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Adam A4V Monitor Review

Rate this speaker:

  • 1. Poor (headless panther)

    Votes: 25 9.7%
  • 2. Not terrible (postman panther)

    Votes: 141 54.4%
  • 3. Fine (happy panther)

    Votes: 86 33.2%
  • 4. Great (golfing panther)

    Votes: 7 2.7%

  • Total voters
    259

usersky

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Well it is pretty funny how I made it to this thread. I have been looking for some desktop computer speakers for the past 6 months. First I was checking out BestBuy and thinking $150 Edifier pair looks good, but I wonder if there is something better - then found Vanatoo T0 - which led me to this forum - which got me wondering about studio monitors - which let me to iLoud MTM and was about to buy - but then iLoud raised their price $50 to $399. Well I'm already looking at $399 for MTM - hey what are these new Adam Audio A4V for "only" $100 more but no detailed reviews - and then here is a detailed review! I still haven't purchased anything! HAHA.
Stick arround and you will end up buying some Genelecs 10x more expensive than your initial buget :)
 

pierre

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SM_PIR is also low, do to the constant directivity design most audio monitors have (early reflections & PIR being very flat in the midrange and not sloping down).
Hence the caveat up top I have to add for studio monitors.

The NB scores are Narrow-Band, so out of the 14(?) frequency bands used, only 1 is affected by the dip.

Also the F3 is high (56hz) and the speaker is beaming fast. With 3 PKs, then yes score is around 5.1. I am not sure I would EQ the 1kHz error, maybe. I think issues are a lot more on the non flat DI than the narrow dip.

Code:
                     w/EQ
 Score    4.1  5.1
 w/sub    6.4  7.4

filters_eq.png


Code:
EQ for Adam A4V computed from ASR data
Preference Score 4.1 with EQ 5.1
Generated from http://github.com/pierreaubert/spinorama/generate_peqs.py v0.16
Dated: 2022-08-23-09:04:24

Preamp: -4.4 dB

Filter  1: ON PK Fc  1000 Hz Gain +6.44 dB Q 5.99
Filter  2: ON PK Fc  3500 Hz Gain -1.58 dB Q 0.76
Filter  3: ON PK Fc  8976 Hz Gain +0.74 dB Q 3.95
 

behappybevegan

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Strange. Doesn't a 4" driver normally starts beaming much later? Somewhere above 2khz?
 
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behappybevegan

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"I contacted the company and got a nice response back. The dip is indeed due to the port. Good news is that they tell me the rest of the models in the line up do NOT have this issue"

I don't trust their word.
Let them proof it. Send them in for reviews.
 

Thomas_A

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I doubt that such a narrow dip is audible. I would be more concerned by the distortion peaks and the 4 kHz energy peak.
 

PeteL

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There's obviously a good reason its on the front since every measurement states its a bad idea, otherwise. The two most likely reasons are either its cheaper or that there is insufficient room in the rear plate to accommodate it. Taking one apart would probably help answer the why. If I had to guess here it would be the latter since the back of the speaker is quite busy with the controls for the various filters and what not. The engineers obviously know its bad, so there is likely some design trade-off going on. Interestingly if you look at the back of the speaker its likely the ports extend all the way to the back from the IEC connector having to be offset upwards. I'm sure if they tried they could, but my experience as an engineer is that there is often a reason for doing things that appear less than optimal. It could even be down to aesthetics, but I think they look better sans port in the front.

Edit: The front baffle is actually all one piece, so I would not rule out cost-savings or DFM. If its all plastic, that would make sense to put them up front since you can just mold it all in one go, and then the speaker is only three modules to assemble (case, enclosure, and amp). Oddly on this model vs. the one on their website they are separate inserts, so I wonder if Amir was sent a prototype?
adam-audio-a-series-a4v-studio-monitor-front-side-1.jpg
All Adam´s front baffles are MDF, not plastic. They do use a plastic, regular tube for theire back ported cheaper speakers tough. That said I agree with you that there got to be a reason and it's not necessarily pure performance. Marketing for one. Adam stated that it's the only one in the line that have this problem. They probably want the little guy to look like a AxV speaker.
 
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usern

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Level of tweeter hiss is very low and not a concern for me anyway.
How quiet is your listening environment (any AC or other appliances running, street noise)? Would you be able to measure both room background noise level and also tweeter noise at some fixed distance like 10 cm? Would be useful to compare to the Hiss List.
 

DanTheMan

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You did not answer the question. If you unplug 3 of them, do you hear where the bass is coming from? I have been working in audio for 25 years, there is not just one way to a great sounding system, and no, not every one needs 4 subs. 180 Hz cross over is high by any standards. You should also know that there are subs in cardioid configurations, by definition, it’s not omni. What was I « wrong » about? I said a 1k coming out of a port can reflect on hard surfaces, And I said bass in the 100 Hz area can be localised where the source is coming from. You decide to derive the subject about system integration. Focus on the statements I made and explain to me how I’m wrong about those to facts.
I am under no obligation to answer your stupid question(s) to your satisfaction or reconfigure my system so that it doesn’t work in order to satisfy your desires. You must be nuts. If you’ve got 25years in audio and this is where you’re understanding is…. Well it’s not up to me to help you with life or audio. Looks like you are openly demonstrating my point about the pro audio world and its beliefs that make no sense and that’s what offended you in the first place. Sure, anyone can do all sorts of stupid thing to make their playback system sound worse, but that‘s all off topic—and that’s a HUGE topic. My point is about these small front ported speakers I’ve measured and their unwanted side effects to “fix” a problem that doesn’t exist. All these things are ported deeper than the Schroeder frequency and SBIR. The few inches of port placement difference may or may not be a benefit in that regard, but those front facing ports in your face are likely going to be a problem that doesn’t red to exist. It exists because of a belief that makes no sense. That’s where you were dead wrong and I brought a lot of evidence to support my case. You had no evidence and started going through scenarios that didn’t support your case in spite of the fact that you thought they did and that were outside of anything being discussed and demonstrated. You were wrong about your diversions as well, I pointed it out, gave you some links so that you could learn why and you still want to argue and show no evidence that you’ve learned anything. Anyway, I’m done with you as I have better things to do with my life. I’ve given you too much of my time as is. The only thing I’ve been wrong about so far is your wisdom. It’s not going to kick in any time soon. After making the same mistakes over and over again for 25 years, well you know what that’s the definition for. Right?
 

