ADAM Audio D3V specs price ?

[kyuu]

For anyone who owns these - can you tell me the thread size for mounting at the bottom of the speakers? Kind of crucial info for a perspective buyer but Adam's website sucks, barely any information and you need to register just to download a manual.

Eh? I didn't have to register. Try this:

https://www.adam-audio.com/content/uploads/2025/05/adam-audio-d3v-desktop-monitor-user-manual-english.pdf

Relevant bit is here:

 

[DWPress]

Thank you!

 

[DWPress]

Sorry, another question not answered online or manual. How much do these weigh? Specs say 7 pounds but I'm thinking they're maybe 4-3.5lb each.

I'm asking because the mounts I'd like to use top out at 4.5lbs. These will be a great replacement for the Presonus Eris 3.5 I use at my desk, the size is my biggest limiting factor.

 

[kyuu]

I have not put them on a scale. However, I believe the way the weight is being listed is weird: the 7 pounds and change is for probably for both speakers. BH Photo Video explicitly lists the weight as "each" and it says 4 pounds. That jives with what I'd estimate.

 

[DWPress]

Thanks again!

 

[Froghawk]

I totally understand. There is still no replacement for displacement.
However the D3V with an 8 inch Subwoofer will probably outperform the T5V in almost every aspect.
I say almost because if you want specifically the Kick bass (the punch in the chest area kind of Bass) properties of music you need a minimum size for the woofer as it is an area a subwoofer cannot cover as it goes higher than 200-300 hz. In this case your only solution is a 5+ inch woofer. The woofer of the D3V is too small for this. You need a woofer
that can move a lot of air at once. That can only be done through big cone area or big excursion. However a small woofer with long excursion still cannot sound as tight as a bigger membrane when it comes to modelling kick drums as long throw woofers especially in small sizes tend to become heavy thus being more „draggy“
in their speed. Its a vicious circle.

It depends how you set them up. On a desk against a wall, sitting on a mouse pad, even with all the EQ settings fully engaged, I still find the kick punch TOO big! It easily outdoes my 8in monitors! Up on a stand at the proper height, however, this effect disappears.

Really impressive phantom center on these things, too, wow...

 

[stormylolol]

Hi gang!
Have read all the pages so far and it has been extremely informative - thank you all very much.

I guess I am just looking for an OK/go ahead with my purchase of these as a first set of studio monitors/desktop speakers, priced at ~£140-£160 per pair.
Unfortunately my room is essentially a cube ~2.6*2.6m. I produce hip hop/boom bap and currently have my laptop hooked up to an amp driving some wharfdale diamond hi-fi speakers, which are absolutely dreadful for translation. The room is currently untreated but its quite cluttered full of crap, double bed opposite takes up a little less than half of the floor space/nearly all of the length, bookshelves either side of my desk, a large stack of cardboard boxes in the back RHS corner relative to the desk, and curtain going across the whole RHS wall. Not opposed to doing some DIY treatment in future but with work and likelihood of moving flat relatively soon im not sure how quickly if/it may happen.

These look a great size and have glowing recommendations, especially for the price. I think if i put them on some isolating pads on my current speakers it might bring them to perfect head-level and would be close enough to my head for the near-field utility. I never play my music loud/above conversation level so distortion at higher levels is not a concern. It would also allow for easy A/B speaker comparisons amongst other things and means I dont have to get rid of my current speakers.

Can anybody think of any compelling reason as to why I should NOT go for these speakers? I understand larger may = better but I am fearful of spending closer to £200-250 and having little benefit in something like the Kali lp6 based on my current room setup (i.e a glass ceiling for getting the most from larger monitors), and it would likely mean displacing my current speakers out of the room based on space. My projects are by no means a professional endeavour but it would be nice to be able to release my stuff for listening happily in the car/headphones with more accuracy and less back and forth with my current hi-fi speakers.

Many thanks

 

[kyuu]

If you are size and budget constrained I really can't think of a better option than the D3V. They certainly aren't the last word in desktop monitors, but IMO you have to be willing to sacrifice a lot more cash and desktop space to get a significant improvement. And that improvement is mostly going to be bass extension and SPL capability.

 

[madwolfa]

No good reason. They're fantastic.

 

[somebodyelse]

You don't say which Diamonds you have, but the measurements of the models we've seen so far are reasonably neutral:
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...e-12-1-bookshelf-speaker-review-by-eac.36598/
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...wharfedale-diamond-12-1-review-speaker.26780/
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...dale-diamond-220-budget-speaker-review.16752/
Unless yours are significantly different I'd suggest your translation problems are down to the room and the speaker placement within it, not the speakers. There's not a lot wrong with the D3Vs within their limitations, but I suspect they wouldn't give you much of an improvement if used in the same place as the Diamonds. You'd probably be better off investing in a measurement mic to identify and deal with the room issues. The MiniDSP UMIK-1 us often recommended because of its easy integration with REW, but if you've got an audio interface anyway there are cheaper alternatives - Dayton and Behringer for example.

