Have your say & ask the experts

Well, just as the title says, today I travelled for 1,5 hours to listen to the ADM 9.1 These AVI speakers are active powered , with DAC built in. Costs: 1125 for the speakers, 750 extra for the sub. Apparently a cable connecting the speakers together comes for free, the Toslink cable needs to be bought separately. On first glance a great system for anyone embracing a mac/pc based hifi system.

I listened to them connected to an apple tv, which was a nice plus, as I could see the apple tv in action (I have a mac mini myself). My first impression of them was that they sounded very clear. The midrange, voices and instruments are easy to follow. So much so I could easily place the drums, guitars, piano and the singers when playing "Genius loves Company" by Ray Charles, as if they were playing between the speakers. Detail is very good. The ringing of the bells on AC/DC's Hells bells can be picked out of the music with ease. The high notes are very much noticable when playing. In fact, after two hours of listening, with and without the sub, I decided to turn up the sub a notch as I found the sound lacking in body. With this I mean I found instruments to a certain extent and voices in particular a little lean. A second -very minor- critisism is that the ADM 9.1 sound best when playing music with just a few instruments and one singer. They seem to portray a little more congested picture when playing music like AC/DC and other (well recorded) rock-music. Like I said, it's nothing major, but it is noticible.

I had nothing to criticize the sub on though. It's fast and pounds when necessary (Missy Elliot you rock!). All in all a very, very, very -did I already mention that?- good system. Excellent at displaying an accurate musical image, sounding very clear with almost anything that's thrown at it. Is this a giant killer? Could well be. If, in time, I can get used to that lean sound I will buy them.

 

Thanks for sharing. Do they excite with ACDC or are they a bit polite...?

Do you know, do both speakers require a mains connection...?

And just forr the sake of asking, what length of cable do you get to connect them...?

Hi, I own the AVIs so I can answer this Al

 

Both speakers are indeed plugged into the mains. The lead supplied to connect is rather long, about 3-4m I think.

To OP - yes they do have a dry, lean, fast sound. They will not suit everyone's tastes but I think the sheer value for money of these cannot be argued.

Cheers.

Talking in broad terms, when I first heard an active loudspeaker I too could have called them lean.

My musician friend, who owned the pair laughed and said I was simply used to different (domestic HiFi) sound. He explained to me the technical details of active loudspeakers - for example, the power amplifier is connected directly to the drive unit and therefore the sound is more tight and controlled, and that the crossover results in much less distortion.

He managed to convince me that the active loudspeaker was not lean but in fact correct, and the dosmetic HiFi loudspeakers I was used to were less controlled and a bit coloured. Having read up a lot since and listen to his Mackies (?) more, I would tend to agree.

It leaves me in limbo some what because now I hear "normal"  speakers to be a bit boomy and less clear, but I can't have his studio monitors in the living room. I do wish there were more domestic options available.

In regards to the music you listened to I would have to say that ACDC or many rock recordings are simply a bit brash. When I demo loudspeakers I tend to listen to a solo piano, something with spoken male voice, and then stringed instruments - perhaps a trio or quintet. My reasoning is that these instruments are a true reference point and if the HiFi can reproduce them well then it will stand a good chance with everything else. There is no reference in rock or pop, so if some albums don't sound great I tend not to worry.

Edward

It would be interesting to hear how these compare with the Active AE22's (£800). Group test anyone...?!

The scary fact is that the damping factor of an Active speaker, or amount of control there is over the Bass driver, is one hundred times better than a good modern amp like Cambridge Audio connected to a passive one, but that it can be as much as one thousand when compared to some old fashioned solid state amps or valves. This is because the crossover in a passive speaker is between the amp and the drive unit, but before it in an active design.

Passive crossovers also introduce a lot of distortion, it's about 1 % but an active one will be 0.001% if it's done properly. This gets rid of a lots of fuzziness and makes active speakers leaner and cleaner, but it's a big difference and it takes time to adjust to such a dramatic reduction in distortion.

Active Speakers aren't all better than passive though, they differ as much as passive ones do and some are quite poor, therefore you need to listen to a few and get to grips with them before you decide which to go for. I'd argue that ours are innovative and much better than most.

Ash

al7478:

Thanks for sharing. Do they excite with ACDC or are they a bit polite...?

You're welcome. IME these speakers definately excite. I would never call them polite- they rock.

