The Baby Advents Live
Just a little project to restore and upgrade a pair of Baby Advents my father owned years ago. The original woofers were toast, so they were replaced with ones that had been refoamed. The crossovers are pretty basic, so easy to upgrade. I used some FR4 for the new P2P boards fitted with Clarity caps and Mills resistors. I upgraded the crappy chassis wire and added a brace between the front and back placed just above the woofer, which made a huge difference. I also upgraded the binding post plate and posts. I didn't like the beech end caps, so I filled the grain, dyed them, applied toner coats followed with clear coats and then rubbed/polished them out to a high gloss sheen.
Political Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk
Comments
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Fantastic work, Jesse! Although we've come to expect nothing less... They look great.
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Those are beautiful sir. Great job. Always wondered how that model would sound with upgraded xovers (they do sound pretty good stock IMO) & always hated the spring clips for bare wire..
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I remember seeing these in person, they turned out beautiful indeed, flawless even! I have a set in my garage system, I'm tempted to do the xover/binding post cups myself now that I see that!VA HT HK AVR20II, Sony S9000ES CD/DVD/SACD, Polk Audio RC80i / Polk Audio CSi3, 60" Panasonic Plasma, Nordost / Signal Cable A2 / Wireworld / Pangea / Magic Power
VA 2 Channel Focal Electra 926 speakers, Pass Labs X150.5 Amp, Eastern Electric MiniMax Preamp (Tutay mods), Eastern Electric Minimax CDP (Scott Nixon mods), Music Hall mmf 5.1 Turntable, Parks Audio Budgie Phono Pre , Audioengine B1 streamer, MIT S3 IC's / MIT Shotgun S3 Speaker Cables / PS Audio power cables
Noggin Schiit Valhalla, Pangea, Phillips Fidelio X1, Polk UF8000
Polk SDA1c modded
Polk CRS+ 4.1TL modded (need veneer)
Polk SDA2BTL (fully modded)
A/L 1000VA Dreadnought Canare 4s11 SDA cable
SACD Marantz DV8300
Sony S9000ES CD/DVD/SACD
Yamaha YP-D6
Soundcraftsmen PCR800
Audible Illusions L1 Preamp
Vincent MFA based Cocci Tube Preamp
Pho-700 Phono Pre
Signal Cable Silver Resolution IC's -
Wow, beautiful.Pio Elete Pro 520
Panamax 5400-EX
Sunfire TGP 5
Micro Seiki DD-40 - Lyra-Dorian and Denon DL-160
PS Audio GCPH phono pre
Sunfire CG 200 X 5
Sunfire CG Sig 405 X 5
OPPO BDP-83 SE
SDA SRS 1.2TL Sonicaps and Mills
Ctr CS1000p
Sur - FX1000 x 4
SUB - SVS PB2-Plus
Workkout room:
Sony Bravia XBR- 32-Inch 1080p
Onkyo TX-DS898
GFA 555
Yamaha DVD-S1800BL/SACD
Ft - SDA 1C
Not being used:
RTi 38's -4
RT55i's - 2
RT25i's -2, using other 2 in shop
LSI 15's
CSi40
PSW 404 -
Sexy2-channel: Modwright KWI-200 Integrated, Dynaudio C1-II Signatures
Desktop rig: LSi7, Polk 110sub, Dayens Ampino amp, W4S DAC/pre, Sonos, JRiver
Gear on standby: Melody 101 tube pre, Unison Research Simply Italy Integrated
Gone to new homes: (Matt Polk's)Threshold Stasis SA12e monoblocks, Pass XA30.5 amp, Usher MD2 speakers, Dynaudio C4 platinum speakers, Modwright LS100 (voltz), Simaudio 780D DAC
erat interfectorem cesar et **** dictatorem dicere a -
Sweet!
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Wow those are gorgeous!SDA 2B-TL (Sonicap/Solen/Mills, Erse Super Q, Rings, Spikes, No-Rez)
1000VA Dreadnought
Dared SL-2000a (Siemens & Halske TM 12AT7WA's, Brimar 5Z4G)
Jolida JD-100a (Sylvania BP TM Gold Brand 5751's), NAD C275BEE, Blue Jeans
RTiA3, Onkyo TX-SR605 -
I thought I had something worthwhile to contribute to this thread, but I realized that the ones that passed through here were Baby IIs :-P
Oh, well...
So, yeah, the titular Advent Babys in this thread do look nice, all spiffed up.
The Baby II, FWIW...
123 by Mark Hardy, on Flickr -
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Exceptional work, that must be the nicest set on the planet. What do you use to replace the internal wiring?
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They look awesome, Jesse. Would make an awesome karma.
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Nice work and nice legacy since your pop's owned them.
H9"Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul! -
Those look fantastic, Jesse! Very nice work, as usual.
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We have 3 pairs of Advent speakers, embarrassed to say. I think none are usable now, the foamy round of the woofer have died, and faded.
I think we have an original Baby, Legacy (first one) and a tiny one called "mini" -
'bout time you figured out woodworking you hack....
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Very nice JesseHome Theater/2 Channel:
Front: SDA-2ATL forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/143984/my-2as-finally-finished-almost/p1
Center: Custom Built forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/150760/my-center-channel-project/p1
Surrounds & Rears: Custom Built forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/151647/my-surround-project/p1
Sonicaps, Mills, RDO-194s-198s, Dynamat, Hurricane Nuts, Blackhole5
Pioneer Elite VSX-72TXV, Carver PM-600, SVS PB2-Plus Subwoofer
dhsspeakerservice.com/ -
Those look like the LSiM Advents I've been reading about in Midnight Mahogany.
