A/D/S B8 Monitor Speakers

Locally, this pair of A/D/S B8 Monitors was listed and the price came down to a level that I like to buy really good speakers at.

This pair is in exceptional condition, with an eight inch woofer and the famous Braun dome tweeters. These are similar to a pair of A/D/S L520's from the late 70's early 80s' only slightly smaller in the cabinet size, I would probably say they are the modern equivalent of the Braun L500. I have had a pair of the A/D/S in the past including the L420's and the smaller L300C.

 

 

These A/D/S Monitors are super smooth as expected with nice rich bass tones and very open it the mids and highs, of course I am running this on a 4 watt tube amp and the sound is fantastic. These really remind me of a pair of NAD Model 20's I had many years back, very similar sound.

I did come across a pair of A/D/S L8E Monitors many years back and one tweeter was shot so I ended up parting the other tweeter out and saving the woofers, I am happy to come across this pair of similar speakers.

These are amazing 8 inch two way speakers and I think they may be sticking around for awhile.

Yamaha CR-420 Receiver

I stumbled upon this mint, mint, mint, did I say mint? Yamaha CR-420 receiver yesterday.

I like early Yamaha solid state receivers, they are up there with early Sherwoods. This silver faced unit from circa 1977 is rated at 22WPC in 8 ohms and is in spectacular condition. I paid a bit of a premium for it in the thrift shop terms but a unit of this condition had to purchased and the dollar value was worth it.

Although I generally do not use solid state units anymore I do like to have at least one unit on hand for certain speakers. Currently I have a NAD 7130 that matches really well with the NAD Model 20's, this pairing is for sale for $300 and is simply stunning. The NAD receiver I will only sell as a complete set leaving me with just this Yamaha.

Inside the unit was cleaned out and I was surprised to see two nice big Elna 6800uf caps and universal joints that connect the input circuit to the switches on the front, one does not see this type of workmanship in today's disposable audio era, very cool.

 Another little attention to detail is the twin headphone jack and the Yamaha headphone jack plug, still intact after 40 years, pretty cool to see that.

I will try this unit out with the Speakerlab Super 7's and I am expecting an incredible sweet sound.

NAD 7130 Receiver

Another NAD receiver arrived yesterday, this 7130 model runs at 30WPC and has both a MM (Moving Marnet) and a MC (Moving Coil) phono input, something you rarely see in a model of this power level.

I did clean out the inside and all the pots and switches.

I have yet to mate this with either the NAD Model 20's or the NAD Model 30's but will do so in the near future.

Most reviews seem pretty positive on this unit and  have always liked  NAD's stuff. Clean and simple.

NAD Model 20 Speakers

Following up on the NAD Model 30 featured back in March 15, 2015, this pair of NAD Model 20's showed up this week.

NAD made two pairs of speakers (Model 20 and Model 30) and the philosophy was to produce the best speaker possible to rival the best audiophile speakers at their price point.

The Model 20 uses an 8 inch Braun woofer connected to a brilliant Braun dome tweeter.

These speakers punch well above their size with amazing bass response and fantastic imaging, not quite as good the Model 30 with the large mid range dome.

NAD only made the these speakers for a couple of years with Braun drivers, so these speakers are pretty rare.

Hooked up to a tube amp these speakers really shine over a solid state amp.