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Now in the ADS 910 club

Contacted the Seattle seller and said he sold the 910's for 15 franklins. He did state that he has another set, but hasn't made up his mind if or when he will sell them, or if he'll even list them. I only mention this just to say this. Use common sense when buying speakers around this area if you get my drift. I'm sure this seller is legitimate and all, but I don't know sellers from around the Seattle area and it's always a good idea to be extra careful. ;)
 
I'm the proud new owner of a pair of ADS 910s. Amazing speakers. My third pair of ADS speakers and these are by far the most impressive. As a friend said, "You're done with speakers." They've supplanted my Duntech Opals, which I found down the street on the curb. (They've moved upstairs to my secondary setup.) I bought them from a retiring couple who wanted them to go to a good home. They look brand new. I've had pretty much no issues with them, except the grills popping off at volume occasionally (I'll McGyver a fix for that) and the sound disappearing mid-song, which appears to happen as the result of a loose connection on the white plastic connector to the circuit board that lights up those pretty red lights. (I know, really scientific.) I push it back in solidly and it works for days. Until I play Ozzy.

The speaker came with homemade stands, basic short wooden stands that look like Darth Vader's ship, whatever it's called, that tilt back slightly. They sat on those stands for close to 40 years in the previous owner's house. I tried putting them on the stands and had visions of the speakers tumbling over and becoming damaged. I have two young kids and a rambunctious dog, as well as friends who like to imbibe. They would be in danger.

Does anyone know where I might acquire an original pair of stands for these gorgeous speakers or someone who produces reasonable facsimiles? The speakers sound terrific sitting on the floor but I would dearly love to hear them as they were meant to sound.

Also, stay safe, everyone. We're all buttoned down here in Toronto. I have about a thousand jazz records to listen to and to document into discogs, interrupted by the occasional game of pinball and a glance at the news. I happen to be on medical leave at the moment so I have some practise with isolation, and since they shut the schools everyone's home, including my teacher wife. The world becomes stranger every day.
 
Welcome to AK .... and awesome you got yourself a pair of those exceptionally sweet 910's! Stands are gonna be hard to find, and I would imagine the competition to buy them would be high. Still, always search .... that's part of the fun!
 
dundurnish said:
I'm the proud new owner of a pair of ADS 910s. Amazing speakers. My third pair of ADS speakers and these are by far the most impressive. As a friend said, "You're done with speakers." They've supplanted my Duntech Opals, which I found down the street on the curb. (They've moved upstairs to my secondary setup.) I bought them from a retiring couple who wanted them to go to a good home. They look brand new. I've had pretty much no issues with them, except the grills popping off at volume occasionally (I'll McGyver a fix for that) and the sound disappearing mid-song, which appears to happen as the result of a loose connection on the white plastic connector to the circuit board that lights up those pretty red lights. (I know, really scientific.) I push it back in solidly and it works for days. Until I play Ozzy.

The speaker came with homemade stands, basic short wooden stands that look like Darth Vader's ship, whatever it's called, that tilt back slightly. They sat on those stands for close to 40 years in the previous owner's house. I tried putting them on the stands and had visions of the speakers tumbling over and becoming damaged. I have two young kids and a rambunctious dog, as well as friends who like to imbibe. They would be in danger.

Does anyone know where I might acquire an original pair of stands for these gorgeous speakers or someone who produces reasonable facsimiles? The speakers sound terrific sitting on the floor but I would dearly love to hear them as they were meant to sound.

Also, stay safe, everyone. We're all buttoned down here in Toronto. I have about a thousand jazz records to listen to and to document into discogs, interrupted by the occasional game of pinball and a glance at the news. I happen to be on medical leave at the moment so I have some practise with isolation, and since they shut the schools everyone's home, including my teacher wife. The world becomes stranger every day.
Click to expand...
First off congrats and welcome to the 910 club! Second, post pics! The speakers, crossovers, the stands! Did the owner have any of the original paperwork, user manual, receipts etc...? What are the serial numbers? Are the cab backs veneer or painted black? We like to know all the details!

The LED cards wire plug tips may just need tightening. Very carefully, and slightly bend the prongs so it stays tight in place. Also bend the retaining wire just a bit downwards to keep more pressure on the card keeping it in place.

