MichaelConner: Large Advents - we're talking 25 year old speakers (I had them 25 years ago). Advent sold a receiver, the Model 300, way back then to power those speakers. 15 watts per channel - same rating as the T-Amp. I don't know what it "really" put out. I still have the amp (although it sounds really bad now -very noisy). It had a great tuner - the precursor to the one in the Tivoli radio, and a great phono preamp - something I no longer have use for. So, although those speakers were failry large and not very efficient (acoustic suspension), I'm not surprised to hear that they will run with a t-amp. Did you have to rebuild the surrounds?
Someone who is handy with a soldering iron could probably replace the amp in the avernt receiver with a T-amp and really impress people with the sound of the old machine! The pots are noisy as hell, and channels cut out (I used it for a few days while waiting for my first T-Amp to arrive). But it was a cool little box. Here's a picture:
http://home.netcarrier.com/~rstevens/advent.html
I would love to hear those old large advents with a t-amp. I only have a faint memory of the sound all those years ago. I remember them being warm but not very detailed. Of course, it could have been my electronics or source back then.
I love to hear about people keeping old audio equipment alive. Maybe it's because I am getting old too I have a pair of B&W 801 series 80s that I bought used about 8 years ago. They are 20 years old, or so. With good electronics, they sound fantastic. I'm sure the new ones are better, but it still sounds great, and there is some pleasure in knowing that an old piece of audio history is still alive and giving pleasure. Unfortunately, the T-Amp will not power the 801s. I have a 300 watt dual mono Adcom beast for that job. But I have no doubt that the T-Amp is better sounding.
I'd love to hear a review of the T-Amp/Advent sound.