ADAM - Audiolog
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1. a a6 rt E HHHH a E dam l A5 est encore plus petit et constitue la premi re incursion de la marque dans des applications mixtes le carton d emballage mentionne Studio Multim dia Monitor l enceinte propose des connecteurs RCA grand public donc et un r glage commun du niveau d coute des deux enceintes Enfin outre la finition noir mat habituelle on peut acc der moyennant 30 euros suppl mentaires une finition laqu e noire ou blanche parfaitement P A AHHH Darpar a E mH H THH CH r paprat DHR HE bi erate ests Sah atest HEC Cy HUE PAPER ER REC PORR THRRET CAM PH A PL RE assortie un iPod Et les supports assor tis pour bureau sont 55 euros les deux Autrement dit les A5 sont destin es ceux qui utilisent leur ordinateur comme source sonore au sens large du terme Les photos du carton repr sentent d ailleurs les enceintes pos es pr s d un iMac reli es un iPod ou encadrant une surface de contr le mais aussi pr s d une console de jeux et d un lecteur de CD Fort bien mais dans ce cas pourquoi ne pas aller jusqu au bout en proposant une liaison via USB Les dimensions de ces moniteurs sont r duites 17 x 28 x 20 cm pour un poids de 5 kg UN AIR DE FAMILLE De l norme encastrable S7A Mkil 20 000 euros pi ce l A5 les moniteurs Adam partagent des boomers la membrane sophistiqu e et des tweeters rub2. KYOUND ON WOUND The World s Best Music Recording Magazine This article was originally published in Sound On Sound magazine December 2008 edition Everything For The Recording Musician Wandware 1 Software Reviews m Tec ROUND ONE Bouw The UK s Biggest Selling Music Recording Magatine The compen a in perfect Harmon with gudio EM et a Sound On Sound Media House Trafalgar Way Bar Hill Cambridge CB23 8SQ United Kingdom Email subscribe soundonsound com Tel 44 0 1954 789888 Fax 44 0 1954 789895 Subscribe amp Save Money Visit our subscriptions page at www soundonsound com All contents copyright SOS Publications Group and or its licensors 1985 2008 All rights reserved The contents of this article are subject to worldwide copyright protection and reproduction in whole or part whether mechanical or electronic is expressly forbidden without the prior written consent of the Publishers Great care has been taken to ensure accuracy in the preparation of this article but neither Sound On Sound Limited nor the publish ers can be held responsible for its contents The views expressed are those of the contributors and not necessarily those of the publishers on test rt i r 3 E ae A pr 3 a a a p r5 i f EPs A E in AE a F CLIS CR TEE L L eh ele a r Fi S i f i rh F LUE z a LA f at Ru g LI E Le 5 it j 1 a 3 i f Er
3. gueur de 2 m uniquement avec les A5 et une notice bilingue anglais et alle mand tr s didactique Des technologies de pointe Le rapport qualit prix des A5 s av re stu p fiant car pour moins de 700 la paire en finition standard les AS vous offrent des technologies de premier ordre Le haut parleur de grave m dium de 15 cm de diam tre dispose d une membrane en sandwich de fibres de carbone et de Rohacell prot g e par une grille m tallique finement perfor e Il est charg en bass reflex avec deux vents d bouchant au bas de la face avant Le tweeter reprend la technologie propri taire ART d Adam Audio pour Accelerating Ribbon Technology Ce tweeter est bas sur les travaux du doc teur Oscar Heil qui donn rent naissance en 1972 au haut parleur AMT Air Motion Transformer Sa membrane pliss e pro duit un d placement de l air quatre fois plus rapide qu avec une membrane tra vaillant en piston grace l effet de com pression des plis De plus le circuit ma en tique fait de plusieurs barreaux de n odyme contribue la sensibilit lev e du transducteur amplification est con fi e deux amplificateurs de 25 W direc tement raccord s aux haut parleurs le filtrage autour de 2 200 Hz est plac en t te des amplis l arri re on trouve deux entr es analogiques une RCA et une XLR une entr e RCA et une sortie RCA St r o Link et trois contr les de niveau soit un pour le tweeter et deu
4. excellent low end detail impressive scale versatile adjustments AGAINST Slightly strident at times S0dB loud one metre away The A5 s long term spectral decay behaviour was unblemished except at 80Hz So there may be a slight bass overhang but the midband and treble look very clean and uncoloured The A5 is a well engineered mini monitor that has a lot of built in adjustment to suit both taste and room positioning It should provide fine treble and an accurate balance plus fast bass N FREQUENCY RESPONSE 20 100 Hz Ik Green driver output Red port output SPECTRAL DECAY over 200mS PAV136 Adam PAV135 088 89 AUDIOANALOG FLASH TEST ADAM AUDIO n r ce anor 29 04 09 21 06 Page 94 Intes actives A5 et Sub Entr es de gamme a la fois professionnelles et Haute Fidelit du constructeur allemand Adam Audio les enceintes actives A5 compl t es par le caisson Sub constituent une introduction de choix au son Monitor Avec cet ensemble compact le fabricant souhaite aussi s duire tous ceux qui n utilisent qu une source musicale unique tel un lecteur de CD un ordinateur ou un iPod Caract ristiques techniques ENCEINTE ACTIVE AS gt Prix PAIRE 754 LAQU 694 noir gt HAUT PARLEUR boomer de 5 cm membrane en fibres de carbone et Rohacell tweeter ART gt AMPLIFICATION 2 X 25 W RMS gt R PONSE EN FR QUENCE 55 Hz 3
5. 30 863 00 97 0 Fax 49 30 863 00 97 7 E mail info adam audio com Website www adam audio com USA Distributor Adam Audio USA Voice 818 991 3800 Fax 818 991 3803 E mail usa adam audio com
6. Hassel avec des graves plus solides Et nous nous demandons si quelques Watts de plus pour le boomer n auraient pas constitu un plus l aigu semble en retrait par rapport celui des AE1 plus projet plus hi fi Il est pourtant bien pr sent mais tout en Les supports assortis pour bureau sont 55 euros les deux douceur comme toujours chez Adam l habitude d coute vient vite et la d finition est bien l avec un velout qui peut tre trompeur quand on ne connait pas la marque La profondeur du mixage se manifeste d embl e quand on est bien plac et l impression de relief est marquante bas e sur le respect des premi res r flexions et des d lais Rien n agresse sur les A5 et l image st r o se d ploie largement m me si les AE1 exceptionnelles dans ce domaine il est vrai donnent la fois plus d ampleur et de discrimination En utilisation multim dia attention laisser les enceintes suffisam ment cart es plus d un m tre minimum D FI RELEV Pourquoi Genelec serait il le seul d cli ner ses mod les actifs de studio vers le multim dia Avec l AS Adam rel ve le d fi avec panache pour un prix abordable 347 euros TTC pi ce en finition noir mat 377 euros en finition laqu e noire ou blanche rapprocher du mod le imm diatement sup rieur l A7 499 euros Celui ci descend un peu plus bas dans le grave mais son encombrement est sup rieur et on perd la dimension m
