Advent Baby Speaker System Review

The Baby Advent is the first speaker bearing the Advent name we have tested since the company’s acquisition by Jensen. We were pleased to find that the qualities for which Advent speakers have been noted in the past are present in full measure.

As its name suggests, the Baby Advent is a small and lightweight speaker. Indeed, since it is only 16 inches high, 11 inches wide, and 6-3/16 inches deep, and it weighs only 13 pounds, it is smaller and lighter than most “bookshelf” speakers.

The Baby Advent is a two-way system with a newly designed 6-1/2-inch acoustic-suspension woofer that crosses over at 2,500 Hz to a 1-3/4-inch cone tweeter. The woofer’s “deep” magnet, long voice coil, and highly compliant suspension give it a bass response and power-handling ability beyond what might be expected of such a small driver. The tweeter’s magnetic gap is filled with Ferrofluid, which provides damping and improved heat transfer for operation at high power levels. The efficiency of the Baby Advent is typical of small acoustic-suspension speakers, and it can be used safely with amplifiers capable of delivering at least 50 watts of average power (with peaks to 150 watts).

It is a handsome speaker, with the rounded sides of its black cloth snap-on grille merging smoothly with the black-finished fiberboard cabinet. The cabinet is symmetrically capped at top and bottom by walnut-colored solid hardwood panels whose rounded edges harmonize with the grille contours. The speaker can be installed either vertically or horizontally without degrading its performance or appearance (although the fixed nameplate on the grille cloth appears to favor vertical installation). The insulated spring-loaded input connections on the rear of the cabinet have holes to accept the stripped ends of speaker cables. The Baby Advent is sold in pairs. Price: $198 per pair.

Lab Tests

Our IQS FFT analyzer’s quasi-anechoic response measurements of the Baby Advent revealed an unusually flat and extended response in the middle- and high-frequency ranges. The axial output varied only + 3 dB from 2,000 to beyond 20,000 Hz. A sharp, deep notch was present at 1,500 Hz under most FFT-measurement conditions, although at certain angles and distances it disappeared, suggesting an interference effect in the crossover region. The overall frequency-response contours remained fairly constant through a ± 45-degree angle from the forward axis up to about 12,000 Hz, above which they diverged somewhat. This represents very good polar response from a 1-3/4-inch-cone tweeter.

A close-miked measurement of the woofer output also showed a deep notch at 1,500 Hz, with a smoothly rising output from 700 Hz down to a maximum at 70 to 80 Hz and the expected 12-dB-per-octave drop below the latter frequency. The maximum output in this measurement was 11 or 12 dB above that of the response plateau between 1,000 and 2,000 Hz.

Averaged room-response measurements confirmed the speaker’s smooth response from middle to high frequencies. The close-miked woofer response, with a sweeping sine-wave test signal, reached its maximum at 100 Hz, where it was about 10 dB above the level in the crossover region. When this curve was spliced to the room-response curve, the composite curve showed a slight high-frequency rise and a more prominent low-frequency rise, with excellent overall smoothness (the 1,500-Hz “hole” was barely detectable in this measurement). The speaker’s impedance was exactly as rated, and its measured sensitivity was also close to the manufacturer’s rating.

We measure bass distortion at a constant drive level corresponding to a 90-dB SPL at 1,000 Hz, which in this case required an input of 4.5 volts, or about 2.5 watts. The Baby Advent had quite exceptional bass performance considering its 6-1/2-inch woofer and small cabinet. The bass sound we heard was solid and clean down to 40 Hz.

The peak power-handling ability of the Baby Advent was measured with tone-burst signals, typically a few cycles in duration, at frequencies of 100 and 1,000 Hz (a limited test was also made at 10,000 Hz, though we hesitate to push a tweeter to its limits, having burned out several in the process over the years). At 1,000 Hz the speaker’s acoustic output waveform began to shift from a sinusoidal to a triangular shape at about 177 watts input (based on the speaker’s 11-ohm impedance at that frequency). At 100 Hz the maximum power input was set by the woofer cone’s reaching the limits of its suspension travel, at which point a rasp could be heard at each burst.

Comments

Initially we placed the Baby Advent speakers against the wall for our listening tests (before making any measurements). The bass response was obviously excellent, but it seemed to dominate the rest of the spectrum, and the overall sound was “dead” and lacking in spaciousness. After our measurements, we tried listening again. With the advantage of “20/20 hindsight,” we could correlate what we heard with what we had measured.

Clearly, the Baby Advent has ample highs, but it needs its low end tamed to give it some balance. To do this, we placed the speakers on stands about 3 feet from the wall and 2 feet from the floor. The improvement was dramatic. Not only did the frequency balance improve, but the sound acquired the feeling of space that was so lacking in our first trial of these speakers. Simply using a bass control will help in a bookshelf installation.

Advent’s installation instructions are rather general, although they do advise the user to experiment with different speaker placements. We agree wholeheartedly since these speakers seem to be more affected than most by their relationship with room boundaries (specifically, the wall behind them). Their sound was changed from depressingly dull to spacious, open, and beautifully balanced simply by moving them a few feet forward. So placed, the Baby Advent is one of the best-sounding speakers in its price class. It can give serious competition to some considerably more expensive speakers. It is good to see the Advent name again, especially on such a fine product.

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