An Advent Guy

Hi all ! My first system was a pair of the large advents (utility cabinets) a pioneer receiver and a PE turntable (a dual clone I think) I had those speakers (later added another pair ) for many , years eventually building a heathkit aa1640 power amp (200 wpc into 8 ohms and 400 wpc into the double advents ) I would crank those suckers up until the lights would dim on the heavy bass notes . I would have the front door open with the screen door closed when the weather was nice . Not one time did the neighbors complain , even at night . Eventually sold one pair because my girlfriend hated how they looked stacked .Blew the tweeters out of the pair I kept and replaced them with dyna audio d28af's . They were never the same .Wish the internet was around then , I would have found the correct tweeters . Bought a nice pair on ebay a few months ago , rotate the in the system with the thiels and maggies , no apologies necessary thank you !

My OHM Ls (which were designed to compete with the Advents but in a smaller box), although I have custom tweaked mine.

On my current system which far surpasses what I had when I bought the Ls in 1978 (I think), they sound a lot like what I believe a good pair of Harbeths sound like from the descriptions I have heard. Still hard to beat for rock and popular music....

Jaybo, I was surprised to find this interesting artifact online:

[url]http://www.stereophile.com/standloudspeakers/171advent/[/url]

Having sold these and others back in the day, the accounting here seems to be mostly consistent with my recollection of the Advents. The OHM Ls sounded very similar, perhaps just a touch brighter or more forward sounding, enough to capture your attention one way or the other in comparison to the Advents that they targeted.

I have four systems in play at the moment. My "vintage" system consists of a pair of large Advent speakers, Scott 299 integrated amplifier (tube) Scott 350B Tuner (tube) and a Thorens TD 125 MKII turntable with a Soundsmith cartridge. My other systems are all upscale, high end contemporary components with impeccable reputations. What do I listen to the most? The Advents! They are neutral, detailed and very responsive. Great bass and wonderful imaging. I'm on the verge of adding a second pair and stacking them as reported by the Absolute Sound in 1973. Can anyone who has done that give me advice on wiring them?

I was using two stacked pairs of large Advents from the early 70's with a new MCIntosh MA6300 at 100wpc and a Cambridge 640 Azur cd player. I replaced the original caps in the Advents with Soelens capacitors which really opened up the tweeters and gave more definition. I figured I had raised the bar for trying something new.

I continued to shop for speakers and auditioned several in my house that failed to impress IMHO - Snell J's - sterile, Sienna 1's - too small a sound, and B&W 683's - too clinical. I thought that Paridigm Studio 100's were too bright without enough definition, Klipsch RF 63's seemed thin, and Vandersteen 2ce sigs were a little too reserved.

Heard some Jamo monitors - musical with large sound - close.

Tried the Magneplaner 12's - LOVE THEM.

To me, the Maggies have a similar sort of sound or voice compared to the Advents. That being said, the Maggie's soundstage is deeper, the highs and mids are better, and the bass is good especially in the mid range. To me, of all the speakers I mentioned, the Maggies come closest to a "live" sound.

The McIntosh 100 wpc amp seems fine with them. The listening area is on one end of an 18 foot wide by 30 foot long by 8 foot high basement. The Maggies are currently about seven feet apart and I sit about 8 feet away. Placement is critical and the do much better at least four feet from the wall behind them.