7. good monitors should By the same token good mixes really shine and given their size and price there s nothing much not to like Because the woofer is relatively small the range of the two drivers meets nicely at the crossover point delivering a confident and comfortable mid range which is something that can t always be said of larger two way monitors where the woofer is sometimes asked to reproduce frequencies higher than is ideal In my own studio which measures 16 by 11 feet the A7s are probably a better choice than the A5s and obviously have a touch more bass extension but l d certainly be able to work on the A5s without any problem Where the A5s score higher of course other than being lower in price is that they can sit on a desktop and won t provoke too many low frequency problems in smaller rooms Mighty Minis Of all the small monitors that I ve tried in this price range the A5s are definitely up there with the best and the neat linking feature really is a plus for anyone running their speakers directly from a computer soundcard As well as being very capable Studio monitors in their own right they d also work well as part of a surround system and should actually match the A7s closely enough to work as rears in a system with A7s at the front Although they re not exactly budget priced the A5s are nonetheless attractively priced for a speaker of this quality and you also get the reassuranc
8. professionnel comme les studios Abbey Road de Londres ou la salle de concert Mozarteum de Salzbourg en Autriche pour la qualit et la fiabilit de ses produits C est donc tout naturelle ment que le facteur berlinois a repris les technologies qui ont fait sa r putation pour r aliser les A5 Cette petite compacte est la premi re d Adam Audio vers les applications Grand Public cet gard le carton d emballage et la fiche technique affichent des photos d iPod de manettes de jeux vid o ou de lecteur de CD raccor d s aux enceintes LAS est donc tr s compacte puisqu elle mesure 28 cm de hauteur pour 17 cm de largeur et 20 cm de profondeur Son b nisterie est en m dium la finition soit noir mat en standard soit laqu blanc ou noir en option Des supports lourds et inclin s sont disponibles pour ceux qui utilisent les AS en proximit ils permet tent une orientation des haut parleurs vers l auditeur pour am liorer l image sonore st r ophonique Quant au cais son de grave il est install dans une b EI PRESTIGE AUDIOVIDEO Mai Juin 2009 PAV136 Adam PAV135 088 89 AUDIOANALOG 29 04 09 21 07 Page 95 ENCEINTES ACTIVES A5 ET SUBWOOFER SUB nisterie recevant les m mes finitions que l AS mais logiquement plus volumineuse que la compacte Chaque AS et le Sub sont livr s dans des emballages s pa r s comprenant un cordon secteur un cordon de modulation RCA RCA d une lon
9. such upper frequency devices deliver the goods On Kraftwerk s The Mix songs Abzug and flows into the song Metal On Metal are great examples of how these ultra high frequencies are delivered in comparison to other tweeter technologies Without any excuse i will admit to loving silk soft dome tweeters as the as they generally produce the extremely high frequencies may be a bit foreshortened yet they do not become irritating as i find with many metal dome types Have not played with many ceramic tweeters to give a full judgment and yes and all generalizations will be considered wrong at one particular point or another So please take my comments here as a generalization that does not apply 100 percent of the time to all such devices Still Kraftwerk s music has a staggering speed and transparency in both sound and phase that to my ears seems hard to equal with done types Why i simply am not an engineer and am here to present my opinions and experience As such my ears tell me that the Adam A5 tweeters are very impressive and confirm why so many audiophiles form a following to ribbon and Heil type devices Soundstaging ergo imaging you ask Excellent as is the rendering of the real or recording engineered fake ambience At times i do wonder if audiophiles are really to truly hear what is so close to precisely what is within their music It reminds of of during my early days of home theater the then King Of The Hill Lexicon CP 1 was mated t
10. tend to gravitate towards when reviewing a product that is quite telling Right out of the box the A5 monitors were impressive After about 100 hours i did note the tweeter settled down a bit and the overall sound became more unified In my setting the final rear adjustments were 1 5dB for the Tweeter and 3dB for Room EQ lt 150Hz Cabling was the Kimber GQ Mini CU that was fed sound material by my computer s 24 bit 192kHz sound card or the Emmeline Predator reviewed here before i forget one of the tricks in setting up any speaker system especially nearfield monitors as small difference are a larger percentage versus far field is precision in setup You want everything to be exactly spaced in all dimensions Truth In Sound When first hooking up the Adam A6 the first thing that came to mind was how the sound they produced reminded me a lot like that of all the time i spent in the recording studio There is a great truthfulness in the way they sound Unlike say either the audioengine models or the fabled LS3 5 monitors you do not get slightly boosted midbass so that the music sounds fuller than it truly is While this may be a asset with the audioengine 2 so as not to sound anemic it is a neat trick to fool the ear into thinking there is more there there The Adam A5 refuses to tell such fibs instead it produces the lower frequencies down to an honest 55Hz 3 dB and then nearly refuses to give you much than what is truly there wi
11. 5 kHz 3 dB gt Niveau MAXIMAL 110 dB SPL m gt Dimensions 285 x 172 x 200 mm gt Pons 5 kg CAISSON DE GRAVE ACTIF SUB gt Prix 517 Lagu 481 mar D HAUT PARLEUR DE GRAVE 18 cm membrane en papier gt AMPLIFICATION 140 W RMS gt R PONSE EN FR QUENCE 31 Hz 150 kHz 3 dB gt PLAGE DE FILTRAGE 50 Hz 150 Hz gt Niveau MAXIMAL 107 dB SPL m gt Dimensions 371 x 200 x 280 mm Pops 8 kg gt DISTRIBUTEUR MW Distribution contact en p 114 FRE m VOLUME 2 ADAM La t l commande du Sub agit surle volume et la fr quence de coupure haute du subwoofer dam Audio est un jeune sp cialiste de l enceinte de monitoring qui soufflera ses 10 bougies cette ann e lla pr sent l enceinte active A5 et le subwoofer Sub au printemps 2008 l occasion du salon Pro Light and Sound de Francfort en r ponse aux besoins en produits miniaturis s de la part des pro fessionnels et des utilisateurs de sys t mes home studio Tr s intelligemment con us ces deux produits l tonnant rapport qualit prix devraient logiquement attirer le Grand Public m lomane mais galement s duire un nouveau public celui des utilisateurs d iPod ou autres consoles de jeux vid o qui ces enceintes font la connectivit belle Apr s Abbey Road Studios chez vous La jeunesse relative d Adam Audio n em p che pas celui ci d tre reconnu par le monde
