ADS L1230's as front speakers? (1 Viewer)

[cms5310]

hi, i recently bought a great set of speakers off of craigslist. they are ads L1230 which i got for $110. these are the best speakers i've ever owned. i just upgraded my receiver from a ten year old sony str-de525 to a denon avr-1312. i also have an old mirage ps-10 sub. my question is, can i use these ads speakers as fronts in a surround setup? i have an older (best buy $100) jbl center channel speaker which i previously used with some older smaller front speakers. from what i've read the front three speakers are supposed to be matched. would a better center channel speaker help with this setup or should i just use the ads speakers for two channel music listening? thanks!

 

[Jason Charlton]

Can you use these speakers?

Of course you can. Whether they sound acceptable with the JBL center is something that you'll have to decide for yourself.

As you mentioned, you're always better off with a matched set of front speakers, but in some cases, it can be hard to get a matched set, especially in the used market.

Only your ears can tell you if the match is "close enough" for your tastes.

If you decide to shop around to try and find a better matching center, try and get something that at least has comparably sized drivers and sensitivity as your mains. From what I found online for the L1230s they are 6 ohm models, have a pretty high sensitivity (94dB), a 3/4" dome tweeter, 2" midrange, and two 8" woofers.

You may want to post in the speakers subforum here to get some better recommendations and guidance for trying to best match the mains.

 

[cms5310]

thanks jason, i'll do that.

 

[Martino]

Something else you can try...
It is always better to get the matching center if you can....and you can run this test to see how well/poorly your center is matched to your system.
After setting it up and calibrating it the best you can so all 3 speakers volume matches - watch a few scenes from a movie that you are familiar with...
Then, you can turn your center speaker off at the receiver side, and that will create a phantom center channel using the new speakers. Watch the same movie scenes again.
Then you can compare the sound between the unmatched center and the phantom one...and see what you like best.
Three are other issues involved with having a phantom center channel - but timbrel matching will not be one of them - since the receiver will divide the center channel information equally between the left and right speakers.

 

[happy ears]

hi, i have a a/d/s cm250 that i use for a center channel with my l810s in a setup .it matches very well timbre wise even though it is the post 2000 a/d/s it does well with the vintage stuff . its gonna be on ebay soon if your interested? good find on the 1230s ........... im jealous ,ive been lookin for those but the ones i have found are pricey in the virginia area on graigs list . where did u find those? u stole um!

 

[cms5310]

i bought them from a guy outside of philly. i happened upon them and really knew anything about ads speakers. after some internet research i knew these were quality speakers. replaced a blown tweeter fuse and they really are incredible.