Advent H200 Heritage Series 2-Way Bookshelf Speaker System (Pair)
By: Audiovox Average Rating: 5.0 Total Reviews: 1
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 On: 2006-06-28
This is a steal at the 80 bucks I paid for them. The product description on Amazon really does not give enough information so Ill fill in a few details. These are well-built speakers. The enclosure is 5/8" MDF with a rear bass reflex port. There is plenty of internal vibration deadening material. There are dual sets of gold-plated binding posts. (Yes, these are bi-ampable/biwirable, unbelievable!) The crossover frequency is 2700 Hz. This is a high-quality product, not like the cheap stuff from KLH and Sony with the thin enclosures and push terminal connectors.
I actually did quite a bit of research on these after discovering what a fine product the matching center channel is. I discovered that Advents parent company, Audiovox, markets these in Europe under their HECO brand name. HECO is quite a respectable brand in Germany that regularly competes with brands like Mordaunt-Short and Mission. The entire Heritage line from Advent is the same as the HECO Krypton Series. Apparently, since HECO does not market outside of Europe, Audiovox had no problem rebranding this line for the US market. This speaker is the same as the HECO Krypton 200. The German audio mags put these speakers in the same category as the Boston CR65, Mordaunt-Short 902, Mission M31, and the JBL E30.
The sound is quite good for a smaller speaker. The bass response is especially strong for this class. I did some frequency testing and I got strong response down to about 65Hz with a gradual drop off to about 40Hz. These are not going to rumble and shake the house but the bass is respectable. These should be paired with a subwoofer if you want more rumble. These do need about 15 hours of break-in. The bass is a little muddy at first until they are broke-in. After break-in, I would still avoid boosting the lower frequencies on your amp as it does noticeably muddy the sound. Fortunately, I felt that these did not need any boosting anyway. In fact, in the room I have these set up in, they sounded best using the included foam inserts for the bass reflex ports.
The overall sound is quite full and rich. I have these in a fairly large 16 x 21 room with a loft and 15ft ceiling. These have had no problem filling this space. I have tested these with The Flying Dutchman overture and the huge rolling E-chord that serves as the overture for Wagners Das Rheingold. The sound was quite full with great imaging. I also put them through their paces with Nine Inch Nails "the Fragile" CD. This may seem a strange choice, but I discovered that this particularly CD set has an amazing variety of loud, soft, high, and low. It again did quite well, although on a few tracks I could definitely tell a need for a subwoofer for the low end frequencies. If you like a really bright sound, these are probably not for you.
I got a chance to compare these to the JBL E20. The Advents had a fuller sound with stronger bass. The Advents also had the edge in quality of construction. I also preferred these over the Bose 201. Since these cost less than either of those speakers, it was an easy decision. These are an excellent choice for mains in a compact system or in a larger system if paired with a subwoofer. They make excellent rear speakers as well. However, these are not the best for wall-mounting. They are on the large side and weigh about ten pounds each. There is no mounting hardware attached anywhere. The fact that the bass reflex port is in the rear sort of suggests that they are not intended to go flush against a wall either. These would be best on a shelf or on speaker stands.
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