12. AMA a Ay 11 si f ia r s we BA jk D alah OO TES PS as ice a ata Feri PER eee rote a ey fare pee Et du Rd cok LE 1 k ER i r el E E D lt i hi i T j ogo bre Ter SR katita oe ae me ior hf tH T 5 1 mi r amp pm j LT hs 4 TA Se A a a J D FA 4e Er el 7 F seen POS r a 4 a Le ri 4 p Fm i T s ay d j F pi n AA 4 1 M 4 7 as a om os rte a ae f i n i i 1 if HH AVARA NS LI E K Le CS HO 5 if oH r ADAM A R Lt a ey Adam have gained a strong reputation for the quality and value for money of their larger reference monitors but have they had to make any compromises in their smallest model Paul White were to launch the A5 monitor speaker as it is effectively the baby brother to the A7 one of the monitors use on a regular basis in my own studio Adam s unique feature is their folded ART Accelerated Ribbon Technology ribbon tweeter which I ve discussed at length in reviews of their other monitors Its concertina like action moves approximately four times more g intrigued when heard that Adam air than a conventional flat ribbon of the same frontal area and this makes it both surprisingly efficient and able to handle frequencies almost an octave above the upper limit of human hearing In the A5 that same tweeter is teamed with a 5 5 inch woofer using a cone material that s fabricated from a
13. It is amazing to hear very small things far quieter in volume than the main or solo instrument or vocal On the other end is the lack of the super small dynamic shadings Color me perplexed how this is so yet that is what my ears are telling me At the 2008 Munich High End show i heard Adam s larger offerings and detected no problems with dynamics in any sense In fact the music was so impressive i sought out to review the A5 and hope to review one of the company s larger siblings at some point in the future Oh and you PRAT lovers will be very pleased that all my funky music did indeed dance and swing So Is This Speaker For You A valid question as there are times i wonder if A My audiophiles truly want to hear everything within KS their recordings Don t get me wrong we all want 4 to extrapolate as much information as possible and in turn seek high resolution audio formats and constantly tweak this and upgrade that Yet if every single coloration was removed would you find yourself enjoying the music or annoyed by OF 5008 the sheer truth of information The Adam A5 produces a very direct window into the music As such it has brought me hundreds of hours of musical bliss and in rediscovering some of the greatness in minimally mic ed recordings It has also shown me the engineering errors in others To deliver such impressive results driver technology and features for a relatively low price tag is truly an triumph The Ada
14. N DIRECT DU LABORATOIRE gt Mesures enceintes Adam Audio A5 Distorsion a 84 dB 1m 0 95 100 Hz 0 15 1 kHz 0 13 10 kHz R ponse en tiers d octave de la A5 Remarquable lin arit de r ponse logique vu le pedigree du fabricant Le grave flirte avec le 60 Hz a 3 GB CHU ET UE my PL ARNT HITT HAH R ponse dans le grave du Sub 7 Energie tr s bien r partie sur toute la bande reproduite sans effet pain de sucre PRESTIGE Em AUDIO VIDEO Mai Juin 2009 TESTS gt AUDIO PRO La petite derniere D voil e lors de la Musikmesse la petite A5 arrive enfin chez nous Elle utilise les technologies de ses grandes s urs dans une optique studio hi f multim dia et complete la gamme propos e par Adam CARACT RISTIQUES De gauche droite noir mat laqu blanc et laqu noir 92 e KR home studio septembre 2008 e fabricant allemand Adam s est r v l par ses enceintes assez inhabituelles voici quelques ann es Sa gamme est vaste pas limit e au march professionnel et la qualit de restitution bien particuli re a attir nombre d ing nieurs du son et de produc teurs qui installent souvent des S3A dans leur project studio Voici deux ans environ le petit mod le A7 visait d j le march du home studio D voil en mars lors du Pro Light amp Sound revu l AES d Amster wate a
15. an d un mod le sp cifique ART Accelerated Ribbon Technology Le 5 de la r f rence signifie que le diam tre du boomer est de 5 pouces enfin 5 1 2 soit 147 mm comme le proclame fi rement le mode d emploi Prot g par une grille que nous trouvons assez laide il est toujours en fibres de carbone et Rohacell et charg par un double event d bouchant en bas de l enceinte l avant Le tweeter est un mod le ruban pliss ART sp cialit de la marque d une surface quivalente de 710 mm titre de comparaison la surface d un tweeter de 25 mm conventionnel est de 490 mm La r ponse en fr quence annonc e s tend de 55 Hz 35 kHz le raccord entre les HP s effectuant 2 2 kHz Les dimensions sont r duites 17 x 28 x 20 cm pour un poids de 5 kg l enceinte deux voies est amplifi e 2 x 25 W efficaces et dot e de connecteurs d entr e XLR et RCA pas de jack l horizon Originalit de I A5 des connecteurs cinch assurent la liaison Speaker Link entre l enceinte gauche et la droite un cable de liaison d une longueur de 2 m tres est livr avec chaque enceinte D emploi facultatif cette fonction permet de r gler le niveau sonore des deux enceintes via le potentiom tre en face avant d une seule la Master celle d o part le cable RCA Speaker Link et dont la LED blanche t moin s allume Signalons d ailleurs que le potentiom tre de volume assez facile manier est cran
16. by its own 25 Watt amplifier and active crossover Inputs are available through balanced XLR and unbalanced phono connections and additional Stereo link sockets allow the speakers to be linked together each loudspeaker has its own volume control but when linked one speaker can act as the master to control the volume of both Also round the back are to be found controls for tweaking the response of the loudspeakers for optimum performance One allows the bass level below 50Hz to be boosted or cut by up to 6dB a second effectively acts as a 4dB volume control for the tweeter s output level across its entire range above 4kHz and the last lifts or drops treble output above 6kHz by up to 6dB measured at 5kHz All are useful for fine tuning the www hi fiworld co uk lI A5s according to their positioning in order to obtain the very best from them Finally ADAM sell table bases for the A5s that support them correctly and tilt them upwards by a few degrees and also make a matching subwoofer the Sub7 for filling in the very bottom end The A5s measure a diminutive 285x172x200mm HxWxD but weigh in at a sturdy 5kg They are available in both high gloss black and white finishes and both are absolutely immaculate Being something of an eighties fetishist would normally plump for the black in stylistic terms but the female contingent of the Smith household gave the white the thumbs up and the cat snif