Superaintit:

al7478:

Thanks for sharing. Do they excite with ACDC or are they a bit polite...?

You're welcome. IME these speakers definately excite. I would never call them polite- they rock.

What if (like me) you enjoy moderate -> low volumes in a small-medium sized room and prefer material that does not benefit from huge gobs of dynamic 'slam'?

I tend to avoid that "nail you to the wall" type of presentation. I enjoy detail and space and a non-fatiguing sound that can be listened to comfortably for hours (especially when I am working).

chebby:

Superaintit:

al7478:

Thanks for sharing. Do they excite with ACDC or are they a bit polite...?

You're welcome. IME these speakers definately excite. I would never call them polite- they rock.

What if (like me) you enjoy moderate -> low volumes in a small-medium sized room and prefer material that does not benefit from huge gobs of dynamic 'slam'? I tend to avoid that "nail you to the wall" type of presentation. I enjoy detail and space and a non-fatiguing sound that can be listened to comfortably for hours (especially when I am working).

Hi Chebby,

I listened to some -not a lot- easy listening music like Ray Charles and Candy Dulfer. Both were very life like. Candy Dulfer's saxophone was especially good.

Overall, the sound was IME "attention grabbing". Not 'nail you to the walls" but also not easy listening, background music. The treble in these speakers is so very clear, and the slam/dynamics -when present on the recording- quite evident. To be honest I'm not completely sure that I would be able to work and listen to them at once. I should also tell you I haven't really focussed on easy listening music during my listening session, as in my experience this is quite easy to reproduce.

In short: if you want to find out if they suit your taste, you really have to hear them with your own ears.

EDIT: I listened to the speakers in a small room.(my guess would be 4 X 3,50, maybe 4 x4, meters)There was a large sliding door plus window to the right of my listening position; I sat on a bench right against the wall that faced the speakers.The speakers were set in 'free space', with the sub between them.

I doubt these would suit then. Sometimes my system is on for 12 hours or more and needs to cope with everything from Reggae and Ska to big-band and jazz and classical.

It would need to sound good if the wife is listening to 'The Archers' omnibus on BBC iPlayer or I am watching 'The Sopranos' or listening to Radio Paradise.

Good performance at 'Neighbour friendly' volumes and adaptability to a wide range of material is essential.

It sounds from this review (and other good reviews I have read by other contributors) that the ADM9.1s are great for heavy metal/rock/grunge etc at loud volumes.

chebby:

I doubt these would suit then. Sometimes my system is on for 12 hours or more and needs to cope with everything from Reggae and Ska to big-band and jazz and classical. It would need to sound good if the wife is listening to 'The Archers' omnibus on BBC iPlayer or I am watching 'The Sopranos' or listening to Radio Paradise. Good performance at 'Neighbour friendly' volumes and adaptability to a wide range of material is essential. It sounds from this review (and other good reviews I have read by other contributors) that the ADM9.1s are great for heavy metal/rock/grunge etc at loud volumes.

I would like to add that they also sound very good with well recorded jazz and blues. I could even advocate for them being better at this sort of music than rock/hip hop.The thing is IME they will grab your attention while they play, even at lowish volumes. This means for me that I wouldn't be able to let them play in the background while I had to focus on something else.

I have read extremely good things about the AVI Neutron V (and IV) speakers and even considered trying to get to hear them somewhere against a pair of LS3/5A or S5/3R type speakers. Problem is finding any stockists.

The ADM9.1s would probably suit a friend of mine who loves his (mostly rock) music loud via his DacMagic/Primare i30/JM Focal 726 Chorus system. I have even recommended a few times that he try to hear them. (Again no local stockists.)

AVI customers include Geoffrey Burgon who wrote amongst other things the music for Brideshead Revisited and Misha Scora who runs various Classical music Master Classes. You'll see this in our website.

The goal is always neutrality and if we've managed to reduce distortion as we say we have, then we'll be more neutral and better for all types of music including Classical and my collection of about six hundred CDs. But Dave Gilmour, James Guthrie and Eric Clapton have bought AVI too.

Chebby - It's time you came and saw us and heard the speakers. Then you could speak with knowledge of the product.

Ash

PS. I just remembered they are also in use in Studios in Nashville and Miami! so that's country and Hispanic/Cuban too!

chebby:

Problem is finding any stockists.

Come round my house