Adam A5x vs A7x for home listening (not mixing)

Halfwit

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Good day!

I'm looking to upgrade my small home hi-fi system by replacing my current setup with a pair of active speakers. I'm using my PC as the main audio source and my sitting distance from the speakers is about 80-100 centimeters (2.5-3 feet). This is why I'm going down the nearfield route. My room is not treated nor do I plan to do so. The room size is 6x3 meters (20x10 feet).

The speakers would be sitting on a table (and on a table stand, if needed). Audio would go thru my PC to Cambrige Audio DAC Magic (via optical), and then to the speakers via XLR.

For the past couple of days I'm trying out Adam A5x and loving the sound. It's amazingly detailed, with staging I never heard before from a bookshelf-sized speaker. I wouldn't mind a tad more bass though, which is why I'm considering to strech my budget a bit more and get the A7x. I'd like to point out that the only use for the speakers would be hi-fi listening. I don't mix music nor plan to do so, but I'm aware that Adams are usually bought by people who do (they're nearfiled studio monitors, after all), so that's why I'm pointing it out.

Could anyone tell me if choosing A7x over A5x is a good idea? Does an upgrade to A7x have any cons, in terms of sound quality and listening experience?

Adam A5x official website

Adam A7x official website

Thank you for your valuable input!
 

ID.

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Yes, it's worth the extra, especially if you want deeper bass.

I currently listen at my desk, but will move them to my living room in the future.

If you like the Adam sound then I can heartily recommend them.

For what it's worth, have you tried playing with the bass settings on the A5x? Turning it up a bit may satisfy you, but ultimately I chose the A7X for the extra extension.

Personally I've found no cons and I think they sound great with all types of music, with imaging and detail to die for. Not sure how they sound on a desk as I have mine on stands on the floor on the far side of my desk.
 

davedotco

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If you were going to stand mount the speakers I would say that the A7x is most definitely worth the extra, on a desktop, I'm not so sure.

If you were able to use stands and sit a more 'normal' 2 to 3 meters back, I would have no hesitation in going for the bigger speaker, my experience, such as it is, is that 5 inch models are really the limit for use on a regular desktop.

That said, ID has a pair of A7xs, so listen to what he says.

BTW..... How are you managing the control of volume?
 

ID.

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I know the DAC Magic plus has volume control but I don't know about the regular DAC Magic.

While you can use the computer volume control my preference would be to have something else functioning as a preamp. They do have volume controls on the front of each speaker but that's an annoying way to do it.

They are large speakers so I would be cautious about desk mounting. Then again I probably listen closer field than you are planning to and they're kind of jammed into corners, but I think the bass shelving works quite well to give me tight, punchy bass with adequate depth for electronic music.

Not sure whether desk top reflections etc. would be a bigger issue for you.
 

davedotco

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I'm guessing it is a regular Dacmagic, it has balanced outs but no usb in, hence the need for an optical connection.

Obviously you can control volume from the computer and if you set the gain on the speakers appropriately you can set the gain on your media player at or close to maximum. If I was using iTunes though, I would prefer another method of adjusting gain.

The big problem that I find with speakers on a desktop is the tendebcy for the whole desk, and anything on it to 'sound off' with the bass notes, I find that intensly irritating.

My own desktop system (Seiwin SN4a) uses 4 inch bass drivers and I use the Audioengine desktop stand, similar but cheaper to the ones produced by Adam, and I really would not want much more bass, either quantity or extension in that situation.
 

ID.

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davedotco said:
I'm guessing it is a regular Dacmagic, it has balanced outs but no usb in, hence the need for an optical connection.

Obviously you can control volume from the computer and if you set the gain on the speakers appropriately you can set the gain on your media player at or close to maximum. If I was using iTunes though, I would prefer another method of adjusting gain.

The big problem that I find with speakers on a desktop is the tendebcy for the whole desk, and anything on it to 'sound off' with the bass notes, I find that intensly irritating.

My own desktop system (Seiwin SN4a) uses 4 inch bass drivers and I use the Audioengine desktop stand, similar but cheaper to the ones produced by Adam, and I really would not want much more bass, either quantity or extension in that situation.

I agree about the desktop. I actually have more bass problems with my little Genelecs sitting on the TV cabinet despite the bigger Adams having far more bass.
 

Halfwit

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Hey, thanks for your input so far, I really appreciate it :)

I am indeed using the original CA DacMagic, the one with no volume control, which can be connected to the sound source via USB or optical/coaxial. USB connection is limited to 48 kHz though, so that's why I'm using optical.

The way I control the volume is via my PC, with the volume dial on the Adams set to middle. That gives me a nice and wide volume range, where I can listen to them "quietly" but, depending on the volume setting of the PC, very loud as well, without reaching for their built-in volume knob.

ID, you actually mentioned my biggest concern - would the A7Xs be too big to be used on the surface of the table, or should I rather say, would the surface of the table ruin the sound? I guess there's no way to know other than to get them for a test. What if I placed them on table stands, such as those made by Isoacoustics or Audioengine? Do stands like those get rid of the potential issues in terms of speaker-table "interaction"?

