ADS L1590

[b1daly]

Very interesting discussion here. I thought I would pipe up with a comment on the old tweeters/ferrofluid issue. I’ve had Richard So rebuild multiple pairs, and the improvement is palpable. I’m a firm believer in home audio that if it sounds good it is good. In my case I was trying to bring my Dads old L1290 back to life, and I was hearing them as sharper, almost brittle, spitty tweeters than I remembered them from 35 years ago. I have 4 pairs of ADS speakers, and so far all of the tweeters were problematic. They weren’t quieter, but instead had a “spikier” sound with certain frequencies distorting. It’s not like they were unlistenable, but on modern production with a lot of high frequencies they just weren’t right. 

Right now I have two head scratchers: the 1290s sound pretty good, but the bass seems untight, sort of underfined, not punchy  I actually have two pair of 1290s and they both sound like this. But it just doesn’t seem right. I’m experimenting with some high quality parametric EQs and also some bi-amping to see if I can tighten this up. I’m also pull out some slight edge in the high mids  . Just by ear, I sweep the frequencies until I hear a some ringing then notch it out. This is a new approach but I think it has huge potential to dramatically improve some of these older speakers, which are already quite excellent 

 

[bassment142]

On 1/22/2019 at 1:06 AM, batchman said:

Hi Tom,

batchman, do you play bass by any chance?

I think you dont have enough power for the 1590s to "break things" and move air the same way you can get your 980s movin.?

[batchman]

On 6/20/2019 at 8:36 AM, bassment142 said:

batchman, do you play bass by any chance?

I guess it shows ;).  Guilty as charged.  Yourself?

And FWIW, the only 12" driver I've liked for reproducing bass is (drum roll), the L-980.

(I play through 15"s, with a side order of 4x10" for "treble pickup moments")

[batchman]

On 6/20/2019 at 8:36 AM, bassment142 said:

I think you dont have enough power for the 1590s to "break things" and move air the same way you can get your 980s movin.?

Power is not likely the issue.  Everybody gets the same channel, 8x200wrms (4 corners bi-amped), and yes, each 20A capable.

Why yes, that is a lot of heatsink, now that you mention it...

The maths say the 1590s are superior, and I'm not changing my room to prove or disprove it, but I could not blow out a match with the 1590s.  Guess I'll keep tryin' ;).

Cheers,

- Jeff

 

[Jim Pearce]

Super happy to find this thread, I have a pair of these and had no idea they would be included in the class of loudspeakers featured by this page.

Thank you all very much for your writings!

[tysontom]

On 3/15/2020 at 11:57 AM, Jim Pearce said:

Super happy to find this thread, I have a pair of these and had no idea they would be included in the class of loudspeakers featured by this page.

Thank you all very much for your writings!

The ADS L1590/2 Loudspeaker

Great that you found this thread!  It’s amazing to me that there have been so many views on this topic alone—now over 100,000!  There are very few topics of any kind that have had more viewers.

I really enjoyed my ADS L1590/2s, and I had them for many years before finally selling them a few years ago.  I miss them, but I simply did not have a place for them in recent years.  They were in Rosewood and were beautiful in appearance and spectacular in performance, particularly with good electronics.  Midrange and treble clarity and smoothness probably not surpassed by anything I know of during this period of time—perhaps even to this day. 

1590s shown in later life.  I made dollies to move them.

Prior to the 1590s, I had a pair of AR9s, stacked AR-LSTs and a pair of Allison: Ones (not all at once, of course).  I had been driving these speakers with various Crown, Adcom and McIntosh amplifiers, and by the time of the 1590s, I had a MC2500 power amp which was capable of prodigious output power into the 1590s.  On several occasions—usually while entertaining friends—the McIntosh “Power Guard” would activate on large peak power to prevent clipping or damaging drivers.  That is very loud, but my listening room was large (25' x 18') and well-damped.  The 1590s (the AR9s and LSTs even more so) could handle large amounts of output power effortlessly and without audible strain, so the Power Guard was a welcome design.  Once, while playing a sustained below-20 Hz organ passage (Mendelssohn Organ Works, Peter Hurford, Argo CD 414-420-2) at near-live levels, the 15-amp 120V circuit tripped, which truly startled me!  When the house circuit breaker trips, you know you've got one foot into the abyss.  After that, I wired a dedicated 20-amp circuit for my electronics, and this never occurred again.

The 1590s were (and are) excellent, capable and beautifully designed speakers.  There has been some comment about the L980 (a great bookshelf speaker) being seemingly more potent than the 1590, but that’s simply nonsense.  The 1590 has a lower system resonance and uses two 10-inch, long-excursion woofers capable of moving much more air than a single 12-inch woofer, all at lower distortion. 

The motor structure of the L1590s 10-inch woofer.  It's built much like a 12-inch heavy-duty woofer, but uses a 10-inch cone with long-excursion capability.  Air-moving capability of a single 15-inch woofer.

  

Showing one (of two) 10-inch woofer effortlessly pumping air at 20 Hz. 

It’s really that simple.  Of this genre of tower loudspeakers, only the AR9 technically has more power in the deep bass, but not very audibly so.  I felt that the two were very close!

