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Need help troubleshooting my ADS L810 (sounds distorted)

E

ekovv

New Member
Hey everyone, first post here. I recently picked up these ADS L810s on craiglist and am running them with a Yamaha A-S810. One speaker sounds great and the other has some intermittent distortion/fuzziness. The distortion is intermittent like I said, but definitely comes through more during bass passages and when I turn up the bass on the amp.

After reading several threads on here I swapped each woofer, and then each tweeter between the cabs and now even loaded with all the good drivers from the other cab, the distortion remains.

I've been reading about fuses blowing with these speakers as well, but this version of L810 either doesn't have fuses or I'm looking in the wrong place. Would they be on the crossover?

Lastly, that leaves the crossover left. Does it need to be recapped? Have I missed anything else that might be the culprit? Any tips would be appreciated. Thanks for your help!
 
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So if I understand your troubleshooting, the drivers from the "bad" speaker work fine in the "good" enclosure and vice versa ?

ADS speakers require the enclosure to be sealed for proper operation. Any air leaks can allow over excursion of the woofer and produce distortion similar to what you are experiencing.

I would recommend removing g the drivers and crossover/connection plate and re sealing them to the cabinet. I have used a rope caulk called MoreTite, it available at most hardware/home improvement stores for less than $10.
 
Yep, that's correct. Awesome, I'll give that a try. Can you give me more details on exactly where to apply the rope caulk for the speakers and crossover? The speakers screw into the front face of the cabinet, and there seems to be a thin layer of foam between the wood of the cab and the metal driver faceplate. Maybe this is what's failing?
 
Those foam pieces you see are the "gasket".

You could try and reach out to Richard So, he is an AK member and was one of the last ones out the door at ADS when they closed up shop. He does parts/repair for ADS speakers and may have the correct gaskets.

In lieu of correct gaskets I would apply a single strand of MoreTite around the cutout for the drivers about midway between the inner hole and outer edge of the cutout in the baffle. A single strand around the connection plate would be advisable as well.

Good luck, keep us posted.
 
Thanks so much, I'll pick some mortite up today and give it a shot. And if I use mortite I should just remove the gaskets right?
 
Woofers can sag - the mass of the cone is not negligible - so rotating them 180 degrees can help.
 
Ah ok thanks. I was careful to keep their orientation the same but didn't realize that could be part of the issue.
 
Check for a loose connector on your speaker cables ie. a loose screw on a banana jack can give these symptoms. Check by switching cables over. If your receiver is a ca-s810 its old enough to have speaker selector switch issues and or oxidation on the headphone jack if in series.. Miay just need cleaning. and/or cleaning the relay on an old amp.likely not a 801. My 2 cents.
 
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Listened for a bit last night after applying the mortite and so far so good! Not hearing any weirdness anymore, but I'm going to keep testing over the next few days. I'm stoked, thank you guys so much for the help. This is my first hifi system, I literally went from TV speakers to this so I'm so hyped to have them working now.
 
Hey all - I seem to be getting the same issues as the OP. Just want to clarify something. The MoreTite - would that be behind the metal plate of the woofer as I have highlighted in the attached image?
 

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Awesome. Thank you for the reply. I'm only getting the distorted sound from one woofer. Would that be the seal or could it be something else? The surrounds seem like they're in good shape so I'm leaning towards it being the seal but just figured I'd ask.

Edit: I just found this page LINK and it seems that each woofer is individually sealed so yes, it could certainly be the seal. I think I have answered my own question. :)
 
1704913344946.png

You would want to apply the More-Tite to the area I partially highlighted and go all the way around the driver.

While you have the woofer out gently push in on the cone, it should move smoothly with no odd noises.
 
