New purchase

[Guest AlanB]

Hi - this is my first post. I stumbled across this forum while searching for info on Large Advents. I recently picked up a pair, the boxes and tweeters in pretty good shape, but of course the woofer foam surrounds badly rotted out. These are the "older" woofers with the masonite ring.

I've been debating whether to refoam these or just pick up a pair of refoamed woofers on eBay (there seem to be plenty available). One of my concerns about refoaming myself is making sure the base of the cone is centered in the magnet (I know I'm not using the proper nomenclature here and hope whoever reads this understands what I'm talking about), and if this is difficult to do, or a problem in any way. I found "easyrider's" recommendations for adhesive removal and other re-foaming suggestions and those are great. But someone mentioned to me this concern about the centering in the magnet.

My other question is, if I choose to just go ahead and buy two woofers, does it matter much if I get the older style with the masonite ring, or the newer style woofers.

BTW - these speakers were $5.00 at this rummage sale and of course there was no way not to pick them up at that price.

FTI - I also bought a pair of the smaller Advents in fine all around shape a few years ago for only a little more than the big ones. I keep a number of other speakers, Linn Sara's, Totem Mani-2's, and my complement of older Quad gear and older SAE Mark IV Series Bongiorno design electronics which I want to use with these large Advents.

Thanks for any insight or recommendations anyone might have.

Alan

[Guest russwollman]

Alan, I've replaced surrounds on the later Advent woofers (no masonite ring) without the slightest hitch with centering. My experience was that the cones tended to center themselves. But units will vary. If you have reasonably good hands and care about what you're doing, you'll do better to trust yourself than someone you might encounter on eBay.

When you install new surrounds, there is some "play" time— before the cement is set—during which you can adjust the fit.

You'll want to be careful when removing old cement from the cone edge, not to tear or deform the edge. Here again, I've been surprised how tough and resilient the cone material is.

And if you goof on something, you can always find another. I was afraid of the process at first, but that's common with anything we try for the first time. I've now done 12 woofers (AR & Advent) and I am still alive to talk about it.

By the way, Layne Audio http://layneaudio.hypermart.net/Advent.htm

offers US-produced replacement Advent woofers @ $80 each, claimed to possess original tonality with lower distortion. The fellow there knows his stuff but can be extremely difficult to reach. Other replacement woofers may be offered by others and are likely made in China, but about the quality of those, I'd wonder.

[Guest russwollman]

Alan, sorry, I skipped your second question. There is an adapter ring made, something like that, so you can use the newer woofer in place of the older ones.

And actually, if you're going to keep these and enjoy them, you might replace the tweeters with the upgrades offered by Layne Audio @ $52. Replace the crossover capacitors as well. All simple work, some soldering, a little woodwork, and you'll have a wonderful speaker.

The new tweeters are smoother and better than the old ones, which were great in their day. But some things have improved. The difference is quite audible to me, and I have lost some high frequency-hearing ability.

The most amazing speaker of all, to me, is the Smaller Advent. With those new tweeters, refoamed woofers, and cabinets veneered in white birch right over the vinyl, they are an amazing little package.

[Guest SpruceMoose]

refoam them yourself! its easy, i've done several. no centering problems at all, just take your time.

enjoy the toys!

sm.

[stan461]

I too have re-foamed the woofers and agree with the other respondees, its easy. After re-foaming, listen to the Advent and see how you like its characteristic sound, you may want to go further.

I would do the caps first since thats a no-brainer and an upgrade. There are way better caps out there today (yours are 30 years old).

The tweeter swap is a mod. The beauty of that is you could always put the old tweeter back if you didn't like the results.

I am always amazed at how good my Advents sound. People may look down there noses at Advents , but I have heard some pretty awful "big bucks" systems in my day.

[Guest dogmeninreno]

Many of the refoam kits come with shims and new dustcaps. You remove the old dustcap insert 3 or 4 shims in the air gap insuring centering the voice coil then you are there. Dale

[Guest AlanB]

Much obliged everybody.

What I really want to do is get that authentic "old" Advent sound rather than with the new technology tweeters. Although replacing the caps is a good idea which I may do.

I really want to get my old Bongiorno SAE MK IV-DM amp repaired and run that gear with these speakers. I have the same model pre-amp and I even have the old Mark VI tuner with the nixie tubes and the scope. It's the closest I'll come to recapturing my mis-spent youth.

Thanks again.

[Guest biancom]

I too love the old Advent sound. Had run Double Advents for years and with improved amp chain, they sounded better and better. They still grace a spare room powered by my venerable Crown D300/IC150 combo. They definitely go down to the low 30's and were one of the best values in hifi.