I also own a pair of standard stands which I used with my Zensor 3s. I could put the stands on both sides of the table and toe the Adams in. Could that be the best solution? Here's a photo of my previous setup, with Zensor 3s mounted on the stands. The difference is, I no longer have an option to put the stands/speakers behind the table but only on the left and right side of the table. My new table is also narrower and shallower than the one displayed on the photo.

IMG_3324.jpg
 

ID.

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That's pretty much what my office setup looks like.

Personally the A7Xs would take up too much space sitting on my desk, so I've never even considered it and I don't think they'll fit on my smallish desk because I have a lot of other crap on it. Neither have I ever used good quality desktop stands, but I like the look of the Isoacoustic stands.
 

Halfwit

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Nice office you have, good sir! :)

Well then, I guess I'll try to grab A7Xs for a test and see what works best in my environment. Since I'm shelling out money, might aswell put some effort into finding a setup which would please me completely. A5Xs are already 85% there... it remains to be seen if A7Xs would get me those remaining 15% :D
 

Halfwit

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Just a quick update - after thinking about it for days, I ended up buying Adam A7Xs and IsoAcoustics ISO-L8R155 table stands (recommended by IsoAcoustics as an optimal choice for those speakers, out of all of their table stands). Now I just have to wait for everything to arrive, which should take a couple of days. Can't wait! :) I'll share a few impressions and photos after giving it a proper go.
 

Halfwit

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ID. said:
Cool. Looking forward to reading your impressions.

Hello! Sorry to ressurect an old thread, but I can find no other way of contacting you directly :) A question for you: how come you picked Pioneer U-05 over Audiolab M-DAC? I'm currently thinking about a new DAC to go with A7x and considering to get one of those two, but can't decide one way or the other :) Cheers!
 

ID.

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Halfwit said:
ID. said:
Cool. Looking forward to reading your impressions.

Hello! Sorry to ressurect an old thread, but I can find no other way of contacting you directly :) A question for you: how come you picked Pioneer U-05 over Audiolab M-DAC? I'm currently thinking about a new DAC to go with A7x and considering to get one of those two, but can't decide one way or the other :) Cheers!

i live in Japan so the pioneer is significantly cheaper here so it was the easiest solution for a DAC/headphone amp/preamp with a remote control.

I listened to the Pioneer as a headphone amp and DAC before buying it and liked what I heard.
 

Halfwit

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ID. said:
i live in Japan so the pioneer is significantly cheaper here so it was the easiest solution for a DAC/headphone amp/preamp with a remote control.

I listened to the Pioneer as a headphone amp and DAC before buying it and liked what I heard.

That makes perfect sense, thanks for your input. Any thoughts on M-DAC vs U-05 dilemma? If they costed the same (which they do on Amazon), which one would you pick?
 

ID.

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Halfwit said:
ID. said:
i live in Japan so the pioneer is significantly cheaper here so it was the easiest solution for a DAC/headphone amp/preamp with a remote control.

I listened to the Pioneer as a headphone amp and DAC before buying it and liked what I heard.

That makes perfect sense, thanks for your input. Any thoughts on M-DAC vs U-05 dilemma? If they costed the same (which they do on Amazon), which one would you pick?

While the M-DAC is available here, it's not easy to audition and I wasn't prepared to buy it blind, especially as the U-05 has the kind of clean, detailed sound I like. Basically I was deciding between the Marantz HDDAC1 and the Pioneer.

Sorry that I can't shed any light on the M-DAC, much less the latest version recently released. If I were buying now it'd be a toss up between the Pioneer and the latest version of the Luxman DA-200 which now has a remote control, but that's just because of the market I'm buying in.

If they'd been the same price I guess I would've bought the M-DAC, but only because of the power supply and the fact that it would be easy to just get a new one if I moved back to Australia and needed to deal with different voltage. I think I'd have been just as happy with the M-DAC, but I tend to find that there isn't that big a difference between DACs.
 

davedotco

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And the space.

These are serious speakers, I would love a pair but would want a room in excess of 300 sqft with room for the speakers to breath.
 

iceman16

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davedotco said:
And the space.

These are serious speakers, I would love a pair but would want a room in excess of 300 sqft with room for the speakers to breath.

Dave, If you don't mind me asking ..what speakers do you have atm?

and since was the last time you had encounter with modern speakers?
 

davedotco

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iceman16 said:
davedotco said:
And the space.

These are serious speakers, I would love a pair but would want a room in excess of 300 sqft with room for the speakers to breath.

Dave, If you don't mind me asking ..what speakers do you have atm?

and since was the last time you had encounter with modern speakers?

At the moment have 3 pairs of speakers, Bo Bengtsons rare Red Rose M3, a later pair of Red Rose Rosebuds (both ribbon hybrids) and a pair of active Seiwin SN4s for my 'desktop' setup, which are the only pair currently in use, more or less as a main system.

I rarely get to hear what I would call serious hi-fi these days, I tend to avoid it as I don't want to spend the kind of money that entails. The last time I did that, I found myself seriously contemplating parting with the best part of £10k for a Devialet/Sonus Faber setup. Mrs DDC's new coupe (and a house move) put paid to that.

Mostly, in recent times, I have heard a fair amount of sub £1k speakers, usually when 'helping' friends who know I used to be 'in the trade'.
 

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