—Tom Tyson [20May2021]

[Glitch]

On 5/20/2021 at 11:41 PM, tysontom said:

I really enjoyed my ADS L1590/2s, and I had them for many years before finally selling them a few years ago.  I miss them, but I simply did not have a place for them in recent years.

Tom,

I thought that you might like to know that "your" L1590's are still going strong. I installed them as part of my main system when they first arrived. I regularly rotate speakers in-and-out in my secondary systems, but I cannot imagine doing so with the L1590's. The L1590's are my go-to speakers when I need a reference for how a speaker "should sound".

I still have the original boxes. Yes, I know it is weird to mention this, but it somehow important to us "box guys" that will store the original packaging for decades. I've actually repurposed the boxes. For reference, a pair of L880's fit perfectly in a L1590 box for storage purposes. 😉

I know it may be months (or years) before you see this, and possibly the same for me if you reply.

Also, thanks for posting the pictures of the speakers on the dollies. I enjoyed seeing them.

Glitch

 

[tysontom]

On 9/10/2022 at 11:18 AM, Glitch said:

Tom,

I thought that you might like to know that "your" L1590's are still going strong. I installed them as part of my main system when they first arrived. I regularly rotate speakers in-and-out in my secondary systems, but I cannot imagine doing so with the L1590's. The L1590's are my go-to speakers when I need a reference for how a speaker "should sound".

I still have the original boxes. Yes, I know it is weird to mention this, but it somehow important to us "box guys" that will store the original packaging for decades. I've actually repurposed the boxes. For reference, a pair of L880's fit perfectly in a L1590 box for storage purposes. 😉

I know it may be months (or years) before you see this, and possibly the same for me if you reply.

Also, thanks for posting the pictures of the speakers on the dollies. I enjoyed seeing them.

Glitch

 

Glitch, isn't it incredible that I just happened to see your post tonight (rather, this early AM), January 27th, 2023!  I just happened to check out on this site to see how many people have visited this topic, and it was a surprisingly high 106k or so!  That says a lot about this remarkable loudspeaker, many consider to be the best speaker ADS ever designed!  In any event, I apologize for not seeing your post; you alluded to this possible problem.  So, it has been months, and I apologize for that!  I also am glad to hear that you consider those speakers your "go-to" speakers: the 1590 is a very accurate loudspeaker!  I really enjoyed them very much during the years I owned them, and I'm very happy that they are in such good hands now!

I would never have considered not keeping shipping cartons for anything as important as loudspeakers, and I have always kept cartons for any new audio product I have purchased.  These cartons offer protection should you have to move or need to store an item.  I realilze that storing cartons can be a problem, but I've always found a place in the attic or basement or a closet; not everyone has that luxury, of course, but keep them if you can.  When you see the original cartons with a used item, you generally can feel more comfortable that the owner cared a lot for that item enought to keep all of the original literature and shipping cartons, etc.

This basement is probably the definition of "sick."  Lots of old Acoustic Research shipping cartons, some for even the oldest AR-1.  Notice that hygrometer on the shelves.  I keep the basement around 50% RH.  Fortunately it is a very dry area with a lot of space for storage.

By the way, I wrote an article about the development of the AR9, another tower speaker very similar in performance to the ADS L1590.  I loved them both!  Here is the article:

https://www.audioholics.com/editorials/acoustic-research-ar9

Tom  

[Giorgio AR]

5 hours ago, tysontom said:

 

Good morning Tom, splendid "warehouse", from the number of cardboard boxes I feel a "slight envy", but an enormous pleasure for the conservation of a piece of history.
I circled this instrument of yours which I think is used to produce energy (human propulsion) to air-condition and properly store part of your collection!!

With this photo I have exhausted my quota of attachments!

[tysontom]

On 1/27/2023 at 6:55 AM, Giorgio AR said:

Good morning Tom, splendid "warehouse", from the number of cardboard boxes I feel a "slight envy", but an enormous pleasure for the conservation of a piece of history.
I circled this instrument of yours which I think is used to produce energy (human propulsion) to air-condition and properly store part of your collection!!

With this photo I have exhausted my quota of attachments!

Yes, wouldn't it be great to hook that Schwinn "AirDyne" exercize bicycle to a generator-battery system to help air-condition the space!  It has a blower blade attached to the big wheel, and it blows air into your face (whether you want it or not), so perhaps a generator could be attached.  It would require some heavy pumping on those pedals to make enough electricity to handle the HVAC load, however!  Go back in your previous posts and remove some images to regain some file space (I think it will work; that is what I did).

[Giorgio AR]

On 2/5/2023 at 3:30 AM, tysontom said:

remove some images to regain some file space

Splendid cellar, and splendid content ... thanks for the advice on the photos, I have already removed attachments where old or unnecessary, but many photos must remain, they are part of the narrative and illustrate the steps described as integration well.
I will remove others where not needed.

 

[Jeffc]

Hello,

 

I have a pair of ADS L1590 speakers with the PA1 Biamps and one of the Biamps no longer turns on. I can hear it humming and getting hot but will not run the speaker. The power light also does not come on.  Since these speakers are over 30 years old I am having trouble finding a repair shop in the Boston area.  Does anyone have any ideas?

Thank you,

Jeff