ADS L 400 SPEAKERS 75 WATT METAL GRILL COVERS WALNUT CABINET
Item History & Price
| Reference Number: Avaluer:29739064 | Brand: ADS |
| Modified Item: No | Custom Bundle: No |
| Featured Refinements: ADS Speaker | Model: L400 |
| Country/Region of Manufacture: United States |
ADS L 400 SPEAKERS 75 WATT ORIGINAL METAL GRILL COVERS WALNUT CABINET TESTED. Condition is "Used". Shipped with USPS Parcel Select Ground. Crisp top, nice tight bottom. We used these as alternate mid-size speakers alongside NS-10s.
In its day, this ADS L400 miniature loudspeaker was very good, and very expensive.The biggest reason to seek out these loudspeakers today is because they are beautiful. See the solid-wood radiused edges? They match almost exactly to Komfort's very e...xpensive Danish dressers and night stands of the same era. While these speakers are walnut, as they have aged over the years, they match Komfort's teak almost exactly in both color and style! The ADS L400 are very handsome loudspeakers.If you're a fan of Dieter Rams' industrial design (the guy who designed the Braun coffee makers and alarm clocks of the same era), you'll want a pair of these, and they do sound good. New York's Museum of Modern Art is loaded with Dieter Rams' and ADS' work.While these L400 usually sell for around $250, a really nice pair as seen here will sell for more like $400 used today. The price is high because of their looks and lineage; if sound quality is your only concern, you'll probably prefer something else like the similarly priced and sized B&W CDM2.This ADS L400 sounds very good, but other much more serious small speakers like the B&W Matrix 805 outdistance it in clarity, depth, output and low-end output. I haven't compared it to modern new speakers like the Mackie desktop powered monitors which sell for about the same price, brand-new.These small ADS speakers aren't intended to play loudly. Rated for a maximum of 75 Watts, they have a light-duty woofer designed for quality rather than quantity. I'd avoid trying to blast these at full-level, full-range. These were designed originally to be used as part of a Sub-Sat system and not be driven with the lowest frequencies if played loudly.These work great as part of a desktop system, especially with two pairs of the tiny AudioEngine stands. When used close or at low levels, equalizing the lowest frequencies for full-range use works well to give much deeper bass than you'd expect. The +3 and +6 dB positions of the Quad 34's BASS LIFT control do this rather well.The particle-board cabinets are finished so precisely that they look as good as if they were made in Denmark, but they're Made in USA, better than American furniture of the same era. The inside is filled with Fiberglas, and oddly, the insides are finished in fake vinyl oak-grain!As expected for an unreinforced cabinet, there is some cabinet vibration with music. Because they are small, they sound pretty solid when tapped — but not as solid as as a B&W CDM1 SE and certainly nothing like tapping the cabinet of a B&W Matrix 805.For you photographers, there is a 1/4" - 20 tripod socket on the bottom!Internal wiring uses little push-on clips.The beautiful perforated metal grills float over the front of the speaker. I'm unsure how they are really supposed to stay attached. The front face of the speaker has concave corners that come forward to hold the grille, and they could add to reflections.
The rear terminals are made-in-Taiwan push connectors.There is a hole on the top rear, presumably for wall-mounting. SoundThe ADS L400 is what we expect from a New England paper-coned, dome-tweetered sealed speaker: smooth, uncolored sound. The ADS L400 has the fabled polite New England sound: nothing is emphasized.The highs are sweet. The very high treble might be just a tiny bit stronger than usual, giving cymbal ticks a nice presence. The ADS L400 doesn't emphasize anything; any errors would be errors of omission.The L400 is never, ever harsh. It's always smooth.The L400 isn't very sensitive; even rated at only 4 Ω, the L400 has less voltage sensitivity than the 8 Ω B&W CDM1 SE. The L400 trades sensitivity for low-end extension and tiny size.The ADS L400 are very accurate. The L400 isn't particularly sensitive to vertical listening angle.The L400's main sonic defects are those typical of any speaker in a box: sound obscured by short-term internal reflections. Sounds from the backs of every driver have to go somewhere, and some make it out through cabinet walls. Casual listeners of pop music would probably never notice, but when you expect to be able to hear the actual sound of the concert hall, it's more muddy.To more casual listeners, these less controlled back-of-driver sounds lead the L400 to lack the depth of image had by better speakers. With the L400, I can't hear back past the ensemble to the inky black background of the concert hall as I can with better speakers like the B&W Matrix 805.The bass is what you'd expect from a large small speaker. If you hit it too hard, you get doubling (distortion). Sweeping the bass with sine waves, the last peak is at 100 Hz, and that's it for unreinforced bass response.What bass there is is tight and light. It sounds little without equalization, but it doesn't have any boom either, which is good.The L400 is what I am selling7" paper "Stifflite" paper woofer, rubber surround, stamped steel basket.1" dome tweeter part number 206-0116. Measures 3.95 Ω DC.60-20, 000 Hz ± 3 dB.90 dB SPL (conditions unspecified)10 W minimum amplifier power.2 kHz crossover4 Ω nominal, 3.2 Ω minimum.11-3/4 x 7-5/8 x 7-3/4 inches HWD specified, (rounded to 12 x 8 x 8" 1984-1986.11-3/4 x 7-5/8 x 8" HWD, measured, including grille.22 pounds per pair specified.I measure 4, 790g (10.74 pounds) for this sample.1983-1985: $399 the pair.