Factory stands raise them 8 inches off the floor. Finding stands, good luck! They do show up on fleabay once, twice a year at most. They do sound great, and correct at this height. What amp are you driving them with? The 910's gobble up power, the more the better, but can sound very nice with tubes as well!

Link to my long 910 thread. Lots of great info though. We were looking into making the stands, but it was cost prohibitive, as well as having repro badges made, which are often missing.
https://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/ads-910s.678615/

Stay safe, get well, enjoy your Jazz albums on your 910s!

Cheers, Glenn
 
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Thanks! I've read a number of posts about the stands since I posted my rathe2r innocent-seeming post. It seems I'm unlikely to find the original stands in the wild. I do have someone who is willing to try and manufacture replicas that will stand up to the weight of the speakers and will honour the look and intended angle of the speakers. Unfortunately I won't be able to work on that project for a while. In the meantime they sit on the uncarpeted floor, and still sound fantastic. I will survive for now, running them through my MC2105 and a Lladro line-out tube amp on my Thorens 166mkii (the Thorens 126mkiii that came with the speakers, along with a minty Yamaha M-2, is in the shop with a faulty motor--first world problems. These speakers are fantastic. If I could rattle off the models of the other two pair I would, but they're in rooms with people sound asleep. Maybe L520s and a bookshelf pair that punch well above their weight.
GD70 said:
First off congrats and welcome to the 910 club! Second, post pics! The speakers, crossovers, the stands! Did the owner have any of the original paperwork, user manual, receipts etc...? What are the serial numbers? Are the cab backs veneer or painted black? We like to know all the details!

The LED cards wire plug tips may just need tightening. Very carefully, and slightly bend the prongs so it stays tight in place. Also bend the retaining wire just a bit downwards to keep more pressure on the card keeping it in place.

Factory stands raise them 8 inches off the floor. Finding stands, good luck! They do show up on fleabay once, twice a year at most. They do sound great, and correct at this height. What amp are you driving them with? The 910's gobble up power, the more the better, but can sound very nice with tubes as well!

Link to my long 910 thread. Lots of great info though. We were looking into making the stands, but it was cost prohibitive, as well as having repro badges made, which are often missing.
https://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/ads-910s.678615/

Stay safe, get well, enjoy your Jazz albums on your 910s!

Cheers, Glenn
Click to expand...

Thanks Glenn! I'm glad to be in the club.

I've taken all kinds of photos and will do my best to upload them. I will admit up front that I am quite terrible at this. The older at get the more difficult the technology becomes. Perhaps this is why I prefer analogue equipment. I will do my best to upload the photos. I apologize in advance if they're out of order or sideways.

My pair of 910s came with the manual and a pamphlet, but no receipts, unfortunately. I will try to upload photos of all the pages of these in case they're useful. Again, apologies if they're out of order or sidways. I tried to combine them into a PDF, but apparently I'm inept. Still, perhaps these will prove useful. I will follow up with photos of the stands later.

The original owner drove these with a Yamaha M-2 power amp with no preamp. He used a Denon HA-500 head amp connected to his turntable, a Thorens 126mkiii with the original Thorens cart and a Denon 103-D cart.

I used the Yamaha for a while, and it's a splendid amp, but I find my McIntosh MC2105 a better fit. More musicl. The Yamaha, at 245 wpc @ 8 ohm and much more powerful at 4 ohms, performed quite well. The McIntosh is 105 wpc @ 8 ohm, which seems plenty of power, especially at 4 ohms. I'm using a Lladro tube preamp (on loan), an Edwards Audio phono preamp and a Thorens 125mkii, which I found a few months ago NOS at a market, still in the packaging in its box, with a Nagaoka MP-110 MM cart. I will use the 126mkiii when it comes back from the shop. I need a proper stereo stand for all this gear--I've been getting by with some basic built-in shelving--but I can't listen properly in that set-up. When everything is set up I will add my Nakamichi OMS4A CD player and HK Citation Fifteen Tuner, both great pieces of gear. I've gone with the previous owner's speaker wire, which he said was early Monster cable. (I haven't spent any time looking at it, after hooking it up).

The speakers have the veneer back and the serial numbers, as you can see (assuming the photos come through) are in the 2000s. Interesting that they're not sequential, off by one, but perhaps that's intended, I don't know.

