Quote:
Originally Posted by FranK_S
The old Advents were popular in the days when almost everyone used a receiver with the loudness button engaged.
Audiophiles have fits when anyone mentions the use of this function.
I've owned and listened to many speakers (as I'm sure most old timers here have as well) and the old Advents are very good at reproducing "colored" sound with the loudness feature engaged so I'm puzzled by your post.
Neutral sound would be listening to them "without" the use of the loudness feature that basically mimics the "Smiley face EQ curve".
I am obviously recommending them because I have experience with them, notice I didn't recommend the big Harbeth M40 or B&W 803 that I also own. Those are out of his budget.
We all have our own preferences, same with guitars. The popularity of the old original Advents and Henry Kloss designs have gained respect for their performance and enjoyment they brought to more than a few music lovers over the past 50 odd years.
If the OP lived anywhere near me, he could pay a visit and listen for himself.  |
I owned the larger, second-generation New Advent Loudspeaker and the AR-58s, a later version of the AR-3a. I wish I still had both. I presently own a pair of B&W 802s.
I gave my Advents to a friend thinking he would be happy to have them instead of his boomy Technics speakers. Years later I learned he sold them preferring the
colored sound of of his Technics speakers. I’ve had other experiences where people opted for Sansui or later Fisher speakers instead of more accurate JBL and Polk speakers.
So it is that I’ve come to expect that people seeking the sound described in the opening post are likely to be more satisfied with speakers with no pretensions to high fidelity.
Loudness circuits were intended to compensate for the human ear’s loss of sensitivity to low and high frequencies at low volume. If they work as intended it is coincidental because there too many variables that a fixed circuit can’t address. Ultimately, they end up
coloring the sound but to what degree depends on individual speaker characteristics and the specific acoustic properties of the room.