Curious, what made you choose Clarity over Sonicap for this rebuild?
Did the brace tighten them?I disabled signatures. -
Just wanted to use something different.
Knocking on the back panel resulted in a hollow sound. The front and sides were pretty solid though. I thought about gluing a chamfer edged board to the back, but adding a dowel inside was a lot quicker and did the trick. The end caps were attached with very little adhesive and a few large staples, so pretty piss poor. They are now bolted on with a little sealant around the bolt holes to prevent air leaks. All in all, the cabinets are considerably more solid now.Political Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk -
very nice job.
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Just wanted to use something different.
Knocking on the back panel resulted in a hollow sound. The front and sides were pretty solid though. I thought about gluing a chamfer edged board to the back, but adding a dowel inside was a lot quicker and did the trick. The end caps were attached with very little adhesive and a few large staples, so pretty piss poor. They are now bolted on with a little sealant around the bolt holes to prevent air leaks. All in all, the cabinets are considerably more solid now.
It's funny how few of the "market-priced" loudspeakers of the 1970s and even 1980s bothered to add a brace like that, isn't it? I did not that the BA A70s I refoamed a few months back did include a front-to-back brace. They're also better than average sounding two-way sealed-box monkey coffins, I'd opine. Coincidence?
Jesse, your Babys look splendid. -
Price points I suppose, although one has to wonder how much a single brace would add to the bottom line.
Thanks for the compliments everyone.Political Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk -
I suppose that the costs of actually fitting the brace might dwarf that of the brace itself.
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Very cool that you restored/upped these.
I had Baby's. Used them as kitchen speakers in our old beach shack, hehe. Needed decent power to drive but I loved the sound of them, especially considering their size.b]Beach Audio[/b]: Rega RP6 (mods) - AT33PTG/II - Parks Budgie SUT - PSAudio NPC * Eversolo DMP-A6 * Topping D90iii * Joule-Electra LA-100 mkIII * Pass Aleph 30 * MIT S3 * Polk SRS 2.3tl (mods) * PSAudio PPP3
Beach Study: Pro-Ject Stream Box S2 Ultra & Pre Box S2 * Pass ACA * DH Labs SS Q10 * Brines Folded ML-TQWT RS 40-1354 * PSA Dectet
Beach Master: WiiM Pro * Dayens Menuetto * Zu Libtec * Dynaudio Audience 50
Beach Den: Bluesound Powernode 2i * DH Labs SS Q10 * Zu Omen DWII * Richard Gray RGPC
Town Study: WiiM Pro * Chord Qute (Pardo) * Elekit TU-8600 * MIT S3 * Revel M22 * Beyer DT-990 * Shunyata Hydra 2
Town Den: Music Hall mm5.1se - Denon DL-103r - Jolida JD9ii (mods) * WiiM Pro * Cary xCiter * Rogue 99 Magnum * Schiit Aegir * MIT S3 * Polk SRS 1.2tl (mods) * Dectet * Bottlehead Crack - Senn 600
Town Porch: WiiM Pro Plus * Sunfire Sig II * Canare 4S11 * Magnepan 1.6 * Dectet -
Beautiful! Interesting how speakers that were very good performers back in the day look crudely constructed today.
Love those simple Xovers."Science is suppose to explain observations not dismiss them as impossible" - Norm on AA; 2.3TL's w/sonicaps/mills/jantzen inductors, Gimpod's boards, Lg Solen SDA inductors, RD-0198's, MW's dynamatted, Armaflex speaker gaskets, H-nuts, brass spikes, Cardas CCGR BP's, upgraded IC Cable, Black Hole Damping Sheet strips, interior of cabinets sealed with Loctite Power Grab, AI-1 interface with 1000VA A-L transformer -
Great job. I still have my Baby Advents from my college system, but of course they are no longer in working order.Proud and loyal citizen of the Digital Domain and Solid State Country!
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They look amazing. However, after the upgrades, how do they sound?Speakers
Energy RC-70 Mains, Energy RC-LRC Center, Energy RC-R (x4) Rear Channels, Energy RC-R (x2) Front Effects
Polk 5jr+
Polk SDA 2B
Polk SDS 3.1TL
Equipment
Panamax 5510 Re-generator Power Conditioner
Yamaha RX-V3800 Receiver
Digital Sources: Sony CDP-X339ES CD Player, HHB CDR830 BurnIt Professional CD Recorder, Sony PS3, Oppo DV-983H DVD Player
Analog Sources: Sony TC-K890ES Cassette, Nakamichi DR-1 Cassette, Technics SL-7 Turntable -
Maybe one day when you're more dedicated to audio you can restore them.
Political Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk -
I forgot to mention I also changed the grill cloth as the original wasn't really black. I decided I liked the look better without the Advent badges, but I still have them in case I change my mind.......not likely though.Political Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk -
Someday when I grow up, I want to be you. Jesus man, nice work. Dang over achievers... HT SYSTEM-
Sony 850c 4k
Pioneer elite vhx 21
Sony 4k BRP
SVS SB-2000
Polk Sig. 20's
Polk FX500 surrounds
Cables-
Acoustic zen Satori speaker cables
Acoustic zen Matrix 2 IC's
Wireworld eclipse 7 ic's
Audio metallurgy ga-o digital cable
Kitchen
Sonos zp90
Grant Fidelity tube dac
B&k 1420
lsi 9's -
GospelTruth wrote: »They look amazing. However, after the upgrades, how do they sound?
Better than than they did stock. I'm running them with my little 10wpc vintage Pioneer integrated right now, sounds good.Political Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk
