All Advent questions answered

[Denovo]

Q. re 'Stacked Advents' and new AV receiver...

I haven't yet set up this system, but here's the equipment:

4 Large Advents (walnut, c.1973) stacked, as fronts

1 Advent 5002 - center

2 Smaller Advents - rear surround

Powered 12" sub

Onkyo TX-NR809 7.2 receiver (but used as 5.1)

Just wondering if I need to manually wire the fronts in parallel to get the stacked effect, or if the Onkyo can do that for me if I just plug them all in... and can the bi-amp feature offered bt the 809 receiver help? I suppose this may be more a question about the receiver than the speakers. The receiver IS rated for 4, 6 or 8 ohm speakers.

Many thanks for any expertise you can offer!

[stereonutz]

I just scored a pair of Advent Heritage speakers. I hooked them to a Sony STR-AV1070. I am amazed at the sound. They didn't sound as good when I hooked them to my Pioneer VSX-D850S. I am very excited about this score. Paid $50 for the speakers and $50 for the receiver.

[dynaco_dan]

Q. re 'Stacked Advents' and new AV receiver...

Just wondering if I need to manually wire the fronts in parallel to get the stacked effect, or if the Onkyo can do that for me if I just plug them all in... and can the bi-amp feature offered bt the 809 receiver help? I suppose this may be more a question about the receiver than the speakers. The receiver IS rated for 4, 6 or 8 ohm speakers.

Many thanks for any expertise you can offer!

Hi there

To create the Double Advent system you place the cabinets vertically, raised above the floor about 12" or more.

The cabinets are stacked one above the other with the tweeters close together.

You may wish to use double sided tape or equal in between them so they do not slide off.

You will also need to wire them in parallel.

Be certain of the wire phasing.

Fusing is also a good idea.

[Mick83]

What does wiring two sets of speakers in parallel mean?

Also, another poster asked a question that I did not see answered. Maybe I missed it, but I'm interested in the answer myself so I'll repost the question:

"Hello and thank you for reading. I have a pair of large advents, I believe they are from around 1975 - 1977 the tweeter is orange with a mesh grill and a square metal mounting plate, the woofer is mounted near center of the encloser, surrounds look good no holes or tears, i noticed if i wire them with the positive on the 0 connector and the negative on the 8 ohm connector they seem warmer and a little more bass, but the highs roll off a little too soon, but if i wire them the other way they seem a bit harsh and lose quite a bit of the warmth and bass. can you tell me which is the proper way to wire them?? when flipping the switch on back, out of the normal position i seem to lose a lot of the tweeter like its almost completely off and then switching to extended makes it even harsher. also there is a fuse mounted on the outside of the back of the speaker, but i havent seen that on other advent pics that i have looked at online. any advice on making them sound better? they dont crackle or buzz or anything and they can go pretty loud. thank you in advance."

[tnt1451]

Parallel means that wiring positive to positive to positive, and negative to negative to negative. Keep the similar connectors together. Check the two diagrams on this site, it shows very easily understood diagrams. The top one is series and the bottom one is in parallel.

http://www.termpro.com/asp/pubs.asp?ID=124

[Mick83]

That's interesting. As I stated in the original post, I am no audiophile.

I have often used four speakers, sometimes with a set in surround sound/live mode; sometimes just four speakers putting out the same music.

I always just connected the receiver's right channel A speaker output positive to positive (or 8) on the right A speaker, and the receiver's right negative A to the speaker's negative on the right A speaker. Then I did the same with the left A speaker.

I did the same thing with the second, B set of speakers.

It seemed to work? Sometimes I listened only to the A set, sometimes only B, sometimes all four.

[JKent]

Mick,

Your method is fine. If your amp is designed to drive 2 pair of speakers you've connected them the right way: Output A to speakers A and output B to speakers B. The deal with wiring stacked Advents in parallel has benefits and risks. If your amp only has one pair of outputs you have to connect both pair of speakers or buy an external speaker selector box. If 2 pair of Advents are connected in parallel it drop what the amp "sees" from 8 ohms to 4 ohms. This means more power is available, the speakers will be a bit louder and less likely to clip. For example, my MAC4100 is rated 75wpc into 8 ohms but 100wpc into 4 ohms. BUT not all amps, especially not cheap amps, can handle 4 ohms. If your amp is not rated for 4 ohm loads do NOT connect the Advents in parallel.

Denovo: Onkyos are pretty robust. I've had 2 and both were rated for 4 ohms.

Similarly, you should never connect two 4 ohm speakers in parallel. Very very few amps are capable of handling 2 ohm loads. And the impedance varies. A 4 ohm speaker's impedance is not a constant 4 ohms. A 2 ohm load is dangerous. Zero ohm = short circuit.

Kent

[Denovo]

Hi there

To create the Double Advent system you place the cabinets vertically, raised above the floor about 12" or more.

The cabinets are stacked one above the other with the tweeters close together.

You may wish to use double sided tape or equal in between them so they do not slide off.

