Initial listening suggests that they are both about equal efficiency as well as physical size and weight. I think the ADS L810 has the superior bass coverage although the NS690s have it hands down on mids and especially the highs.

I'm not saying that the ADS don't do mids and highs very well but the sound of Jack Johnson's pick traveling over his guitar strings on "Better Together" sounded about as "realistic" as I've ever heard on the Yamahas. Similar with cymbals, especially the very light ones used for accent such as Fleetwood Mac's "It Only Thunders When It's Raining". So basically, so far, I love the upper end on the Yamahas. Sound stage also seemed broader and not quite as finicky on listener location where as the ADS, while very capable of clean treble, seemed to have a smaller sweet spot.

Back to the ADS, finger picked upright acoustic bass was distinct and transparent without any of the muddiness that a cheaper speaker will produce in these registers. They beat out the Yamaha where drums are concerned too, sounding powerful (again, sounding like a much bigger speaker) without being boomy or out of proportion with the mid and upper registers. I think I liked woodwinds and brass better on the ADS too but will have to listen more before I can offer a solid opinion on that.

Both speakers are very nice sounding, especially for this somewhat peculiar (in my opinion) size of cab, although there is a reason my AR9LS are still in my living room (besides being something like 125lbs each!)... I wouldn't trade the ARs for either pair of these particular speakers. More listening!

i never said they were superior to anything or made mention of their construction, only that they do the job and that the low end on the L810 is good.

oh well what Sam? are you questioning my credibility? when you use your personal preference for what you like in sound as the basis for determining what is or is not quality then you are giving mis-information and bringing your own reputation into question.

sorry about all the thread-crapping John....

good write up, i enjoy conducting and hearing about speaker comparisons.

NP Scott. If we, members of this forum, were easily swayed by other peoples opinions I imagine we would all have drank the Bose koolaid years ago and this forum probably wouldn't even exist

Did you have a chance to mull over my earlier question about the ADS? I believe the woofers are in slightly different sized chambers and certainly the top woofer shares a chamber with the mid and tweet which I think I can hear as a difference between what is produced between the lower and upper woofers, at least in my particular pair of 810s. Have you ever noticed this in yours?

Again I'm surprised that there is no mention made of this in any of the documentation I've read (thanks again for the link!) and I'm tempted to pull a crossover again just to see if they are wired differently too.

no chance to check them out just yet, but this is the first i've heard about this element of the design.

Do you have something against a hi-fi setup on a budget? Do you think that only the rich have the right to listen to a decent hi-fi component?
The 3020 is a piece of history and still sounds amazingly well. The 3020 has a feeling that most "hi-end" amplifiers lack: it sounds natural, probably not neutral, but amazingly sweet. In resume, Less Hi-End, More Music.


Sorry, but your opinion about Nad and budget components is not true and completly out of context.

I'll post more tomorrow on my feelings about a/d/s/ products, as it's late and I need to turn in soon.

I will say they harbor their share of negatives, but at the same time also have enough positives to make them highly loved and desired.

I wager you are correct with the Yammies assessment vs the aDs.

Lastly, I do believe the twin woofers are tuned (via crossover and also by separate chambers of differing internal volume) separately and covering elements of different range.

It's common among modern designs utilizing two woofers.

okay- on a real computer now (still don't have one at home).

The "issues" I take with aDs speakers are the following-

1) The stamped woofer. Although the sound is fine- not a single complaint there- the build quality lacks. The magnet is small, but works- a big magnet isn't always needed to achieve proper sound, as I've found, so it's only a perceived issue. The stamped basket may sag a bit over time- a cast basket would prevent this, and my biggest gripe. "Stifflite" is more marketing term than revolutionary cone material. All this said, however, the drivers sound sublime and work exceptionally well.

2) the midrange. Again, however, a conundrum. The dome mid doesn't cover the full vocal range of the male human voice. Lower register isn't covered. This, as well as cost to manufacture, steered aDs into a cone midrange with the M12 and M12/90. However, once again, the driver proves incredibly capable. Laid back a bit? Yes. But buttery smooth and the creamiest of creamy. Vocals in most of the male range and all of the female range work well, and the dome midrange achieved a legendary reputation.