17. ctive Active loudspeakers still remain something of an outsider in home reproduction terms however At the bottom end of the market there are many combined amplifier loudspeaker units most of which incorporate the obligatory iPod dock and some of which are pretty ear wounding Conversely in the exotica category we have the likes of the Meridian DSP 8000s Bang amp Olufsen Beolab small and neat yet expansive and dynamic the Ads are a fine Showcase for affordable ha I A DA Vi 5s and ADAM s Tensor range of active loudspeakers all offering impressive engineering serious sound quality and price tags firmly out of the reach of most of us What is needed it seems to me is a modern alternative to the likes of the good old Wharfedale Active Diamonds or Goodmans Maxamps namely affordable high quality active loudspeakers that will sit happily either side of a computer but that are also capable of cutting it in a grown up hi fi system Well ADAM Audio reckon they have the answer The AS Active Studio Multimedia Monitor is just such a device carrying a goodly proportion of the technology found in ADAM s larger models but in a compact enclosure This means a 5 5in 147mm Carbon Fibre and Rohacell sandwich bass driver allied to an ART tweeter operating on the folded diaphragm method originally E AJ gt invented by Dr Oskar Heil for his Air Motion Transformer each driven
18. e filter controls set to flat the speakers maintained a surprisingly consistent sound with my own A7s albeit with slightly less bass extension The bass end is tight and well controlled which Suggests that the designers have resisted the temptation to over tune the port to make kick drums sound more impressive than they really are while the top end exhibits the clarity and fast transient response that we ve come to expect from the ART folded ribbon A lot of engineers will love the sound just as it comes but initially found the overall tonal balance just a hint too sizzly at the top end for my personal taste A small adjustment to reduce the tweeter level by around 1dB and to pull down the 6kHz filter by a notch brought the sound neatly into my comfort zone after which set about auditioning some test material It didn t take long for me to confirm that the A5s really are just slightly scaled down A7s they have the same clarity and definition as well as excellent stereo If you want to try some other small nearfield monitors to compare with the Adam Ass you should look at models such as the Fostex PMsa Event ALP5 KRK RP5 and Genelec 8030A Alternatives J imaging and given that some of Adam s speaker models are voiced differently this is an important point to make The A5s really are quite revealing largely due to that unique tweeter so if anything in the mix sounds a bit off colour they ll tell you as
19. e of a five year warranty So where you don t have space for larger monitors or a suitable room but you still need a reliable mixing tool the A5s could be exactly what you need ES information december 2008 www soundonsound com 43 60 HI FI WORLD JUNE 2009 REVIEW Five Live Adam Smith takes a listen to ADAM Audio s visceral sounding A5 active mini monitors ver the last few years the basic way in which a hi fi system can be structured has changed somewhat with vari ous new options open to the listener It wasn t so long ago that the progression from one box system be it a nineteen seventies music centre or a nineteen eighties midi system meant trading up for the succession of boxes that inevitably meant source amplifier loudspeakers More recently however the advent of digital music servers the options of wirelessly beaming music around the home and the rise in network music players has meant that this previous hierarchy is beginning to be deviated from somewhat Particularly in the case of home music networks having a receiver in each room in which it is desired to play music means that suitable amplification and loudspeak ers are all that is required However the networked player is a neat solu tion in itself and so why shouldn t we simplify and tidy up the actual chain www hi fiworld co uk to the transducer itself a bit more The obvious answer of course is to go a
20. eter level can be adjusted 4dB the Room EQ at gt 6kHz of 6dB and lt 150Hz of 6dB There are both balanced XLR and unbalanced RCA inputs to ensure connectivity to virtually any application in CONTROLS professional studios or at home While each powered monitor has a volume adjustment knob Adam provided a special Stereo link feature This allows users to adjust the volume of both loudspeakers with only one control to ensure a balanced volume level The A5 is offered in flat black or high quality piano finishes black and white Adam also sent me a pair of their desktop table stands that angles the speaker yet they were not employed within this review as i have my own type of stand so that the loudspeaker height it at the optimum level While many users could place the speakers on a table thereby causing early sound reflections time distortion as the sound bounces off the table surface i use a wood shelf that brings the speakers up to the desired height Speaking of which i found the best sound to be when the woofer s top mounting bolt was at ear level It has been a few years since my ears have enjoyed great ribbon like tweeters Have owned the then new Infinity RS6000 then tried the RS IIB with audiophile tweaks and finally the Magnepan MG 3 6 Yes the Heil is different and yet i find many of the great things i love so dearly about to end ribbons to translate to the Adam A6 It is also obvious by the music i
21. fed round them and then started purring so clearly was outvoted so the cat wears the trousers in the Smith household then Ed JUNE 2009 HI FI WORLD SOUND QUALITY As an exponent of the bigger the better school of loudspeaker design often find that evaluating a small speaker can be a nerve racking event consequently was rather shocked when firing up the As am tempted to throw in some anecdote at this point about someone else wandering into my listening room and asking where the subwoofer was but frankly had to pause for a moment to make sure hadn t switched one on inadvertently To state that these loudspeakers offer a scale that belies their tiny dimensions would be like saying that publisher Noel quite likes valves or that the new 227mph Brabus engined Mercedes CLS isn t exactly sluggish sat astounded as the Ads sang their little hearts out from atop my Atacama Nexus 6 stands and could only marvel at the way in which Beth Rowley s vocals sat before me with an incredible scale five inch drivers in cabinets the size of a few hardback books simply don t do this sort of thing normally That main drive unit was clearly responsible for the sound was hearing and the way in which it handled bass lines was superb Yes those tiny cabinets meant that my floorboards weren t exactly being rattled but even when fed with some truly hardcore low end action the Ads never faltered Jah Wobb
