I have pair of ADS L810s that I've had since new new back in '78. A single owner affair.
They've seen very little use for the last 25 years. Currently mostly as a display alongside and behind the Maggies. Sometimes, I'll reach over and will play something with deep bass, but otherwise they don't really match the Maggie 1.7s in presentation... time changes.
Now then, the speakers do sound fine. Pretty of good detail, not much imaging, deep, tight bass, clear midrange and smooth treble.
But they are more than 40 years old. I had to replace a midrange in '79 (*) and a tweeter in '84 (clipping) but that's it.
So, being anal retentive about such things.... should I look into the crossover?
Or should I just give them a nice coat of wax and let them be?
(*) At the time I was using my dad's Sansui G7500 and was into Eric Clapton. And like Spinal Tap, I'd turn it up to 11, you know, there's that threshold where the music becomes visceral. So, on this album: "Live with Freddie King and Eric Clapton" they launch into a long "Farther on Up The Road"... dueling guitars, no clipping, well, it took a midrange, it became intermittent as it warmed up, it would cut out.
The dealer and the factory didn't believe it was possible, but I described the issue and I brought the LP to the dealer's show room. Well, he played it through his L910s. ;-) The factory paid for the entire repair, they just wanted to take apart the failed midrange.
They've seen very little use for the last 25 years. Currently mostly as a display alongside and behind the Maggies. Sometimes, I'll reach over and will play something with deep bass, but otherwise they don't really match the Maggie 1.7s in presentation... time changes.
Now then, the speakers do sound fine. Pretty of good detail, not much imaging, deep, tight bass, clear midrange and smooth treble.
But they are more than 40 years old. I had to replace a midrange in '79 (*) and a tweeter in '84 (clipping) but that's it.
So, being anal retentive about such things.... should I look into the crossover?
Or should I just give them a nice coat of wax and let them be?
(*) At the time I was using my dad's Sansui G7500 and was into Eric Clapton. And like Spinal Tap, I'd turn it up to 11, you know, there's that threshold where the music becomes visceral. So, on this album: "Live with Freddie King and Eric Clapton" they launch into a long "Farther on Up The Road"... dueling guitars, no clipping, well, it took a midrange, it became intermittent as it warmed up, it would cut out.
The dealer and the factory didn't believe it was possible, but I described the issue and I brought the LP to the dealer's show room. Well, he played it through his L910s. ;-) The factory paid for the entire repair, they just wanted to take apart the failed midrange.
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From what I read, these were the same as the Braun L810.
If so, the crossover board and schematic are shown in the attachments.
N.B. Confusingly, T is the woofer connection and H is the tweeter connection.
EDIT: And the artist did not know the symbol for an inductor!
If so, the crossover board and schematic are shown in the attachments.
N.B. Confusingly, T is the woofer connection and H is the tweeter connection.
EDIT: And the artist did not know the symbol for an inductor!
Attachments
I count six capacitors, but only the electrolytic ones need updating.
That's the two silver cylinders (50 uF) for sure.
That's the two silver cylinders (50 uF) for sure.
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Thanks... yeah, weird symbols for the inductors!
I haven't touched the inside of the speaker.
It sounds fine so I figure there is nothing catastrophic with it, and as usual, things tend to reach a stasis so an external stimulus will break them... sometimes not touching it is the better course of action.
Yet, should I bother?
Also, how do I remove the crossover? I don't think there is access from the rear. Do I need to pull out one of the woofers?
I haven't touched the inside of the speaker.
It sounds fine so I figure there is nothing catastrophic with it, and as usual, things tend to reach a stasis so an external stimulus will break them... sometimes not touching it is the better course of action.
Yet, should I bother?
Also, how do I remove the crossover? I don't think there is access from the rear. Do I need to pull out one of the woofers?
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T = Tieftöner (deep toner = woofer, directly/loosely translated)
H = Hochtöner (high toner = tweeter, directly/loosely translated)
Electrolytics deteriorate with age, and if your crossover is as initially shown, may affect the quality of the bass.
Please confirm the terminal plate arrangement. Is it the same as in my previous post?
Otherwise you are pulling out a woofer.
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These old drivers often got some elastic ..glue.. or somewhat damping material on them at the spider near the VC. That stuff hardens when the speaker isn't used for a long time. If the woofer(s) are working but do not sound good, it's worth giving them a very low sinus break in with a good excursion to 'massage' these beads to become more flexible again. You should be very considerate with the power since the old drivers do not have high power capabilities. The SQ jumps up 10 levels ..well, if you didn't kill the VCs in the process with too much long term power.