The Smaller Advent Vintage 2-Way Bookshelf Speakers, USA-Made
$345.00
A 9.5-inch paper-cone woofer and a 2-inch paper-cone dome — the tweeter collectors call the fried egg — crossed at 1,500 Hz in a pure acoustic-suspension cabinet with no port anywhere. Designed by Advent founder Henry Kloss and voiced by Andy Kostatos, who went on to found Boston Acoustics. Made in the USA in 1972. Good cosmetic condition, with honest wear for a speaker now past fifty.
1 in stock
Designed by Advent founder Henry Kloss and voiced by future Boston Acoustics founder Andy Kostatos, this 1972 classic remains a benchmark for natural, detailed bookshelf sound.
The Smaller Advent debuted in 1972 as a more affordable version of Kloss’s original Advent Loudspeaker, aiming to bring serious audiophile performance into a smaller cabinet without sacrificing the sonic character that made the larger model famous. It quickly became one of the best-selling speakers of its era and earned wide critical praise, a reputation later reaffirmed by Stereophile’s 2006 retrospective review of a well-preserved pair. That review highlighted the speaker’s exceptional midrange detail, transient articulation, and surprisingly deep bass extension for its size, output achieved through pure acoustic-suspension design rather than any reflex porting.
Each speaker pairs a 9.5-inch paper-cone woofer with a distinctive 2-inch paper-cone dome tweeter (affectionately nicknamed the “fried-egg” tweeter by collectors), crossing over at 1,500 Hz for Kostatos’s carefully voiced blend. Built rock-solid with quality binding posts, these speakers were engineered as genuine audiophile gear at an accessible price point, a philosophy that helped define what one Stereophile writer called the “New England School” of speaker design. This pair presents in Good cosmetic condition, showing honest wear consistent with a speaker now over 50 years old, it has been thoroughly inspected and tested to confirm full functionality.
Specifications (verified via Stereophile’s 2006 specifications sidebar and a 1972 Audio equipment profile):
Design: Two-way acoustic-suspension bookshelf loudspeaker
Tweeter: 2 inch paper-cone dome tweeter
Woofer: 9.5 inch paper-cone woofer
Crossover frequency: 1,500 Hz
Frequency response: 33Hz–17kHz ±3dB (per 1975 High Fidelity Buyer’s Guide measurement)
Nominal impedance: 4 ohms
Recommended minimum power: 15 watts
Original manufacturer: Advent Corporation, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
Dimensions: (Width x Height x Depth) 11.625 x 20.125 x 9.375 inches (300 x 515 x 240 mm)
Weight: 27 lbs (12.2 kg) each
This American-made Smaller Advent delivers genuinely audiophile-grade vintage sound with real pedigree behind the design, a great choice for a vinyl-based system. At this Good-condition price point, it’s an easy way to bring a piece of speaker history home.
Backed by Radique Audio’s Bumper-to-Bumper Warranty and our Perpetual Trade-Back Program, you can purchase with confidence.
| Weight | 56 lbs |
|---|---|
| Dimensions | 24.8 × 15.6 × 24.1 in |
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