Sorry, this got a little rambly!
I was inspired by my :b recent question about that Cambridge SoundWorks 2-way "Model Six". And the fact that back in 1995 Advent released an anniversary edition of their massive-selling "New Advent" (the numbered anniversary editions had 1" parabolic dome tweeters though). When I sold HT equipment, these things sold FAST, even at $550 per pair.
Now, the original Model Six's had a 10" woofer in a much larger enclosure. Supposedly according to the brochures, "small" sells these days, even back in 1995. But the sales rate of those big Anniversary Advent's tells me otherwise (and our last pair were sold to a couple in their late twenties--honest! And not just to some old fogies as some might think).
My question then:
Would anybody here buy a speaker like the ones I have described?
Possible updates to the Advent/Model Six design, just enough to "freshen them up" but not take away their quietly classy looks AND their sound (warmish & detailed but with large reserves of tight, accurate bass):
Veneers: cherry, black ash, golden oak, or my personal favorite, blond maple. To keep prices low, they could do what Advent used to do--sell a version without real wood veneer & that hardwood "bullnose" front piece.
Low frequency driver (the woofer--I'm feeling educational today
): same fiber cone (quality paper is still a great cone material--light, stiff, & has good damping characteristics) but with a butyl rubber surround for longevity. And personally, I would hope they would keep the exposed woofer leads--that was an Advent tradition.
High frequency driver (tweeter): no metal domes, PLEASE! I have yet to hear a warm sounding one. Either the current CSW cone tweeter (cone tweets can sound good if you build them right, they are cheap to build & can be crossed over at lower frequencies than domes--important for a two-way design using a 10" woofer) or Advent's previous parabolic dome tweeter, since it's tooling is already waaaaay paid for! And they already sounded good anyway.
Enclosure design: don't mess with it! Properly designed acoustic suspension designs like these classics employ can generate lower frequency bass than a comparably-sized bass reflex. Bass reflex speakers may get louder with the same amount of input power, but they all have a specific frequency where the port radiation & the woofer's radiation cancel each other out. The result? Below a certain point, no bass at all is produced. Acoustic suspension (sealed) designs however have no such problem. Their bass production simply drops off at a slooooow rate. So a 10" bass reflex might go to an audible 40Hz, but quickly below that......nothing. A 10" acoustic suspension design will go to 40Hz, then at a slightly lower level--35Hz, then at a slightly lower level--30Hz, then...........see?
Also, sealed types are theoretically more accurate, since they don't have distortion-causing port/woofer interactions or port noises (the reason you see so many flared openings now & those dimples on the ports of B&W's better speakers--these help deal with that problem).
The only drawback to sealed designs is they aren't as efficient as a bass reflex design. This is no big deal--clean power these days is cheap. And this is all relative: trust me, when you put 125 watts into those New Advents you won't complain about them not being loud enough! And sealed types do have a different sonic personality than ported designs, so some just naturally don't enjoy these as much as a ported JBL or Cerwin-Vega. This was the basis for the arguments involving the "West Coast" sound & the "East Coast" sound.
I am seriously considering sending a message to Advent and Cambridge regarding this. Retro sells pretty good these days but I think for a good reason: some things are just getting too needlessly complicated & stressful to deal with. Look how well that new Thunderbird and Mini-Cooper are selling. And these designs have real style--instead of just that blah & "efficient" junk so many other cars have. Look at McIntosh components--they still look good after 30 years. Same with Harmon/Kardon's stuff--beautiful.
But with some classy speakers like these, one could: 1) Make them part of their room design because they look NICE. And the Wife Approval Factor would be high. 2) Avoid buying a separate sub. Their bass output is low enough (frequency-wise) that for many a subwoofer wouldn't be necessary. No more messing with x-overs, phase switches or big ugly cubes hunkered down in the corner. 3) Save money. A big factor for many (me for one!). These designs are simple to build, with many parts already researched long ago. They aren't "hi-tech" or flashy, but I suspect I'm not the only person that is getting a little bit burned out on shiny glitz that costs a lot but just plain doesn't sound good. In other words, these speakers seem like an honest design that gets the job done with a minimum of fuss.
And so I rest my Retro-But-Still-Sounds-Good case.
