Advent 25th Anniversary Edition (New Large Advents)

codycatalist

I got a pair of these gifted to me from a friend yesterday and plan to get the drivers refoamed as they are rotting off. My question is do you think it would be worth it to do a crossover refresh or upgrade? Never had my ears on anything Advent and until I get the drivers foam replaced I don't want to risk messing up the voice coil.

pitdogg2

Better caps and resistors never hurts. Will you get your investment back? Very hard to tell. Some older stuff didn't have nice boards like Polk it was all point to point.

codycatalist

pitdogg2 wrote: »

Better caps and resistors never hurts. Will you get your investment back? Very hard to tell. Some older stuff didn't have nice boards like Polk it was all point to point.

Yeah i'm not looking to sell them in the future, I am going to hold onto them for my friend as he is moving and has no room. Will he ever come back for them, doubtful but he will always have first crack at them.

I wasn't sure if they were WORTH the refresh, I have heard good things here and there on other forums but who knows what their preferred sound is like. Does anyone have enough experience with these to describe the sound or compare to another speaker?

mhardy6647

Yes, it is well worthwhile in my profoundly humble (not!) opinion

I was never a particularly huge fan of the (original) Advent loudspeakers; they're very polite and pleasant but not quite to my taste. Years ago, at an AK-related get-together in MA, I heard a recapped pair. I was extremely impressed by the smoothness, musicality (sorry!) and transparency relative to the classic "OLA" ("Original Large Advent") sound I was used to. Naught but new capacitors put those monkey coffins "in another league" (sorry!!).

Any decent modern XO caps should be an audible improvement over the nigh-on 40 year old, "bean counter special" originals, I'd opine. A set of the PartsExpress "Dayton" brand (which I believe are Bennic OEM) wouldn't be an unreasonable choice (again, IMO).

pitdogg2

It's been almost 40 yrs since i had ears on a pair. Receiver and a turntable so no quality gear. IIRC the pair i heard had a passive radiator. They were not floor stander's yet were too big to be called book shelf.

codycatalist

mhardy6647 wrote: »

Yes, it is well worthwhile in my profoundly humble (not!) opinion

I was never a particularly huge fan of the (original) Advent loudspeakers; they're very polite and pleasant but not quite to my taste. Years ago, at an AK-related get-together in MA, I heard a recapped pair. I was extremely impressed by the smoothness, musicality (sorry!) and transparency relative to the classic "OLA" ("Original Large Advent") sound I was used to. Naught but new capacitors put those monkey coffins "in another league" (sorry!!).

Any decent modern XO caps should be an audible improvement over the nigh-on 40 year old, "bean counter special" originals, I'd opine. A set of the PartsExpress "Dayton" brand (which I believe are Bennic OEM) wouldn't be an unreasonable choice (again, IMO).

The crossovers seem simple so I don't figure it would cost a ton to get them refreshed/upgraded. Next week I will get a foam kit to try my hand at it (doesn't seem too hard) after that I plan on getting some nice short stands 7-8 inches or so then a crossover refresh. The latter I will most likely have to send to someone as I have no experience soldering.

[Deleted User]

Google tells me these are Jensen/Advents.
I would refresh these and put them in my Vega.

codycatalist

rednedtugent wrote: »

Google tells me these are Jensen/Advents.
I would refresh these and put them in my Vega.

Yes not original Advents but from what I read they sound very much like the originals but the better top end due to the dome tweeter.

mhardy6647

Their post-Kloss provenance notwithstanding, they're not bad at all. Would I lie to youse guyses?

The Advent drivers aren't hard to refoam. Not the easiest possible, but not bad, either. This is a case where it's worth getting "proper" (as opposed to generic) surrounds. I'd strongly encourage codycatalist to cast your lot with the justly famed Rick Cobb (aka "looneytunes2001" on eBAY). You can find his direct e-mail address at: http://www.audioheritage.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?28013-Rick-Cobb-Looneytunes-Replacement-Foam-Rings

I cannot recommend Rick, the quality of his products nor his service (and support) highly enough. He's terrific.

motorhead43026

Unless these were the original large Advents I wouldn't invest much. I loved my original large Advents I bought new in the late 70's. I kept them for nearly 15 years.

mhardy6647

I wouldn't either, but I still will maintain that a pair of capacitors & surrounds (and a little sweat equity) wound't be a bad investment at all. I am assuming that the initial cost of these was low, of course. Oh, yeah, free

What, $50 bucks or so for a pair of good surrounds and Dayton capacitors? Heck, the shipping charge from PE is the worst part! If there's a local surplus place it might be worth checking them for, I dunno, some nice motor run caps or something!

codycatalist

mhardy6647 wrote: »

I wouldn't either, but I still will maintain that a pair of capacitors & surrounds (and a little sweat equity) wound't be a bad investment at all. I am assuming that the initial cost of these was low, of course. Oh, yeah, free

What, $50 bucks or so for a pair of good surrounds and Dayton capacitors? Heck, the shipping charge from PE is the worst part! If there's a local surplus place it might be worth checking them for, I dunno, some nice motor run caps or something!

