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Old Large Advent Speakers?

Hey so kinda getting cold feet here, but there's three real options that I've decided on:

The Nova 8's for 140

Large Advents for 100 (will need re-foaming)

KLH model 17's (185 but could go lower)

I'm leaning towards the Nova 8's but am really struggling to decide. If you guys can help point out the sonic differences among the three I'd really appreciate it!
 
What is wrong with these people?

The 17s are too small. Stupidly overpriced.
The Nova 8s are too expensive.
Quiet is right about the Criterions. I’ve had a few , some are excellent. The 25a speaker is too small
. No bass.
No way would I spend a hundred on busted Advents.
Keep looking .

Where are you located ?
 
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Out of the 3 speakers you listed I would get the advents. 100$ for the speakers and 21$ for surrounds from Rick Cobb (assuming you already have some Aleenes glue). If someday you decide to sell them and can’t get your 121$ back, you can part the speakers out and make at least that much back (for the pair of refoamed woofers, and the fried egg tweeters).

I have the Advents and Pioneer SX-737 hooked up right now and have been listening to them. They do sound good for certain music. Especially stuff my kids listen to that is bass heavy. Also for rock and roll.
I’ve always had a thing for acoustic suspension speakers. For how much bass they put out for such small cabinets.

I recapped them with some Panasonic poly caps I got for cheap from Newark.
 
I would not pay $100 for vinyl unfoamed OLAs. Recently I got some for $25 that were already refoamed. I'm so unimpressed with their sound that I'm reluctant to spend $36 to recap them, thinking they aren't worth it. Haven't decided what to do with them, but I only jumped on them because they were so cheap and I wanted to satisfy my curiosity.
 
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Remember a lot of folks here are basing the price they would pay on what they can sell the repaired speaker for, not what the fair market value of the speaker is for use in a system. But whatever, Advents are available in the utility cabinet from 0 to 250 a pair in trashed bad tweeters, needing foam woofers to nearly perfect examples. Buy where you are comfortable and to heck with the lowballers.
 
Paul McShart said:
Hey so kinda getting cold feet here, but there's three real options that I've decided on:

The Nova 8's for 140

Large Advents for 100 (will need re-foaming)

KLH model 17's (185 but could go lower)

I'm leaning towards the Nova 8's but am really struggling to decide. If you guys can help point out the sonic differences among the three I'd really appreciate it!
Click to expand...

All three speakers will need to be recapped, so figure an additional $10 to 20 for that. I would use inexpensive film caps because none of these speakers are stellar.

The LA need to be refoamed, so figure $20 to 30 depending upon where you buy (including glue).

The KLH will need to have the surrounds redoped, so figure an additional $20.

The Nova 8 seems a bit on the high side, but not much. The Novas require the least amount of work to be listenable (recap only).
The Large Advents are not unreasonable at $100.
The KLH 17 seems way overpriced. A more reasonable price (depending upon where you are located) would be less than $100. After doping the surrounds, the bass will not be as good as the Advents, but depending upon what you listen to, may not be that noticable. I prefer my KLH 17s and 20s over my OLA because of the high end.

Pick one and see what you think. You are going to be into the for at least $150 no matter which you get. Or, you can be patient and wait for a deal to come by.
 
ok thanks guys, so I ending up getting the novas and I really dig them! I do think they're due for a recap because when I adjust the eq on the back, they definitely cut in and out, and there's moments where I think the sound is a little fizzy, but hopefully a recap will fix them up.
 
Paul McShart said:
Also do these types of speakers benefit from being raised from the ground a bit?
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The Nova, Advents, and KLH are all what are called bookshelf speakers. They built sturdy bookshelves back in the day. :D

It is best for the tweeters to be at ear level. Unless you plan on sitting on the floor, the speakers should be on stands or a sturdy table or support. To determine how high they need to be, measure the height of your ears from the floor when at your normal listening position. Measure the distance from the bottom of the speaker to the center of the tweeter. Subtract those two measurements and that is how high your stands need to be. It does not need to be exact. You can be off by a couple inches because no one sits still all the time.

Some advocate raising speakers off the floor slightly and tilting them back so the tweeters are pointed toward your ears. You can give that a try if you want. The distance the woofer is from the floor may impact your bass response. I prefer to raise the speakers to ear level. It is easier to put a flower pot on them that way. (Just kidding - don't do that if they are wood veneer cabinets.)
 
Paul McShart said:
hmm yeah probably is, now that you mention it...

how do you know (sound wise) when caps are bad?
Click to expand...

If the speakers are old, assume the caps are bad. In your case, the Nova's are due for a recap because Radio Shack was not known for using high quality caps and they are old.

If you want to know for sure, you can use a phone app to measure the frequency response. If it is really bad you will notice that the FR curve does not look right above the crossover frequency.

You can get replacement caps from Parts Express. Before you get to into fixing them up, check out this thread:
Realistic Nova 8b Rebuild & Crossover Re-Design
https://audiokarma.org/forums/index...c-nova-8b-rebuild-crossover-re-design.307141/
 
While you are enjoying your Novas keep an eye out for the Infinity Qb. They are sweet sounding 3ways that will shame any of the three you were looking at soundwise. They show up occasionally at similar price point to what you were dealing with.
 
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