22. ful larger brother the A7 The A5 uses the same proprietary Accelerating Ribbon Technology ART tweeter and the same type of woofer consisting of a sandwich construction carbon fiber and Rohacell yet in a reduced 5 5 inch cone Each cabinet has a pair of 25 Watt amplifiers one each for the tweeter and woofer While the woofer is quite interesting i d like to focus on the ART tweeter Adam has plenty of technical information and there is no need for me to retype the obvious So here are some of the basics The ART Accelerating Ribbon Technology tweeters units take a completely new approach in kinematics to move air and improve the quality of music reproduction Based on the original works of Dr Oskar Heil who invented his Air Motion Transformer back in 1972 new electroacoustic transducers have been developed that are based on improved layouts and new materials The membrane consists of a lamella like folded diaphragm whose single folds move according to the alternate current thus squeezing air in and out All other loudspeaker drive units whether they are voice coil driven electrostatics piezos or magnetostatics act like a piston moving air in a 1 1 ratio This is undesirable as the specific weight of air is much lower than that of the driving mechanics Speaking in terms of electrical Engineering one could say there is a bad match between source and load The ART principle achieves a 4 1 velocity transformation between driving dia
23. ing voice and strings While not a modern audiophile recording it is quite challenging in its own ways Same with the song L O V E The Adam A5 did an outstanding job at clarity speed and in producing what is within the recording As for a modern recording of vocals one of my favorites is Lavern Butler s Isn t It A Pity Chesky Records Her voice comes through with such a stunning thereness that her voice truly captivates the listener Of course the remainder of the music is also extremely well recorded as is expected from this great audiophile label And yes Nora Jones Come Away With Me a recording that has perhaps become a type of standard to some is mesmerizing in how well her voice and the supporting musicians come into play As such these little monitors sound so direct and straightforward If you are seeking a more romantic read false portrayal then other monitors may be more to your liking It is not that the Adam Ad strips out the sheer delicacy and seduction of this recording far from it You get what you put into these little jewels with extremely little added or taken away Moving on to the uppermost frequencies here is where the proprietary Accelerating Ribbon Technology ART tweeter shines and proves itself a justified following among audiophiles and studio engineers alike My years of enjoying the Infinity loudspeakers now long gone and the Magnepan MG 3 6 reviewed here has truly made me miss the way
24. ion m me des niveaux sonores le v s La qualit de timbres pate avec une douceur et une pr cision plus monitor que Hi Fi la d finition et le rendu des d tails sont tr s au dessus de la moyenne gr ce la m ticulosit d analyse du tweeter Nous avons suivi les conseils du construc L amplification des A5 est confi e deux circuits int gr s de puissance plac s entre deux plaques paisses en aluminium massif droite A gauche on distingue les composants CMS des circuits de filtrage de pr amplification et du syst me Stereo Link teur et avons positionn le point d coute et les AS en triangle quilat ral pour obte nir une sc ne sonore superbe de volume et de relief Avec le Sub le grave gagne certes en assise mais son r glage de ni veau s av re d licat car des bruits d cou lement d air apparaissent rapidement dans Event cylindrique si on monte le niveau Toutefois l ensemble reste coh rent en coute niveau domestique Conclusion Les Adam Audio A5 et le Sub constituent une v ritable passerelle entre le profes sionnel l audiophile et le fanatique de la console et de l iPod Les performances sonores sont incroyables la qualit de fabrication est toute germanique et les technologies mises en uvre parmi les plus volu es du moment Avant tout achat et aux prix propos s il serait vraiment impardonnable de ne pas aller les couter Pierre Andr Viollet E
25. iophile should go right out and hear these amazing units Longstanding readers of my reviews know that when i make a LE er statement as bold as this so early within a review 200 it can only mean you are about to learn about a truly outstanding product So yes i will boldly say perhaps in defiance at possibly insulting some readers that this is not an audiophile product and that every audiophile should take note of the Adam A5 in a big way Perhaps it is time to get audiophiles off their painted pony gear and enjoy another way of listening to their prized music collection Specifically for you to listen in the same manner professional recording studio engineers create music to make a living or at least squeak by on the meager paycheck provided by the major record labels If you are seeking the truth my ears tell me that the Adam A5 priced at a humble 699 per pair in matte black finish or 769 in glossy white or black offers an amazing value What you will not get is Harbeth like LS3 5 fake bass extension by boosting the midbass you will not get that silky dome tweeter smoothed highs and you most certainly will not get any resemblance of deep bass below the truthfully specified 55Hz 3 dB You can forget about the fabled Western Electric 300B rose colored glasses the faking of pinpoint imaging tricks by boosting of the frequency response within the upper midrange frequencies Lastly there is no way for you to easily remo
