Stacking Advents could give you more sound all right, that's true enough,
but the real purpose to do this in my mind would be to "open up" the sound
I had already heard before from just the one pair whatever volume I'd then
listened at. Of course, I would then need more power, while I'd be free
always to crank the amplifier up until my ears watered.
I'm not sure how much power the large Advents could actually take. I know
the early version needed to fused or you'd blow out the tweeters fast. I
also know mine sounded great with just a 30-watt receiver driving them at
modest levels, and when I was young I witnessed setups with ten times that
power drive them to astonishing levels of sound with, apparently, no ill
effects. At a guess I'd speculate, though, that anything more than 60
actual watts coursing through Advents would be hazardous. Quintuple that to
arrive at a decent reserve of power (now we're at that 300--watt figure) to
keep distortion reasonably low and I'd suppose everything would be okay.
But I don't know.
I listened to stacked Advents once. With my eyes closed. You already know,
I suppose, how well these unique speakers allow you to "feel" the resin on
a bow as it draws against the strings of a violin. Well, stacked you can
enjoy that sonic sensation just the same but without "invisible veil"
Pearson spoke to re the single-paired arrangement. It's almost as if you
could now sense that resin's dust in the air as it drifted your way.
Difficult for me to explain, as I do _not_ have golden ears (as a matter of
fact my wife's calling me this minute to do something or other and I can
hardly hear a thing), but I'm sure it's about something more subtle and
significant than merely "more sound."
For that exercise I'd go back to my dream of the Bose 901s. I first heard
those speakers one crazed evening after the bars at a pot party when I was
still an undergraduate with excess candle to burn. They were spilling out
"Roadhouse Blues" off _Morrison Hotel_ like some impossible Biblical flood.
At first I couldn't figure out where in the hell this wall of magnificent
sound might be coming from. Then I spied two odd-looking objects dangling
in the air just above head level over a collection of armchairs and
couches. I turned to Scott who I'd trooped in with and poked him and asked,
"Are those the speakers or something?" "Yeah, they're Bose" he told me.
"Bose?" I asked him dumbly. "What the hell is a Bose?" (What can I say? We
all enjoyed good cheap pot back then.)
Buy another pair of Advents? Maybe I will at that, but I've put it off for
a long time for the reason already cited: I don't own components of
sufficient quality to justify the expense. My old Sony receiver up north
isn't the answer! Neither is the gear we have down here in Scotts Valley
(which drives a pair of Infinity boxes). This might, however, cause me to
at least snoop around for some used Rotel gear or something of the kind.
Anyone on this list ever hook up that stuff? Terrific sound in its own
right, and not just "for the money." A sort of perfect match for speakers
in the very modest price range of Advents.
Tris
At 08:25 PM 3/4/2004 -0500, you wrote:
IIRC, the Advents (I owned the Smaller Advents), while not being terribly
efficient, weren't so bad that they couldn't be driven nicely by 40-60
"real" watts and good current. Finding such (on eBay, if nowhere else,)
shouldn't be that difficult. Reconing, IMO, would be a wise investment. If
I had the room, I'd offer to buy them at a fair prlce. Some friends of mine
here who are not audiophiles, have a pair they are not using. Stacked
double Advents are mighty tempting. Alas, my current abode is too small.
Earl
Tris Schuler wrote:
>
> Way back when I was told by a number of audio enthusiasts (audiophiles of a
> sort) that for the money BA produced some _very_ good speakers. I only
> listened to them only briefly one or two times a numbers of years back,
> couldn't even say how long, under conditions somewhat hopeless, however,
> for serious appraisal. IF I recall the problem I thought I heard at the
> time was a lack of real lower end, but like I say the demonstration was
> somewhat farcical.
>
> I do own a computer surround system for my computer from Cambridge
> SoundWorks and like it for what it is--the sound is more than okay but
> hardly "good."
>
> If I had to buy another speaker system for all-round use today I'd probably
> get the Bose 901 Series VI and be satisfied with that. Even so, though,
> I've been threatening for ten years or more to have my Advents re-coned. My
> only problem with that is I don't own components that could push those
> speakers to their actual potential, whatever that might be.
>
> Anyone here ever listen seriously to B&W speakers? I did once and was
> impressed. Not quite as impressed as I was with what came out of those tiny
> Rogers boxes 25 years ago, but impressed nevertheless.
>
> An interest in audio is an interest in something expensive. I'm relatively
> poor, and after my wife and I retire (soon) I'll be poorer still. How much
> does a used Walkman go for today?
>
> Tris
>
> At 11:28 PM 3/3/2004 -0700, you wrote:
>
> >Hi Stephen and Tris:
> >
> >I have a set of vintage Boston Acoustics A200's are you familiar with them?
> >
> >Gord
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