David_NC
Super Member
Always on the lookout for a different model ADS, I keep an eye out for them.Recently, a pair of ADS L880/2's came up on Craigslist. The price was good, the drivers looked good and supposedly worked, the grills were dent-free, but the cabinets....
I negotiated a price and went to check them out. The seller is a really nice guy who met me and demo'ed them with his car stereo. Needless to say, they didn't sound good at all with his basic car stereo, but all drivers produced sounds with nothing hinting at any issues. I loaded them up and took them home.
I normally use a pair of really nice L780/2's in my garage system and have always liked them, but wow, what a difference between the 780's and the 880's! The 880's sound like a much bigger speaker, as in more similar to a M12, 1090. 1290, or 1590 than to the 780's. The highs and mids, in particular, were different. I recall a few months ago listening to a member's restored 1590's in a biamp setup and a few of the songs we played that day. Having played the same tracks on my 780's right before swapping the 880's, I was expecting a slight improvement in the bass. That's when it hit me - there's the big ADS sound! Even in my acoustically awful listening area in the garage, I'd have thought the smaller speakers would have been better, but that was not the case at all. The 880's are a big step up for sure. This model seems to be fairly uncommon, at least in terms of what I've seen for sale, but I'd recommend them for a larger 'bookshelf' speaker.
Now I have the dilemma of leaving them as-is as dedicated garage speakers, attempt to repair the split in the seam, or using one as the center channel in my surround system with M12's as the mains, which was my initial plan. After listening to them, I think I'd rather use them as a pair for music vs a center channel.
I can handle the minor cabinet repairs - refinishing, filling a nick here and there, but I'm not sure about the cabinet split. It's bad but doesn't look as severe in person as in the pics.
One kinda cool thing is the sticker on the side of it.
From what I could find online, it's from the mid to late 80's, so it's period for the speakers. Perhaps it should stay.
I negotiated a price and went to check them out. The seller is a really nice guy who met me and demo'ed them with his car stereo. Needless to say, they didn't sound good at all with his basic car stereo, but all drivers produced sounds with nothing hinting at any issues. I loaded them up and took them home.
I normally use a pair of really nice L780/2's in my garage system and have always liked them, but wow, what a difference between the 780's and the 880's! The 880's sound like a much bigger speaker, as in more similar to a M12, 1090. 1290, or 1590 than to the 780's. The highs and mids, in particular, were different. I recall a few months ago listening to a member's restored 1590's in a biamp setup and a few of the songs we played that day. Having played the same tracks on my 780's right before swapping the 880's, I was expecting a slight improvement in the bass. That's when it hit me - there's the big ADS sound! Even in my acoustically awful listening area in the garage, I'd have thought the smaller speakers would have been better, but that was not the case at all. The 880's are a big step up for sure. This model seems to be fairly uncommon, at least in terms of what I've seen for sale, but I'd recommend them for a larger 'bookshelf' speaker.
Now I have the dilemma of leaving them as-is as dedicated garage speakers, attempt to repair the split in the seam, or using one as the center channel in my surround system with M12's as the mains, which was my initial plan. After listening to them, I think I'd rather use them as a pair for music vs a center channel.
I can handle the minor cabinet repairs - refinishing, filling a nick here and there, but I'm not sure about the cabinet split. It's bad but doesn't look as severe in person as in the pics.
One kinda cool thing is the sticker on the side of it.
From what I could find online, it's from the mid to late 80's, so it's period for the speakers. Perhaps it should stay.