Hi wmgwizard - wondering if you could be of further assistance for my L810s. I not only noticed that the one lower woofer was distorting as I mentioned above but the treble was really quite muffled. My initial guess was perhaps bad electrolytic caps and was going to replace them. I figured if I'm going to reseat the woofers with the more-tite that I may as well recap them. I read online also that ADS used high quality film caps and to not replace them. So I wanted to ask you if the highs should sound muffled and if not, would you happen to know of a possible cause for that? By the way, my L810's seem to be a more modern model. They have a back panel with screws on it as well as a removeable cover which has a spot for two fuses. Would appreciate any advice you could provide.

By the way - my experience level fixing speakers is 3 out of 10. I am handy and can learn but I'm a total novice when it comes to fixing speakers.
 
Since the woofers are in a common cabinet I think that it is unlikely that a sealing issue would effect only one of the woofers. And since the woofers are connected to the crossover in parallel it is also unlikely that the crossover is the issue.

That is not suggesting that the old electrolytic caps should not be replaced, only that a problem with a single woofer of a pair in parallel is probably related to the driver itself or to a solder connection.

Cheers,
James
 
ten-d said:
Hi wmgwizard - wondering if you could be of further assistance for my L810s. I not only noticed that the one lower woofer was distorting as I mentioned above but the treble was really quite muffled. My initial guess was perhaps bad electrolytic caps and was going to replace them. I figured if I'm going to reseat the woofers with the more-tite that I may as well recap them. I read online also that ADS used high quality film caps and to not replace them. So I wanted to ask you if the highs should sound muffled and if not, would you happen to know of a possible cause for that? By the way, my L810's seem to be a more modern model. They have a back panel with screws on it as well as a removeable cover which has a spot for two fuses. Would appreciate any advice you could provide.

By the way - my experience level fixing speakers is 3 out of 10. I am handy and can learn but I'm a total novice when it comes to fixing speakers.
Click to expand...

This is a photo of a Braun L710 crossover.
L-710_xo_02.jpg

Your ADS crossover might look similar? The green boxy caps are MKT film and do not need to be replaced usually. The silver cans are the electrolytics and I would replace them. I would also desolder, clean and resolder each and every connection one at a time.

Old solder connections can be part of your problem.

Cheers,
James
 
Bratwurst7s said:
Since the woofers are in a common cabinet I think that it is unlikely that a sealing issue would effect only one of the woofers. And since the woofers are connected to the crossover in parallel it is also unlikely that the crossover is the issue.

That is not suggesting that the old electrolytic caps should not be replaced, only that a problem with a single woofer of a pair in parallel is probably related to the driver itself or to a solder connection.

Cheers,
James
Click to expand...
Hi James. Actually the woofers are in individual sealed partitions within the cabinet. So the woofer issue I’m experiencing can be a bad seal on one of them.


Bratwurst7s said:
This is a photo of a Braun L710 crossover.
View attachment 3101755

Your ADS crossover might look similar? The green boxy caps are MKT film and do not need to be replaced usually. The silver cans are the electrolytics and I would replace them. I would also desolder, clean and resolder each and every connection one at a time.

Old solder connections can be part of your problem.

Cheers,
James
Click to expand...
Hi James. Actually the woofers are in individual sealed partitions within the cabinet. So the woofer issue I’m experiencing can be a bad seal on one of them. I won’t know until I reseal that one though and test it out.

For the crossovers, I will replace the aluminum electrolytic caps and resolder everything as well. Thanks for the feedback!
 
ten-d said:
Hi James. Actually the woofers are in individual sealed partitions within the cabinet. So the woofer issue I’m experiencing can be a bad seal on one of them.



Hi James. Actually the woofers are in individual sealed partitions within the cabinet. So the woofer issue I’m experiencing can be a bad seal on one of them. I won’t know until I reseal that one though and test it out.

For the crossovers, I will replace the aluminum electrolytic caps and resolder everything as well. Thanks for the feedback!
Click to expand...

Ahh. That is actually good then, surely a lot easier than sourcing a new woofer. :biggrin: I'm used to the Braun cabs with one big open space.

Cheers,
James
 
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