3) L810s. My issue with these are a slight exaggerated bass hump, due to the crossover. And stuffing two 8" drivers into a box built for a single 10" crowds the tweeter and midrange- stuffing them into a horizontal plane instead of vertical alignment. Comb filtering perhaps? This was cured with the tower 1090, 1290, 1590, 1230, etc. who used vertical alignment.




Now that I've got that cleared up, let's revisit the positives.


The L810 was a speaker designed to meet a size constraint, use existing cabinetry (L630, L730), and perform close to the flagship models at a reduced size and price. And it does, giving 80% or more performance in a diminutive size and lesser price.

That dome mid- I've spoken of it before. Just a fantastic performer for vocals.

The top end. While I recently auditioned some Monitor Audio towers, and experienced a hard-earned but nonetheless superior clarity, detail and perhaps imaging, they were also forward, and became taxing, tiring, and fatigue set in.

The aDs, with it's soft dome, may not have the resolution of some of these beryllium drivers, or titanium drivers, but they have never once sent me out of the room feeling strained or agitated. I have not experienced that with any metal dome tweeters- they always get under my skin after the first "wow", and become "whoa". What good is a speaker if you can only have an hour long session with them? The aDs can play all day and bring hours upon hours of delight.





Big deals here-

Remember, TelArc felt enough about aDs to use them as studio monitors. They are appreciated by some of the finer engineers.

Tested, the 1290 was one of the flattest speakers, if not the flattest, of it's time.

Cabinetry is well constructed. Low resonance, at least among the upper models.




And at the end of the day, I like them. Which is the most important thing. They are good enough to hang with other well regarded speakers, like the old horse Dahlquist DQ-10s, AR9LSis, and more modern offerings like the Thiels and Vandies.


I'm not one to feel good about criticizing any effort at an attempt at good sound. Many speakers don't please me that are of good quality, and so be it.



But the end result is we are trying to re-create a musical performance in a living room via electronic means. Going "accurate" and "uncolored" sometimes results in sounding "sterile" and " overly-analytical". On the other hand, some may be voiced forward and aggressive. Others make compromises for comfort and smoother presentation.


My lean is towards the latter. For me, when some speakers aim for accuracy, what they achieve is something lesser of the whole.


What do I mean?

They sound accurate. Accurate, like a mechanical/electrical device reproducing mechanically/electronically recorded media of a live performance.



Perhaps this "voicing" of speakers some aim for is to colorize the experience a bit, to sound, or perceive to sound more "real" or "natural" by adding a bit of massaging.



In the end, all I want is for my music to sound as realistic as possible, without causing me any fatigue, or sounding harsh, or chasing me from the room after 60 minutes.


If a bit of color, or a bit of rolling off is required to achieve this, whether from the speakers, or the bottom of a scotch glass, or fancy drapery and room treatments, or tube buffers, so be it.

Nice write up!

One thing in particular I found myself nodding my head in agreement too was your take on the mids and vocals. Very natural sounding and one element that sounds notably distinct among the other instruments. Also, as you said, the highs are not as detailed as some other tweeters such as the ones in my NS690s but where I found the NS690s had highs that I found fatiguing after awhile not so with the L810.

I like the speakers but simply don't have room for them. My wife laid claim to the NS690s (she liked the sound but also said they "look cool") which in turn means I get to put the Cerwin Vega D9s that I bought for her up for sale as well. In the meantime I'll see if I can't get a bite on the ADS from my local CL and if the D9s happen to sell first maybe... just maybe... I can find a bit of room for them somewhere.

Dingus and I have discussed the limitations and capabilites of the ADS L810 on several occasions. While neither of us considers the L810 a top quality speaker, we both appreciate it for what it is -- a reasonably priced speaker with a sweet, smooth sound that works well in small to medium size rooms, and plays nicely with whatever receiver or separate components that it's mated with.