Just inherited a pair of early Large Advent speakers.

[Rooke]

From my father-in-law who was the original owner. Kept in his living room (same house) all of their lives.

Roughly 25" tall x 11.5" deep x 14 1/4 wide with a beveled edge finish around the front / speaker grille. Serial numbers 6835 and 8482 with switch on metal plate in back. Foam is in amazing shape around the 10" speaker and I am pretty sure he never had these in the shop. I am going to do a mild facelift on these and plug them in (not in that order...). I will post some pics if anyone is interested.

 

[Okra]

Pictures

 

[grillebilly]

Congrats! I've never seen any OLA's that had original surrounds intact. Must have not been used by any teenagers.

 

[Rooke]

Pictures taken see at https://photos.app.goo.gl/9rqxbpZujTqRyGL88.

 

[Starquest]

Judging by the color of those surrounds, it looks like they were refoamed. I don't think 45+ year-old foam would look that nice.

 

[Immersion]

They have definitely been re-foamed, but that is normal. You have an early pair that doesn't have the protective grills over the orange tweeters. Be careful not to damage them. Otherwise, have fun. Then look for two more to stack on top.

 

[Rooke]

Thank you all for the expertise - these were sitting (note cobwebs) but will now get some love.

Do I understand these are veneer finish? I think so but want to be sure. Again thanks for the information on these.

 

[Doug G.]

Yes, they are Walnut veneer, beveled front edge, not the utility version.

I agree they have been refoamed. Original surrounds lasting fifty years is pretty much impossible, regardless of environment. Teenagers playing them is not really a factor (I saw the smiley). And those are about fifty years old. My early pair, from 1970, have four digit serial numbers too, without any prefix. It looks like the one in the photo is 8482 (oops, I see you said 6835 and 8482). My two are 7282 and 7907 so are pretty close to when yours were made.

 

[Blue Shadow]

Easy to tell they are refoamed, which is good. The glue overflow from the masonite to the surround is not as even as an original foam would have.

Great to see pics of the very early Walnut Advent Loudspeaker.

 

[Doug G.]

A couple of differences in appearance between my early units and later. The bevel profile was slightly changed after the early ones. The early ones have about a 1/2" width to the front facing as opposed to about 3/8" later and the bevel, itself, is shorter, about 5/8" instead of 7/8" as on the later ones.

My early ones have a definite redder cast to the stain than my later (1975) ones.

My early ones were originally owned by a couple who lived down the street from the Cambridge address. I bought them from their son who moved to Rochester, MN from out east.

Doug

 

[Rooke]

I've ordered fresh grille cloth from the Dorr Mill Store (Bleached Primitive Linen), some 0000 steel wool, and Restor-A-Finish which I had great luck with. Lucky the finish on these is not that bad.

HOWEVER, I will need to replace the electrolytic capacitors as yo have suggested. If I knew what to order now (before I tear into them) that would save me time - any suggestions on what I need (13uF as later Advents?) or shall I just dig in and see what is there, then order same?

Again, thank you for the help on these my wife is so happy to see her dad's speakers come back to life!

 

[RTally]

I've ordered fresh grille cloth from the Dorr Mill Store (Bleached Primitive Linen), some 0000 steel wool, and Restor-A-Finish which I had great luck with. Lucky the finish on these is not that bad.

HOWEVER, I will need to replace the electrolytic capacitors as yo have suggested. If I knew what to order now (before I tear into them) that would save me time - any suggestions on what I need (13uF as later Advents?) or shall I just dig in and see what is there, then order same?

Again, thank you for the help on these my wife is so happy to see her dad's speakers come back to life!

If you plan on using the steel wool to refinish the cabs, I suggest you remove the drivers first. Steel wool leaves fines, which are small pieces of the wool. Those fines are attracted to the driver magnets. It is best to keep the fines as far away as possible from the drivers.

PS: Many woodworkers avoid using steel wool when finishing wood. Steel wool has a habit of getting caught in the wood, leaving small pieces behind. Over time those small pieces rust and otherwise stain the finish. Something like Scotchbrite pads works fine, depending upon what you are trying to do.

 

[Doug G.]

Most likely, there will be two 16uF capacitors in them. There is talk about some real early units having one 16uF and one 8uF cap. in them like later (1975 and later) ones but mine have two 16uF.

I would take the woofers out and check things out in there, anyway.

Doug

 

[RTally]

Most likely, there will be two 16uF capacitors in them. There is talk about some real early units having one 16uF and one 8uF cap. in them like later (1875 and later) ones but mine have two 16uF.

There are several versions of the OLA crossover. It is always best to open up the speakers to verify what was originally installed. The shaping circuit is where the 8 uF cap is used instead of the 16 uF cap. If the speaker is run with the switch in the Normal or Decrease position, the shaping circuit is bypassed and that second cap is not used.

The best source for Large Advent crossover information: http://baselaudiolab.com/ADVENT_LA_XO.html

 

[Doug G.]

Yes, I am well aware of all that. I was just indicating to him what is likely to be in those early Advents.

And, I did indicate he should check out the crossover, in any case.

Doug

 

[Doug G.]

Even though the tweeters apparently don't have dates on them, the woofers might on the back of the magnets. Mine do.

Doug

 

[Rooke]

Thanks to both of you, and yes it is a bit of an Aladdin's cave so I am set to pull them apart, refinish with a non-ferrous, then rebuild. Cool to think of any notations within from the master himself.

I will report back what I find with some pics.

 

[cableguy860]

Even though the tweeters apparently don't have dates on them, the woofers might on the back of the magnets. Mine do.

Doug

I'm new here and not sure if it's ok to jump in here but I also came across a pair of the larger Advents. The woofers weren't original and they tried to stuff 12" speakers in there. I purchased what were supposed to be refoamed replacements, they do sound excellent but I do need to set them in a room to properly hear them. The tweeters are marked with the year 1975. I'll put up more pictures later this afternoon. I need to know if the replacement speakers are hurting the value of the speaker. They weren't cheap. Also if someone could guide me in the right direction for getting the cabinets redone. I am not sure what to do with these.

 

[Immersion]

I'm not positive, but it looks like that may be a woofer from the newer large Advent in an Original Large Advent enclosure. If so, I've heard that is the only driver that should be used to replace damaged/destroyed original drivers, though I haven't heard the combination myself.

 

[cableguy860]

I'm not positive, but it looks like that may be a woofer from the newer large Advent in an Original Large Advent enclosure. If so, I've heard that is the only driver that should be used to replace damaged/destroyed original drivers, though I haven't heard the combination myself.

Far as I know they are the old version but I really don't know for sure. There's a number on the back. Not sure what it means. I'll upload a few more pictures.