Does size matter?

[Marco]

I guess you've always been a martyr to the cause, eh Tim?

Seriously though, I'm glad that the ADM9s are hitting the spot for you - it's a satisfying feeling when your head's in the right zone, where enjoying music features rather more heavily as an activity than fretting about hi-fi.

Marco.

[tfarney]

Obviously there wasn't a market for A*I 'legacy' equipment or else they would still be making it. Also, the computer speakers must be very profitable.

Agree about the 'giant killing'. They are competent, nothing more.

Actually, they are a good bit more than competent. Are they "giant killers?" That is completely dependent on what you think a giant sounds like. What the 9.1 system is, once you get past Ashley's zealous passion, fueled by his deep disappointment in the "high end" (a disappointment I share, personally), is an extremely clean, transparent DAC/pre combination not unlike the Benchmark, mated to a "good" active monitor/sub system designed to image as well in a room as in the near field.

What pushes them way above competent, in my view, beyond the very demonstrable advantages of active design, is how "good" they are, and they are very, very good. They got there the old fashioned way: Through uncompromising engineering and design. Martin Grinrod, AVi's designer, chose not to buy mass produced (typically class D at this price point) amps, as so many pro monitor manufacturers do. He chose not to purchase mass-produced drivers, even really good ones. Instead, he chose to design the amps and the drivers himself, as a system, and have them manufactured specifically for the 9.1s. Just as he did with the DAC and the preamp. The synergy that results is pretty stunning. Remarkable clarity. Completely unlikely spl levels. Seemingly endless headroom. And a precision of imaging that I haven't encountered in systems at many, many times the price (and in no passive systems, period).

Reading about the design approach is what attracted me to them. What keeps me with them is the sound. With that said, I don't imagine they're for everybody. They have a lean, undramatic presentation that many would call clinical or dry. In a well-treated room, it's like taking the sound of reference headphones and hanging it in the air in front of you, with a remarkably firm, precise instrument placement. If that's not your preference, find something else, and enjoy. But if it is, well, a pair of Adam A7s and a Benchmark Dac1/Pre are not as competent at twice the price. Valves and passive speakers with big drivers? There's no point in trying to compare them. Apples and oranges. I like apples. And as an apple guy, if I had the room for BIG speakers, I'd pass on the vintage horns and modern towers and put a pair of these in my listening room:



Very low on the wife approval factor, but to my ears, at least, they embarrass the biggest Wilsons and Sonus Fabers. YMMV, of course.

Tim

[MartinT]

I manage to soldier through on just 325

what you got then?

Oh - reading further - do you mean the AVIs?

[tfarney]

what you got then?

Oh - reading further - do you mean the AVIs?

Yes. AVi ADM 9.1s. 250 watts for each midbass driver, 75 for each tweeter. I don't have the subs. That adds another 200 watts.

Tim

[Marco]

Hi Tim,

What speakers are those you've posted above? I don't recognise them.

Marco.

[Rare Bird]

Hi Tim,

What speakers are those you've posted above? I don't recognise them.

Marco.

Adam S6A MkII or III

[DSJR]

Agreed. Their 'legacy hi-fi' was always superb in my experience, and offered high SPPV, which is why it puzzles me slightly why they abandoned it completely when clearly there still exists a sizeable market for such equipment, as evidenced by the sales of 100s of other high-end manufacturers currently selling such equipment to enthusiasts all over the world...

I'm sure that their ADM9s are well-designed and do a particular job very well, but they are not the 'giant-killers' purported ad nauseam by Mr James on every Internet site that will host his blinkered agenda.

Marco.

I genuinely believe that Ash feels that the ADM9.1's are better than ANYTHING they did before. I've still not yet heard them, so I must reserve judgement. I do have some N5's though and they're VERY good, continuing the lovely Neutron vibe and p**ing over kans and LS3/5A's for example, if not the Harbeth P3ESR, which is a different kettle of delightful fish altogether

Marco, there may be some wonderful valve amps, turntables and vintage large speakers out there, but they don't count in the real world, as it's only Aspergics like me and like minded vintage audio hobbyists who are going to take any interest in them - and we as a group are still ageing a year every year with a very few climbing on at the bottom of the age range.

LP's will continue as the vintage source of choice, but I daresay that CD will all but die as people either download their digital music or transfer their CD's to a server somewhere in the house and stream from it. NOS valves are becoming very rare indeed now and it's still claimed that modern equivalents aren't as well made. It looks as if techTube have gone as I can't find their website - a real shame IMO..

ADM9.1's would find favour here in, say, Marco's studio (Tannoy Devons were coloured then and certainly now, if huge fun) or in a reasonable sized kitchen/conservatory. They have a clean bass with no boom apparently (yes, even Hamish would adore them, but I suspect he'll never have the pleasure) and I'm sure Neil and I would find that they continue and build upon the legacy left from their previous ranges.

P.S. Marco, I think the 200W mono amp packs are still available at a reasonable price.. Just a thought...........

[Marco]

Andre, I presume that they're pro-monitors of some description?

Dave,

I genuinely believe that Ash feels that the ADM9.1's are better than ANYTHING they did before.

Well if he does, he's kidding himself on and in denial!!

You're probably right about vintage gear, but (new) traditional separates hi-fi Ashy-baby brands as "legacy hi-fi" will outlive him and well beyond, that's for sure!

Marco.

[Rare Bird]

Andre, I presume that they're pro-monitors of some description?

I know what they are

Aye PA Speakers

[Marco]

For some dad-dancing at discos?



Marco.