The Advent Loudspeaker

TheMarco

TheMarco

Thrift Store Audiophile
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Spotted a pair of these at my local thrift store. I didn't jump on them because they were offered at $250.

I googled and these are the orginal 'The Advent Loudspeaker'.

Are these good speakers? I think there's a fair chance no one will buy them at this price and I could grab them when they hit half off day next week.

They definitely need a refoam on the woofers.

Are these worth grabbing? At $125 or even at $250?
 
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If real walnut version at 125.00 I’d say yes. If utility cabinet meaning laminate veneer I’d say no. At 250.00 needing foam pass all around. I hate thrift stores that are pigs in their pricing!
 
If the front edges of the cabinets are rounded, this is the walnut 'bullnose' version. Square corners mean the vinyl-clad 'utilitry' version. Replacing the surrounds on the woofers is not difficult, but you may also need to recap the crossovers.
 
Ok thanks all. I wanted to make sure these aren't either an epic flip or even better, speakers that are so good that I really need to hear them.

I guess at this price it's a no on both counts?
 
The Advent speaker is considered a classic during it's time, similar to the following for the Dynaco A25.
My mains are the Bullnose Advent, 5012/W, which are walnut, but I have had the vinyl versions as well. If the price is right, whether wood or vinyl, they are a great performing speaker. There also was a veneer version with square cosmetics. So, if the price is right go for it. Inexpensive to refoam, pay attention whether the woofer lip is on the front or on the back of the frame!
Now, if you are into wood veneering, its an easy project to strip the vinyl and veneer the cabs, but only if you want to keep them. Too much work to do it for resale as no one wants to pay for the extra work it takes.
And yes, I also use a set of A25s, a speaker I won't sell! Some great speakers from the past!!
IMG_20221022_140302_960x1280.jpg
 
@TheMarco LOL that seller is in deamland....

Usually sell between 300-400 on the bay. 200-300 on CL after refoam.. The higher end pricing usually comes with redoing grill cloth and/or recapping!
 
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nolasally said:
@TheMarco LOL that seller is in deamland....

Usually sell between 300-400 on the bay. 200-300 on CL after refoam.. The higher end pricing usually comes with redoing grill cloth and/or recapping!
Click to expand...
Oh yeah I know. I only put that link here as an example so everyone knows which speakers they are :)
 
@CT Jim im right with ya brother. Sold my A25 in favor of A10’s as well as their rarity.
 

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Maybe I should put mine up for $625? Oh, yeah, they're walnut, better go to $800.....
Right!!!
Biggest problem with that listing is adding $160 shipping on top means they are way way over-priced. If you can find a pair LOCALLY between $80-$140 in original shape you might go for it. More than that you have to really want them and want to restore/recap/refoam them!
Good Luck!
 
TheMarco said:
Interesting. Hmmm.

For reference it's these exact ones:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2658412865...ciV5ufJTZO&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY
Click to expand...

Those are the Utility Cabinet OLA (original Large Advent). I have a pair of the bevel front cabinet with walnut veneer OLA. I paid $50 for my pair, but they needed to be recapped and refoamed. The newer version (NLA) has a bullnose cabinet and a steel framed woofer without the masonite spacer as on the OLA.

The Large Advent speakers have a wide following. They are iconic speakers. I have had 4 different pairs of Advents. The OLA are the only remaining ones and they are doing duty in my garage. As soon as I restore one of my other speakers, I will likely move the OLA out. They sound OK, but not great. There are many other speakers that better them. At anything other than a rock-bottom price, I would not bother getting another pair.
 
I've had the OLA,Bullnose and two pair of NLA in the past.While being a decent speaker they were pushed out by others at the time.When I did sell them they moved fairly quick meaning there is an audience for them.Its been a few years since and I never got more than $150 for any pair.Present day and not much has changed in my mind regarding their worth whether buyer or seller.I can see some increase to people new to vintage and the rise in vintage in general but anything over $300...never and not even close.
 
@TheMarco

too bad you live so far away as just today when attending a “Frankefest” event here western MA (sponsored in part by Audiokarma) there was a fellow that was selling pair of Bull Nose pair of Large Advents decent shape cabinets which need reforming of both woofers for $250.
 
I bought a re-foamed pair of 5012W's in pretty nice shape (with some cool extras like the original sales flyer, warranty card and such) for $200 several years back on a local CL sale - they sound awesome :).

The "going rate" in my local market (I live in a high COL metro area, FWIW) for a pair of Large Advents seems to be $75-250 depending on the overall condition. Maybe $300 for an exceptionally nice set. $75 pairs are usually a basket case set. $150-200 seems to be what an average pair goes for, but sometimes nice pairs show up in that range.

As others have said, there are different versions of the Large Advent - the "original" (aka "OLA"), the "new" (aka "NLA"), and others like the 5012 (which to my knowledge, was the final version of the Large Advent before Advent went under). Taste in speakers is subjective, but I've heard others say the 5012 is the "best" version of the Large Advent (it uses a dome tweeter instead of the earlier "fried egg" tweeters). Having heard both OLA and the 5012, I do prefer the 5012s personally.

TLDR: - I'd pass at $250 if they need re-foaming and other work. If re-foamed with very good to excellent cosmetics, it'd be another story. Just my $0.02.
 
I bought a pair of walnut bull nose OLAs for $75.00 a few years ago and had them re-capped and the woofers re-foamed. I bought them, as these were my first 'high end' speakers as a kid and was looking to put a 70s system together. They have a nice smooth sound and worth a listening to.
 
If I recall correctly, around 1981 a pair of Advents retailed at $300. These are super-abundant on the used market.
 
Can't comment on current going prices for either models, but a few years before the Covid started, a nice pair at $100-150 was a normal range for a good buy.
They're all around better than average speakers and very much under-priced back then.
 
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