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Adam S2V Studio Monitor Review

Joachim Herbert

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Hifihedgehog

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What might be the problem there?
I think he's miffed he has to go and buy a 10-euro pair of cables. I have no idea where he is doing his pounds to euros conversion, either.
 
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Joachim Herbert

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Oh boy, sweetheart
 

hardisj

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@pozz sent me this speaker a couple months back to do some additional testing on. Notably, he was curious what the differences between Preset 1 ("Pure") and Preset 2 ("UNR") were. So, I tested the FR differences which you can see below. I would like to conduct full spins but I am overwhelmed and since Amir has already conducted these I think it would be a waste of my time.

First, let me note how the measurements were conducted:
Far-Field measurement approximately 6 feet off the ground (shown below), merged to a near-field measurement (0.5m) at approximately 400hz. Response was measured at the tweeter axis, at 0° horizontal. The volume on the Adam S2V was set to "0". The applied signal for FR was 0.50 Vrms. Unfortunately, I ran out of time to conduct a 2m ground plane measurement to get the true low-frequency shape (the near-field nature causes the bass shape to be elevated). Therefore, I would default to Amir's & Adam's provided results for accuracy below 200hz and advise you to use the below comparison as simply a comparison of differences in response between presets.

Aside from this known nearfield-caused low frequency bump, my results mimic Adam's results quite well. They mimic Amir's above about 500hz where Amir's results show a -3dB shelf-like characteristic below 500hz. We see the same HF rise >4kHz in both Presets. However, we see that Preset 2 has a "smiley face" type curve to it with accentuated LF & HF response. The 2 presets converge only from 2.0 - 2.5kHz. It's interesting to see that Preset 2 also has about a 1.5dB dip from approximately 3-4kHz, compared to Preset 1.

In regards to harmonic distortion measurements, I think these look quite good. Of course, you have the typical low frequency rise in distortion because this is a 5 inch mid/woofer doing 110dB but as a whole, I'm impressed.



IMG_9795.jpg




Adam S2V Preset Comparison (Outdoors 4pi).png







And here are the harmonic distortion sweeps taken at 90dB, 104dB and 110dB @ 1 meter equivalents.

Adam S2V HD @ 90dB 1m.png


Adam S2V HD @ 104dB 1m.png


Adam S2V HD @ 110dB 1m.png
 

pozz

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Thanks @hardisj

I've said this before—this kind of detailed data is industry-moving stuff.

The main thing I find strange is that there is no shelving. I'm not aware of any speaker phenomenon or measurement artefact that would cause one set of measurements to show a very distinct self at ~500Hz and another not other than a DSP setting. I know that @amirm measured the monitor twice, and that the results were the same each time. The predicted in-room response and the window graphs Amir posted are fairly similar to Erin's. Also good to see such low distortion confirmed.

I will write to ADAM and ask them to comment. If anyone has a plausible explanation in the meantime it be helpful.
 

mononoaware

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Interesting the 500hz shelf characteristic doesnt show in hardisj measurements...

Does anyone have any thoughts about this?

I thought maybe there is somekind of "DSP filter" on a timer built-into the speaker.
In professional use during the first hours of ownership there maybe a lot of movement of the monitor's position, plugging/unplugging equipment and also the occasional person tripping on a cable that wasn't there before etc.
So maybe Adam built in this "filter" on a timer (starts count-down from when first plugged in) to protect the speaker due to its high power amplification?
 

jSchultz

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Just how much of an upgrade are these from the mid-range A7X? That's what I've got right now and am skittish on dropping cash on a speaker I can't just walk in and listen to.
 

Alkanshel

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Just how much of an upgrade are these from the mid-range A7X? That's what I've got right now and am skittish on dropping cash on a speaker I can't just walk in and listen to.
Super late reply but I upgraded from A77X and noticed an increase in clarity and instrument separation. The biggest reason for the upgrade was because I wanted to free up space. They are a lot better built as well.
 

Syntactic

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These are selling at $2,275 USD now, up considerably from the $1,750 they were at launch.
 
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