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Mini Advent 400 FM Receiver - Cute!! :)

operaman

operaman

Super Member
Hey guys
I picked up this Advent model 400 FM receiver at a thrift today. Anybody know its intended use, or its approximate age? It's in great shape as you can see, and works fine!

It has its own amp and powers a speaker nicely! Since it's mono I have it hooked up to a single Advent bookshelf speaker and the sound is outstanding. What's more, there is an aux input, for an iPod or CD player or whatever, plus a tuner out to a proper receiver.

What do you guys think?
 

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It's intended use was as a radio and it came with a speaker of similar design and size. I think it was made in the early/mid 70's.
 
Markw said:
It's intended use was as a radio and it came with a speaker of similar design and size.
Click to expand...

advent_400_1.jpg
 
thanks!!
I hadn't even googled it yet. I wonder why it wasn't made at least to transmit Stereo. Do you think, if I route the signal out via FM OUT, that the signal is stereo?
 
I use an Advent 400 in our kitchen. They sound good and the FM performance is very good. I'm surprised it works as well as it does considering how old it is.
 
I think you have the chronology in reverse. Tivoli followed Kloss and Advent, and the guys involved in these designs were collaborators at all three companies as well as at Cambridge Soundworks.

I think this style of radio is probably older than that though, thinking early KLH stuff probably pre-dated the Advent. Someone around here probably knows that history better than me though.

John
 
HH Scott was doing vernier tuners before Kloss did his thing at KLH, Advent, Cambridge and Tivoli.
 
Man I wish I did not see this thread, now I want one.

Is the dial direct turn or is it geared for fine tuning?
 
Pretty sure it's a geared vernier (that's probably redundant!)... the model 300 was. It's been over 30 years since I laid hands on one of these, though.

John

roggom said:
Man I wish I did not see this thread, now I want one.

Is the dial direct turn or is it geared for fine tuning?
Click to expand...
 
Hi,

I know I'm late to the party, but I was working for Bay Bloor Radio in Toronto back in 1977 and that was the year we stopped selling the 400, and started selling the 420S. (stereo successor to the 400) I bought the 420S in early 1978, which was actually just after I left there, but still got the staff discount from some of my old co-workers. ;) Both models sound just great, and the 420S has actually spent more time driving an old pair of StudioLab's in my computer area. (still working just great over 40 years later!) I still have the matching speakers, and I had to replace the woofers about 10-12 years ago, if memory serves me correct. I see there's a 400 for sale in Woodstock, just west of London, Ontario, see here: https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/564646140955213/?surface=product_details

These don't come available often!

Cheers folks!

David
London, Ontario
 
David Barber said:
Hi,

I know I'm late to the party, but I was working for Bay Bloor Radio in Toronto back in 1977 and that was the year we stopped selling the 400, and started selling the 420S. (stereo successor to the 400) I bought the 420S in early 1978, which was actually just after I left there, but still got the staff discount from some of my old co-workers. ;) Both models sound just great, and the 420S has actually spent more time driving an old pair of StudioLab's in my computer area. (still working just great over 40 years later!) I still have the matching speakers, and I had to replace the woofers about 10-12 years ago, if memory serves me correct. I see there's a 400 for sale in Woodstock, just west of London, Ontario, see here: https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/564646140955213/?surface=product_details

These don't come available often!

Cheers folks!

David
London, Ontario
Click to expand...
Yep, I found an Advent 420S at a local yard sale several years ago, and it's a rather fascinating little device. An entire stereo receiver, with MM phono input and tape monitor loop, stuffed into a little cube. I eventually found a pair of matching Advent 402 speakers to go with it, but originally paired it with a set of Realistic Minimus 0.5 speakers, as shown here:
advent420s.jpg

It eventually was a part of my computer desk setup, as shown here with Optimus Pro LX5s:
office_stereo.jpg

I'm hoping to to figure out how to clean the contacts of the input selector buttons, as they're rather dirty, but it works great otherwise.
-Adam
 
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Marketing means constantly changing designs and model numbers, then they use all the stuff they already had before making a true new model. Seems like they all did it!
l just received an Advent Response Model 450S with the matching spks. Haven't unpacked it yet, but that model changed back to the typical receiver look we're used to, albeit a mini size.
 
CT Jim said:
Marketing means constantly changing designs and model numbers, then they use all the stuff they already had before making a true new model. Seems like they all did it!
l just received an Advent Response Model 450S with the matching spks. Haven't unpacked it yet, but that model changed back to the typical receiver look we're used to, albeit a mini size.
Click to expand...
According to a post in this thread by one Fred Pinkerton, who worked for Advent in the late '70s, the 450S , along with the 410M (revamped 400) and 420S (stereo version of the 400/410M), were introduced after Henry Kloss left Advent, and not long before they went bankrupt and were bought up by Jensen. I suspect that the 450S was intended as a follow-up to the earlier 300 and 350 receivers. Alas, the 450S was apparently rather trouble-prone from the get-go, as noted in that post. A friend of mine has one, and it has various issues he hasn't yet been able to fix. My 420S worked fine when I last used it, except for dirty contacts in the (sealed?) input switch module.
-Adam
 
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