PeteL

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I am under no obligation to answer your stupid question(s) to your satisfaction or reconfigure my system so that it doesn’t work in order to satisfy your desires. You must be nuts. If you’ve got 25years in audio and this is where you’re understanding is…. Well it’s not up to me to help you with life or audio. Looks like you are openly demonstrating my point about the pro audio world and its beliefs that make no sense and that’s what offended you in the first place. Sure, anyone can do all sorts of stupid thing to make their playback system sound worse, but that‘s all off topic—and that’s a HUGE topic. My point is about these small front ported speakers I’ve measured and their unwanted side effects to “fix” a problem that doesn’t exist. All these things are ported deeper than the Schroeder frequency and SBIR. The few inches of port placement difference may or may not be a benefit in that regard, but those front facing ports in your face are likely going to be a problem that doesn’t red to exist. It exists because of a belief that makes no sense. That’s where you were dead wrong and I brought a lot of evidence to support my case. You had no evidence and started going through scenarios that didn’t support your case in spite of the fact that you thought they did and that were outside of anything being discussed and demonstrated. You were wrong about your diversions as well, I pointed it out, gave you some links so that you could learn why and you still want to argue and show no evidence that you’ve learned anything. Anyway, I’m done with you as I have better things to do with my life. I’ve given you too much of my time as is. The only thing I’ve been wrong about so far is your wisdom. It’s not going to kick in any time soon. After making the same mistakes over and over again for 25 years, well you know what that’s the definition for. Right?
Why all this frustration? And why all this hate? Stupid, you must be nut,satisfy my desire, etc. I asked simple questions, you decide not to answer it... OK. But you realise these are tiny desktop speakers right? Do you realise that no one will integrate 4 subs with these? Most will have zero or one... The fact that I can localise a sub with a high crossover point is not a matter of "my level of understanding" it's simply because I experienced it, if you don't feel like trying it it's fine but I know what will be the outcome. I did not say to anyone that they shouldn't stuff their ports or that front ported are better . I am interested to know why back ports don't matter for close to wall mounting, that's all. The link you send me explain why we shouldn't place a speaker close to a front wall. We already agree with that. It says nothing about back port close to a wall. Also please re read the doc about Subwoofer placement. Yes you can localise them if they are off by a large angle or if their crossover is high. It says exactly what I said... I am not the one "making assumption that made no sense", or "got offended", or demonstrared what's wrong with Pro Audio or had a case to support" Didn't even talk about that... I asked a question, you decided to go on a rampage... Chill out. It's a discussion, life is good.
 
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Recluse-Animator

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Could someone explain to me what makes the dip and does it go away if you change the DSP settings?
 

dfuller

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Could someone explain to me what makes the dip and does it go away if you change the DSP settings?
It's a result of the port pipe, and it's not really something you can correct with DSP.
 

pseudoid

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Here’s the difference I measured with stuffing the ports of the ADAM A5X and A3X. The ADAM ARTist5 has the ports in the back and no such issue.
Thanx for the reply/graphs, @ManTheDan,
I am thinking a much-flatter FR trumps few-dB higher SPL, w/such a simple fix AND w/o relying on EQ.
I am also thinking 'stuffing' trumps 'eq'...
How could Adam brain ear-trust not have noticed (and/or overlooked) that notch/dip?
Has active equalization really become the drug-of-choice for what ever ails a speaker and/or its designer?
 

Cars-N-Cans

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All Adam´s front baffles are MDF, not plastic. They do use a plastic, regular tube for theire back ported cheaper speakers tough. That said I agree with you that there got to be a reason and it's not necessarily pure performance. Marketing for one. Adam stated that it's the only one in the line that have this problem. They probably want the little guy to look like a AxV speaker.
If they are CNC routering the entire front baffle like that but still having it look like it’s a separate piece from the rest of the enclosure then it’s possible it still saves a step since the front baffle can be made as one assembly. Or, their tooling may be set up such that it’s easier to simply CNC all of the front baffles with similar features rather than having to put the port in the back. If they are all MDF then they are already doing that to begin with regardless of where the port is. But looking at the line it could just be marketing. It has a distinctly budget look to it since that’s how inexpensive “boom-box” style console speakers look with their molded front baffles with integral ports. Maybe that’s what they feel their customers want to “see“.
 

Thomas savage

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Stick arround and you will end up buying some Genelecs 10x more expensive than your initial buget :)
And if you don't, first thing you will notice is the family pet goes missing , then if you don't comply things escalate further .

Best just buy the odd looking Genelecs I guess , don't upset the hive mind .
 
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