[ACDOAN]

Sorry, I did not finish what I was trying to say. Yes, the amps inside the  Krell, Pass, Bryston etc..are built like a tank ( they call it military grade sometimes) and the topology circuitry is top notch but they cost 5 to 6 K easily. The pain in the neck is almost every year, the manufactures jack up the price $300 to $ 500.00. If you want a big rig then that is the way to go.
 
As far as speakers, different folks, different strokes as they say. For forty some years, I have never owned nothing but Planar ribbons or Electrostatic speakers. Dynamic speakers are not for me  even they may run 10 to 20K and certain people dream to own them.
 
What I am doing here is to set up a near field computer based listening system . For that particular application, the Adam Audio, Neuman, M-Audio fit my budget and my need. I do not expect these studio monitors for a large living room where they can produce a huge sound stage since that is not what they are designed for.At the same token, I am not going to stick a pair of full range Martin Logan or the Planar ribbon Apogee or the full range Magnepan  into a 12X14 room and listen to them at low SPL, they will sound like crap, excuse my French.
 
You have the A7X, you are above par for a near field and mid field listening. I just finished set up another budget system and they sound darned good too. An Indeed T-amp ($86.00), an Onkyo CDP 7030 ( $170.00), and a pair of old Polk audio RT14I bookshelf pair ( $169.00 fifteen years ago) and I love them for what they can do and cannot do. System synergy is the key for each different application.
 
Happy NY  to you. I am out of here . 'Til then happy listening and toying around with your gear.

 

[jibzilla]

  It depends. My " jar dropping experience" In my life time was with the Apogee Scintilla full range ribbon speakers driven by the Krell KSA and a Passe' pre amp. My audiophile friend knew I owned the Martin Logan SL3 so he wanted to treat me for surprise with the SQ of the Apogee. It was a life time experience that I could not describe . I was not only heard the music but I actually could see the music.
 
He played some instrument soft Jazz music where I could see hundred of the pebbles inside the rain stick (?) that felt from the top of the speakers' panels down to the bottom of the speakers. I could not only heard the sound of the pebbles but virtually can see them rolling down few feet in front of me. My wanna be upgrade from the Martin Logan  SL3 to the Quest died instantly. The Apogee Scintilla were that good.
 
I went home and did not want to listen to my system for weeks if not months. If you know anybody who owns a pair of the Apogee Scintilla or even the Duetta, you ought to ask for a listening session.

 

[ACDOAN]

Well, at certain point of time I have to say enough is enough but greed is the beast within me. I am always wanting better or more so  have decide to change my direction to a computer based system(s). I have too many pieces like you. So, once I learn my computer based system (s) and appreciate the Adam Audio or the Neuman KH120 or the M-Audio to the point I can stop, I am almost there. I will jump full throttle with the headphone based system. Lastly, my goal is to develop a Camera hobby.
 
I listened to Gary Moore played the Blues with my  M-Audio BX8 yesterday at low level listening with the Pure Audio !20 and MOG on my Ipod 4g. I asked myself " why do I need to spend more? ". That's a good sign since I know I have enough gear to please me. It's about time to move on to another hobby, perhaps a good headphone based system. Frankly, a good headphone system is as good as or better than speaker based system and as you said the good things do not come cheap unless you run into some good deals.
 
 
Life is a learning process as cliche' as it may sound but it is what it is. I pick up a lot of new info from Head- Fi and I really appreciate the owner of this web-site and all you guys helping hands with my learning curve.
 
Happy New Year,
 
Andrew Doan.

 

[jibzilla]

.

 

[Iostream]

 
I took a small trip down the audiophile speaker world. In that world your looking at speakers that are usually not powered. When I demoed at the 2 stores I went to the salesmen and they swore up and down that you can not get the same sound per price going with a powered speaker setup than you can going the separate amplifier/ speaker route. To some degree I think that is true. I heard a few setups that really blew my hair back and some that were not so good.
 
When I went to guitar center and asked what they thought on what the other salesman had to say, they didn't totally disagree. They said that the amps found in most of the powered speakers are not that great but a few brands had really made strides in that area lately and pointed me out to the adam's which haven't been around very long and won numerous awards for their sound. The ICE amp in my sub8 has won quite a few awards if I'm not mistaken and with just a small pre-amp or mixer like I have audiophile sound quality imo is within your grasps despite being self powered or not.

At these price points, it is difficult to get a good studio monitor to compete. the Adam and the KH120 are about it. As you move up a bit, Studio monitors get much better. The Focal Solo 6 was a very close contender to my B&W 805s, it was literally a toss up. My next step up, if I ever make it, will definitely be studio monitors. You can't get flat to less than 40Hz in any sort of hifi nearfield setup, but Focal SM9s or Barefoot MM27s will do the job nicely.  That said, I actually use mine for dual duty, listening to music, as well as mixing/mastering.  I might prefer a less clinical sound if I didn't have to mix and master on them as well.

 

[ACDOAN]

Another wet dream for the Focal Solo 6. I need to stop reading as of some thirty years ago...LOL.

 

[jung]

 By nature studio monitors will have a narrower sweet spot remember these are nearfield. 

 
Is Adam tweeter more directional? Smaller sweet spot than dome tweeter?

 

[RonaldDumsfeld]

No

 

[dozerhead]

Hello I was wondering if It was a big upgrade between the swans mII  which I own to the adam f7? Im currently looking at upgrading my office system. 

 

[dozerhead]

Sorry i miss read your first post I thought you were talking about the adam F7. My bad and my first post to this forum, lol

 

[JohannLiebert]

I heard people say that if you want equivalent sound quality from a headphone in speaker setup you have to pay like 10 times more.
They cost like 1100€(without subwoofer). so would you say they play in the same league of 100-200€ headphones or even surpass them? Just curious.

 

[Lolito]

Couple questions, for the a7x owners: is it true that ribbon twitter gives a narrow sweetspot? I own a pair of yamaha hs7, was thinking about upgrading to A7X adam, or a sub, or both...

It's a shame that the adam sub 8 does not have the awesome foot switch the adam sub 7 has, deal breaker for me. 400€ sub 7, 600€ sub 8. I do not want any issues with neighbours really, and my apartment has paper thin walls. Should I get the sub 7 and keep the yamaha, or no sub and upgrade to a7x?

I use right now a khadas tone board dac, and a jds labs atom headphone amp and pre-amp... all running from a macbook pro with itunes and lossless files. Thanks in advance!! it's a worthy refloat I think ;-D

 

[Lolito]

well... got the a7x, ordered topping e30, maybe i put also a t10s subwoofer.