Weekly Q&A: Answers | Week of June 19, 2024

How to start retro-fitting my speakers...

Question:

Is it worthwhile retro-fitting new speaker drivers into a vintage speaker design (original Large Advents) to incorporate into a 2nd system ? I really like the beautiful cabinets on these and they would be for back ground listening as I have B&W and Magnepans for my reference system. Also would the crossovers need to be updated as well ? Thanks in advance for your kind reply.

-Michael

Answer:

We have to agree that original Large Advents were an attractive design. And if results aren’t super important, we’d say go for it! There are several sources, but checking Dayton Audio, we’d estimate this project might cost $300. Dayton can probably provide some guidance on matching woofer and tweeter and crossover – essential to avoiding a sonic disaster. And, if we recall correctly, the Advent used a 12” basket even though the woofer cone was 10” so fitting a woofer will merit careful measurement.  Madisound is another source. And Simply Speakers has some drivers specifically marketed for…