Advent 300-FM Stereo Receiver
Almost nothing about the Advent 300-FM survives in any source. What the record shows comes from period directory listings and one test report. The 300-FM was a stereo receiver with a Holman-designed phono preamp circuit, an FM multiplex tuner, and a power amplifier in a single chassis. It showed up in HiFI-Stereo buyer’s guides from the late 1970s into the early 1980s. That suggests a production run of several years, with likely specification revisions along the way.
Early listings from 1978 give the amplifier section as 30 watts per channel (into 8 ohms) and a $649.95 price (HiFI-Stereo, 1978, p.65). A 1977 test report by HiFI-Stereo covered the 300-FM alongside the Garrard GT55 turntable and Pickering XSV/3000 cartridge. By 1980 and 1981, the same HiFI-Stereo directories listed the receiver at 70 watts per channel continuous (both channels driven into 8 ohms at 0.1% THD) and 90 watts per channel dynamic headroom. Tuner specs recorded in those later years are IHF usable sensitivity of 11.2 dBf, 50-dB quieting at 17.2 dBf (mono) and 38.1 dBf (stereo), signal-to-noise ratio of 73 dB (mono) / 68 dB (stereo), IHF distortion of 0.25% (mono) / 0.4% (stereo), and alternate-channel selectivity of 65 dB. Listed features include LED tuning indicators, FM muting, and mode switching.
No owner’s manual, schematic, or service literature has surfaced. How the 300-FM relates to Advent’s well-known speaker line is unrecorded. It appears to have been a short-lived or low-volume receiver project from a company better remembered for loudspeakers. The 350 FM model listed alongside it in one 1982 directory may have been a direct successor or a cost-reduced variant.
- Approximate power (early units): 30 W/ch into 8 Ω (1978 listings)
- Approximate power (later units): 70 W/ch continuous, 90 W/ch dynamic (1980–81 listings)
- FM sensitivity (IHF usable): 11.2 dBf
- 50-dB quieting: 17.2 dBf mono, 38.1 dBf stereo
- S/N ratio: 73 dB mono, 68 dB stereo
- IHF distortion: 0.25% mono, 0.4% stereo
- Alternate-channel selectivity: 65 dB
- Price (1978): $649.95
- Notable circuit: Holman phono preamp
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