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Adam A5X Review (Powered Studio Monitor)
- Thread starter amirm
- Start date
Fortunately, no. The front panel is plastic pleasant to the touch, the sides are wood, the back panel is metal.
Thank you.
RFox
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- Jul 25, 2019
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I have a pair of A5Xs and a Sub7 (2.1 config) - for a few years now. I really enjoy the near-field monitor experience!! Just changed out my Fiio E09K/E17 DAC/AMP for a Topping D70s as pre-amp/DAC and must say I'm quite happy. Does take some tweaking to get the "right" sound / crossover - messing with Hi/Low Shelf controls - and the JET Tweeters are TOP - but without the Sub7 the A5Xs would be missing the punchy deep bass (I like it tight!) 
Cheers!
Cheers!I have mine for over 10 years now. I clean the case regularly with mild soap. They still look brand new today.
These are very good speakers. They are very picky on what DAC or streamer you are using though. They easily expose faults in your chain and reveal wonderful sound if using the right match. I have tried so many DACs in the past but they are amazing when paired with Chord TT2 and M-Scaler. Music just floats around with startling transparency. They are excellent with modern delta-sigma DACs too. I have not tried them with R2R.
I also have the Neumann KH120 but imaging and transparency is more diffused so I left those as my room bookshelf speakers.
Cons on the Adam is the toggle power on/off switch. Mine broke after 10 years although the buttons have been hardly used. Good thing though, they can easily be replaced with higher quality Bulgin switches.
Yeah, I do like them on my desktop. They're my L+R in my little 5.1 setup.
Hi, I bought these speakers as a replacement for the Fluid F5, but one thing bothers me - they cause me a headache. It is weird.
Does anyone have a headache from these speakers?
I read somewhere that it can be caused by a tweeter with a high frequency - in this case it is above the average frequency of 50 kHz.
Does anyone have a headache from these speakers?
I read somewhere that it can be caused by a tweeter with a high frequency - in this case it is above the average frequency of 50 kHz.
It means your other components are not a good match - DAC, cables, streamers. If using USB, make sure there is galvanic isolation. That’s the biggest impact in my case to cause harsh sounding speakers. There is no need to dial down the high shelf adjustment at the back of the speakers if the rest of the components are a good match.
That's the trait of these speakers. They will reveal weakness along your chain. Are they new? If yes, give them time to break-in.
I have mine over 10 yrs now. I used several combinations of DAC, steamers, cables, reconditioners, reclockers, etc. I quit on them so I purchased the KH120 and 3080 but went back to the A5X after upgrading the rest of my system. I know this is not the ideal case. Start with the source and upgrade all up to the speakers to achieve your ideal sound signature but I went the other way because the upgrade cycle of speakers is longer compared to the other components.
I have mine over 10 yrs now. I used several combinations of DAC, steamers, cables, reconditioners, reclockers, etc. I quit on them so I purchased the KH120 and 3080 but went back to the A5X after upgrading the rest of my system. I know this is not the ideal case. Start with the source and upgrade all up to the speakers to achieve your ideal sound signature but I went the other way because the upgrade cycle of speakers is longer compared to the other components.
That could be because they trend a bit bright - that can be fatiguing.
I highly doubt it's any of this, though:
Ok, thanks for your opinios. I don't think my sensitivity to the tweeter will go away, so I would like to ask if there is a comparable alternative with minimal hissing in A5X price range? Kali IN-5 look like a good alternative, but I'm afraid of hissing...
Having heard IN-5s and A5X's (not at the same time, and in different rooms, but within a couple of days - so do with this what you will!) my thoughts around these issues would be: It struck me I'd get ear fatigue quicker on the A5X than the IN-5. Not sure if that translates to your sensitivity, but the A5X definitely felt less "warm" than the IN-5. Not sure if the FR plots confirm that?
I'd guess the A5X is flatter but the IN-5 handled LF better (IN-5 being a cheaper cabinet, but better designed port and a better driver would be my guess)
Hiss didn't bother me on either. Couldn't tell you if the IN-5 was noisier, as it didn't even cross my mind.
So although it's not without issue, I'd personally choose the IN-5 over the A5X for most use cases.
Also for what it's worth, if the hiss on the original v1 IN-8 is anything to go by, that had a warm character to it, not an aggressive sizzle that got in your ears.
I'd guess the A5X is flatter but the IN-5 handled LF better (IN-5 being a cheaper cabinet, but better designed port and a better driver would be my guess)
Hiss didn't bother me on either. Couldn't tell you if the IN-5 was noisier, as it didn't even cross my mind.
So although it's not without issue, I'd personally choose the IN-5 over the A5X for most use cases.
Also for what it's worth, if the hiss on the original v1 IN-8 is anything to go by, that had a warm character to it, not an aggressive sizzle that got in your ears.
Two more things I could say: (1) It sounds like I'm being down on the A5X, but I was generally really impressed with them! Having read a lot of people being a bit down on the Ax range in subjective listening, I expected to hear problems that I really didn't. (2) the point source thing of the co-incident MF/HF on the Kalis seems very real and effective to me. Particularly in very nearfield application. Maybe there's other reasons too, but whatever, with my eyes closed the Kali's imaging and phantom centre etc just felt great for a speaker at any price point, nevermind a more budget oriented one.
Can any coat on woofer cone would improve the sloppy-ness (rigidity/fill the pores)thus sound quality?
