Lucky Man, Jim. I gave mine away. Maybe this project will provide another excuse to raise a glass to the memory of Henry Kloss.

I still have a pair as well. I purchased mine when I was 16 years old in 1976 from some high end audio salon-back in the day-in Dayton, OH, called Carlin Audio. I had saved up my money washing dishes at Jed's Steakhouse for the Large Advents and a Sansui 911 Receiver (which I also still have). I'll never forget the day I was finally able to buy the Large Advents from that store-my receiver and BIC turntable were bought from a lowly appliance store that also sold audio (Rex TV) and Carlin Audio seemed a heavenly oasis of sophistication in comparison to Rex TV. The Large Advents went to college with me where they prompted my well-to-do roommate to buy a pair of his own along with a Citation 16 amp on my advice, and we stacked our Large Advents and had the killer sound sytem all the other denizens of our dorm envied. They continued to deliver music til I was 32 or so. I remember my boys were babies and the older one used to bob his butt up and down to the music, particularly to his seeming favorite, "Flying the Flannel" by fIrehose (Mike Watt's successor band to Minutemen). Right around then one of the kids scrawled crayon over both grill covers and I also discovered that my surrounds were disintegrating. I had the surrounds replaced and they still occasionally serve to this day when we throw parties in our backyard, still with crayon scrawls from the "baby" who is now a freshman in college. Time marches on but I am glad to still have the Advents. I would love to have them properly restored. I know of a good place in the Chicago area. I guess it's time I call them. Maybe some new internal wiring and crossovers as long as I am at it.

I bought mine new in 1978, and use them to this day. I replaced the woofers when the foam started disintegrating, not knowing that kits were available.

I find that they reproduce ANY kind of music well. I have heard much more expensive/newer speakers that I didn't like as well as mine!

You bring up a good topic that Art also mentioned. Just how good are the "New Large Advent" (the model we are talking about was the second iteration of the LA that came out in the late 70s with rounded edges to the cabinetry and a fluid cooled tweeter, and a slightly different woofer than the original LA) in absolute terms compared to what's out there today at equivalent pricing adjusted for inflation. I would say that it's quite outdated and that the average set of $500 speakers from the likes of PSB, B&W, Epos, and any number of others significantly outperform it. Sorry, just MHO. The LA is like a Dynaco ST-70. Warm, a bit fuzzy, a bit undetailed, but fun to listen to. The LA always had a chesty tone to male voices-I call it the "classic disc jockey syndrome". The bass is a bit one-note. As Art mentioned, imaging is not it's forte. On the positive side, it has a pleasant warm fuzzy nature that ameliorated the dry solid state of the day. It does have decent low end extension which was what it was known for. The tweeter is sadly eclipsed by most modern day tweeters-it has limited extension and it just doesn't sound as "real" as modern designs. It's a good speaker for rock and maybe classical. Not so good for solo male or female vocalists, small jazz ensembles, etc. When I put in a home theater seven or more years ago, I picked up some relatively inexpensive B&Ws -DM803s floorstanders front and DM804s stand mount in back IIRC. Out of curiosity I hooked them briefly into my main system which at the time had B&W M805s. I was shocked how good the DM series were for the $400 and $600/pair price-far better (again, MHO) than the LAs we are discussing. It's nostalgia and a certain time-warp tonal sigature combined with pretty decent sound that are attractive. But to discuss it as great-for-the-money in absolute terms....

Quote:
You bring up a good topic that Art also mentioned. Just how good are the "New Large Advent" (the model we are talking about was the second iteration of the LA that came out in the late 70s with rounded edges to the cabinetry and a fluid cooled tweeter, and a slightly different woofer than the original LA) in absolute terms compared to what's out there today at equivalent pricing adjusted for inflation. I would say that it's quite outdated and that the average set of $500 speakers from the likes of PSB, B&W, Epos, and any number of others significantly outperform it. Sorry, just MHO. The LA is like a Dynaco ST-70. Warm, a bit fuzzy, a bit undetailed, but fun to listen to. The LA always had a chesty tone to male voices-I call it the "classic disc jockey syndrome". The bass is a bit one-note. As Art mentioned, imaging is not it's forte. On the positive side, it has a pleasant warm fuzzy nature that ameliorated the dry solid state of the day. It does have decent low end extension which was what it was known for. The tweeter is sadly eclipsed by most modern day tweeters-it has limited extension and it just doesn't sound as "real" as modern designs. It's a good speaker for rock and maybe classical. Not so good for solo male or female vocalists, small jazz ensembles, etc. When I put in a home theater seven or more years ago, I picked up some relatively inexpensive B&Ws -DM803s floorstanders front and DM804s stand mount in back IIRC. Out of curiosity I hooked them briefly into my main system which at the time had B&W M805s. I was shocked how good the DM series were for the $400 and $600/pair price-far better (again, MHO) than the LAs we are discussing. It's nostalgia and a certain time-warp tonal sigature combined with pretty decent sound that are attractive. But to discuss it as great-for-the-money in absolute terms....

Oh, I'm sure you're right! But being frugal, and having had other priorities than buying audio equipment over the last few years (job loss, child in college, etc), I don't worry about things like that. I like them, they're paid for, and they work well for me....

" I like them, they're paid for, and they work well for me.... "

And, one might suggest that since they were paid for long ago, "great for the money" also fits - in absolute terms or any others.

My original large Advents (1973 purchase, I think) served me well for many years, with excellent sound, especially for the money. The bass could not be beat - they went deep, and were both full and tight, thanks to the acoustic suspension design - not "one note bass" at all. In comparison with later and more expensive speakers, I would say that their "imaging" was mediocre. Not that they detracted from the sound - I thought they were quite neutral and honest in frequency response, but they did not give a good sense of depth.
But overall, a great value that gave me deep musical enjoyment for 15 years as primary speakers, and some years more in a secondary system.

My favorite article in the issue. Nicely done.

s.

I reconditioned several pairs of the original Advents in the past few years, and was amazed by the sound. J Gordon Holt had it exactly right when he reported that the original Advents were the most uncolored speakers he had ever reviewed. Useful bass is in the low 30s, with a mild rolloff of upper highs which does not bother me at all.

The second iteration of the woofer (10 inch cone in metal 12 inch frame) exhibits no loss of deep bass or midrange neutrality compared to the originals. The newer flush-mount tweeter is as smooth as the original, crossing over somewhere around 1000 to 1200 Hz. The midrange is flawless, and phase coherence is uncanny. Everything sounds real-piano, percussion, ambient sounds, motorcycles, water, you name it.

I installed the second generation Advent drivers and crossovers (with original non-polar conventional caps)in large oak veneer angled-front cabinets purchased many years ago from Madisound, with slightly larger total internal volume than the Advent cabinets. I sealed off the port opening and stuffed it with fiberglass, just like the originals. After spending most of my adult life building higher-end speakers, I find myself vastly out-engineered and outclassed by Henry Kloss.

I am using these speakers in my living room with reconditioned Smaller Advents (originals)in a 5.1 surround system (no subwoofer needed). I have a factory refurbished HK AV-235 7.1 surround receiver and an Oppo DV980H DVD player that can handle about any DVD/CD format, and usually run it through the HK 6-channel direct inputs. The upconverting Oppo delivers hi-def quality video to the LG TV and perfect 5.1 audio to the Advents. I will never need to invest in any more audio equipment in the foreseeable future. Even the vinyl on my modified AR turntable and cassettes on the Nakamichi BX100 deck are wonderfully enjoyable.