 

[stormylolol]

You don't say which Diamonds you have, but the measurements of the models we've seen so far are reasonably neutral:
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...e-12-1-bookshelf-speaker-review-by-eac.36598/
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...wharfedale-diamond-12-1-review-speaker.26780/
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...dale-diamond-220-budget-speaker-review.16752/
Unless yours are significantly different I'd suggest your translation problems are down to the room and the speaker placement within it, not the speakers. There's not a lot wrong with the D3Vs within their limitations, but I suspect they wouldn't give you much of an improvement if used in the same place as the Diamonds. You'd probably be better off investing in a measurement mic to identify and deal with the room issues. The MiniDSP UMIK-1 us often recommended because of its easy integration with REW, but if you've got an audio interface anyway there are cheaper alternatives - Dayton and Behringer for example.

Apologies for not specifying - They're Diamond 3s... Trusty and honest but 1989 hifi tech nonetheless . I believe the neutrality has come a fair bit since mine were released.

No doubt I am having issues with speaker placement as well. I started to look a few days ago but honestly got slightly overwhelmed with all the negativity surrounding small cuboid rooms and didnt get too far into my reading. Ill go back to it and see if there is much I can do. I appreciate your recommendations.
The rear ported diamond 3s are quite close to the wall, with a corner on one side which probably accounts for a lot of my issues so I'll have to see how I can manage with them pulled forward next time im at the flat. That was partly the reason I had been focusing on the front-ported LP6s as a comparator to the D3V, especially with them being used at lower volumes I had been under the impression I'd be getting less reflections and dead spots bouncing around the room.

 

[kyuu]

The rear ported diamond 3s are quite close to the wall, with a corner on one side which probably accounts for a lot of my issues so I'll have to see how I can manage with them pulled forward next time im at the flat. That was partly the reason I had been focusing on the front-ported LP6s as a comparator to the D3V, especially with them being used at lower volumes I had been under the impression I'd be getting less reflections and dead spots bouncing around the room.

Port position has little to no effect on reflections and no effect on "dead spots" (I can only assume these would be nulls due to room modes or SBIR). The sound is radiated omnidirectionally at the frequencies at which ports operate. The only rule for ports is to leave enough room away from the boundary for them to work properly, and that's just the diameter of the port so typically a couple of inches is plenty. Front ports can result in more apparent chuffing or other port noise since they are pointed toward you.

 

[stormylolol]

Port position has little to no effect on reflections and no effect on "dead spots" (I can only assume these would be nulls due to room modes or SBIR). The sound is radiated omnidirectionally at the frequencies at which ports operate. The only rule for ports is to leave enough room away from the boundary for them to work properly, and that's just the diameter of the port so typically a couple of inches is plenty. Front ports can result in more apparent chuffing or other port noise since they are pointed toward you.

Sorry, I’m not too technically aquatinted with the most appropriate terminology so I’ll try and rephrase my thoughts better.

I believe my initial thought train was rear port causing sbir and smearing if reflecting off a desk when too close to the wall/a corner, hence front port the sound comes directly to me without this phenomenon.
If I have understood correctly these reflections also cause standing waves which may be contributing to my issues, which is why bass traps would be ideal in the corners.

The dead spot comment was because I had read that lower volumes from smaller speakers may cause less standing wave reflections off the walls and such behind me, leading to smaller probability of having nodes set up around the room.
My understanding of physics is rather elementary but I just googled and a 50Hz sound wave has a wavelength of 6.86m with a drop of ~9dB after about 2.5m. According to these calculations I therefore now believe this point is absolute nonsense and there will be significant low frequency reflections regardless of whether I’m playing at a whisper or conversation levels from my small speaker - would that conclusion be correct?

 

[somebodyelse]

You can get a fair idea of the room modes using the room simulation in REW - dial in the room dimensions and the placement of your speakers and listening position. That will show you the peaks and troughs in response that you can treat with traps and/or tame a bit with EQ. It'll also give you an idea of the frequency where you move from the response being dominated by room modes to the response being dominated by the speaker's direct output. As a general rule below that frequency you can dial down the peaks with some PEQ, but don't try to boost the dips. Above that frequency you should generally EQ based on speaker anechoic frequency response, assuming it's necessary.

As I said before there's not a lot wrong with the D3V, at least within the limitations of a speaker that small. Erin's review makes the limitations clear in terms of distortion and compression when pushing them to high volumes - if that's what you need then something bigger like the LP6 would be better.

 

[kyuu]

I believe my initial thought train was rear port causing sbir and smearing if reflecting off a desk when too close to the wall/a corner, hence front port the sound comes directly to me without this phenomenon.

This is incorrect. Again, at the frequencies we are talking about there is no directionality to the sound. It is radiated omnidirectionally. It doesn't matter if the port is on the back, side, front, top, or bottom. Won't change anything with regards to SBIR.

If I have understood correctly these reflections also cause standing waves which may be contributing to my issues, which is why bass traps would be ideal in the corners.