KSTR
Major Contributor
@Ashoka,
Unless the coating is very hard and brittle and contains some long and strong fibres, a coating might improve damping but won't do much for stiffness. At any rate it will change break-up, frequency response and Thiele/Small parameters, ending up with a skewed response if not corrected in the electronics. You basically have a different woofer now. And even when corrected, it's still a gamble. Sound quality, both measured and perceived, may or may not improve overall.
Unless the coating is very hard and brittle and contains some long and strong fibres, a coating might improve damping but won't do much for stiffness. At any rate it will change break-up, frequency response and Thiele/Small parameters, ending up with a skewed response if not corrected in the electronics. You basically have a different woofer now. And even when corrected, it's still a gamble. Sound quality, both measured and perceived, may or may not improve overall.
@KSTR Gamble because driver specified DSP in amp?
Today, I listened to Adam F5, everything OK but not tight Bass.
How active speaker give same SQ if class A/B heats up air around driver?
How active speaker metal back cabinet resonance affect.
How active speaker like KEF LS50 W, Audio engine, edifier can claim audiophile quality when Left houses amp section in same lite cabinet and other is free?
Today, I listened to Adam F5, everything OK but not tight Bass.
How active speaker give same SQ if class A/B heats up air around driver?
How active speaker metal back cabinet resonance affect.
How active speaker like KEF LS50 W, Audio engine, edifier can claim audiophile quality when Left houses amp section in same lite cabinet and other is free?
Last edited:
KSTR
Major Contributor
Ehm, no. What I meant to say is:
- when you coat the woofer it's different woofer now and will behave differently in number of ways.
- you can measure frequency response (of the raw woofer) before and after coating, and there likely will be a difference. This difference can be eliminated by changing the electronics (which are all analog, in the F5). After that you have a speaker that is nominally identical and will sound extremely similar if not identical.
- Nonetheless, the "fine print" in the sound may be slightly different, properties like perceived resolution and detail but also measured things like off-axis response. The point is, it is not clear, and not easy to predict, if the change will result in better sound quality or not, or even stayed the same. That's why I wrote it's a gamble.
There is a small switch on the back panel which engages an 80Hz HighPass Filter, to be used in conjunction with a subwoofer, did you note that switch?
If that was set accidently to the 80Hz position (vs. "Fullrange") then bass is weak on purpose.
Generally speaking, I would say:
1) Not a big problem. It does change the driver parameters a bit but it just is an insignificant part compared to the voice coil itself heating up. In real long term use with very high levels in a generally warm/hot environment, external amplifiers might help a little to increase the allowable heat dissipation in the voice coil.
2) If the electronics are mounted in a clever way it makes the back plate much more rigid, so again not a real problem.
3) The volume taken by the electronics usually isn't that large that it makes a real difference. And when there is a significant difference, I would think the better products will have the needed compensation in their electronics. Of course, when not measuring both speakers we just don't know if there is more difference than than normal item-to-item difference (plus measurement uncertainity).
I just got this speaker yesterday. Previous or other product is the Presonus E3.5 to compare against. So far I really like the Adam Audio.
pros: really full sound and you can crank it up without fatiguing the ears with these tweeters.
cons: the treble is slightly rolled off as a few people have mentioned and it could be the speaker cable, some other factor but I definitely lost the sibilant nature of the Presonus 3.5 silk dome tweeter that made violin music really shine. Had to crank up the treble and down the bass very slightly for room correction. So far I prefer the Presonus / silk dome tweeter for violin music or a little harsher sibilance.
Someone made the comment about background hissing. You will get a little bit of that if you leave the gain at reference level (turn the knob to the middle). To fix it, just don't turn the gain up high. I leave mine around 9:30 clock position and there is absolutely no hissing.
Have a Topping D90 MQA on the way and will experiment with some silver coated cables to tweak the sound a little bit.
pros: really full sound and you can crank it up without fatiguing the ears with these tweeters.
cons: the treble is slightly rolled off as a few people have mentioned and it could be the speaker cable, some other factor but I definitely lost the sibilant nature of the Presonus 3.5 silk dome tweeter that made violin music really shine. Had to crank up the treble and down the bass very slightly for room correction. So far I prefer the Presonus / silk dome tweeter for violin music or a little harsher sibilance.
Someone made the comment about background hissing. You will get a little bit of that if you leave the gain at reference level (turn the knob to the middle). To fix it, just don't turn the gain up high. I leave mine around 9:30 clock position and there is absolutely no hissing.
Have a Topping D90 MQA on the way and will experiment with some silver coated cables to tweak the sound a little bit.
A couple more days of fiddling around with this speaker and here is a report of my fiddling:
1) I moved the speaker another 3 to 4 inches away from my wall and that improved the sound quite a bit. I suspect the reason the Presonus silk dome tweeter initially sounded better is because of the desk reflection causing midrange frequency bump. With the Adam Audio A5X, you really need to get this speaker far away from the backwall to prevent midrange bump.
2) Definitely need to fiddle around with the room correction settings in the back unless you have the perfect room. So far, tweeter setting is turned up 1 notch, while mid is turned down 1 notch and bass is down 2 notches.
Hope this information helps anyone looking at this speaker.
1) I moved the speaker another 3 to 4 inches away from my wall and that improved the sound quite a bit. I suspect the reason the Presonus silk dome tweeter initially sounded better is because of the desk reflection causing midrange frequency bump. With the Adam Audio A5X, you really need to get this speaker far away from the backwall to prevent midrange bump.
2) Definitely need to fiddle around with the room correction settings in the back unless you have the perfect room. So far, tweeter setting is turned up 1 notch, while mid is turned down 1 notch and bass is down 2 notches.
Hope this information helps anyone looking at this speaker.
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