Large ADVENT rated as $1000pr by Stereophile

[cubdog]

Loud music can affect one's hearing.

cubdog

 

[clydeselsor]

It was stated in the article that the speakers didn't work. Can refoaming make them work again?

 

[Isotonic]

I spent some time with my Smaller Advents and a couple of receivers. Everything had been recapped recently. The Smaller Advents had vintage PIO caps. It actually sounded quite good. Not as nice as the Proac Studios in the office upstairs, but not bad at all.

As subjective as these perceptions can be. Maybe they just sounded great to him that day. Maybe he had a great room and good system synergy, and the OLA's just shined that day. Seems to happen to me with a lot of equipment. Sometimes some of my "nice" stuff show's it's limitations too.

 

[RadShak1251]

I read the Stereophile review and what *I* got from it is something that can drive 100% Objectivists crazy : while he did observe certain technical deficiencies in the LA, the overall "personality" or "feel" of the sound generated by the LA was good enough that music sounded like music and it felt good to hear that.

Here's a human analogy: ever meet someone that made a lot of noise while they ate, made jokes at the worst possible time, and painfully elbows you in the ribs whenever they see anything even vaguely interesting (or any other combination of subtly irritating personality traits) but you still include them in some of your most important social functions.....or they are your best friend? Confusing eh? Despite those "deficiencies" you still like them because you just feel they are the right person for you to hang out with, know what I mean?

Back to the LA.......

The "personality" of a speaker is something that (so far) no chart recorder or computer software can document, but if it's not there - whatever that "there" is that makes one person happy - the listener is not going to buy that speaker. And back when the LAs were brand new and all their components were up-to-spec and brand spankin' new, they must have been doing something right for all those hundreds of thousands(!) of people to lay down hard earned money to buy them during the LA's nearly 18 year(!) life span.

 

[kconnor]

Back in the '70s I was shopping for speakers and settled on either the Large Advent or Infinity Monitor Jr. I got the chance to audition them side by side. The Advents were no match for the Infinity in bass, midrange clarity and highs. I bought the Infinity speakers that day.

 

[Isotonic]

Personality is a big factor for me. I have owned some very nice speakers that simply didn't capture my ear. The OLA's have. Sometimes it;s a matter of system synergy, and sometimes it's just inherent in the design.

The fact that they are arguably an Icon in the home audio industry should make people think twice before mangling them.

 

[Isotonic]

Back in the '70s I was shopping for speakers and settled on either the Larger Advent or Infinity Monitor Jr. I got the chance to audition them side by side. The Advents were no match for the Infinity in bass, midrange clarity and highs. I bought the Infinity speakers that day.

I was seduced by the Cerwin-Vega sound in my youth. I'm better now.

 

[Mr. Lin]

Well, I have to admit, Art Dudley pretty much put it all out there.....

Quoted directly from page 39..."I can't think of a $500 or even $1000 pair of loudspeakers made today that matches the Advent's very agreeable performance overall"

I like them and listened to a stacked set for a couple years out in the garage, but I'd have to admit that I think Art's being a bit too generous here...:yes:

Yeah so you can probably see why I made a strong statement about it. If he'd said they were better than some, or many new speakers he'd heard up to $1000, something like that, it would have been a different story.

His columns are available on line, titled "listening" with Art Dudley on the Stereophile site, I think. He seems like a pretty open minded guy. But, I think that about a lot of the people that write for stereophile and read it regularly.

Me too, although I think TAS is much better, and there's more meat to their magazine these days.

 

[kconnor]

I was seduced by the Cerwin-Vega sound in my youth. I'm better now. :

Your comment clues me in to the fact that you aren't familiar with the Monitor Jr. Nothing like Cerwin Vega. Google them.

 

[aidynphoenix]

what do you guys think is better OLA or NLA??

 

[Isotonic]

I was seduced by the Cerwin-Vega sound in my youth. I'm better now. :

Your comment clues me in to the fact that you aren't familiar with the Monitor Jr. Nothing like Cerwin Vega. Google them.

Just a bad joke. You're right. Never heard the monitor one.

