This is a review and detailed measurements of the Adam A4V studio monitor (active DSP speaker). I purchased it new for US $500.
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The look is standard ADAM Audio which is not bad. The build seems rather solid but with very sharp corners past the front face. Back panel shows clearly UI for changing things:
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The momentary switches are easier to manipulate than competing dip switches. There are three "voicing" options. Pure which is anechoic/flat response. UHR which is Adam's own target and "Ext" which is custom. You program that using Ethernet port. I tried to do that only to find out the software won't be ready until next month.
Level of tweeter hiss is very low and not a concern for me anyway.
Here are the specifications:
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Measurements that you are about to see were performed using the Klippel Near-field Scanner (NFS). This is a robotic measurement system that analyzes the speaker all around and is able (using advanced mathematics and dual scan) to subtract room reflections (so where I measure it doesn't matter). It also measures the speaker at close distance ("near-field") which sharply reduces the impact of room noise. Both of these factors enable testing in ordinary rooms yet results that can be more accurate than an anechoic chamber. In a nutshell, the measurements show the actual sound coming out of the speaker independent of the room.
Likewise listening tests comply with the latest research into proper evaluation of speakers calling for mono, instead of stereo listening:
Documentation is not clear about reference axis. By experimentation, I arrived at a point between the borders of midwoofer and tweeter.
Adam A4V Measurements
It is not often that we start with a clear aberration in frequency response:
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That disturbs an otherwise good response with a bit of treble boost. The cause of the dip appears to be interference coming out of the front port:
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We can visualize this using our 3-D speaker dispersion at the offending 1 kHz and points before and after:
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You can see how at 1 kHz the bottom is extended indicating energy coming from the port, causing a cancellation at our reference axis (red arrow).
This naturally translates into both early reflections and predicted in-room response:
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Power handling was excellent at 86 dBSPL. But I could hear and we can see distortions at 96 dBSPL:
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The larger tweeter (than typical cone ones) starts to "beam" (narrow its response) above 8 kHz or so:
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Vertically we have our usual mess with 2-way speakers with a bit more thrown in for good measure:
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Our CSD/waterfall measurement tells us what we already know as far as resonances:
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Finally here is the step response for fans of this measurement:
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ADAM A4V Listening Tests and Equalization
First impression was positive and it was not until I listened more/applied EQ that I appreciated the extra brightness. So I applied three filters:
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The first two are quite narrow so audibility impact is very small (or imagined). I thought that filling that 1 kHz trough made the sound a bit less bright. The biggest difference naturally came from the broad filter #2. That needs to be adjusted to taste. Without it, the sound appears to be "higher resolution/detailed" but with female vocals it, I did not care about the way it exaggerated some sounds.
Dynamics/power capability was excellent. I could listen quite loud and most of the time not hear any distortion. When there was some, it was grittiness that set in quite gently. Considering that I listen to only one speaker, you should be in very good situation using them in desktop application (how I tested it).
Conclusions
Adam manages to make a 4 inch speaker sound good. Not always an easy task as far as power handling. There is an unfortunate cancellation due to front facing ports. Wish they were in the back. Or some fill material to dampen it. Fortunately audibility impact is almost non-existent due to its narrowness. Default voicing is a bit bright both in measurements and my listening tests. Possible that if you placed it higher up, it would not be so.
Power is optimized quite well to produce what it can well, and filter out what it cannot (deep bass). Nicely done.
Overall, I am going to recommend the Adam A4V monitor speaker.
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