[jandrews]

My dad bought these in 1981 or thereabouts
He's been using them ever since
For most of the 80's 90's and 00's with a mid 80's Carver receiver.
They are stock and in the same condition they were since the 80's
Curious what if anything could/should be done to these
I replaced the fuses a couple of years ago
The surrounds seem totally fine
Would crossover caps be a place to look in terms of updating or improving.  I wouldn't want to change the signature of the speakers.
He still loves them

[Letitroll98]

If they sound good I wouldn't touch em.

[SET Man]

Hey!

 Yup, agreed with above. If he still loves the sound... don't touch them!

  True that caps degrade over time especially after 30+ years. But all caps wear made better than others. So, if the speaker still sound great then don't worry about it. It is hard to keep the same sonic signature with new caps. If you decided to change caps or if those caps no longer sound good, you might have to go through a few to find one that you like.

  So, if it ain't broke don't fix it!

Buddy

   

[jonbee]

Agreed. Leave 'em alone. Better electronics can help things, but changing crossover parts wil change the sound, often not for the better. ADS used better than average parts in those. I've owned a dozen pairs of the better ADS models. I've added no-rez to the cabinets and changed wiring out with good results, but that's it.

[VinceT]

The guy to ask would be Richard So

He is the ADS refurb guru

https://www.adsspeakersservice.com/

ADS speakers still have something special to the sound and they still hold up even to this day.

[Evo-No_Revo]

The guy to ask would be Richard So

He is the ADS refurb guru

https://www.adsspeakersservice.com/

ADS speakers still have something special to the sound and they still hold up even to this day.

I have owned L1590, L1290 and L710.  All in super awesome condition physically.  Mine sounded good as is but I always sent all the drivers and crossovers off to Richard So.  He uses new old stock parts in the crossover but they weren't what I would call high end.  He isn't really interested in modifying the crossovers.  He does what he does and that is it. 

I always enjoyed the soft down tweeter and ease the speakers played with.  I ended up selling my last set a couple of years ago and I am ADS free for the first time since the mid 80s.  I do miss them. 

One thing that I will say is that while they sound good in a nostalgic kind of way, when you compare them to modern speakers they fall short.  But I loved playing vinyl with my modified Yamaha CR-1020 and whatever ADS I had at the time.  That system in itself was sort of a time machine. 

I highly recommend Richard So and do it sooner than later as he is finally getting low on some of the new old stock.

By the way, Richard So worked for ADS for years.  At some point long ago he bought all there new old stock.  He has been around for a long time and is one of the few that know exactly what he is doing when updating them to newer parts.  You don't get anymore authentic ADS work than Richard.