Based on my research, it would appear the ADAM A7X and ADAM Sub8 would be a good choice for when I upgrade my nearfield setup. Then perhaps I could stick with that until I can build a dedicated treated listening room for floorstanding speakers. I'm enjoying my current speakers so much I don't feel the urge to upgrade soon, though.
Anyone else notice how much more enjoyable late night listening can be? I suspect it's due to biology more than anything else.
This jazz track sounds phenomenal.
Edit: Then again, the A77X is 3-way and some say it doesn't need a sub. ...And the S1X and S2X are better still, and getting pretty pricey. The speaker hobby is definitely even more neurotic than the headphone one. O_O
No...Just us audiophiles are a little neurotic. Pro audio guys pic a monitor that is a good tool for them to do the job and get on with it.
Me? No... I have to be an audiophile.... After deciding the A7Xs had better drivers than the Neumann KH120s, case closed...Sell the KH120s and move on...I shall.
I created a new playlist having tire of the old playlist...Bask in the gargantuan IMAX like soundstage of these A7Xs (a curved IMAX screen even....Like those gimmick curve TVs...The soundstage wraps around me! I never experience this 'soundstage' like this before...I come from headphones, and speakers before I knew about 'speaker placement'). I think to myself...I paid big bucks for these KH120s, they blew me away with their enormous soundstage and how panoramic their soundstage was, let's have a listen to them again, a farewell session. So I connect them up. Hit play.
Wait a minute. There are things in this new playlist I didn't hear in the A7Xs. The reverse happened with my old playlist...Started on the KH120 hear new things on the A7Xs.
There is so much more information in the midrange...Positional information. Voices definately come out more with a naturalism the A7Xs cannot match. The sound stage is a slightly smaller IMAX...Not curved, but it has more depth, A 3D IMAX? Either way, the soundstage sounds more realistic on the KH120 than the A7Xs, to me.
What about this whole A7X has better drivers than KH120s?
They do! I swear. I have been in this exact same situation before. When I owned the HD650 and bought the D7000. The Denon D7000 had better transients, a tighter bass...I was smitten with them, but it didn't take long for me to realise I still preferred the HD650.
And it was because of the midrange.
At this stage I know not which studio monitor I definately like more.
On a different note, I would like to conclude with my take on this whole headphones Vs speakers.
Going along with the IMAX theme. Imagine IMAX is the speaker...Does that make headphones A TV screen? IEMs are like tablets? That could work. We could see just as much detail on the tablet as on the IMAX, maybe more...Depending on how close we hold the tablet to our vision.
I personally would change it up a bit. When I put on headphones or IEMs..I can still enjoy music immensely. I get a full range sound, bass down to 20hz on an IEM costing 100 dollars, bass more accurate than a million dollar speakers in an untreated room. It's like watching good home cinema.
Speakers is the IMAX screen...In 3D...Better than we have now, we don't need 3D glasses. In fact putting on the 3D glasses on in this theoretical IMAX screen reduces it to 2D and the image shrinks to that of home cinema. That's what headphones are. You wear them, like glasses. IEMs are like Contacts...Maybe not, I don't wear glasses and therefore cannot comprehend sticking things in my eyeballs, only to find the image reduce further in size from home cinema!
Of course it's not so cut and dry. There is the issue of neighbours and late night listening.
It's kinda like watching the Spice Girls live in London... Ain't no one gotta know 'bout dat schiit!