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..)
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
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..)