26. irstly corrected my schoolboy error of using the cables supplied with the loudspeakers and substituted them for a 2m set of MIT AVT SI interconnects which polished things up considerably and then took clear that there were limitations to the way in which this track had been recorded Ultimately the ASs never stray a good time to set the frequency adjustment settings on the rear of the loudspeakers left the bass control at its centre setting as this was fine but judicious adjustment of the two treble controls proved fruitful Ultimately found that the tweeter level control was best reduced by around 5dB and the high frequency lift raised by around dB this exacerbated the slight forwardness noted but added in a touch of top end crispness The results of this tweaking were very impressive The A5s are sprightly fast and crisp at all times making some songs sound like they have been speeded up slightly such is their tautness of rhythm and basic musicality Equally however they can wind back and reproduce more thoughtful material with a dexterity poise and atmosphere that is seldom found at this price point The Fleet Foxes White Winter Hymnal positively filled the front of my listening room and Can t Hide from Jennifer Warnes The Hunter CD was laid out in a way that reminded me of my time with the AS s much bigger brothers the Tensor Gammas Once agai
27. le s The Sun does Rise on twelve inch single can make the gruntiest of loudspeakers turn into a wobbly mess but the ADAMs positively lapped it up Granted it was clear that they weren t going to shake ornaments off my shelves but at the same time neither did they completely gloss over the powerful bass line underpinning this song They made it clear that something subter ranean was there but seemed to be saying we can t manage this as we re only small sorry but we re going to jolly well have a rollicking time with the rest of it which indeed they did What surprised me even more was the volume they were able to generate the cabinets are small and 50 Watts per speaker isn t much but the A5s went plenty loud enough and only betrayed their running out of steam by a slight midband compression there was no sign of distortion at quite neighbour unfriendly levels Across the mid and top ADAM s ART tweeter once again proved its prowess by pulling every single detail out of the back of the recordings played As things progressed however realised that this unit is not quite as forgiving as the X ART unit used in the higher range Tensor models and noted that the A5s could become a little uncomfortably strident at times Despite allowing them a good few days of continuous use to run in it became clear that this was not going to go away Consequently it took a few steps to put this right F
28. m A5 speakers are so good they will be residing in my digital audio video workstation for engineering and mastering duties They are also receiving my highest value of Blue Notes within the Review Magazine ratings a feat not to be easily dismissed from this longtime musician and audiophile enthusiast Add to that am awarding them my one and only personal vote for Best Of 2008 Blue Note Equipment Awards As always in the end what really matters is that you Enjoy the Music Steven R Rochlin Tonality f SITS Su bass 10Hz 60Hz dd Mio bass 80Hz 200Hz d J d Mirano 200Hz 3 000Hz d j d Hon Frequencies 3 000Hz On Up d J J d Buck il Decay dE Inner Resolution did Soundscape Width Front d d d Soundscape Width Rea PPPD Soundscape Depth Soundscape Depth Behind Speakers Speakers Soundscape Depth Behind Speakers PPPS Soundscape Extension Into Room J J d bras J J J d Fi And Finish on J J J Self Noise TE DR Specifications Type Two way recording studio monitor active bass reflex design Tweeter ART Technology Woofer 5 5 inch Rohacell Carbonfibre Frequency Response 55Hz to 35kHz 3dB Built in Amplification 25 Watt x 2 RMS Inputs XLR or RCA Dimensions 6 8 x 11 2 x 7 9 WxHxD Weight 11 Ibs Warranty 5 years Price 699 per pair in matte black finish or 769 in glossy white or black Company Information Adam Audio GmbH Lobeckstr 36 10969 Berlin Germany Voice 49
29. n Jennifer was locked centre stage and positioning the players around her was no chore at all Equally Jenny Jones vocals on Brighton Pier were astoundingly vivid and natural and every intake of breath and swallow could be heard as she spoke the words to the song but it was CONCLUSION there MEASURED PERFORMANCE The Adam AS is a small active design needing mains power It has three frequency response adjustments bass equalisation room equalisation and treble equalisation With all set flat the A5 measures very flat our stepped and gated sine wave response analysis shows There s a small presence dip around 3kHz that will slightly soften the delivery but its subjective impact will be slight Above 3kHz the ribbon tweeter gives smooth output that will likely translate into natural sounding treble A pink noise response shows that in a room bass peaks a little around 80Hz but it is quite a narrow band effect and may add just a little to bass speed The port operates over a narrow band being tuned to a high 70Hz so Adam have not tried to force the A5 to go lower than it would naturally This is reflected in low bass distortion figures too below 2 above 30Hz Above 100Hz distortion sank to 0 2 or less a good result The bass adjuster introduces _ progressive lift or cut below 1kHz peaking by 6dB below 100Hz This will provide useful wall mounting com
30. o a staggering array of Theta digital equipment conrad johnson VTL and Adcom amplification and eight Infinity loudspeakers plus an M K MX2000 subwoofer The reason i go into detail here is that during the laserdisc days the surround sound mastering was such that even movies like Star Wars and the Terminator would become audibly distracting Why Because when i could easily hear so much information it was in turn easy to hear all the problems of misalignment of the voice to the video the artificialness of the voice tracks the fake acoustics they tried to wrap around the voice etc In one movie the main voice track would begin a millisecond or so ahead of the actor and by the end of the disc the sound was a millisecond or two behind There were other anomalies as the movie s sound engineer had to deal with 64 tracks of audio and attempted to somehow make it all work ARGH While i have no major critics of the Adam i will say to avoid using the Stereo Link feature as the addition this element seems to diminish the clarity and the imaging suffers plus at very low volumes the Stereo Link does not work well with one speaker basically not making any sound whatsoever A minor point is that microdynamics are a bit compressed though overall the dynamics and hearing many instruments within the mix is very impressive On one end i can hear amazing small details and layer after layer of various instruments within a song and or classical piece
