm not a believer in the 'It won't drive 4 ohm loads' as most everything will to some degree.
 
Also, the OP will need to make sure to disconnect at least one of the wires connected to the tweeter before testing with a DMM because there is a inductor in parallel with the tweeter which will affect the measurement.
 
Blue Shadow said:
Most ohmmeters will read 0L when there is no electrical connection, meaning an incomplete circuit...no tweeter function. If you get a 0 reading, most meters will have more than one digit, maybe a 0.00 which is very hard to get with a meter since there might be some resistance in the leads and the connection between the leads and the item under test. lattiboy would like to see some nice single digit number with something after the first digit.

@2chman, I don't understand how a receiver that you doubt is stable at 4Ω is going to blow tweeters. I would think that would happen if the amp was overdriven which might be easier if the amp doesn't like 4Ω loads but most units will handle 4Ωs and just not want to play loud while getting hot and demanding too much current from the power supply. I guess I need to learn what actually happens with a 4Ω load is used with an amp that doesn't want to see that load. Remember, I'm not a believer in the 'It won't drive 4 ohm loads' as most everything will to some degree.
Click to expand...

Gotta read the specs on the receiver, most (not all) "receivers won't handle 4 ohm loads and will draw or try to draw more current that they can handle and start distortion that blows the tweets.
 
I believe most receivers can handle 4 ohm loads especially if not driven hard. I don't read specs to learn about ability to drive 4Ω unless it is stated that the unit will not drive that load. Just because it does not specify the 4-ohm load doesn't mean it can not do that as many receivers put the information on the rear panel near the speaker connections in the form of what impedance speakers are allowed for A or B and what are allowed for A + B. Four ohm, hook em up and give em a listen. I've never had a unit that did not allow 4Ω speakers as a single load whether that be a 4-ohm speaker or a pair of 8-ohm speakers in parallel.
 
Interesting to see the stands could mount both vertically and horizontally. Many folks argue the 810s and 710s sound/image better horizontally.
 
Yep, they’re shot. I have to decide if I should just part out or repair. The subs and mids are all in tip top shape. Hmmm

Also, can’t find the Repair service anywhere for these. Looks like working used ones are about $60-70 a pop
 
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Here's the URL for the ADS parts list: http://sportsbil.com/ads/ads parts schedule 1992 share.pdf

I believe your tweeters will be model 206-0100. There's currently two listed on the auction site. As mentioned above, Richard So can rebuild them and make them "as new" for (I'm guessing) pretty close to the same cost as buying replacements (with unknown history.) He made my L710 tweeters sing. I personally feel they'd be worth rebuilding if the cabinets are in good shape, but everyone's got a different perception of value/worth. Do you love the speakers?

Richard's info:

R.S. Electronics
4415 E. Hidalgo Ave.
Phoenix, AZ 85040.
Phone. 480 452-9736
 
+1 on Richard! Can't find the specs on your amp, check the 4 ohm stats in your user guide and if not stated 4 ohm stable (regardless of other opinions) don't use it. It's your equipment in the end and your desision. Do a little research on this matter first as I am quite familiar with ads speakers so I'm not talking out of my derriere. Those appear to be early L810, good speakers but not the pick of the litter. Later production with rounded Corners and the "reverse grain" are far more desirable . Check out the corners as this is the tell tail for the latest build model and in my opinion the best sounding in the series.20160704_162415.jpg
 
I was a bronze metal grill/chamfered corners only guy myself...until I saw the size of the magnets for those early ADS and Braun mids. Might be less mid bass hump too? Definitely no ferro fluid to deal with. Domes tend be much cleaner with the cloth grills.

I do prefer the aesthetics of the metal grill but those early ADS models may be more desirable to some.
 
I can't argue with you sx 70 the difference isn't massive in sound but I do love the cabinet work on the latter. I think it was Baldwin piano that did the rounded corner cabinets. Beautiful wood work.
 
1590/2 are rare in mahogany. I would prefer the rosewood but those are common compared to the mahogany.

I like the early cloth grilled ADS for the darker walnut used compared to the European walnut of the later versions. The clean domes from having the cloth air filters in front of them is a big plus.

Seems the OP should find out about Richard So options adsspeakerservice.com and then decide if the bay has a couple used drivers or a fresh rebuild to like new is a better option. Cheap to save these speakers.
 
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