Advent 5012

When I went to pick up the ADS L420's a few weeks back the seller threw in a pair of Advent 5012's for a reasonable price. They needed work though.

The Advent 5012, from what I gather are the last rendition of the large Advent and the best with the soft dome tweeter. These speakers are large, larger than the Pioneer HPM-60's and larger than the JBL L26's.

These speakers needed a re foam on the woofers, bracing on the inside cabinet, sanding and a new coat of Minwax and crossover work along with new speaker terminals.

Here is how they ended up.

So far I have really enjoyed these speakers, the 10" woofer goes as deep as the JBL L26's I just recently had but the dome tweeter just images way better.

I have read lots of stuff on the Large Advent and the consensus is this is the best out of the lot.

I did do a few tweaks tot he cabinet and installed a brace at the weakest point of the front baffle.

I tried changing the 7uF and the 32uF series cap into a single 5.6uF but found I was blowing the fuses, this aspect of the crossover still needs some work. My best option is sourcing polyester caps of the original value and going the series route.

Update: I have since returned the crossover to the original cap values in series using polyester film caps (7uf) and a Solen electrolytic cap in the 33uf value. 

This is the third pair of Advent to date, I once had a pair of Advent 2/W's and a pair of 2002 of which I swapped the EPI tweeters for.

Woofer re foam

B&W D5 Speakers

I picked up a pair of B&W D5 speakers on speculation that they might turn out to be incredible gems and I was right. These are the entry level B&W speakers modeled after the DM5's but only smaller and do they light up the room.

 

Diminutive in size but not is sound, they give my ADS L420's a serious run for the money and actually sound a little sweeter. The size is quite small but the bass is completely full and the stereo imaging is spot on, these really are a loudspeaker that will be staying for awhile.

The real teak cabinets will get a make over and if I find any electrolytic caps in them I will replace them. I paid the upper end of my budget for these after I found out the seller is an acquaintance, he needed the money.

 

I have had these for a full 24 hours and can not rave enough about them.

dB Plus 440 Monitors

I picked up this little pair of dB Plus 440 Monitors a few weeks ago, they were offered up pretty cheap due to the fact that they needed a re foam.

These are made by Audio Products International, the same guys that did the Energy 22 loudspeakers. In fact these have a similar  look as the Energy 22's if they were shrunk down in size. Mirror imaged and the cosmetic ring give it the look and pretty decent build quality.

These speakers seem to be made for the digital era with an efficiency rating of 94db's, this makes them go very loud. The tweeter is reminiscent of Infinity's Polycell tweeter.

The 6 1/2 inch woofer does not go floor shaking deep but has decent enough bass, the mid range is smooth and the high end does sizzle.

This speaker would probably match up well with a low powered tube amp.

Aesthetically I removed the above badge from the front of the speaker and attached it to the rear to clean up the front baffle, I think it looks way better now.

JBL L26 vs. Pioneer HPM-60

A long awaited sound off on two classic rock and roll monitors the ever so sought after JBL L26 and the not nearly enough respect, the Pioneer HPM-60. These comparisons are non scientific and are only conducted within my sound room on the same source equipment. So if you are looking for a bunch of technical graphs and what not, that is not happening here. This is just what sounds best to my ears.

To begin with this is really a 2 way versus a 3 way battle and the JBL's got a new Solen cap installed where as the Pioneer still has the original caps, so lets get that out of the way.

Aesthetically the JBL L26 wins hands down on the fact that the cabinet is a real oak veneer where as the Pioneer cut the corners and give you the vinyl veneer. I also like the cleanliness of the JBL's front baffle with the tweeter over the woofer, it just looks cleaner and much more visually pleasing. JBL wins in this respect.

Sound, there is something about how well the 10" woofer attacks and reaches into the bass region in the JBL over the Pioneer. You can feel the rumble of the JBL 125 woofers and it brings a rush of anticipation of what is going to hit you, no other woofer gives you that feeling. The HPM-60's woofers are just as fast on the attack but they do not give you the rumble that JBL's gives off. The nod goes to the JBL's in the bass department.

Mid range is a completely different story, hands down the HPM-60 is smoother across the mid range spectrum and it is not to hard to figure out why. The tweeter and the woofer on the L26's need to share this role where as the HPM-60 has a dedicated mid range driver. Hands down the Pioneer wins in this respect.

The high end also goes to the HPM-60 as one does get a bit of sizzle out of the super tweeter, the JBL tweeter tends to roll of faster than the HPM-60's.

Sound stage, the HPM-60's are of course more forward than the JBL L26's, both put out a great three dimensional sound stage, putting the instruments in the right places. Although the JBL's reach lower both speakers give you the bass punch where you can feel it inside of you. A note that should be taken with this, is that both these speakers are meant to give you that live feeling, like you are there front row center at a concert, these are not the speakers that reveal the finer musical passages that give off details in an airy sense. Some call it the West Coast sound versus the New England sound.

So who wins in the sound off? My nudge would go towards the JBL L26's. Although the mid range is not nearly as smooth, the bottom end along with the real oak veneer and the cleaner looking front baffle is the clincher for me.

As I write this the JBL's did move along to a new owner and the HPM-60's are currently listed for sale, the used market for JBL's when priced right is far more liquid than that for a pair of HPM-60's. That said the HPM-100's move much faster and are more sought after. Some argue the HPM-60's 10" woofer is just a bit more refined than the HPM-100's as it is easier to drive.

A/D/S L420

A few pairs of speakers came and went this past week, the JBL L26's have found a new home along with the AR15's.

In their place was this entry level pair of A/D/S L420 and a pair of Advent 5012's.

I have become more of a fan of the Braun/ADS/Heco/Canton/Visonik style of speakers due to the employment of refined tweeters and mid ranges.

The tweeters sparkle and have an airiness and detailed sound unlike any other tweeter I have heard. One gets to hear more musical detail.

This pair of ADS sat on a local classified site for over two months with no takers so I had to pounce and make them mine. A lot of speakers come and go from my collection but I have a feeling these ones will be with me for a while.

An original sales brochure for the ADS L420 can be found on this link.

I am happy these speakers fly under the radar of most people getting back into the vintage audio scene, they truly missed out on a pair of gems.

JBL L26 update

The JBL L26's got finished off last week and I have been enjoying them exclusively along side of the Pioneer HPM-60's.

There is something about the early JBL's that is wholly unique to these speakers. The bass is just super tight and full, the mid range is not the best on the L26's but the high end is clearly there and it is like a concert in your living room. The fullness and attack more than make up for the mid range. These are fantastic speakers to own and I am glad I am experiencing my second pair.
 

 Crossover before and after with Solen Fast Caps.

Woofer re foamed

JBL L26 Decade

Another pair of JBL L26 speakers arrived this week and these will need the full makeover. This project will include a re foam, re cap of the crossover, new banana plug terminals on the rear and a re finish on the veneer.

I look forward to hearing these speakers again and perhaps I will do a L26 vs. HPM-60 shoot out.....might as well since I have both speakers.