ADS L520 speakers - opinion?

DollarDave
DollarDave Posts: 2,575
edited July 2010 in Vintage Speakers
I ran across a pair of ADS L520 speakers in pretty good shape for $30 that I am considering grabbing.

Anyone have an idea of what they are worth, how they sound, etc?
Post edited by DollarDave on
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Comments

  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 33,772
    edited August 2008
    As Lawrence Welk would say...
    "A-wunnerful, a-wunnerful"

    The smaller, lower end of the fine and fabulous ads (aka a/d/s and ADS) and/or Braun speaker lines.

    I have a pair of L-420s and a pair of L-710s. If you like the vintage Polk "monitor" sound, you'll probably like these a lot, as well.

    The vintage ads speakers have that sort of effortless composure to their sound that makes anything sound good (even poorly recorded stuff). In theory, that smacks of "inaccuracy", but that's not the sense I have of them.

    The 520s are hardly the be-all and end-all, but they're nice.
    For $30? A no-brainer (IMNSHO).

    EDIT:
    ADS speaker info at audiokarma (you may have to register 'for best results'):
    http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=111687

    I don't have a photo of the L-420s, so here's a gratuitous waste of bandwidth photo of one of the L-710s.
    P1020547.jpg
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  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,165
    edited August 2008
    A no brainer for $30. As far as I know parts and re-foam are still avail. I sold all the models Mhardy mentions and A/D/S always made sweet sounding speakers. You can't go wrong even if they need a little TLC. They do need some power behind them as they are a sealed design. The more power you throw at them the better they sound.

    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!
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  • DollarDave
    DollarDave Posts: 2,575
    edited August 2008
    Well, I picked these up for $20. They are in much better shape than I thought, almost new. Will let ya know how they sound later...
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  • cubdog
    cubdog Posts: 835
    edited August 2008
    Great find! A/D/S are fine speakers.

    cubdog
    Shuguang Classic S8MK
    Emotiva XDA-2
    Bel Canto M300 mono blocks
    Bel Canto DAC 1.5
    Squeezebox Touch
    Sony SS-M7
    A/D/S L710
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  • bugsnt
    bugsnt Posts: 78
    edited August 2008
    I've always had a soft spot in my heart for the A/D/S line of speakers.

    you won't be disappointed
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  • gdb
    gdb Posts: 6,012
    edited August 2008
    Those two upper tweeters look very similar to Peerless used in Polks,any relation?
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  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,165
    edited August 2008
    gdb wrote: »
    Those two upper tweeters look very similar to Peerless used in Polks,any relation?

    Nope no relation to Polk and can't remember for sure but not a peerless driver either. The larger upper is a dome type midrange.

    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!
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  • DollarDave
    DollarDave Posts: 2,575
    edited August 2008
    DaveMuell wrote: »
    Well, I picked these up for $20. They are in much better shape than I thought, almost new. Will let ya know how they sound later...

    Had a chance to hook them up in my garage this morning to a Marantz 1060 integrated and an old sony CD player. Dang, they sound pretty goood, even in a garage. Warm to nuetral and surprisingly accurate - a really good speaker for my taste. Will they displace my LS-90s or CRS+'s? No, not that good. Now, I need to find a room in the house without a system..
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  • DollarDave
    DollarDave Posts: 2,575
    edited August 2008
    By the way, if anyone is interested, they also had a vintage Yamaha receiver. It is a CR-640 and is one of those big mamas with a clean face and good wood with only normal wear. They want $20 for it. If interested, let me know and I can either hold it for pickup or ship it. Although shipping that monster might be more than it's worth?
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  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 33,772
    edited August 2008
    The dome tweeters and midranges used by ads were designed and made by either Braun (yes, the coffeemaker guys) or, later, by ads. ADS was in Wilmington, MA... I could probably throw a rock at their former address from my office (had I a window).
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  • Zitro
    Zitro Posts: 864
    edited July 2010
    Sorry to bring up an old thread, but I just found a pair of these at Goodwill for $10. One is missing the grill, but the cabs are in decent shape, the cones have rubber surrounds (surprised me a bit - original?) and for their size they are pretty friggin heavy! I would have picked them up, but had never heard of them before. From the sound of this thread, maybe I should go get them. Problem is, I have no use for them, no amp to connect them to. I already have a pair of Monitor 5jr's sitting around I have no use for. Hmm....

    They look like this:
    http://soundt.18.forumer.com/uploads/soundt/post-8-1156749347.jpg
    - Jeremy

    Amps: Jolida FX-10, NAD 3045, NAD C320BEE, Sansui G-9700
    Speakers: Polk Monitor 7A's, KEF Reference 104aB
    Sources: ProJect Debut Carbon, Sonos streaming FLAC
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  • Timothy Smith
    Timothy Smith Posts: 764
    edited July 2010
    You are going to like the ADS speakers.

    I currently have L-810's, L-570's, and L-420's.

    I sold (and probably should have kept) L-520's and L-620's.

    Like a friend told me....he has never heard a set of ADS speakers he didn't like.
    Norh ACA-2B tube pre, Sumo Andromeda SS amp. Magneplanar MMG speakers, M&K MX1250 Subwoofer, Pro-Ject RM1.3 Genie TT with Sumiko Pearl MM cart., Keces DAC, Cambridge Audio Azur 640c CD player
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  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,165
    edited July 2010
    A/D/S always made really nice, warm sounding speakers. They were built well too.

    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!
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  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 33,772
    edited July 2010
    THe rubber surrounds are original; they are excellent speakers; similar overall to the early Polk Monitor series, but more refined and actually also a bit more sensitive. Great (IME) with either soiled state or vacuum tube amplification. No 520s here, but I do have a pair of L-420s and a pair of L-710s (and I imagine I already posted this exact information much earlier in the life of this thread!).

    (almost) all of the ads info you'll ever need.

    http://www.sportsbil.com/ads/
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