AVI ADM 9.1 - They Have Landed...

[Messiah]

AVI ADM 9.1………the story so far..

Well first of all I will explain why I decided to purchase the ADM’s. (Apologies in advance if this turns into a rather lengthy post!)
It all started at the Bristol Show really. I heard a wide variety of kit that day and it is fair to say that I was not as impressed as I thought I would be with most of it. Considering some of the costs involved I did not hear much that day that would encourage me to upgrade, except for the £45,000 Meridian DSP8000s. Now obviously they are a lot of money but it got me thinking as to why they were so superior. Was it Meridians’ engineering? Probably. However, the were other top companies there such as Naim and Chord and they did not impress me like Meridian did. This led me to my other conclusion – Active Speakers!

Now invariably a search of Active speakers leads to AVI ADM 9.1s. Now as I am sure you are aware, if you are aware of AVI you are aware of Ashley! I have read many of his posts on the forum and elsewhere and a lot (most, really) of what he said made a lot of sense to me. I was also struck by the fact that this company that had produced very well regarded products in the past had scrapped all this to make these speakers. Both of these points coupled with nothing but rave reviews meant that I just had to at least demo these speakers.

Now the demo part is quite short as I basically never got time to do it. Instead I was swayed by the stellar reviews and the craziest thing ever. A video on YouTube. Now I watched a video of someone demoing these speakers and I know I was limited by my own system but the speakers sounded much clearer than similar videos of other kit.
(Crazy but it’s true!) Mikeinbrums’ review followed and a few days later the ‘purchase’ button was hit. (Well you only live once so I thought I would take a chance!)

So, my Piano Black speakers were ordered on Monday and after a couple of delays, Ashley paid an extra £35 to get them to me on the Saturday. Excellent service and communication throughout!

So I am finally onto the speakers and their sound. The build quality is excellent and the finish is immaculate and one that the Missus will hate. (Piano Black = dust magnet!)
Connections are very limited (although I knew this beforehand but it will not matter for my overall plans). The new remote looks ok, certainly better than the ONE for ALL the ADMs previously shipped with. My only gripe is that it does seem to take a while for the volume to adjust either up or down – no ability to suddenly crank it up with these speakers!

As for the sound, I am finding very much the same results that Mikeinbrum posted. (LINK / LINK) I was not initially blown away by the speakers although the improved clarity was immediately obvious. Now after a couple of days and a few hours listening, like Ashley said, I am adjusting to the sound of the ADMs. Is it a sound I like? Oh yes! The clarity and separation (I listened to Ne-Yo, 50 Cent, Eminem and Rhianna – just like most of you would eh

….) are excellent and the bass is well defined although does seem lighter than with my RS1s (as expected). These speakers do seem very neutral and the tone of the speakers does not change when the volume increases either, it just gets louder. Now the best 2 systems I have previously had are my current combination of Cyrus 7 integrated, CD6s and Monitor Audio RS1s. A few years ago I also had the Cyrus DVD7, AV5 processor, Cyrus Powers and Cyrus CLS70 speakers. The ADMs whilst not miles ahead (I am wondering if that is even possible to be honest!) are certainly better than either of these combinations!

So what does all this mean?
It means that I have a great sounding pair of speakers.
It means that I no longer have to worry about whether I can improve my system by upgrading a certain component – not possible.
It means I need to save up and buy the matching sub.
It means that some lucky person gets to bid on Some RS1s and a Cyrus Amp on ebay.
It means that I am very happy with my purchase and they were worth the gamble. Phew!

So there you go…….

(I will post pictures at a later date..)

 

[Anonymous]

That's great news Messiah!

BTW could you post a link to the vid on youtube? I can't find it. Thanks

 

[Anonymous]

Good stuff Messiah. I think the addition of the sub might take them from very good to superb. Enjoy

 

[Messiah]

Pmaninit:
That's great news Messiah!

BTW could you post a link to the vid on youtube? I can't find it. Thanks

HERE although there are others...

 

[lordmortlock]

These sound really interesting. A store in a village just down the road from me is an approved dealer. I think I'll try and home audition a pair. Better than Cyrus eh?

 

[method man]

are you guys that are using adm avi speakers using them in small or large rooms.

as i think they would suit me, but the room is the main living room. a large through room , quite wide

and in an L shape. although my listening postion is only 8/9 feet from the speakers I imagine

the room still needs to be filled with sound. would thses do the job or would floor standers and seperates be better? Im home auditioning some kit right now including a dacmagic,sonos, CA amp and KEF iQ5se.

But the avi speakers are very neat solution. if the wife and I get on with the sonos

 

[the record spot]

What does all this mean - neutrality, separation, well defined bass and goes loud without distorting...? Why, that's my Mission 752s I believe! £80 to me!

Joking aside, glad you like your purchase Messiah, sounds like you had a good experience with AVI there - impressive that they sent out the speakers so quickly to you and take the hit on the £35 themselves (well, not really if you go by what Ashley says about overpricing in the industry

LINK REMOVED FOR HOUSE RULES VIOLATION - Mods

- I'm sure he had some headroom on the sale ticket to be able to afford the £35 easily enough, but a nice gesture nonetheless!).

 

[mikeinbrum]

Glad they've met your expectations Messiah.

With regards to size of room, I had them in my sitting room which is about 14 ft by 22 ft and they performed fine. They are now back in my study which is much smaller at 8ft by 11ft and they perform equally well in the smaller space being located next to a wall.

I've got a monster setup in the Living room now of MF A1008 feeding 400w of power into the Dali Helicon 800 (which have a sensitivity of 90db), and this offers a very interesting contrast to the AVIs.

