Recent ADS L-1290 acquisition

[jhoyt]

Howdy all,

I just drug home a pair of ADS 1290's for the paltry sum of $80.

I think I got the deal of the decade, but we'll see. They're not perfect, for sure, so herein lies my questions.

1. One tweeter protection fuse was blown, which according to the owner's manwell means that someone pushed them really hard. I replaced the fuse (both, actually), but is there anything else I need to look for or be concerned about if these apparently have been pushed hard?

2. Related to above, there is also a very slight hash coming from the dome mid of the same speaker as had the blown fuse. Most of the time it's not noticeable, but on soft piano music I can hear it. Would it help to recenter and reseat the driver's diaphragm, or is that verboten?

3. The diaphragms were dented in a little on the other speaker's mid and tweet. I tried working the dent out, but as soon as I got it out it would "suck" back in. Are these domes pressurized? These speakers were originally from about sea level, and I'm about 4,500 feet. Is there anything to this?

4. Lastly, the grilles are in tough shape. I would like to use them (to augment the WAF), but they're kind of bent up, and the grille attachment deelybobbers are starting to pull through the metal grilles. Any advice on repairing these, or fabricating new ones?

All that being said, these are unbelievably amazing speakers (imho). The first thing that came on after I hooked them up and took care of some initial problems was "live" choral music, and it was scary real. I've read they're not very efficient, and I can tell my amp is pushing a little harder, but it seems to result in extremely controlled and authoritative sound.

I'm a west coast guy who's fallen hard for east coast speakers!

 

[Bigyank]

So where are the pics!

:worthless:

 

[jhoyt]

I can't take pics right now, but the ADS reference website has good pics of somebody else's. I'll get pics up when I can.

 

[thedelihaus]

ADS 1290's for the paltry sum of $80. is a pretty good deal, even if that tweeter's blown.

1. You'd want to listen to the drivers for any rasp or noise. Which seems like you may have.

2. So, that very slight hash coming from the dome mid may be a sign it was over-driven. There's a fella, Richard So, who rebuilds them. He once worked for a/d/s/ and bought up extra parts for repairing them as well. He's a swell guy. I'll email you his email address.

3. As for the dome "re-inverting", it may be from sitting a while, dented like so. Are the domes a bit tacky? They were from the factory. I'd ask Richard the best way to fix this. I'd suggest a heat gun or hair dryer, but I'd also be worried I could cause them damage this way.

4. These poor grills never seem to fare well. You could check for perforated metal stock and make your own, or get creative, and make some cloth ones with cloth stretched ofer a masonite or wood frame. I've almost grabbed some L1290s in the past (I own L1230s), and my plan was to make the cloth grill covers.

Your comment about a controlled and authorative sound is correct indeed. Those twin 8" woofers keep things crisp and accurate.

Congrats on a good deal.