Advent 5002 Speaker System Review

Advent Corporation’s series of loudspeakers consists of four models headed by the Advent 5002. Like the company’s previous models, they are all two-way acoustic-suspension systems featuring newly designed tweeters that have improved high-frequency response and dispersion.

The woofer of the 5002 resembles the one used in Advent’s earlier speakers. The nominally 10-inch-diameter paper cone (which has an actual radiating diameter of just under 8 inches) is driven by a 1-1/2-inch voice coil whose nominal impedance is 8 ohms. The woofer operates in a sealed cabinet made of walnut-grain vinyl-clad particle board; the smoothly rounded front edges give it the appearance of a wood-veneered cabinet. The speaker can be mounted either horizontally or vertically, against a wall or on the floor. Advent encourages experimentation to find the sonically best location.

The Advent “Direct Report” tweeter is a totally new design with a 1-inch parabolic-dome radiator surrounded by a specially tapered and shaped “phase plate” that is largely responsible for its exceptional dispersion qualities. (Even the mounting screws are recessed to minimize unwanted diffraction that could affect the polar pattern of the tweeter.) The crossover between the tweeter and the woofer takes place at 1,800 Hz, with a three-pole, high-pass filter section that attenuates the signal to the tweeter at an 18-dB-per-octave rate below that frequency. According to Advent, the output of the tweeter is reduced by 21 dB at 900 Hz compared to the level in its flat-response region. This crossover design allows each driver to operate with full effectiveness in its frequency range with a minimum of distortion or risk of damage.

A novel feature of the Advent 5002 is a toggle switch recessed into the rear of the cabinet near the input connectors and protective-fuse holder. In the switch’s normal position the speaker response is nominally “flat.” Moving the switch to background reduces the output in the two-octave range centered at 2,000 Hz. Advent states that this response characteristic allows back-ground music to be played with less sonic masking of conversation.

The sensitivity of the Advent 5002 is typical of acoustic-suspension systems of its size, with a rated sound-pressure level of 87 dB measured at a 1-meter distance when driven by 1 watt. The cabinet is 26 inches high, 14-1/4 inches wide, arid 11-1/2 inches deep, and the speaker weighs about 40 pounds. The neutral cloth grille (which has a molded plastic frame) unsnaps readily for access to the drivers. Price: $200.

Laboratory Measurements

The composite frequency-response curve, derived from splicing a reverberant-field mid- and high-frequency response measurement to a close-miked low-frequency measurement, showed a flat, smooth response over most of the audio range, with a small but distinct dip centered at 1,800 Hz (the crossover frequency). The background position of the switch in the rear of the speaker accentuated this dip by about 2 dB; in either switch position the affected frequency range was from 1,000 to 4,000 Hz. The woofer output was greatest at 60 Hz. Overall, the composite response of the speaker was ±4 dB from 35 to beyond 20,000 Hz.

The dispersion of the Advent Direct Report tweeter was virtually perfect over the normal listening area, and there was no measurable difference between the response measured from the left speaker (on the microphone axis) and the right speaker (about 30 degrees off-axis) up to about 16,000 Hz. Only a slight divergence could be seen from 16.000 to 20,000 Hz. We cannot recall ever having measured a front-radiating dome tweeter whose dispersion equaled that of the new Advent design.

The woofer distortion, at a nominal 1-watt input level, was unusually low. It measured between 0.32 and 0.58 per cent from 100 down to 50 Hz and only 2.2 per cent at 40 Hz. Increasing the drive level to 10 watts resulted in 1.4 per cent distortion down to 80 Hz, 2 per cent at 50 Hz, and 6.3 per cent at 40 Hz. The speaker impedance reached about 25 ohms at the bass resonance of 46 Hz and 20 ohms at 1,250 Hz. Its minimum value was about 5 ohms between 100 and 150 Hz, and it was about 8 ohms at most frequencies above 2,000 Hz. In the background mode, the impedance was somewhat higher—between 70 and 10.000 Hz. The speaker sensitivity was slightly higher than rated, and we measured a sound-pressure level of 89 dB at 1 meter with a 1-watt input of random noise in the octave centered at 1,000 Hz.

Comment

Our listening tests were conducted with the Advent 5002 speakers in two different locations; against the wall with their bases about 30 inches above the floor (vertical orientation) and also about 2 feet from the wall, raised 7 inches above the floor on stands. The sonic differences between the two placements were minor (the measurements were made in the second position, but a set of curves made with wall placement proved to be identical).

The sound of the Advent 5002 was audibly smooth and very well balanced. The low-bass output of the 5002 was powerful when the program called for it, but readers should be aware that on much program material there will be little audible bass difference between this speaker and some other systems that were measurably inferior to it in that range. If there is no really low bass in the program, the advantage of the Advent over some less competent speaker will not be heard. However, when there is strong low bass available, the 5002 delivers it cleanly and in full measure.

The measured midrange dip was not distinctly audible as such (it amounted to only a few decibels, no more than could be contributed by the listening-room configuration or other external variables). In fact, the effect of the normal/background switch was also difficult to discern on most program material, and therefore we did not attempt to judge the subjective interaction of music and conversation for each of the switch positions.

In its price range, the Advent 5002 faces considerable competition (some of it was on hand for comparison during our tests). While it would be difficult to say that it definitely outclasses its competitors, or vice versa, it undoubtedly ranks with the best of them. The 5002 is a handsome speaker with substantially better deep-bass response and lower bass distortion than most other speakers at its price or, indeed, than many speakers selling for considerably more. This is combined with an extended and smooth high-frequency response, plus the best dispersion we have measured and heard so far from a direct-radiator tweeter. It must have been difficult for Advent to improve their excellent earlier speaker designs significantly without a substantial cost increase, but they appear to have done the job.

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