Okay, let's try this. This should upload a link to an album of the photos themselves:

<iframe width="480" height="360" src="https://s58.photobucket.com/user/dundurnish/embed/slideshow/ADS 910s"></iframe>

And to the pamphlet:

<iframe width="480" height="360" src="https://s58.photobucket.com/user/dundurnish/embed/slideshow/ADS 910s"></iframe>

And to the manual:

<iframe width="480" height="360" src="https://s58.photobucket.com/user/dundurnish/embed/slideshow/ADS 910s/ADS 910 pamphlet/ADS manual"></iframe>

Let's hope that works. If it doesn't, I'd happily email the photos somehow to you to do this properly! I'm a collector of all kinds of vintage items and respect curating their history carefully. But I'm increasingly becoming a Luddite. It's amazing I got this for. Anyway, I hope that helps!

Jim
 

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dundurnish said:
Thanks! I've read a number of posts about the stands since I posted my rathe2r innocent-seeming post. It seems I'm unlikely to find the original stands in the wild. I do have someone who is willing to try and manufacture replicas that will stand up to the weight of the speakers and will honour the look and intended angle of the speakers. Unfortunately I won't be able to work on that project for a while. In the meantime they sit on the uncarpeted floor, and still sound fantastic. I will survive for now, running them through my MC2105 and a Lladro line-out tube amp on my Thorens 166mkii (the Thorens 126mkiii that came with the speakers, along with a minty Yamaha M-2, is in the shop with a faulty motor--first world problems. These speakers are fantastic. If I could rattle off the models of the other two pair I would, but they're in rooms with people sound asleep. Maybe L520s and a bookshelf pair that punch well above their weight.


Thanks Glenn! I'm glad to be in the club.

I've taken all kinds of photos and will do my best to upload them. I will admit up front that I am quite terrible at this. The older at get the more difficult the technology becomes. Perhaps this is why I prefer analogue equipment. I will do my best to upload the photos. I apologize in advance if they're out of order or sideways.

My pair of 910s came with the manual and a pamphlet, but no receipts, unfortunately. I will try to upload photos of all the pages of these in case they're useful. Again, apologies if they're out of order or sidways. I tried to combine them into a PDF, but apparently I'm inept. Still, perhaps these will prove useful. I will follow up with photos of the stands later.

The original owner drove these with a Yamaha M-2 power amp with no preamp. He used a Denon HA-500 head amp connected to his turntable, a Thorens 126mkiii with the original Thorens cart and a Denon 103-D cart.

I used the Yamaha for a while, and it's a splendid amp, but I find my McIntosh MC2105 a better fit. More musicl. The Yamaha, at 245 wpc @ 8 ohm and much more powerful at 4 ohms, performed quite well. The McIntosh is 105 wpc @ 8 ohm, which seems plenty of power, especially at 4 ohms. I'm using a Lladro tube preamp (on loan), an Edwards Audio phono preamp and a Thorens 125mkii, which I found a few months ago NOS at a market, still in the packaging in its box, with a Nagaoka MP-110 MM cart. I will use the 126mkiii when it comes back from the shop. I need a proper stereo stand for all this gear--I've been getting by with some basic built-in shelving--but I can't listen properly in that set-up. When everything is set up I will add my Nakamichi OMS4A CD player and HK Citation Fifteen Tuner, both great pieces of gear. I've gone with the previous owner's speaker wire, which he said was early Monster cable. (I haven't spent any time looking at it, after hooking it up).

The speakers have the veneer back and the serial numbers, as you can see (assuming the photos come through) are in the 2000s. Interesting that they're not sequential, off by one, but perhaps that's intended, I don't know.

Okay, let's try this. This should upload a link to an album of the photos themselves:

<iframe width="480" height="360" src="https://s58.photobucket.com/user/dundurnish/embed/slideshow/ADS 910s"></iframe>

And to the pamphlet:

<iframe width="480" height="360" src="https://s58.photobucket.com/user/dundurnish/embed/slideshow/ADS 910s"></iframe>

And to the manual:

<iframe width="480" height="360" src="https://s58.photobucket.com/user/dundurnish/embed/slideshow/ADS 910s/ADS 910 pamphlet/ADS manual"></iframe>

Let's hope that works. If it doesn't, I'd happily email the photos somehow to you to do this properly! I'm a collector of all kinds of vintage items and respect curating their history carefully. But I'm increasingly becoming a Luddite. It's amazing I got this for. Anyway, I hope that helps!