31. pensation or a little bass boost to improve warmth and body Likewise treble lift looks potentially useful producing plateau lift of 5dB maximum above 2kHz The 6kHz room adjustment mimics the treble adjuster So what it is meant to achieve isn t obvious to me Sensitivity at max volume was high just 200mV needed to generate www hi fiworld co uk REFERENCE SYSTEM Garrard 301 turntable Alphason HR 100S arm Cardas wired Audio Technica AT OC9MLII cartridge Anatek MC1 phono stage Marantz CD94 CD player Naim Supernait amplifier as a preamp The ADAM A5s are superb loudspeakers for the price They are compact versatile and can be used with any source from an iPod to a full blown hi fi system and will offer the same sort of confident and dynamic performance to either Take time to set the frequency adjustments carefully feed them with a quality source and wire them up with good cables and you too could be looking for a subwoofer that isn t JUNE 2009 HI Fi WORLD REVIEW far from their monitor heritage and can occasionally sound a little strident with poor material but the key words here are poor material if the recording is less than good the A5s won t draw attention to its deficiencies unduly but equally they will not gloss over them Small and neat yet expansive and dynamic the A5s are a fine showcase for affordable active loudspeaker design superb dynamics
32. phragm and driven air i e the air moves in and out four times faster than the folds itself are moving This superior motor is responsible for the enormous clarity and transient reproduction that is to be heard from the ART drive units Besides the transformation advantage the construction of the membrane in single stripes avoids the typical break up of stiff domes or cones at higher frequencies and the resultant dynamic limiting Another factor in dynamics is diaphragm area What you see is what you get The cone area you can see is always the acoustically active area of the loudspeaker this is true for practically all other drive units By folding the ART diaphragm into the third dimension as seen from the listener s position a much larger folio can be used A factor of more than 2 5 can be seen between the sound generating area and the acoustically effective area of the diaphragm Thus a smaller movement is needed for a given sound pressure level enabling the unit to reach a higher sound pressure level without dynamic compression To learn more see Adam Audio s website plus Enjoy the Music com has reviewed Oskar Heil s Kithara reviewed here and Harmonious loudspeaker click here Unlike most audiophile STEREO LINK ANALOG INPUT loudspeakers the rear side UNBALANCED UNBALANCED BALANCED of the Adam A5 has a panel with numerous adjustments to adapt the loudspeaker to the specific room acoustics or personal preferences The twe
33. r LED which makes it easy to access For those with no separate monitor controller there are two additional stereo link RCA phono inputs and outputs on each speaker enabling the user to link them both via an included RCA phono cable so you only need feed the stereo line signal from your DAW to one Adam A5 e Good tonal balance with no obvious hyping of the low end e Can be controlled from a single front panel volume control e Sensibly priced e No obvious vices except for the usual bass extension and level limitations inherent in small speaker designs such as this If you like the clarity and honesty of the A7s you should like the A5s which have essentially the same family sound but come in a more compact format well suited to smaller mixing spaces actually turns in a very respectable low end performance on its own 3dB 55Hz 35kHz and in the smaller studio your mixes are less likely to be misleading if the speakers are used without a sub In fact the trade off of having a smaller bass driver isn t so much less low end but less overall level The rating in this respect quotes an SPL of 101dB per pair using a test sine wave in the 100Hz to 3kHz range measured at one metre and 110dB SPL peak with normal music Although not as loud as many larger monitors this is still very loud at nearfield distances and playback stays clean until well above a level that s comfortable Performance With all th
34. rn driven from an active crossover operating at 2 2kHz On the rear panel there are controls for adjustment of tweeter speaker To do this the slave speaker must have its level control set mid way so that you get the correct balance between the two speakers As soon as the linking cable is connected a white LED illuminates on the front panel to show the status of the system You can t use the monitors balanced in linked mode but that shouldn t cause any practical problems in most cases An optional subwoofer is available either just to add more bass extension or to complete a 5 1 system using five A5s and this takes the low end right down to 30Hz Having said that though the A5 The Ass are definitely up there with the best and the neat linking feature really is a plus for anyone running their speakers directly from a computer soundcard level 4dB continuously variable and both 6kHz high shelving and 150Hz low shelving filters 6dB so that the user can compensate for room placement and personal preference All three controls require a screwdriver or tough thumbnail for adjustment Power is delivered via a standard IEC socket and there s a recessed switch used to set the mains voltage to a nominal 230V or 115V The line level inputs are on the rear panel in both balanced XLR and RCA phono unbalanced formats but the level control is on the front panel alongside the circular power switch and blue powe
35. sandwich of carbon fibre and a specialist material called Rohacell This produces a rigid well damped cone which suspended in its soft roll surround bodes well for low end clarity The drivers are mounted in a neat 42 www soundonsound com december 2008 and fairly conventional ported enclosure with all the connections on the metal rear panel which also serves as a heat sink for the electronics Two small bass ports are located at the lower corners of the front baffle Design amp Construction Adam are clearly aiming the A5 at a wide target audience with applications including MP3 playback surround sound computer games and desktop audio but don t let the more frivolous applications distract you from what is at its heart a very serious professional tool Weighing in at 5kg 11 pounds the magnetically shielded A5s measure just 285 x 172 x 200mm 11 2 x 6 8 x 7 9 inches The review model was the Pro version which comes in a business like matt black cabinet but they re also available in a glossy white or black piano finish A perforated metal grille protects the woofer while the usual slotted metal grille covers the rectangular ribbon tweeter Both drivers are neatly recessed into the front baffle which has chamfered corners to match those of the main box The overall impression is of a very smart and businesslike speaker Powering the two drivers are two 25W amplifiers and these are in tu