You will also need to wire them in parallel.

Be certain of the wire phasing.

Fusing is also a good idea.

This has been working well for the past year; Just wanted to thank you for pointing me in the right direction! I confess, mine are stacked vertically as recommended, but not raised a foot off the ground... maybe someday I'll find a reasonable way to do that. What will it accomplish?

[Dcfitz1962]

Hi.  I purchased a pair of large Advents from my nephew.  They needed refoaming , so I did that.  They sound awesome on my Sansui G3000.  The question I have is this.  Do I need to clean the rear speaker wire contacts with anything?  Also, the board the speaker connectors are connected to is loose on one of the speakers.  How do I reattach?  The third question is, how do you recommend cleaning the yellowing on the original grill covers?

[Guido57]

23 hours ago, Dcfitz1962 said:

Hi.  I purchased a pair of large Advents from my nephew.  They needed refoaming , so I did that.  They sound awesome on my Sansui G3000.  The question I have is this.  Do I need to clean the rear speaker wire contacts with anything?  Also, the board the speaker connectors are connected to is loose on one of the speakers.  How do I reattach?  The third question is, how do you recommend cleaning the yellowing on the original grill covers?

In order:  Need to clean? No, not strictly, but it doesn't hurt to hit them with Deoxit. 

If you mean where the wires from your Sansui are attached; masonite originals were hot glued on so you can re-glue them.  Metal originals were held by staples and glue, re-glueing should suffice but you do want a tight seal.

The grill covers may have been yellowish to begin with.  They seem to be some type of burlap and the shade did vary over the years.  Search the forums and you'll find discussions on replacing the material, I've yet to see anything about cleaning it.  Lots of threads on Advents more current than this one. Try http://www.classicspeakerpages.net/IP.Board/index.php?/profile/180451-rickb/

[NewVision250]

I have a question for Kent (Guest gkentsmith), Where did you obtain all this advent knowledge?

Look at my username, what year did the new vision series go on the market?

You are not the only one that has multiple advent speakers. 

Let's measure up....

From A Real International Jensen Employee... 

[JKent]

Welcome NewVision250

I suspect that Guest gkentsmith is no longer on CSP. His last post was 13 years ago and he was signed in as a guest, not a member. I don't think we even have "guests" any more, to prevent spam.

So unless challenged, I'm going to assert that I'm the only Kent here. And I know next to nothing about Advent speakers (had some OLAs for a while but was not impressed).

-Kent (the one and only?)

[NewVision250]

Well guest gkentsmith said somewhere in this post that he have a 10 cubic feet room of advents, well guest try this for size:

My Advent Inventory:

Hone Theater Room:

Mains: Advent Prodigy Tower I with Two Advent Powered Subwoofer, Sub 10 (10” 100 watts subwoofer)

Center: Advent Shielded Prodigy Tower, Black Finish

Front Presence Channel: Advent Marbl (indoor/outdoor), Marbl is an updated Advent mini outdoor speaker

Rear Surround: Two pair Avent Marbl (indoor/outdoor)

Center Rear Surround: Advent Mini outdoor black finish

Center Channel Subwoofer: NHT 80-Watt Mono Amp powering Polk LE-14 Sbwoofer

Total three subwoofers powering the home theater room

Family Room: 

Two pair Advent New Vision 250, 3-way bookshelf speakers

One Advent sub 10 subwoofer

Home Office:

Two pair Advent New Vision 250, 3-way bookshelf speakers

One pair Advent Mini outdoor black finish

One Advent sub 10 subwoofer

Living Room:

One pair Jensen 3152 Concert series 3-Way speaker (15” woofer, 5” midrange, 3” tweeter)

Outdoor Patio:

Two pair Advent Mini outdoor black finish

 

 

New Vision 250

[nfafan]

OK, if this is the "place Advent questions here" thread - here goes:

Just picked up a pair of "OLAs"; S/Ns 52585 and 52685 in walnut with the beveled edges around the baffle board...  cabinets are rough, but all drivers work and it sounds fine.

In my mind's eye from the 70's - I recall OLAs as having a "furniture finish" - shiny polished wood to some degree, as opposed to the satin oiled walnut look?

Never having seen a mint pair ever since, was this recollection correct?

 

Also - the vinyl trim piece that is stapled inside the bevel and surrounds the inserted grills - was this once "gold plated"?

I ask as mine have given up any such plating if it existed, and are now a goldish-white look to them, and so I wonder if these could ever be "re-plated" or if a suitable sub exists?

 

Lastly, the Prev Owner (PO) had re-foamed the Masonite woofers bass-ackwards, is there any harm in listening to these for now until I start the cabinet re-hab process and re-foam correctly?

I ask as they sound good to my ears and I will not get to these for awhile yet.

TIA!

[ajfink]

1) They can be as shiny as you want, depending on preference and what you want to refinish or oil them with.  Both of my pairs of walnut OLAs by default have a "satin," as you described, finish.