Jim
Click to expand...
They look great!
Yours are not far after mine, maybe built a week or two later. Mine are sequencial, 02551 & 02552, but many are not. Store sales person would just grab the boxes off the shelf, not paying too much attention to the numbers.
Your woofers appear different than mine. I wonder if they were ever replaced, or those just happen to be what was on the parts shelves when assembled.

Uploading pics is very easy. After you've downloaded them off your phone or camera onto your computer, all you need to do is click on the image file, and drag it into the window you are typing in. 10 max per page. You'll see a list of thumbnail images at the bottom of the window. Just click full size, and post reply, done!
 
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dundurnish said:
They look brand new. I've had pretty much no issues with them, except the grills popping off at volume occasionally (I'll McGyver a fix for that) and the sound disappearing mid-song, which appears to happen as the result of a loose connection on the white plastic connector to the circuit board that lights up those pretty red lights. (I know, really scientific.) I push it back in solidly and it works for days. Until I play Ozzy.
Click to expand...

The sound disappearing might be, maybe more likely, the black rectangular connector that connects the drivers to the crossover. They are notorious for having the contacts on the PC socket get loose and then sporadic. When I got mine I was able to buy some replacement sockets which fixed my issues. I usually only noticed that one or another driver would cut out so it you are losing all sound then you are likely correct about the power meter. i didn't have them so don't know how they interconnect in the circuit.

They are hard to find now as Mouser no longer has them. Look for a Jones S-306 type socket. I used the type with a cable clamp, removed the clamp the soldered 3" or 4" wires into the connector and then to the pc board.
John
 
Thought I should give you all an update on my 910 situation. Due to the virus, I'm stuck between two living situations. I can't move out and the place I'm moving to has yet to open up. I've had the 910s up on CL here in the Tampa/St. Pete area for several weeks with no inquiries....weird. I've dropped the price at least 3 times so somebody will get a great sounding pair of speakers IF they are okay with putting their own finish on them. I'm praying I can squeeze my L1230s into my new place but failing that, I'll be using my L470s which sound amazing for such a cheaply made pair of speakers!
 
thxdave said:
Thought I should give you all an update on my 910 situation. Due to the virus, I'm stuck between two living situations. I can't move out and the place I'm moving to has yet to open up. I've had the 910s up on CL here in the Tampa/St. Pete area for several weeks with no inquiries....weird. I've dropped the price at least 3 times so somebody will get a great sounding pair of speakers IF they are okay with putting their own finish on them. I'm praying I can squeeze my L1230s into my new place but failing that, I'll be using my L470s which sound amazing for such a cheaply made pair of speakers!
Click to expand...

Hi thxdave. I hope this finds you well. Sorry to hear about the virus situation, I can only imagine how frustrated you must be. For that and your experiences with the 910's as well. I have looked almost every day in Florida for ADS speakers and tonight specifically the 910's and I have not seen the listing, nor do I now. I've known about the pair of L1230's for several weeks now slightly northwest of Tampa and north of St. Pete's, but as I said, I don't see a listing for the 910's?
 
thxdave said:
Here's my ad: https://tampa.craigslist.org/pnl/ele/d/saint-petersburg-d-910-studio-monitors/7084371265.html

I've corresponded with the 1230 owner a couple of times partially to let him know that he is showing the speakers backwards and just out of curiosity. I'm praying that I don't have to sell my 1230s but they might be too much speaker for my new location but will hang onto them as long as I can.
Click to expand...

I REALLY WISH ...I knew someone that was coming from there to here. I'm serious. I also hope you can keep those 1230's. At present I am relegated to my bedroom, and I don't complain about it. Eventually I'll get a promotion from my wife and take over her office, where I can set up my system in a more .... agreeable location (soft smile for her). No matter what, I just can't see me ever getting rid of my beloved L1230's.

I can see why I might not have been able to see your listing at first, and that was because it's listed as a/d/s, and sometimes my search engine doesn't pick that up as I search for "ads". However, I did specifically search a/d/s just to make sure and I didn't see the listing. Thanks for the link. Concerns me that I couldn't find it ...

Edited:
Thinking you might throw in a few tags like ads, ads 910 and/or Audiophile and Speakers?
 