Yeah I don't plan to throw the wallet at these but I figure they will be a nice bedroom stereo or maybe a garage set paired with an older 40 wpc marantz would work fine. I just didn't want them to see the trash!

motorhead43026

These have the Bullnose tweeter not the legendary "Fried Egg" tweet. These deserve not to be thrown in the trash but set on fire.

mhardy6647

I disagree but de gustibus non est disputandum (as always).
To my ears and tastes, the venerable "fried egg" tweeter was the weak link in the OLA. Not that the domes in the later Advents are "the ****" (as it were), but they've got more snap than the cone drivers in the OLAs and their kin.

I will add this, too (FWIW): feeding the old Villchur-descended sealed monkey coffins mo' power is always mo' better for best results. Forty vintage Marantz watts = not optimal, (again, to my ears and tastes).

codycatalist

mhardy6647 wrote: »

I disagree but de gustibus non est disputandum (as always).
To my ears and tastes, the venerable "fried egg" tweeter was the weak link in the OLA. Not that the domes in the later Advents are "the ****" (as it were), but they've got more snap than the cone drivers in the OLAs and their kin.

I will add this, too (FWIW): feeding the old Villchur-descended sealed monkey coffins mo' power is always mo' better for best results. Forty vintage Marantz watts = not optimal, (again, to my ears and tastes).

Bring a sealed design you are right that more power will be needed to open them up. Meh maybe my 80s Yammy (100wpc x 2) will do for the time being, either way it won't be a main system. I have my SDA2Bs for that, I wanted some different "flavors" as I own exclusively Polk speakers.

mrloren

I had set of Advent Maestro back in the day till Y2K. Wife made me get rid of them when we got the house with in-ceiling speakers. Bummer they were a nice speaker.

codycatalist

mrloren wrote: »

I had set of Advent Maestro back in the day till Y2K. Wife made me get rid of them when we got the house with in-ceiling speakers. Bummer they were a nice speaker.

Never saw a pair of those until yesterday doing research, the mid donut driver looked interesting to me.

mrloren

codycatalist wrote: »

mrloren wrote: »

I had set of Advent Maestro back in the day till Y2K. Wife made me get rid of them when we got the house with in-ceiling speakers. Bummer they were a nice speaker.

Never saw a pair of those until yesterday doing research, the mid donut driver looked interesting to me.

They are a nice speaker, good neutral sound to them. Maestro's were made in the late 80's early 90's and designed to tone down the brightness of the CD's coming out at the time. Very good speaker for most music (not hip hop if you can call that music)

I had the chance to do an A-B with a pair of the $2k Sony ES speakers in the mid 90's. My friend and I had a blast for about an hour playing with them on Sony ES separates. I think the amp was the TA-N80ES and the speakers came to life on his setup.

One audio device I wish I never got rid of. I still look for some once in a while. Then the thought comes back to why I got rid of them in the first place, no place to put them.

mhardy6647

For anyone interested in insight into the somewhat bewildering variety of loudspeakers sold under the "Advent" name, this is a good resource.
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/identifying-your-advent-loudspeakers.126376/

For the older models, of course, there's also the fine site:
http://www.classicspeakerpages.net/library/

machone

motorhead43026 wrote: »

These have the Bullnose tweeter not the legendary "Fried Egg" tweet. These deserve not to be thrown in the trash but set on fire.

That good?

mhardy6647

I don't think they're that bad FWIW.

machone

I have a set of originals. Westmassguy said they were a pita to recone. Also, they were packed next to a wall that got termites and the little basyards ate the masonite were the tweeter switch is located. I don't know if they are worth the trouble to rebuild but I used to love them back in the 70's.

codycatalist

machone wrote: »

I have a set of originals. Westmassguy said they were a pita to recone. Also, they were packed next to a wall that got termites and the little basyards ate the masonite were the tweeter switch is located. I don't know if they are worth the trouble to rebuild but I used to love them back in the 70's.

Mine aren't in that bad of condition. I might just put them as my main fronts in my HT and move my SDAs to storage until I get a dedicated room for them.

So far I have gone through some restor-a-finish and feed n wax on the cabs to clean them up. My foam kit should be in today or tomorrow, once I finish the refoam it should be good to go in theory. I have some minor swelling at the bottom of the cabs and a wee bit of separation but I ran a light through it and cannot see it on the other side so I am hoping it is still sealed. If not I will figure that out when it comes to it.

codycatalist

I got the reform done on one speaker, cat got the other surround so I'll order a new one. Very surprised by how much I like the sound. Not the most detailed but very easy to listen to and great mid range.

motorhead43026

^^dude, you have a serious cat problem....lol.

codycatalist

motorhead43026 wrote: »

^^dude, you have a serious cat problem....lol.

Tell me about it brotha. She is a good cat overall and plus it was just a cheap piece of foam. Now if we have another SDA issue I might reconsider my pet count.

codycatalist

Necro thread.

I am finally getting back around to completing my other Advent refoam ha. My original attempt was a little sloppy and the VC wasn't perfectly aligned...although rotating the woofer made the rub go away. I am still going to redo them both, oil it back up and possibly look into a cheap crossover refresh. I did like the sound of these and have been itching for something different.

Still got the cat....she is still a handful with her claws but hasn't messed any speakers up since this thread so I guess she gets to stay.

codycatalist

Got the driver refoam done over the weekend. Got em installed today, sounds really nice.

Did a WAY better job on this refoam than the first attempt.

codycatalist

codycatalist