ADS L710 Vintage Speaker Review - HiFi Stereo - Advent 

I am the original owner of a pair of ADS L710 speakers purchased in August of 1980. They replaced my KLH 23s. Massive upgrade. After 43 years, Paradigm and Polk home theater 5.2 and 7.2 systems, my ADS L710s have a magical stereo sound I have not ever thought was superior. I have listened to many speakers through the decades but have not found any speaker that provides the smooth, crisp, accurate, dynamic, sound that I have felt superior, for a medium size room, which I find a bit stunning. Probably need to audition 10k+ speakers these days to find something I like more. Mine came with the rubber woofer surrounds which still look new. My speakers have moved around a lot through the years and I never overdrive them. This may be why they still sound so good after all these years. Thanks for the review!

These are entertaining videos, really bringing back a lot of memories. I used to daydream about the ADS speakers when I was a teenager. I also read Stereo Review and the reviews on ADS speakers. I started subscribing in 78 on up to about 2005. Thanks

I got a set off of Craig's List a couple of years ago for $25 in really great shape. Have just loved them.

A big thanks for doing my favorite speaker. I actually spent the evening listening to L710s. I power them now with a McIntosh MC2002 / MX115.

Big ADS fan, have 6 different models. Love my l710 paired with a good sub, amazing balance & clarity 👍

A friend of mine bought a pair at a church sale for $25.Interesting sound cold and clinical, but they did have a very good soundstage.

Nice Job Scott. Enjoyed this one as well.

Nice job on this video. Thank you.

I have ADS L-710's. I bought them used in the mid 80's. Mine have the rounded corners and metal grills. The sound is rich and clear without being too dark or bright. I had the 570's I bought new. Once I had the 710's I sold the 570's. I have tried many other speakers over the years, but always come back to my ADS. I am currently powering them with a McIntosh 2100 with a C-26 pre and either a Pioneer turntable or Marantz CD player. I do have a couple pairs of the mini speakers some B-7's and a SW-4 10" sub. I don't always use the sub, but for some bass heavy stuff I do to take some of the stress off the 710's. Always thought I would move up to the 810's or 910's. I think the 710's are the sweet spot in their line. Nice to hear your review and all the ADS lovers comments.

I had that same loudspeaker in the year 75 and the bass drivers constantly needing the voice coils replaced; kept coming loose from the piston, with no flairing or clipping. The sound was incredible. I ended up buying a larger floor-standing model.

I have my 570/2's hooked up to my Marantz 2238B with a 10" powered subwoofer, it's a great sounding comb but I am on the look out for 810's with metal grilles locally.

I have a pair of L730's. Similar to the L710/ L810, but with a single 10 inch woofer. Absolutely amazing sounding speakers.

My ADS L620's are matched up with a Marantz 2245. Sound great.

I had to do the same thing when I re-foamed mine 10+ years ago. What I was led to believe at the time was that Boston-based A|D|S and the West German electronics giant, Braun, were related and that the drivers were sized to a metric standard.

I have an older set with the cloth grills but are rubber surrounds and they sound fantastic especially with a 6/7 degree tilted set of stands at ear level. I also have a set of L1530s. Both are powered by my pioneer SX-1050.

I have been wanting to see reviews on the higher end ADS speakers 910 and Up . Hope you can shed some light in those models in the future.

I had a set for a while with a sub. Pretty good all around. I compared them to a closely priced competitor: polk audio. I'd have to say the L-710 were better and more refined than the polk audio monitor 5's.

I'm both looking forward to, and nervous about your 910 review. Nervous because I'm afraid I'll have to hunt a pair down.

I have a pair of these. It is common knowledge and public opinion that these speakers and the L810 are the best musical articulate speakers with a passive crossover

What amplifier model did you use to power these and the L810 speakers? I am curious how you got the smooth, not harsh highs. Thank you.

I bought a pair of these when new I still have them. I haven't used them in a couple decades, they have butyl rubber surrounds so their a year or 2 newer than yours I would guess. One thing about them are the mid and tweeters which have a pretty heavy build-up of dust stuck to them. I never tried cleaning them which would probably ruin them...does anyone know if or how they could be refurbished? I loved the sound of these speakers.

Immlooking at a 710 now. Ive seen 93-94 for the L710. I believe there is a mark 2 that is the higher sensitivity, the Mark 1 is the 88 and not common at all.

Since they wanted to use rubber surrounds, wouldn't a set of rubber surrounds work just as well?

I have 810s but people seem to always talk about and bring up how good the 710s are so I cant wait to check them out as well as the 910s eventually.. I also own a pair of L620s that I bet would compare nicely with the Advents since they are both 2 ways with 10"woofers.

I have the ADS 710 and 810. I got the 710 first, and was so impressed I got the 810, thinking bigger must be even better. But the 710 is the sweet spot for accuracy. The 810 are noticeably heavy on the bass. These are the best speakers in the world. You can’t go wrong with either pair. But if you still want to aim even higher, the ADS 1290 are beyond anything mere words can describe…

I miss stereo review ..... Avid reader from 74 till it's end in the 90s

My father gave me a set of L710's and I could really use some help figuring out what to do with them. I've never had a vintage stereo setup before. And, I don't have thousands of dollars to spend. What would be a good "entry level" amp for these? Maybe around $300-$500? Also, a basic sub to pair with them? I'm looking to build a setup to run in my 12x12 home office when I'm relaxing in my recliner. Any thoughts would be helpful, thanks!

Nice speakers but they really lacked bass. The ADS L810 with it's bigger woofers was every bit as good in the mids and highs but much better in the bass and well worth the moderate price increase.

I had a chance to buy these at an Estate sale but my hands where full holding a Yamaha B2 amp and T1 tuner.

I listened to both the original "large" Advent and many speakers in the ADS line, including the L710, back in the day. If the Advent gets a 72, the ADS should get an 88 or a 90 on a relative scale. The Advents had somewhat bloated bass for an acoustic suspension design and were lacking in highs, especially off axis. Any of the ADS speakers just blew the Advents away.

Scott is that North Carolina arithmetic? I added up the numbers 3 times from the numbers listed in your little box that appears in the left part of the screen; and the numbers add up to 75 for the ADS; not 74. For those who go by your numbers. ADS were speakers I thought I liked on brief audition. Would find it interesting to hear them again. Of course how they sounded circa 1981 would be different than how they sound now, due to aging parts etc. Foam surrounds sound superior to rubber surrounds, but they use rubber now, for longevity. Stereo Review slightly changing it's name?? I believe they are defunct for many decades like High Fidelity & Audio magazine. If they're not defunct; what is the new name? According to my math, Julian Hirsch would be pushing 105 years old around now. It looks like the 710 has a little less cabinet area behind the drivers compared to the 810; and likely less cabinet diffraction. In the forums there are many who prefer the sound of the 710 over the upper models. If there truly is a super efficient 94 db version; it's sound would no doubt be somewhat different. Not just more efficient. When you rearrange a tiny grain of sand, everything is different in relation to each other. 93 or 94 db is VERY efficient, and except for horn speakers, off hand I can only think of the old Koss computer maximized CM series (the top models), being that efficient from back in the 1970s. If they are 94 db efficient, that would make them usable with ultra low power tube amp greats like the Decware amps. Their slightly less warm sound would compliment tubes better also. Maybe the upper model ADS speakers would sound better with solid state; which is commonly stingy with warmth, compared to tubes

Braun L 710!

Very good german speaker, I prefer the 1980 Canton though

I had an appointment to buy a pair of the 810s last Monday and the guy sold them out from under me. Oh well. Next time. Karma's a bitch.