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Spiceman, I know what you mean about making the title more searchable. I hated using a simple "ads" or "ADS" in my searches because it would return hundreds of listings with the word 'ads' in them. I've toyed with the idea of tearing these things apart and parting it out but I'd hate to do it. My original deal to get a single speaker from the guy in Wisconsin fell through which would have given me a nice matched pair. But, the whole thing crashed when my landlord told me I had to vacate due to him selling the building. So......here we are stuck in virus limbo. Makes it tough for people to even come by to hear them.
 
SUELZER said:
I was able to see the CL ad. I simply put 910 in my search query of the electronics heading.
Click to expand...

That's why I say I was concerned, because I search almost daily from Coast to Coast and I may be missing listings because they don't show up. I've been using SearchTempest, but I did in this case, just load up CL on their service and still was unable to see thxdaves listing unless I was very specific. Again, concerns me because I may on other occasions miss what I'm looking for ...

thxdave said:
Spiceman, I know what you mean about making the title more searchable. I hated using a simple "ads" or "ADS" in my searches because it would return hundreds of listings with the word 'ads' in them. I've toyed with the idea of tearing these things apart and parting it out but I'd hate to do it. My original deal to get a single speaker from the guy in Wisconsin fell through which would have given me a nice matched pair. But, the whole thing crashed when my landlord told me I had to vacate due to him selling the building. So......here we are stuck in virus limbo. Makes it tough for people to even come by to hear them.
Click to expand...

I hate you having to go though all this. Seems like from the start you've had enough issues with just the speakers, without having to deal with the virus issues and moving all at once. Upon thinking about it, I see your point about getting hundreds of listings by using simple terms like ads, I've come up against that many times. There have been discussions regarding the use of "ads" in terms of searching for speakers.

For me ... I would love the challenges in restoring the cab's even if I ended up upside down on any return. But it's rarely my thought to buy something only to sell it for profit or even break even. Still, It does occur to me when talking with others. I recall your conversations with that guy .... if memory serves me in Indiana who had an orphan 910 but never knew how that turned out.

I know your fighting against time and can certainly understand your considering parting them out, but I really do hope someone finds you and appreciates that speaker system, and appreciates the challenge to restore them. If I were only closer to you, we wouldn't be talking about this, I'd have those wonderful speakers in my home.
 
The "time" issue has been really weird. Originally, I was supposed to be out of here at the end of March, but as the virus issues began to increase, my landlord extended it to the end of April.....and now May. Not sure if that's my "hard deadline" now but I'm treating it as though it is.

I've been packing up my stuff into a "Pod"-like shipping container sitting on my driveway. Mostly stuff that can withstand the heat. I haven't put any speakers inside the unit yet so the 1230s won't go inside until I have a firm move date. I can't take the 910s with me and I'm loathe to rent yet another storage space (climate controlled) just to store them in the hopes that someone will buy them. I'll be upside down (almost there now) so quickly. I have friends who are helping out with storing a lot of my heat-sensitive stuff (Albums, CDs, BluRays, DVDs, etc.) in their homes and offices but asking for the room to store a pair of 910s is a bit much.

Four weeks and counting.....
 
thxdave said:
The "time" issue has been really weird. Originally, I was supposed to be out of here at the end of March, but as the virus issues began to increase, my landlord extended it to the end of April.....and now May. Not sure if that's my "hard deadline" now but I'm treating it as though it is.

I've been packing up my stuff into a "Pod"-like shipping container sitting on my driveway. Mostly stuff that can withstand the heat. I haven't put any speakers inside the unit yet so the 1230s won't go inside until I have a firm move date. I can't take the 910s with me and I'm loathe to rent yet another storage space (climate controlled) just to store them in the hopes that someone will buy them. I'll be upside down (almost there now) so quickly. I have friends who are helping out with storing a lot of my heat-sensitive stuff (Albums, CDs, BluRays, DVDs, etc.) in their homes and offices but asking for the room to store a pair of 910s is a bit much.

Four weeks and counting.....
Click to expand...

Tell you what, I put in a Pony Express request in the forums. If we can get someone to pick them up going my way, I'll be only too happy to take them off your hands. Sell them to first chance, but in the mean time if someone can help us out, I'm all over them 910's like they were built for me!

Garry~ ... let us both cross our fingers hah?
 
thxdave, I did private message you yesterday about some suggestions to expand your sale...in case you didn’t see it
 
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