In the lowest octaves (under 100Hz) what you are doing with is room modes. Bass traps are unlikely to help much, you need EQ/room correction.

The dead spot comment was because I had read that lower volumes from smaller speakers may cause less standing wave reflections off the walls and such behind me, leading to smaller probability of having nodes set up around the room.
My understanding of physics is rather elementary but I just googled and a 50Hz sound wave has a wavelength of 6.86m with a drop of ~9dB after about 2.5m. According to these calculations I therefore now believe this point is absolute nonsense and there will be significant low frequency reflections regardless of whether I’m playing at a whisper or conversation levels from my small speaker - would that conclusion be correct?

Lowering the volume will reduce the magnitude of the signal and therefore the magnitude of peaks/dips due to SBIR or room modes will be also be reduced. It won't change anything with regards to the existence or pattern of the SBIR or room modes.

For SBIR, the best positioning for the speaker is actually as close to the rear boundary as possible. This also results in reinforcement of the bass frequencies and can contribute to the whole "boomy, one-note" bass problem. Best to address this the same way we address room modes: EQ/room correction.

 

[lewdish]

Hi gang!
Have read all the pages so far and it has been extremely informative - thank you all very much.

I guess I am just looking for an OK/go ahead with my purchase of these as a first set of studio monitors/desktop speakers, priced at ~£140-£160 per pair.
Unfortunately my room is essentially a cube ~2.6*2.6m. I produce hip hop/boom bap and currently have my laptop hooked up to an amp driving some wharfdale diamond hi-fi speakers, which are absolutely dreadful for translation. The room is currently untreated but its quite cluttered full of crap, double bed opposite takes up a little less than half of the floor space/nearly all of the length, bookshelves either side of my desk, a large stack of cardboard boxes in the back RHS corner relative to the desk, and curtain going across the whole RHS wall. Not opposed to doing some DIY treatment in future but with work and likelihood of moving flat relatively soon im not sure how quickly if/it may happen.

These look a great size and have glowing recommendations, especially for the price. I think if i put them on some isolating pads on my current speakers it might bring them to perfect head-level and would be close enough to my head for the near-field utility. I never play my music loud/above conversation level so distortion at higher levels is not a concern. It would also allow for easy A/B speaker comparisons amongst other things and means I dont have to get rid of my current speakers.

Can anybody think of any compelling reason as to why I should NOT go for these speakers? I understand larger may = better but I am fearful of spending closer to £200-250 and having little benefit in something like the Kali lp6 based on my current room setup (i.e a glass ceiling for getting the most from larger monitors), and it would likely mean displacing my current speakers out of the room based on space. My projects are by no means a professional endeavour but it would be nice to be able to release my stuff for listening happily in the car/headphones with more accuracy and less back and forth with my current hi-fi speakers.

Many thanks

Imo if your on a desk and nearfield only for production i think the Adams are probably among the cream of the crop. I really enjoy them loudness isnt an issue at this distance its plenty loud. Bass is plentiful they do go low and the imaging if great. I think the response is even better than the Kalis and the ability to tweak the response is amazing for many rooms

 

[stormylolol]

Thanks for the responses all.

I’ve done a little more reading and think I’m mildly concerned about the low volume low pass filter issue which is apparently ongoing after firmware 1.7.
I know some people have said it is totally fixed but I think for peace of mind I might end up going with the Kali lp unf with 3yr warranty.

Theres a second hand pair of lp6 which are very tempting and almost half the price of the lp unf new but as it’s my first pair I’m thinking maybe just easiest to go with brand new from guitar guitar.
I can get the d3v down to £140 with a partial trade in but yeah quite up in the air just now… have heard about the trick with a 22kHz note playing but doesn’t seem ideal

Cheers

 

[lewdish]

Thanks for the responses all.

I’ve done a little more reading and think I’m mildly concerned about the low volume low pass filter issue which is apparently ongoing after firmware 1.7.
I know some people have said it is totally fixed but I think for peace of mind I might end up going with the Kali lp unf with 3yr warranty.

Theres a second hand pair of lp6 which are very tempting and almost half the price of the lp unf new but as it’s my first pair I’m thinking maybe just easiest to go with brand new from guitar guitar.
I can get the d3v down to £140 with a partial trade in but yeah quite up in the air just now… have heard about the trick with a 22kHz note playing but doesn’t seem ideal

Cheers

That issue is fixed out of box if you flash the firmware, I had the same issue on mine and the new firmware patched it

 

[stormylolol]

That issue is fixed out of box if you flash the firmware, I had the same issue on mine and the new firmware patched it

Is there one more recent than 1.7?

 

[lewdish]

Is there one more recent than 1.7?

No 1.7 is the most recent, they only ever had 1 need to patch anything and it was the low signal issue, i dont exhibit any other issues, been using mine for a few months now. The build quality is good and the sound is good. Personally i think its a lot stronger than the Kalis in its price bracket. If you want to find out what firmware it is you can download the firmware updater and it will tell you / automatically update it to the latest one.