2) Not sure if there's a way to "re-plate" the inner trim, but those don't look too off from the examples I've seen.

3)  As long as the voice coil isn't rubbing, you should be okay. with the surrounds as-is for now  But I would definitely refoam them in the proper (reversed) orientation to fully enjoy them as intended when you get to that point.

[Doug G.]

The trim pieces around the inside edge were never gold plated. They have always been a light gray. Originally they were wood and the gray paint can come off and make them look like they were some other color. Later, the pieces are gray plastic and as such, will always be gray.

The original finish on Advents was always a rubbed oil finish and satin. If you have seen a gloss finish, they have been redone.

As ajfink stated, the surrounds being in upside down doesn't really hurt. There's just the chance the roll will rub on the Masonite edge. That's why advent put them in inverted. If you ever notice any fuzziness in the sound, that's what could be happening and they should be refoamed the correct way.

Doug

[nfafan]

Thanks all for the replies! I have been playing these and they sound fine, but I will double-check the surrounds... Sooner or later I will redo the surrounds and the whole re-cap routine.

[EddieO56]

On 4/8/2019 at 10:26 AM, nfafan said:

Do the red x's (or red +'s depending upon your perspective) on the front plate of tweeters from this era indicate which pole is positive?   

Edited September 4, 2019 by EddieO56

[Guido57]

I believe so, I think this was covered over on Audio Karma.

[Pete B]

On 9/3/2019 at 4:03 PM, EddieO56 said:

Do the red x's (or red +'s depending upon your perspective) on the front plate of tweeters from this era indicate which pole is positive?   

I think that is true, you can watch the tweeter cone very closely and apply a 1.5V battery to the terminals,

it should move out with + to the positive terminal.  I've heard of people putting a 9V battery on this tweeter

and seeing it move a LOT, but please don't do that.

[ra.ra]

On 9/3/2019 at 4:03 PM, EddieO56 said:

Do the red x's (or red +'s depending upon your perspective) on the front plate of tweeters from this era indicate which pole is positive?   

Yes, this is correct. There is a similar marking on the backside of the woofer baskets for the identical purpose.

[Doug G.]

And sometimes, an Advent employee used a black marker but it means the same thing - positive connection.

Doug

[Doug G.]

In my post above, I indicated that the gray plastic trim pieces will always be gray. However, with age, they can discolor on the front edges and appear yellowish. This has happened to a couple of mine. I imagine sanding that edge may restore them but I haven't tried it yet.

Doug

 

 

[Mike B]

Hi Kent!
I posted this in a new thread but I should have searched for you first. So here goes:

I have been using a pair of Advent Legacy II speakers as studio monitors (I know they color everything but they look great and I like the sound ?

Just now, suddenly, both speakers lost a bunch of sound pressure and most high and low frequencies. This was not while listening, and since I am noodling around with a mixer and microphones it is possible some signal went down to them like feedback from a monitored mic or something. When I played material back through them I noticed the distortion (extra horrifying because I can not sing and was listening back to a vocal track to experiment with.) I know it was them because when I swapped them around with components from another system the distortion follows the speakers.

My question is, what might have happened to the both of them? I am leaning toward the crossovers blowing, but I don't know how that would happen.

My other question is if it is possible, or worth it to repair them?

Is there anyone good around Providence RI who would troubleshoot and/or repair them?

I got a great deal on them on ebay a few years back because the seller would not ship - they are pristine like furniture and have always sounded really great until now. And I love them even more because they are the exact speakers I had way back in the 80's when I bought them for real money at the long defunct Lechmere in Deham MA!

Thanks for any help!

Mike

[Aadams]

15 hours ago, Mike B said:

Hi Kent!
I posted this in a new thread but I should have searched for you first. So here goes:

I have been using a pair of Advent Legacy II speakers as studio monitors (I know they color everything but they look great and I like the sound ?

Just now, suddenly, both speakers lost a bunch of sound pressure and most high and low frequencies. This was not while listening, and since I am noodling around with a mixer and microphones it is possible some signal went down to them like feedback from a monitored mic or something. When I played material back through them I noticed the distortion (extra horrifying because I can not sing and was listening back to a vocal track to experiment with.) I know it was them because when I swapped them around with components from another system the distortion follows the speakers.

My question is, what might have happened to the both of them? I am leaning toward the crossovers blowing, but I don't know how that would happen.

I think the gkent that started this thread has not been around for years.  Our current kent is Jkent and he has admitted to limited advent knowledge as do I.  But your question about distortion  due to blown crossovers is more likely damaged voice coils in the woofers.  If the crossovers were "blown" there would be no sound.  Used Replacement parts are available on ebay if you are inclined to diagnose and repair them yourself.   There are used Legacy IIs on ebay for less than the price of two new genuine replacement woofers, if you can find them, or the cost to have a professional fix the problem.

Edit: On reflection, if you have never had the grills off these speakers, it could be as simple as rubbing woofer voice coils due to shot foam surrounds.

Adams