While the AVIs are tight, detailed and neutral. The MF / Dali combo is big, bouncy, warm and engaging..... in their own ways, both are equally enjoyable to listen to.

I think I have reached a place now where I have everything I want from hifi. Let's see how long this contentment lasts!

 

[lordmortlock]

I had a listen today, albeit only briefly. Incredibly clear and detailed but no brightness of note - The chap in the shop was playing some big band cd and I have to say the bass was a little lacking in the demo room (about 20 ft) but dynamics were excellent.

I'm going back on saturday with some cds of my own. No home demo option -boo. Method man I'm also home auditioning ca and iq5se and haven't been getting on that well to be honest. I preferred the ADM sound on first impression.

 

[Messiah]

I do think that the bass is adequate but I am certainly going to save for the sub as well. Still they are impressive!

 

[method man]

thanks 'lord' . ive got the CA and kefs for a couple more days. it sounds fine, but not face slappingly impressive. I wont get a chance to hear the adm avis, but as im not into much bass. and want as clear a sound as possible, want a living room sans boxes. they are looking like a good option. i respect people opinion on here. and im coming from a really crappy system. so Im sure they will be excellnet. once ive taken all this stuff back im going to order the avi/sonos bundle and have done with it.

 

[lordmortlock]

If you want a clear sound and a minimal box count I reckon you can order the Avis with confidence!

 

[ear]

methodman you sure know that CA is the weakest link.

 

[method man]

I agree, on that cd/amp/speakers setup the CA amp probably is now the weak link.

but im not going to spend more on a amp now. when i can get it all in one with the avis

 

[matthewpiano]

ear:methodman you sure know that CA is the weakest link.

Seeing as he hasn't stated which CA amp he is trying I'm not sure how you can say that. If its a 740A or 840A it certainly won't be the weakest link. They just deserve better speakers than the KEFs.

 

[method man]

its a 650a azure. I dont know what the weak link would be. i can only state that whilst adding the KEFs

to my amp improved the sound hugely. adding the azure later on wasnt as much of an improvment. ( I have an old Rotel)

anyway, the unused dac is boxed away, and im in the process of boxing up the amp, speakers and sonos.

 

[Anonymous]

When ordering my speakers I exchanged a few emails with somebody at AVI and they were very positive about Cambridge as rivals.

I was under the impression that it was a budget brand.

 

[method man]

its all relative. about 1k for DAC/AMP/Speakers in the AVI is budget too for many people.

My only memory from way back when about Cambridge Audio was that they were owned by Richer

not particularly rated and fiercely pushed at richer stores. back to the present, I was suprised to see so many forum members having CA in their setups. So I presume things have either changed or my info back then was off beam. But I can confirm, having spent an hour or more in the store that they still PUSH cambridge whenever they can. I saw a lot of it. even pushed it to me. LOL But I did warn the chap, I know nothing about this amp mate, its probably coming right back.

 

[Anonymous]

I never got to hear the ADM9.1 because I made an impulse buy on the special offer Neutron speakers.

I would have been prepared to spend more money than I did in the end, but I would have needed to research and listen to more things before such a commitment. The current deal seemed good enough to take a risk on, as advised by members of this forum. I work long hours at the moment and wanted music, but did not really have the time to spend my weekends going to various shops and taking notes!

Anyway, the suggestion by AVI was that most people were selling systems upwards of £5,000 after listening to the 9.1. I thought it might have been sales hype, and stuck with my Neutron decision, but have since read accounts that correspond with those claims.

I am happy though and listening to a lot of music, so do not worry about these matters.

 

[lordmortlock]

Taylor74:

I am happy though and listening to a lot of music, so do not worry about these matters.

And thats what its all about! You've got a great system there Taylor.

 

[Anonymous]

I am just expressing my opinion on these and it's not a criticism of anyone who has bought these, but it's fact that these don't produce much bass and so therefore a sub woofer is needed. I have read on their website that their sub woofer will integrated seamlessly into the sound but we are talking 2k for the speaker and sub woofer. What I feel is that compared to a good amp, good floorstander and dac, which would in all likelihood cost less than 1k, or around that, then the difference between the 2 setups would certainly not be night and day, in fact clearly AVI recognise just how important the dac element is in all of this and I would assume this is one of the fudmanental parts of the clairty spoken about. It is all perspectives of course but I am just dubious about the idea that it's really worth spending an additional 1k in comparison, or thereabouts. In addition to which, it's never going to something I would consider because there is no possibility of upgrading anything. It is very good for space saving and i am sure it it does sound really good but I am also dubious as to whether it can really a room like a floorstander can (not just in terms of bass)

Anyways I am sure one day i will here some of these just of curiosity but not a viable option beyond that.

 

[lordmortlock]

Its a very different sound to anything I've heard. Startlingly clear. But as Igglebert said somewhere else it isn't for lovers of a warm sound and I agree about the lack of upgradability being an issue - I think it would be for me.

Interesting to see some listing that as a positive though.

 

[Anonymous]

typo, it was meant to read I am dubious as to whether this can really fill a room like a floorstander can

 

[matengawhat]

i just don't understand why the sub is only avalable in black and white and the black doesn't even match!

 

[chebby]

matengawhat:i just don't understand why the sub is only avalable in black and white and the black doesn't even match!

Maybe the assumption is that because the sub is not so much 'on display' as the main pair, it can be tucked away near floor level somewhere inconspicuous.

Maybe the unit cost of the sub cabinets is higher because they sell less of them, so 'special' veneers or finishes will take the cost over what people are prepared to pay.