In its day, this ADS L400 miniature loudspeaker was very good, and very expensive.The biggest reason to seek out these loudspeakers today is because they are beautiful. See the solid-wood radiused edges? They match almost exactly to Komfort's very e...xpensive Danish dressers and night stands of the same era. While these speakers are walnut, as they have aged over the years, they match Komfort's teak almost exactly in both color and style! The ADS L400 are very handsome loudspeakers.If you're a fan of Dieter Rams' industrial design (the guy who designed the Braun coffee makers and alarm clocks of the same era), you'll want a pair of these, and they do sound good. New York's Museum of Modern Art is loaded with Dieter Rams' and ADS' work.While these L400 usually sell for around $250, a really nice pair as seen here will sell for more like $400 used today. The price is high because of their looks and lineage; if sound quality is your only concern, you'll probably prefer something else like the similarly priced and sized B&W CDM2.This ADS L400 sounds very good, but other much more serious small speakers like the B&W Matrix 805 outdistance it in clarity, depth, output and low-end output. I haven't compared it to modern new speakers like the Mackie desktop powered monitors which sell for about the same price, brand-new.These small ADS speakers aren't intended to play loudly. Rated for a maximum of 75 Watts, they have a light-duty woofer designed for quality rather than quantity. I'd avoid trying to blast these at full-level, full-range. These were designed originally to be used as part of a Sub-Sat system and not be driven with the lowest frequencies if played loudly.These work great as part of a desktop system, especially with two pairs of the tiny AudioEngine stands. When used close or at low levels, equalizing the lowest frequencies for full-range use works well to give much deeper bass than you'd expect. The +3 and +6 dB positions of the Quad 34's BASS LIFT control do this rather well.The particle-board cabinets are finished so precisely that they look as good as if they were made in Denmark, but they're Made in USA, better than American furniture of the same era. The inside is filled with Fiberglas, and oddly, the insides are finished in fake vinyl oak-grain!As expected for an unreinforced cabinet, there is some cabinet vibration with music. Because they are small, they sound pretty solid when tapped — but not as solid as as a B&W CDM1 SE and certainly nothing like tapping the cabinet of a B&W Matrix 805.For you photographers, there is a 1/4" - 20 tripod socket on the bottom!Internal wiring uses little push-on clips.The beautiful perforated metal grills float over the front of the speaker. I'm unsure how they are really supposed to stay attached. The front face of the speaker has concave corners that come forward to hold the grille, and they could add to reflections.
The rear terminals are made-in-Taiwan push connectors.There is a hole on the top rear, presumably for wall-mounting. SoundThe ADS L400 is what we expect from a New England paper-coned, dome-tweetered sealed speaker: smooth, uncolored sound. The ADS L400 has the fabled polite New England sound: nothing is emphasized.The highs are sweet. The very high treble might be just a tiny bit stronger than usual, giving cymbal ticks a nice presence. The ADS L400 doesn't emphasize anything; any errors would be errors of omission.The L400 is never, ever harsh. It's always smooth.The L400 isn't very sensitive; even rated at only 4 Ω, the L400 has less voltage sensitivity than the 8 Ω B&W CDM1 SE. The L400 trades sensitivity for low-end extension and tiny size.The ADS L400 are very accurate. The L400 isn't particularly sensitive to vertical listening angle.The L400's main sonic defects are those typical of any speaker in a box: sound obscured by short-term internal reflections. Sounds from the backs of every driver have to go somewhere, and some make it out through cabinet walls. Casual listeners of pop music would probably never notice, but when you expect to be able to hear the actual sound of the concert hall, it's more muddy.To more casual listeners, these less controlled back-of-driver sounds lead the L400 to lack the depth of image had by better speakers. With the L400, I can't hear back past the ensemble to the inky black background of the concert hall as I can with better speakers like the B&W Matrix 805.The bass is what you'd expect from a large small speaker. If you hit it too hard, you get doubling (distortion). Sweeping the bass with sine waves, the last peak is at 100 Hz, and that's it for unreinforced bass response.What bass there is is tight and light. It sounds little without equalization, but it doesn't have any boom either, which is good.The L400 is what I am selling7" paper "Stifflite" paper woofer, rubber surround, stamped steel basket.1" dome tweeter part number 206-0116. Measures 3.95 Ω DC.60-20, 000 Hz ± 3 dB.90 dB SPL (conditions unspecified)10 W minimum amplifier power.2 kHz crossover4 Ω nominal, 3.2 Ω minimum.11-3/4 x 7-5/8 x 7-3/4 inches HWD specified, (rounded to 12 x 8 x 8" 1984-1986.11-3/4 x 7-5/8 x 8" HWD, measured, including grille.22 pounds per pair specified.I measure 4, 790g (10.74 pounds) for this sample.1983-1985: $399 the pair.
