Vintage a/d/s speakers

[griffinconst]

I've heard this is an excellent brand to buy used. I have L400's. I've also heard about "the new england sound" but don't know what that means. Anyone familiar with this and what other brands were built in the northeast or have the "new england" sound. What models are best?
Thank you all.

 

[a/d/s/ fan]

a/d/s/ speakers

I've heard this is an excellent brand to buy used. I have L400's. I've also heard about "the new england sound" but don't know what that means. Anyone familiar with this and what other brands were built in the northeast or have the "new england" sound. What models are best?
Thank you all.

Hi this is my first post, but you can see from my user name that your question is near and dear.

I'm a big fan of the company's products, but am by no means an expert on the company. Analog and Digital Systems, Inc., formerly of Wilmington, MA, who traded under the name a/d/s/, made excellent audiophile speakers from at least the 1970s until sometime in the mid 1990s when they relocated to Arizona and limited their product line to car audio, in-wall and small bookshelf speakers before going out of business a few years ago.

I believe most of their speaker components were sourced from Braun in Germany. They were among many good speaker buiders , such as Boston Acoustics, located in Massachusetts. Perhaps that is the origin of the reference to the "New England sound" you've heard about.

My main home theater setup includes the following a/d/s/ speakers purchased in the mid to late 1990s:

MV60/t front towers (with dual 8" woofers, one 8" midrange and one 1.5" dome tweeter),

MV10/c center channel speaker (with dual 6.5" midrange/woofers and two 1.5" dome tweeters)

MV40/t towers for surrounds (with dual 6.5" woofers, one 6.5" midrange and one 1.5" dome tweeter)

SW300 powered subwoofer with 300 watt amp and 12" driver.

I have a large collection of loose a/d/s/ drivers of various sizes, a pair of di-pole/bi-pole surrounds and some stand-mounted a/d/s/ SAT500 bookshelf speakers.

I love looking at and listening to other brands of speakers, but have yet to hear any speakers for under $10,000 that I'd want to buy to replace this a/d/s/ system.

Ned

 

[griffinconst]

Thanks Ned
I hoped someone would have somthing to say about ads speakers. I have not heard anything that compares to the smooth but bright highs from my ads 1" dome tweeter.
I understand that the mids are killer as well.

 

[a/d/s/ fan]

some minor corrections regarding the specs

Thanks Ned
I hoped someone would have something to say about ads speakers. I have not heard anything that compares to the smooth but bright highs from my ads 1" dome tweeter.

I understand that the mids are killer as well.

Each of the speakers referenced in my initial post above that have tweeters have 1" dome tweeters, not 1.5" tweeters. Not sure where that came from. I discovered the mistake after my post, but unlike other forums, I cannot edit my post.

Also, the a/d/s/ SW300 subwoofer has a 10" driver and a 150 watt amp.

Another case of a guy making exaggerated claims about the power and size of his [subwoofer]. Oops!

 

[walter duque]

I've heard this is an excellent brand to buy used. I have L400's. I've also heard about "the new england sound" but don't know what that means. Anyone familiar with this and what other brands were built in the northeast or have the "new england" sound. What models are best?
Thank you all.

A/D/S- great sounding speakers. Had small bookshelves years ago they where awesome for their size. Browns where very similar, most likely the same manufacturer. Back to your question, years ago we used to refere to westcoast sound and east coast sound. Westcoast sound where speakers that where ported (Altec, JBL .....) very bass heavy. Eastcoast sound (New England area)
was not ported (AR, Boston Acoustics ......).

 

[Uncle Cheese]

How to sell used a/d/s speakers

Thank you Ned, and other posters in this thread.

I have a pair of MV40/t's that I'd like to sell, or at least pass on to an appreciative fan. Any advice on how to find a new home for them?

 

[audiomagnate]

Used ADS speakers are an excellent value for four reasons:

1. They sound great
2. They used rubber surrounds, which don't rot out like foam surrounds
3. They used very high quality crossover parts which seem to last forever
4. You can get them really cheap

I have a pair of what many consider their best effort, the L1530s and I absolutely love them. They use the 22,000 gauss samarium cobalt tweeter, which allows them to attain an incredible 95dB efficiency, which makes for effortless dynamics. Lot's of times all you have to do to get a pair of old ADS speakers working properly is replace the tweeter fuses.

 

[Onlyhalfdeaf]

I am possibly interested in your a/d/s MV40's Uncle Cheese. Can you PM me or something? Sorry I'm new to the site and don't know how to get around yet.

Also, can you compare them to any other a/d/s speakers? I've listened to many and owned too many. Just never heard these.

Thanks a lot.

 

[LRL]

How to sell used a/d/s speakers

Thank you Ned, and other posters in this thread.

I have a pair of MV40/t's that I'd like to sell, or at least pass on to an appreciative fan. Any advice on how to find a new home for them?

Hi Im new to the forum. did you ever sell the MV40/ts?

 

[LRL]

Thanks Ned
I hoped someone would have somthing to say about ads speakers. I have not heard anything that compares to the smooth but bright highs from my ads 1" dome tweeter.
I understand that the mids are killer as well.

Id say the highs are lively compared to bright, love my L520's and L1's with the PB1500 sub. I now have a set of the MV40t's and find them well focused and smooth.

 

[LRL]

a/d/s/ speakers



Hi this is my first post, but you can see from my user name that your question is near and dear.

I'm a big fan of the company's products, but am by no means an expert on the company. Analog and Digital Systems, Inc., formerly of Wilmington, MA, who traded under the name a/d/s/, made excellent audiophile speakers from at least the 1970s until sometime in the mid 1990s when they relocated to Arizona and limited their product line to car audio, in-wall and small bookshelf speakers before going out of business a few years ago.

I believe most of their speaker components were sourced from Braun in Germany. They were among many good speaker buiders , such as Boston Acoustics, located in Massachusetts. Perhaps that is the origin of the reference to the "New England sound" you've heard about.

My main home theater setup includes the following a/d/s/ speakers purchased in the mid to late 1990s:

MV60/t front towers (with dual 8" woofers, one 8" midrange and one 1.5" dome tweeter),

MV10/c center channel speaker (with dual 6.5" midrange/woofers and two 1.5" dome tweeters)

MV40/t towers for surrounds (with dual 6.5" woofers, one 6.5" midrange and one 1.5" dome tweeter)

SW300 powered subwoofer with 300 watt amp and 12" driver.

I have a large collection of loose a/d/s/ drivers of various sizes, a pair of di-pole/bi-pole surrounds and some stand-mounted a/d/s/ SAT500 bookshelf speakers.

I love looking at and listening to other brands of speakers, but have yet to hear any speakers for under $10,000 that I'd want to buy to replace this a/d/s/ system.

Ned

I have the MV40t got recently and use them for my main system. I have had the L1530's which I loved but had to sell going from a big house to an apartment and used the l520's and L1 until I found locally a guy selling the MV40t pair and they are excellent. No need for a sub woofer but also have the PB1500 to take some of the burdon off the speakers. I dont think they made many of these last Willmington Mass jewels.