 

[reggaenaut]

I am a fan of Art from his "listener" days, in fact I still ever now and then read copies of that magazine. I cannot explain the reason for this "gaffe" from one of the best writers in audio.

 

[blownsi]

Wow. I'm a huge fan of the advents, especially when stacked and even I differ with his opinon. I have personally heard several things available used today for around $500 that will blow away my 4 LA's. The one thing I will say though is that it's not easy to find something in the 500-1000 range that has the bottom end of the LA. Of course there are alot of good subs out there which will easily beat the LA but adding that to the price of the other speakers get's you into the 1k range.

 

[ARRAY]

This thread has taken on a life that I never expected it to!

I've owned a few pair of the large (utility/hardwood) advents before, albeit for brief periods of time. I think it was Gordy Holt who said the Advents had a non-disagreeable sound. To my ear, I didn't mind them. Describing them could be like that of a real estate agent telling their customers to paint their interior walls an offwhite before putting their house up on the market. Prospective new buyers may not keep that colour but they won't find offwhite objectionable and a bone of contention against purchasing. From that perspective I can understand why many people like(d) them, as with the Dynaco A25.

 

[kipkeston]

Granted this is a moderate thread bump. I saw a lot of posts here with people saying they know of new speakers in the $1000 and occasionally $500 dollar range that better the original large advents. I saw only a couple mentions of a speaker that bettered it (Paradigm Monitor 7 and DCM I saw). I on the other hand don't know what new $1000 speaker betters the Advent (because I don't listen to new speakers), but I would be very curious to know of specifics.

 

[JohnVF]

Granted this is a moderate thread bump. I saw a lot of posts here with people saying they know of new speakers in the $1000 and occasionally $500 dollar range that better the original large advents. I saw only a couple mentions of a speaker that bettered it (Paradigm Monitor 7 and DCM I saw). I on the other hand don't know what new $1000 speaker betters the Advent (because I don't listen to new speakers), but I would be very curious to know of specifics.

New, or at least very recent speakers that can still be found new:

PSB Image T65 tower. Often available for much less than $1000 new, to my ears..destroys the Advent. Of course, I think the Boston Acoustics A-150 is as far as you really have to go to find something significantly better the Advent, both old and new large, and I even prefer the KLH Six to them by a fair margin.

Monitor Audio RS6. Might depend on the quality of amp you have behind them, though. The Advent might be more forgiving of certain things.

I think the Advent is a great $50 speaker. $1000? No way.

Used for $1000? Sky's (almost) the limit, depending on your luck. You can certainly do better than the Advent for $1000 in used speakers.

 

[JimInLhc]

I too think that Dudley's opinion of a pair of Advents is somewhat .. overblown. I did read the whole article.. and had to chuckle that half my current "main system" is present on the list... and I have spent 4 decades defending my choice in squeakers.

On the other hand.. if you parse the words carefully the $500.00to $1000.00 line leave a loophole that stacked Advents fill quite well I think. The James Gangs "Walk Away" on stacked Advents is sublime. I might even "rehab" (remove the junk) from my 12x28 foot "Arizona Room" if I ran across 2 pair... even "utilities" would do. I probably sold 1000 speakers for Henry... I wonder......

 

[legal eagle]

Based generally on what I've read in that and similar magazines, I wouldn't be surprised if he had a very low opinion of speakers in the $500 to $1000 price range.

I once read a column in a car stereo magazine that addressed a related issue. Basically the guy said that it was hard for him to relate to actual consumers that spend their own money on the stuff he constantly enjoyed for free, and that as a result, his perception of value was skewed. He acknowledged this as a failure on his part and vowed to do better. I liked that writer.

That is a rare and wonderful point, I wish all writers had in mind while professionally reviewing gear. :thmbsp:

 

[MWalt]

You want better than anything new for a grand or less? One word: E-wave!!

AK'er built and approved!

 

[Old_Tech]

**waiting for a pair to pop up on Craigslist for $1000**

I have four Large Advents in beautiful condition that have just been refoamed a year ago. They really sound great like I always remember. They will be going on the local CL soon but to sell quick. I don't use them anymore. They do have their own unique sound with deep extended bass and good transition to the high end. They can take all the power I give them. Barb and I listened to them since 1977!