LJ
I was inspired by my :b recent question about that Cambridge SoundWorks 2-way "Model Six". And the fact that back in 1995 Advent released an anniversary edition of their massive-selling "New Advent" (the numbered anniversary editions had 1" parabolic dome tweeters though). When I sold HT equipment, these things sold FAST, even at $550 per pair.
Now, the original Model Six's had a 10" woofer in a much larger enclosure. Supposedly according to the brochures, "small" sells these days, even back in 1995. But the sales rate of those big Anniversary Advent's tells me otherwise (and our last pair were sold to a couple in their late twenties--honest! And not just to some old fogies as some might think).
My question then:
Would anybody here buy a speaker like the ones I have described?
Possible updates to the Advent/Model Six design, just enough to "freshen them up" but not take away their quietly classy looks AND their sound (warmish & detailed but with large reserves of tight, accurate bass):
Veneers: cherry, black ash, golden oak, or my personal favorite, blond maple. To keep prices low, they could do what Advent used to do--sell a version without real wood veneer & that hardwood "bullnose" front piece.
Low frequency driver (the woofer--I'm feeling educational today
): same fiber cone (quality paper is still a great cone material--light, stiff, & has good damping characteristics) but with a butyl rubber surround for longevity. And personally, I would hope they would keep the exposed woofer leads--that was an Advent tradition.High frequency driver (tweeter): no metal domes, PLEASE! I have yet to hear a warm sounding one. Either the current CSW cone tweeter (cone tweets can sound good if you build them right, they are cheap to build & can be crossed over at lower frequencies than domes--important for a two-way design using a 10" woofer) or Advent's previous parabolic dome tweeter, since it's tooling is already waaaaay paid for! And they already sounded good anyway.
Enclosure design: don't mess with it! Properly designed acoustic suspension designs like these classics employ can generate lower frequency bass than a comparably-sized bass reflex. Bass reflex speakers may get louder with the same amount of input power, but they all have a specific frequency where the port radiation & the woofer's radiation cancel each other out. The result? Below a certain point, no bass at all is produced. Acoustic suspension (sealed) designs however have no such problem. Their bass production simply drops off at a slooooow rate. So a 10" bass reflex might go to an audible 40Hz, but quickly below that......nothing. A 10" acoustic suspension design will go to 40Hz, then at a slightly lower level--35Hz, then at a slightly lower level--30Hz, then...........see?
Also, sealed types are theoretically more accurate, since they don't have distortion-causing port/woofer interactions or port noises (the reason you see so many flared openings now & those dimples on the ports of B&W's better speakers--these help deal with that problem).
The only drawback to sealed designs is they aren't as efficient as a bass reflex design. This is no big deal--clean power these days is cheap. And this is all relative: trust me, when you put 125 watts into those New Advents you won't complain about them not being loud enough! And sealed types do have a different sonic personality than ported designs, so some just naturally don't enjoy these as much as a ported JBL or Cerwin-Vega. This was the basis for the arguments involving the "West Coast" sound & the "East Coast" sound.
I am seriously considering sending a message to Advent and Cambridge regarding this. Retro sells pretty good these days but I think for a good reason: some things are just getting too needlessly complicated & stressful to deal with. Look how well that new Thunderbird and Mini-Cooper are selling. And these designs have real style--instead of just that blah & "efficient" junk so many other cars have. Look at McIntosh components--they still look good after 30 years. Same with Harmon/Kardon's stuff--beautiful.
But with some classy speakers like these, one could: 1) Make them part of their room design because they look NICE. And the Wife Approval Factor would be high. 2) Avoid buying a separate sub. Their bass output is low enough (frequency-wise) that for many a subwoofer wouldn't be necessary. No more messing with x-overs, phase switches or big ugly cubes hunkered down in the corner. 3) Save money. A big factor for many (me for one!). These designs are simple to build, with many parts already researched long ago. They aren't "hi-tech" or flashy, but I suspect I'm not the only person that is getting a little bit burned out on shiny glitz that costs a lot but just plain doesn't sound good. In other words, these speakers seem like an honest design that gets the job done with a minimum of fuss.
And so I rest my Retro-But-Still-Sounds-Good case.
LJ
