ADS 470
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davidballou2022
Posts: 31
FYI:
I bought an early pair of ADS 470 2-way speakers…
I had bought a pair of Polk Monitor 5B speakers and was unhappy with them so I Vandersteened the Polk’s. I added new poly caps, high quality bypass caps, Air core inductors, 1st order network, added a Zobel Network for the woofer, applied 2-part epoxy to the woofer magnets, added an additional magnet to the Polk 6502 that made the woofer supper dynamic, and I added rather than wool to the tweeter face I added tool-box anti-slip around the tweeters (4x6 with a 1-inch hole in the center) that really helped the 8k peak that the Polk sl2000s are known for and didn’t totally kill the liveliness . The Polk’s sound much better now. The ADS speakers really sounded bad compared my updated Polk’s.
Where do I start? I thought for sure the ADS speakers were going to sound better than my updated Polk’s. I was so wrong.
I bought the ADS 470’s and I can’t leave them the way they are. I started with taking out the fiberglass acoustic material and installed lightly stuffed poly fill (I think better quality stuffing is worth it, and it is not poly.) Internally I liquid-nailed 1” square stock wood to every joint. I braced the front and back baffle with 1” square stock. Replaced the iron-core inductor for the woofer with an air core inductor. Bypassed the thermal resistor. Replaced the existing tweeter capacitor with Janzen Standard poly Caps. I feel one cap doesn’t do it all. I put a 1.5 uF, 3uF, and a .1 uF bypass all in parallel for the new 1st order crossover for the tweeter. I also know about EMF and I am not a fan of inductors across a tweeter. The result seems to compress the audio to my ears and I assume the counter-EMF from the inductor may have something to do with that. I also sound deadened the woofer frame with a deadening tape.
Results:
The ADS 470s sound really great now. ADS speakers are the only speakers I ever heard where you can boost the treble 8db and the speakers don’t mind at all. With all of the added structure I created internally in the cabinet for extra rigidity, I have to set the bass at -6db on the receiver because the speaker has more bass now. When I first tried the speakers there was very little bass, The Polk 5Bs had much more bass. Not now. The ADS 470’s easily go 15 Hz lower than the Polk’s.
I bought an early pair of ADS 470 2-way speakers…
I had bought a pair of Polk Monitor 5B speakers and was unhappy with them so I Vandersteened the Polk’s. I added new poly caps, high quality bypass caps, Air core inductors, 1st order network, added a Zobel Network for the woofer, applied 2-part epoxy to the woofer magnets, added an additional magnet to the Polk 6502 that made the woofer supper dynamic, and I added rather than wool to the tweeter face I added tool-box anti-slip around the tweeters (4x6 with a 1-inch hole in the center) that really helped the 8k peak that the Polk sl2000s are known for and didn’t totally kill the liveliness . The Polk’s sound much better now. The ADS speakers really sounded bad compared my updated Polk’s.
Where do I start? I thought for sure the ADS speakers were going to sound better than my updated Polk’s. I was so wrong.
I bought the ADS 470’s and I can’t leave them the way they are. I started with taking out the fiberglass acoustic material and installed lightly stuffed poly fill (I think better quality stuffing is worth it, and it is not poly.) Internally I liquid-nailed 1” square stock wood to every joint. I braced the front and back baffle with 1” square stock. Replaced the iron-core inductor for the woofer with an air core inductor. Bypassed the thermal resistor. Replaced the existing tweeter capacitor with Janzen Standard poly Caps. I feel one cap doesn’t do it all. I put a 1.5 uF, 3uF, and a .1 uF bypass all in parallel for the new 1st order crossover for the tweeter. I also know about EMF and I am not a fan of inductors across a tweeter. The result seems to compress the audio to my ears and I assume the counter-EMF from the inductor may have something to do with that. I also sound deadened the woofer frame with a deadening tape.
Results:
The ADS 470s sound really great now. ADS speakers are the only speakers I ever heard where you can boost the treble 8db and the speakers don’t mind at all. With all of the added structure I created internally in the cabinet for extra rigidity, I have to set the bass at -6db on the receiver because the speaker has more bass now. When I first tried the speakers there was very little bass, The Polk 5Bs had much more bass. Not now. The ADS 470’s easily go 15 Hz lower than the Polk’s.
Comments
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All righty then.
I have a pair of the slightly larger ads L-570 and I think they sound pretty darned good (if a tad bright) as is (and FWIW) for small, relatively cheap (and rather elderly) loudspeakers.
But.
1) it's a hobby
2) knock your socks off -- you be you.
oh, you might want to find a pair of L-710 -- my personal favorite ads loudspeakers, all around (EDIT: and, again, strictly FWIW).
EDIT: As long as I am at it: the current Polk R100 and R200 are darned nice small fullrange loudspeakers.
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Thank you for responding.
In the late 1980's I listened to the metal box ADS L400s in a car and they were memorable.
After I got divorced the speaker bug came back. My first ADS speakers were the ADS L810s. I then got hooked to the “ADS invisible sound”. The Infinity’s and the B&W 305’s had to go. I then bought the ADS L780s and to complete my 7.1, I bought the ADS L1290s and still own them. I do wish I didn’t sell my 810s. How many speaker pairs are we allowed to keep anyways? I don't know what you have done to your crossovers, bright can mean distorted. The capacitors in the old ADS speakers sound soooooo bad. It is incredible how bad caps can make the treble seem bright.
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I hear ELAC makes good speakers for the price. I have tested several different distances from the woofer to the tweeter. ELAC has it correct to get the tweeter as close to the woofer as possible. I experimented many different ways and the best result was when the tweeter was as close as possible to the woofer.
I also feel if you take OK new speakers, change out the tiny electrolytic capacitors, and install decent poly-caps, with decent bypass caps, and change out the terrible sounding iron-core inductors with any air-core inductor, then you just added $500+ to your pair of speakers.
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I have heard that the ADS L710s sound a little better than the 810s. I also have heard that the 910s sound better than the 810s. I liked the 810s, the midrange had something I didn't like compared to my 1290s although the 810s were louder than the 1290s.
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I should have put this all at once, I really would like to hear what the tweeter in the Polk's sound like. I read that the ring-radiator is supposed to be one of the best fabric tweeters.
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An acquaintance of mine in the early 80s had the ADS L710s and that is what got me interested in hi fi. He had them mounted up near the ceiling downward pointed, which probably didn't create the greatest soundstage but that was it for me.George / NJ
Polk 7B main speakers, std. mods+ (1979, orig owner)
Martin Logan Dynamo sub w/6ft 14awg Power Cord
Crown D150 amp
Logitech Squeezebox Touch Streamer w/EDO applet
iFi nano iDSD DAC
iPurifier3
iDefender w/ iPower PS
Custom Steve Wilson 1m UPOCC Interconnect
iFi Mercury 0.5m OFHC continuous cast copper USB cable
Custom Ribbon Speaker Cables, 5ft long, 4N Copper, 14awg, ultra low inductance
Custom Vibration Isolation Speaker Stands and Sub Platform -
The L810s always sounded a bit tubby to me.
I had a gorgeous pair of L780s for a while -- but I didn't care for the sound at all.
I think moving to one large woofer from two smaller ones was a bad idea.
I actually sold them (and I don't sell much).
The L710 is a magical (and easy to drive) little loudspeaker.
All FWIW, of course.
