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The Advent Loudspeaker woofers - damaged?


Bandolino

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Well, I guess I can be added, sooner than I ever thought possible, to the list of people who have had a lucky find. I found a Craigslist post for some Advent speakers for free. The poster said that all the drivers were blown, but that the speaker cabinets might be good if new drivers were added. He couldn't tell me what model they were, and didn't really know what was wrong with the drivers. When I drove out to look at them, it was 3 original The Advent Loudspeakers, two in walnut veneer, and one utility, plus a pair of KLH model thirty-twos. He said that they belonged to his grandmother. The foam surrounds on the Advents were all rotted.

I tested them briefly at low volumes at home. The utility sounds fine, but the woofers on the veneer pair sound funny. I am trying to think of how to describe the sound. The distortion I have heard on other speakers sounds a little like harsh static. The sound from these woofers was more like a wobbly or knocking sound, almost as if the voice coil former was rattling around and hitting against the pole piece. I took one woofer out to look at it. The spider looked a little less stiff than the spider of the Advent/2s I recently refoamed. It looked slightly depressed from the usual horizontal plane. When I pushed in on the cone to feel for voice coil rubbing, I did not feel rubbing, but the whole cone felt a little loose and wobbly.

So, my question is whether these drivers are ruined, or if refoaming would fix the problem. Or, I suppose, if reconing is considered a viable option. The woofers are all the masonite type, with what appears to be the original foam, very rotted. The dates are 1973 for the veeners, and 1974 for the utility. The serial numbers are 1008xx for the veneers (I don't remember the exact numbers). Also, if I need to buy new drivers, I am wondering if the woofers are the same ones used in any other model of Advents, such as the Larger or Smaller Advents. I looked in the library, and browsed the posts here, but could not find that information.

Thanks in advance to all the wonderful helpfulness of everyone here. I can see I am on the way to filling up all the nooks and crannies in my tiny apartment with vintage speakers needing repairs. Any advice before I fall too deeply into that abyss?

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>Well, I guess I can be added, sooner than I ever thought

>possible, to the list of people who have had a lucky find. I

>found a Craigslist post for some Advent speakers for free.

>The poster said that all the drivers were blown, but that the

>speaker cabinets might be good if new drivers were added. He

>couldn't tell me what model they were, and didn't really know

>what was wrong with the drivers. When I drove out to look at

>them, it was 3 original The Advent Loudspeakers, two in walnut

>veneer, and one utility, plus a pair of KLH model thirty-twos.

> He said that they belonged to his grandmother. The foam

>surrounds on the Advents were all rotted.

>

>I tested them briefly at low volumes at home. The utility

>sounds fine, but the woofers on the veneer pair sound funny.

>I am trying to think of how to describe the sound. The

>distortion I have heard on other speakers sounds a little like

>harsh static. The sound from these woofers was more like a

>wobbly or knocking sound, almost as if the voice coil former

>was rattling around and hitting against the pole piece. I

>took one woofer out to look at it. The spider looked a little

>less stiff than the spider of the Advent/2s I recently

>refoamed. It looked slightly depressed from the usual

>horizontal plane. When I pushed in on the cone to feel for

>voice coil rubbing, I did not feel rubbing, but the whole cone

>felt a little loose and wobbly.

>

>So, my question is whether these drivers are ruined, or if

>refoaming would fix the problem. Or, I suppose, if reconing

>is considered a viable option. The woofers are all the

>masonite type, with what appears to be the original foam, very

>rotted. The dates are 1973 for the veeners, and 1974 for the

>utility. The serial numbers are 1008xx for the veneers (I

>don't remember the exact numbers). Also, if I need to buy new

>drivers, I am wondering if the woofers are the same ones used

>in any other model of Advents, such as the Larger or Smaller

>Advents. I looked in the library, and browsed the posts here,

>but could not find that information.

>

>Thanks in advance to all the wonderful helpfulness of everyone

>here. I can see I am on the way to filling up all the nooks

>and crannies in my tiny apartment with vintage speakers

>needing repairs. Any advice before I fall too deeply into

>that abyss?

Check out topic #1822. It covers some of the concerns you've expressed here regarding sagging spiders. I made response #1 which included a photo citing an example of this effect. When refoamed, the speaker tested and worked fine. Refoaming will re-center the spider in it's original flat position. You may also benefit from a lower resonant frequency provided by the more 'floppy' suspension which was the trademark (so to speak) of early AS speakers.

It's all about the music

Carl

Carl's Custom Loudspeakers

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Thank you, Carl, for again being the first to reply to my questions. I especially appreciate the fast response this time, as I was looking at some woofers for sale on ebay at a very low price, which are ending in about a day. (It's auction 180127002992 - at $10 right now - for the sake of the seller, who had them professionally refoamed, I hope that the end price is higher than that!)

I take your comments to imply that there is a reasonable chance that the distortion is due to the loose spider, and that refoaming would be an adequate fix. I do remember your great picture of the sagging spider, as it was in response to my first post on this forum. In fact, probably the only reason I thought to look at the spider this time was because I remembered your comments in that earlier post.

Has anyone else played woofers with rotted foam before refoaming them, and noticed this same type of rattling distortion? If so, did refoaming fix it?

Soon after posting this topic, I realized I have been slightly confused by the names of the original Advent models. I had thought that there were three original models: The Advent Loudspeaker, the Larger Advent, and the Smaller Advent. After some looking, it looks as if The Advent Loudspeaker and the Larger Advent are simply two names for the same model. Could someone confirm this, just to settle any lingering confusion I might have?

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Guest MarkAnderson

>After some looking, it looks as if The Advent Loudspeaker and the

>Larger Advent are simply two names for the same model. Could

>someone confirm this, just to settle any lingering confusion I

>might have?

Correctamundo.

BTW, you should absolutely expect to hear some garbage when playing woofers with no foam. I say there's a dang good chance that new foam will fix your woofers right up.

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Yup, without the foam there, even though the spider basically supports the cone, there is nothing to keep it from cocking from one side to the other. Then the voice coil former will rub against the magnet pole piece and cause all sorts of noise.

You definitely don't want to play them in this condition as there is a real possiblity of damaging the former and/or the coils themselves.

Doug

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Thank you, Mark and Doug. I am glad to learn that these Large Advents might be fine. I would not normally play a woofer with no foam, but I had no idea if they were working at all, so I wanted to check before spending the time and money to refoam. The guy who gave them to me said something that made me think that they did not make any sound when played, so I thought something more serious was wrong. Fortunately, this is one more pair of Advents to be rescued from the junk-heap. I can't wait to hear them after they get fixed up.

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I forgot to say I agree with Mark in that I think you will have perfectly functioning woofers again after you refoam them.

I have bought quite a few with bad foam and, after refoaming, they are all now good drivers.

The V.C. on these seem to be pretty tough and, of course, putting a small signal through them to see if they at least work won't hurt anything.

Doug

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