36. t au centre une bonne id e en soi mais quoi correspond ce cran Simple en mode Stereo Link il correspond l quivalence avec le volume de l enceinte Master au gain unitaire en quelque sorte Le mode d emploi en anglais et allemand seulement est succinct mais pas mal fait donnant des conseils de placement explications et courbes correspondant aux correcteurs Room EQ du panneau arri re 6 dB au del de 6 kHz ou en dessous de 150 Hz la valeur en dB tant relev e respectivement 30 Hz et 15 kHz Ces deux l agissent sur toute une bande de fr quences Un troisi me correcteur d aigus fait basculer la courbe de r ponse 6 kHz selon un mode Shelve standard de 4 dB lui aussi L efficacit est parfaitement perceptible Chez nous l enceinte a donn les meilleurs r sultats en position neutre IMPRESSIONS D COUTE Hasard du planning nous avions chez nous en m me temps que les A5 les Acoustic Energy AE1 Classic Il s agit l d enceintes passives d un prix sup rieur mais la comparaison est int ressante AE1 comme A5 ne se plaignent pas quand on monte le niveau le volume sonore atteint avant signes ostensibles de souffrance des membranes est assez impressionnant compte tenu du volume des enceintes Les A5 descendent de fa on r aliste dans le grave m me si un 5 pouces ne peut faire illusion longtemps sur une grosse caisse ou des loops bien grasses Cest s r nous avons entendu Jon
37. thin the input signal If you want more deep bass you ll want to spring for the company s subwoofer module or the like Then again 55Hz should be more than fulfilling for desktop monitors unless you are a pipe organ freak or into those car audio techno bass songs and such Even my listing to various Kraftwerk discs was very enjoyable with only a very rare moment or two of missing out on the very last octave or so As i said before that is why Adam and many other companies offer subwoofers for monitor loudspeakers But enough about the bass let us climb up the frequency ladder to the all important midrange Wow That about sums it up yet am sure if i left it there you d be e mailing me asking for more information so here it goes On the London Symphony Orchestra s Nutcracker Suite Mercury Living Presence 35MM it was overwhelming enjoyable how well the string woodwind and horn sections sound so very convincing In fact i could easily hear some of the mastering manipulation quite clearly Each instrument s natural tonality and harmonics were easily discernable There was virtually none of that My brain needs to adding a bit more information at the leading edge of the sound It all simply was there to be heard Time and again this same sentiment was echoed on other classical music titles both modern and vintage where appropriate and properly recorded The classic Nat King Cole song Mona Lisa is a great test of many things including a sooth
38. ultim dia Adam propose un caisson de graves de compl ment le Sub 7 140 Wet boomer de 175 mm non cout 481 517 euros TIC Franck Ernould Amateur Confirm Pro Outre la finition noir mat habituelle on peut acc der moyennant 30 euros suppl mentaires une finition laqu e noire ou blanche parfaitement assortie un iPod FICHE TECHNIQUE Entr es XLR et jack Nombre de transducteurs 2 Diam tre boomer 147 mm alliage aluminium Tweeter ruban ART Amplificateurs 25 25 W R ponse en fr quence 55 Hz 35 kHz Niveau SPL maxi 110 dB SPL la paire 1 m cr te Dimensions 172 x 285 x 200 mm Lx H x P Poids 5 kg Une d clinaison vers le bas r ussie Sans trahir ses concepts de base Adam propose un mod le ouvert sur le multim dia facile utiliser avec un ordinateur La liaison USB e t t un plus dans cette optique Restitution toute en douceur mais nergique bonne volont belle image sonore bien jou KR home studio septembre 2008 93 September 2008 Enjoy the Music com Adam Ad Recording Studio Monitor Are you willing to find the truth in your music collection Review By Steven R Rochlin Click here to e mail reviewer The Adam A5 is not an audiophile loudspeaker Fa es Now before you died in the wool audiophile types stop reading in perhaps a massive error of quick judgment the Adam A5 recording studio monitor is so good that every aud
39. ve the built in amplifiers to insert your flavor of the month club amplifier In fact there is no need for a preamplifier either as you can simply plug in your source component and enjoy the music plug and play The audioengine A2 reviewed here does not stand a chance in comparison and the larger audioengine A5 reviewed here got relegated back to their packing boxed and are now located deep inside my attic You audiophiles know what i mean that place in your home where dead gear goes until you either finally sell it or better still give it away to a relative as a reboxed gift The first time i saw the Adam Ad recording studio monitors was at the 2008 High End Society show in Munich This must attend event apparently largely ignored by many America based high end companies is where many millions of dollars of business each year comes to light Both members of the press and the public at large get to see and hear a staggering array of excellent products Among the new products launch at the show was Adam s A5 and as a studio musician in a earlier life it was obvious there was something very special going on here So i immediately asked for a review pair and what you are about to read is the outcome So what makes the Adam A5 so good Sum Of The Parts Ok a play on words there as the sum of the parts or perhaps i mean some of the parts It matters not as the smallest model within the Adam Studio Monitors follows their success
40. x Room Eq pour l galisation sous 180 Hz et au dessus de 4 kHz Le St r o Link est un syst me maitre esclave du r glage de niveau sonore de deux A5 a partir du r glage de volume d une des deux Le Sub int gre un amplificateur de 140 W alimentant un boomer de 18 cm de dia metre a membrane en papier et large sus pension en demi rouleau Mont en bass reflex il dispose d un filtre r glable par molette en face avant entre 50 et 150 Hz une seconde molette r glant le volume du Sub La face arri re re oit une entr e st r o input et une sortie st r o apr s fil trage satellite out RCA et XLR ainsi que trois poussoirs pour la mise en service d un filtre fixe 85 Hz pour les satellites le r glage de la phase du subwoofer et du mode d allumage et d extinction auto matique Une t l commande permet les r glages distance de la fr quence du filtre et du niveau sonore du caisson A l coute Nous avons utilis les AS seules puis raccord es au Sub avec filtrage 85 Hz recommand par Adam Audio Seules les A5 produisent un son d une ampleur d une rigueur tonale et d une a ration peu communes au regard de leur taille Le grave est tonnamment articul et sa des cente surprend tel point que la question de l ajout d un caisson pourra se poser Certes l impact subjectif d une frappe de timbale ne prend pas des dimensions r a listes mais l effet ressenti cr e une r elle illus
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