Advent 350 Receiver

[JKent]

The big brother to the 300. These are pretty rare. I picked this one up a few years ago and it was a basket case--bent faceplate and broken tuning capacitor. It was beyond my ability to fix so I took it to my friend Tim at Bristol Electronics here in NJ. Told him to take his time and although it took longer than usual he worked his magic. He even found a main board with an intact tuner cap! It also needed some screws, resistors, trim pot, speaker relay and odds & ends. Funny, the seller told be the only issue was one dead channel.

This beast weighs in at about 22 pounds. It delivers 50wpc into 8 ohms and 70wpc into 4 ohms. Here's a little more info: 

file:///Users/johnhollingsworth/Desktop/MY%20PHOTOS/Receivers/Advent%20350/Model%20350%20Receiver.webarchive

Normally I'd want to re-cap this but the davidreaton.com site notes it's very tight inside and "servicing will be difficult." It works now, so if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Interesting observation: Although it appears to have a vernier dial like every Kloss radio, tuner and receiver (8, 18, 21, 27, 400, 410, 420), this one has a standard string tuning mechanism.

[ar_pro]

I've never seen one of these, Kent. It reminds me a little of the old Apt preamplifier.

Does it say where was it assembled?

 

[JKent]

I see the resemblance. Makes sense--the Advent 300 had a Holman preamp, maybe the 350 does too??

Assembled in Mexico.

[ar_pro]

Right - I remember that the Model 300 was assembled in Mexico, which was pretty unusual for the time.

When Advent is mentioned, most people rightly think of their famous speaker, but the company had some very clever electronic products, like the receivers, radios, equalizer, and their digital delay component. Not to mention their cassette decks and Dolby systems.

 

[JKent]

Quote

When Advent is mentioned, most people rightly think of their famous speaker, but the company had some very clever electronic products, like the receivers, radios, equalizer, and their digital delay component. Not to mention their cassette decks and Dolby systems.

Right ar_pro. And projection TVs. It's my understanding Henry started Advent specifically to make projection TVs and added the audio products to support that endeavor. The audio products were built to a price point and that explains the assembly in Mexico. The Advent 400--a terrific radio--wholesaled for less than $20 more than it cost them to build. No wonder they went bankrupt. And if I'm not mistaken the first Advent Dolby cassette deck, which revolutionized the industry, was built on a Nakamichi model that was inferior and prone to break-down. They then switched to the bulletproof Wollensak transport and the rest is history. I remember buying one around 1970 or so. I was young and poor so any audio gear was purchased at Sound Reproduction in East Orange NJ--just a warehouse really. They offered discount prices but Advent would not allow their products to be sold at a discount so I bought the identical Wollensak-branded cassette deck.

[ar_pro]

As I recall, the original Advent deck wasn't around very long before being replaced by the significantly more robust Wollensak platform. In those ancient times, I came very close to buying one or the other deck, but never did. It was only years later when I came across a used Advent for about $20 that I got to play with one. The Japanese manufacturers had a wildly different philosophy of user interface for their top decks than did Advent/Wollensak, which relied upon rugged, manually-engaged mechanisms instead of logic-controlled solenoid switching. 

I remember Sound Reproduction, as well as Boston Audio, Stereo Discounters in King Of Prussia, PA, and Dixie HiFi, down in D.C. !

[Norman Nicolai]

On 11/9/2020 at 9:50 PM, JKent said:

I see the resemblance. Makes sense--the Advent 300 had a Holman preamp, maybe the 350 does too??

Assembled in Mexico.

From what I have read, the Tom Holman preamp is in the 350 too. Not primary source verified, but in many postings on Audiokarma and other sites.

I have a swapped 300 restored by David R. Eaton that I am currently using as a preamp with a set of Heathkit W5M mono blocks. I’ve posted on this site about problems with a local AM radio station leaking RF into the circuitry of my 300, which is at the moment dormant. (Keep fingers crossed...)

For some reason, the Holman preamp seems to pair better with its own power source and my solid state equipment, than paired with my tubed mono blocks. Don’t know why that is, but it has me searching for a vintage stereo tube preamp.

Very nice collection of Advent receivers, JKent! My 300 is not nearly in as good a shape cosmetically. My faceplate is dented and the white ink labeling on the black faceplate is very faded, so I have to squint to decipher functions. 

Tim at Bristol does great work, doesn’t he! And always good for interesting conversation on a wide variety of topics, even when masked and standing in his driveway during these COVID days.