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Large Advent vs The Smaller Advent

IIRC the advent/1 replaced the smaller advent. it was the NLA (bullnose cabinet with the non-masonite woofer) drivers in a smaller cabinet
 
Fwiw

Are they OLA or NLA?

I have both of those and the 3s but not the small Advent. (yet).

If the price is reasonable, snag them. (I see prices range wildly).

Just a point of fact. The OLA woofers were used in the Dahlquist DQ-10. I think the DQ-20 is also OLA (sure look like it). Anyone who ever heard the DQ-10 or DQ-20 can tell you how good they are. (Of course the DQs enjoy all the benifits of the rest of the design... mids, tweets and I am NOT saying the OLA can hold a candle to the Dahlquist).

I do find that the 3s are amazing speakers. Not for high volume, mind you, the woofers will bottom out, but they are great at "easy" listening levels. SO, I will allow that the small Advent may have an advantage on the OLAs at lower levels. Just a thought. :scratch2:
 
Smaller Advent is 4 ohms, is less efficient than the Large Advent which is 8 ohms nominal. The Large Advent will play the bottom octave a little bit smoother as well. Agree that either is better than the AR2Ax is. But it's also a more modern design. When Henry Kloss designed The Advent Loudspeaker he was very much a AR 5 fan. He wanted a speaker as good or better which used only 2 drivers and could sell for less money. He succeeded and then some.
 
blhagstrom - i have a pair of /3 too. they sit atop the /1, but are connected to a different system (pioneer sx-434). my OLAs and /1s are all powered by marantz (1030 & 1060, respectively). would love to get my hands on some SAs as well...
 
Jo6Pak said:
thanks, pete. although it appears there are some similarities, the /1 and NLA are definitely different animals. just stumbled across this as well, which also confirms it:

http://www.davidreaton.com/PDFs/Advent_1_brochure.pdf
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The /1 is the NLA in a smaller box, without a tweeter level switch - it is fixed at normal. The drivers and crossover are otherwise the same.

I believe that the /1 is a much better speaker than the Smaller Advent which gives up too much efficiency over the original to maintain the low Fc in the smaller box.
 
gmku said:
Okay. Was wondering about that. I was trying for the tweeter about ear-level where I usually sit, but I'll experiment a little. I've got some old thick books I could put them on too, and that might free up the tables to put some components on (I just scored a Nak 680ZX).
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Personally I make sure that any speaker, particularly its tweeter (and midrange driver if so equipped), is at ear level to make sure the speakers can form a proper stereo image.

But since raising a speaker off the floor usually reduces the volume level of the lowest bass frequencies, moving the speaker closer to the wall or a corner can restore much or all of that lost lower bass. But the biggest reason for moving a speaker off the floor is to reduce or eliminate the boominess/thumpiness that is caused by the rest of the bass frequencies that don't do well emanating from near the floor, walls or especially, corners (OTOH subwoofers almost always sound best being located near corners - not surprising since all they handle are the lowest bass frequencies).

BUT....operating a speaker in a corner, while it may help restore low bass, can also produce boomy bass, not to mention compromised stereo imaging, the result usually being a "hole" in the middle of the image (because usually such a pair of speakers end up being located too far apart).

I think the reputation of many vintage speakers, particularly large "bookshelf" speakers like the Large Advent, JBL Century L100 and similar models, has been negatively affected i.e. "Sheesh these old things sound old and sloppy vs. my modern pair of XYZ Brand of hi-tech standmounts with a 6.5" woofer" because they've been listened to while being placed on the floor, IMO about the worst place for such a design, resulting in indistinct & overbearing bass and incoherent stereo imaging.
 
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aidynphoenix said:
if i had the option to get the small advents, i think i would pass. i find it hard to belive that a smaller woofer could do a better job of filling a room with sound.
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A woofer's output is dependent on more than just its diameter. Cone excursion is a significant parameter here and can make up for a smaller cone, allowing that smaller woofer to move as much air as the larger cone. The smaller woofer will not sound exactly the same as the larger one (all other things being equal) because among other things, there will probably be relatively higher levels distortion because of all that extra movement. And within limits, a smaller woofer can also reach as low frequency-wise as a larger woofer, if its cone (among other features) is heavy enough, which will allow it to resonate at a lower frequency. This scenario is seen in the SA's huge dust cap, which is an integral part of that woofer's surprising capabilities.

An extreme example of this are those "mighty mouse" subwoofers from companies like Velodyne, Polk Audio and Sunfire. All you see is this little cube about ten inches on a side equipped with a 6" driver, sometimes in a sealed enclosure but also possibly paired with a passive radiator, looking almost toy-like sitting there on the floor next to a conventional sub. But when the music or movie starts playing, you immediately know this is no toy! And that iron law is most definitely at work here, so what you get in small size you sacrifice in efficiency: many of these tiny subs use very powerful amps, which are needed to power those extreme-excursion woofers.
 
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I have 3 pairs of OLAs and love them. I had a roommate in college (30 years ago) who had the first pair I ever listened to, and the deep, precise bass blew me away. We set up a system where my amp was slaved to his, so his Pioneer receiver ran the Advents, and my Fisher receiver ran my Fisher speakers. We were the **** in our apt. building.

30 years later I rediscovered those speakers, and have them in both systems now. My main system has a classic 70s high end setup; 2 pairs of large Advents, stacked with the top pair upside down, tweeter to tweeter, and wired in parallel. I'm sure there are better setups, but I love the sound.
 
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