Until recently, I was a satisfied user of KRK studio monitors for almost eight years. Those speakers are super fun to listen especially when you produce urban or electronic music, but definitively lack in detail and transparency to be an appropriate toolkit for audio professionals. Additionally, I was looking for a set of speakers with significantly more power. After testing out different studio monitors in the same or even upper price range from brands like Focal (Shape Twin and Twin 6), Dynaudio (LYD-48), KS Digital (C88-Reference) and Neumann (KH 310A), I ended up buying the A77X by Adam Audio. Read in the following, what these monitors make special and why I have chosen them at the end.
A77X Monitors by Adam Audio
Adam Audio is a Berlin-based studio monitor and headphone manufacturer that was founded in 1999. Back then, the team of Adam Audio came up with a new concept of a high-frequency driver, the ART (Accelerating Ribbon Technology) tweeter. The company launched an upgraded/reworked version of that technology later, the X-ART (eXtended Accelerating Ribbon Technology) tweeter, that is now part of the A77X. The X-ART has outstanding clarity and transient response with its frequency response up to 50kHz and appears to avoid the distortion and dynamic limitations of conventional dome tweeters at higher frequencies. Adam Audio had to develop an ultra-low-distortion 50W Class AB amplifier for the specific needs of the X-ART tweeter that is handmade in Berlin to exploit its full capability.
Available for purchase since 2012, the A77X is Adam's most affordable "larger" speaker featuring 2 1/2 way system. The seven-inch bass/mid drivers are made of Nomex that is overlaid on both sides with Kevlar, creating extremely stiff cones that resist breakup resonances. Both woofers are powered by a high-efficiency, 100W, Class-D PWM amplifier each. The 7" woofers start to work together at 38 Hz and at 400 Hz. However, one woofer fades out, and only the second woofer continues to operate in the midrange up to 3 kHz. That prevents interferences and possible phase cancellation in the critical midrange where the human ear is particularly sensitive.
The back panel carries unbalanced phono and balanced XLR input connectors, and three controls that allow you to tailor the speaker's sound to your personal preference in the given acoustic environment. Important to mention is that the two cabinets in a pair of Adam A77X's are mirror images of each other. They are built as A and B speakers; speaker A goes on the left.
After setting up the speakers in my project studio and playing music through them the first time, the amount of detail that the A77X was able to reveal really impressed me. Even after hours of concentrated listening, my ears did not feel stressed or tired. The set of speakers also delivers a fast, accurate and very deep bass. That really showed the bandwidth of the A77X speaker that starts at 38Hz. In my current studio setup and location, I quickly came to the conclusion that an additional subwoofer is really not needed.
In general, Adam Audio, as a brand with its entire product range, comes with an excellent reputation in the audio world. The A77X speaker only already won several awards such as TEC Awards, Sound on Sound Awards, PIPA Awards 2016 and DJ Mag Tech Awards.
To sum up, the A77X is an extremely impressive nearfield active monitor system that also works just as well in the midfield. The entire system, with its X-ART tweeter and different power amplifiers, seems to be extremely well engineered. The A77X's come with super clear highs, deliver a highly-detailed mid-range, and extremely accurate and deep bass. However, the speakers, due to the horizontal orientation, need a certain amount of space and probably will not fit into a tight space. But according to Adam Audio, there is an option to turn the tweeter by 90 degrees and position the system with the low-frequency driver at the bottom.
The pair of A77X by Adam audio comes with a price tag that represents very good value for money with reference to the given performance that the system delivers.
