The legend of stacked Advents

[Adamo0926]

Ok.....so this was a big thing back in the 70s and 80s. I have done some reading on this. There are several reviews from reputable publications that say there is a difference and improvement in sound characteristics by running 2 pairs of Advents in this stacked configuration. But they can't seem to measure why this is quantitatively.

I ask because I currently have one pair of the original Advent Loudspeaker and have a chance to cop another very nice pair of these original Advents from someone selling them right here in town, and they are in very very nice condition. He's asking for 140.00 for the pair.....I paid 150.00 for mine.

So if any of you have done the "stacked Advents" thing before....do you think it would be worth the outlay for me to try this out ? As just a pair of speakers, the Advents don't quite have the sound quality of my ADS L730s or my Ohm C2s.

So what do you think ? Is the "stacked Advents" legend for real ? Is there an improvement in quality, sound stage, imaging, etc ? Or is it just more of the Advent sound that you get from a single pair of Advents ?

[lenjack]

I haven't actually heard stacked Advents, but I've "heard" the story if for real, but you know I'm an Advent fan, and sold a bunch in the late 70s, so you might want to discount my opinion.

[Adamo0926]

I haven't actually heard stacked Advents, but I've "heard" the story if for real, but you know I'm an Advent fan, and sold a bunch in the late 70s, so you might want to discount my opinion.

Well if I ever wanted to experiment with the stacked Advents....this is my opportunity. It's hard to find a pair of them in excellent working and cosmetic condition. Mine are, and so are these. Might have to wait a long time before another pair in this kind of shape shows up.....and these are only minutes away from me....

Very tempting....

[spensar]

... any downside to getting the 2nd pair? Would you be able to resell the for the $140 ok if you decide to stick with one set?

[Adamo0926]

... any downside to getting the 2nd pair? Would you be able to resell the for the $140 ok if you decide to stick with one set?

Almost positive I could get my money back if I flipped them. And with the way vintage equipment is going up, might be able to sell for more if I kept them for a bit.

[Alec124c41]

I have stacked the original Canadian Rega speakers, tweeters together and woofers top and bottom.
This does work well and sounds good, making the dispersion more horizontal, doubling the radiating areas and power handling capacity, and is a lot cheaper than those huge Focals.
Go for it.

Cheers,
Alec

[lenjack]

Go for it! What are you waiting for. Vicariously waiting.

[pivot]

Had 'em in the late 1970s early 1980s. Ran with a McIntosh 2505 amp, all the power they needed.

Amazing bass, easily into the low 30s. Imaging was big, wide, diffuse. Highs were soft.

The vogue in the early 1980s went to very precise imaging one got from LS3/5A, ProAc Tablette and Dahlquist DQ-10 speakers. One could argue that the "3-D image" one got from these was overdone and not what one really heard in a hall.

I moved from the Advents to Magnepan MG-1 at the time. More imaging less bass. (Currently have PSBs)

"Horses for Courses" and all that. If precision image is a lower priority than wide bandwidth (especially bass) and impact, double Advents may be your cup of raw meat. They do what they do very well, they don't do everything, nothing does. Worth a listen.

[BirdsOf-Fire]

I had stacked Advents in the early 70s as a soldier in Japan. Having the top set of Advents turned upside-down put the second woofer above the realm of standing waves and floor reinforcement. Having both tweeters very close together got rid of some of the combing effect, especially in the midrange. The sound was much smoother than a single set of Advents, and the midrange seemed "pushed" forward. My roommate and I lived with that setup for two years, until my Expiration Term of Service (ETS) caused me to take my set of Advents and my Dynaco Stereo 400 home with me. Lord have mercy, that stereo could CRANK! 200 watts per channel of Jimmy Borgiorno's amplifier and two Advents per channel would shake concrete. The "legend" is that stacked Advents did not diminish the sound of the Advents. Many speakers when stacked, just didn't quite "gel". Stacked AR-3a? Muddy sound and way too much bass. Stacked Pioneers? Needles in your ears treble and a mid-bass BOOM that dominated the sound. That made the stacked Advents a "legend", because they lost nothing. They actually gained something.

[Adamo0926]

I had stacked Advents in the early 70s as a soldier in Japan. Having the top set of Advents turned upside-down put the second woofer above the realm of standing waves and floor reinforcement. Having both tweeters very close together got rid of some of the combing effect, especially in the midrange. The sound was much smoother than a single set of Advents, and the midrange seemed "pushed" forward. My roommate and I lived with that setup for two years, until my Expiration Term of Service (ETS) caused me to take my set of Advents and my Dynaco Stereo 400 home with me. Lord have mercy, that stereo could CRANK! 200 watts per channel of Jimmy Borgiorno's amplifier and two Advents per channel would shake concrete. The "legend" is that stacked Advents did not diminish the sound of the Advents. Many speakers when stacked, just didn't quite "gel". Stacked AR-3a? Muddy sound and way too much bass. Stacked Pioneers? Needles in your ears treble and a mid-bass BOOM that dominated the sound. That made the stacked Advents a "legend", because they lost nothing. They actually gained something.

Very interesting.......posts like this is bringing me closer and closer to getting that 2nd pair to check all this out....

[SpruceMoose]

Get them! I bought my first pair new in the late’70s. They sounded great. I found another pair in the mid ‘90s and stacked them. Sounded amazing. Took both pairs apart and built them into custom double advent enclosures. Even better! Been running them like that ever since as the front channels of my home theatre rig, along with a double advent center channel.

Do it. You won’t be sorry.

[Adamo0926]

Get them! I bought my first pair new in the late’70s. They sounded great. I found another pair in the mid ‘90s and stacked them. Sounded amazing. Took both pairs apart and built them into custom double advent enclosures. Even better! Been running them like that ever since as the front channels of my home theatre rig, along with a double advent center channel.

Do it. You won’t be sorry.

Well Spruce.....your post pushed me over the edge. Am going over tomorrow at 11:30 am to check them out and to buy them unless they look nothing like the pictures ! It's a risk free purchase as I could easily get my money back if I sold one of the 2 pairs of Advents I will now have.

I'll be back to having 4 pairs of speakers to play with now.....ADS L730s, Ohm C2s and now 2 pairs of the original Advent Loudspeakers.....

And for down the road I am on the lookout for a smaller, more affordable pair of older Martin Logan electrostatics.....God help me......

[spensar]

https://media.tenor.com/images/1b793071 ... /tenor.gif

[SpruceMoose]

You’re gonna need a bigger house...

[lenjack]

Have you ever made a list of all the audio equipment you've ever owned?