Avi ADM vs Yamaha HS50m speakers

[westerniser]

Hello all.

I bought some AVI adm 9.1 speakers back in April. I have been using them on some good stands in a decent sized room (approx 16sqm)

However, I couldn't help noticing they sometimes sound a little muffled and they don't seem ultra impressive on kick drums - they seem to place the kick drum slightly higher than I'm used to, whilst the bass, I thought, was generally nice and deep and warm. I spoke with Ashley, he was really helpful and very thorough with his advice.

In another room, I use a set of Yamaha HS50m speakers for music production - mainly making electronic stuff and I thought to compare the two sets of speakers in the same room.

So, I had them side by side. The Yamaha on line out, Avi on optical out, both played from an Apple laptop with a range of music.

The Avi seem really good with vocals and the treble perhaps sounds more natural, but they sometime seem a bit boomy and muffled, whilst having a more 'hollow' sound.

The Yamaha sound well controlled and tight on the bass, but with some nice depth. The treble sounds sweeter and possibly a bit more exciting. These are supposed to be industry standard production speakers with a very honest sound, however, they only cost £230 for a pair, as opposed to the £1100 I spent on the Avi!

Do the Avi need some tweaking on positioning? Do they work better with only certain types of music? Am I going mad / deaf? Do the Avi need more time to 'wear in'? I can't help thinking the extra £900 spent wasn't worth it and I'm considering selling them, as they are as new.

Hope to hear soon!

 

[Messiah]

Personally I would not describe the sound I get from my ADMs as muffled or boomy at all. I also find they work really well with everything I have thrown at them. Maybe you could experiment with the position??

However, that being said, if you are happy with the sound from the Yamahas then sell the ADMs and pocket the cash for something else!

EDIT - additionally I have not heard the Yamahas. Maybe they are just that good!

 

[the record spot]

Interesting post. I heard the Yamahas in London a couple of months ago, not bad, a tad light in the bass, but the HS80s have a bigger cabinet and, though the price escapes me, the end result wasn't staggering pricewise (£350?).

In Edinburgh's Red Dog Music more recently, I heard the KRK Rokit 5s which were decent for similar money to the Yammy HS50s and, if you can push the boat out a little further, the Genelec 8030s, which at around £850 delivered the best speaker sound I've heard in many a long year. A studio active that would be a fine fit in a domestic setting. For the money though, I'd shortlist the Rokit 5s and the HS80s.

Both very, very good and way ahead of what you could expect from similarly priced separates.

 

[westerniser]

Thanks both...

I tried the AVI in the place of the monitors, for the studio set up. They are obviously listened to much closer and the detail and panning is very nice indeed.

Weird, it's almost that the HS50m are better in the big room on a wood floor (and they are nearfield apparently) and the AVI are really good on the desktop for accurate referencing. Although, they are quite big on the desktop compared to the Yamaha.

A co producer has the HS80m and they do have a lot of weight - so much so, it can sound like being in a club, and they will definitely power a small party. For me, they are too much for daily referencing but useful to have as a tool (and when the neighbours are out)

Thanks for the advice re other models, I'm sure they're good but I'm not a huge fan of the appearance, superficial I know but they are bits of furniture at the end of the day!

 

[the record spot]

No worries, though I'd have thought the plain grey finish of the Genelecs and relatively diddy size would be a good fit for most homes against the stark black and white of the Yammies or the bright yellow Kevlar of the KRK - horses for courses though!

 

[idc]

This thread is the wrong way round. It should be AVI equal far pricier hifi with ease, not are equaled by something far cheaper. Rubadub in Glasgow, the hifi shop for pro/studio.DJs sells all of the products spoken of in this thread. With my recent excursions (and yours the record spot) into non 'audiophile' music shops, I think that much pro audio has what many audiophile is missing, sensible prices.

 

[chebby]

Apostasy

 

[Anonymous]

Having heard both, I also preferred the sound of the Yamaha HS50m to the ADM 9.1s- which just did not move me enough. At sub -£300 for the Yam's, as opposed to a relatively £1200 for the AVI products, that makes them a bargain! I think that the Yams are more about near field listening and the AVIs aimed at the hi fi room listener who has grown out of cables and tweaks...

Many people seem to compare the ADM 9.1s to more expensive speakers, so it is interesting to see them side by side benchmarked to some relatively lowly and cheap units, albeit from a quality supplier that is Yamaha. One would have to say that Yamaha's depth of experience in hi fi and recording equipment, as well as musical instrument design and manufacture, is going to be hard to match for a two man band, one product company, based out of a barn in Glos.

 

[idc]

This is such a revelation, £124.50 (Amazon) speakers from Yamaha match £1200 AVI speakers. Could this be reverse trolling?

 

[Andrew Everard]

Bear in mind that's £124.50 each - they're £229 a pair elsewhere, inc VAT

Nevertheless, intriguing: I feel an email to the nice people at Yamaha coming on, and not just because Mrs E has just bought a MIDI keyboard to plug into her iMac...

 

[caddyhound]

Calling AVi a one product company is more than a bit unkind. their last range of separates was very highly regarded.I still have the DAB tuner - nothing else sounds as good with DAB.

I assume the OP is using iTunes for the music - do the speakers still show the same qualities if you play a CD on your laptop as it may be compression of the music that is causing the ADM's to sound so poor.Whilst Ashley is prone to exaggeration ,AVi generally make excellent sounding products!

 

[the record spot]

Andrew Everard:
Bear in mind that's £124.50 each - they're £229 a pair elsewhere, inc VAT

Nevertheless, intriguing: I feel an email to the nice people at Yamaha coming on, and not just because Mrs E has just bought a MIDI keyboard to plug into her iMac...

Excellent - mentioned these a couple of times along with the bigger Yamaha HS80 actives. Think they're around £350 or so? Would be VERY keen to see this stuff appearing!

Don't suppose you could drop Genelec a line when you're at it?!

 

[idc]

Thats a first, being able to one speaker. I assumed the Amazon price was for two

 

[Andrew Everard]

Common in Europe and some Far Eastern market to price speakers individually. And, of course, in the pro market...

 

[Anonymous]

Andrew Everard:Common in Europe and some Far Eastern market to price speakers individually. And, of course, in the pro market...

So much for pair matching then.

 

[Andrew Everard]

Unless of course the quality control is tight enough to make pair-matching an irrelevance.

 

[Anonymous]

Possible!

 

[Andrew Everard]

In the pro field, I would say almost a prerequisite...

 

[idc]

Andrew Everard:Unless of course the quality control is tight enough to make pair-matching an irrelevance.

That's true, I read it somewhere on the internet. Pro audio is really tight.

 

[chebby]

The Yamahas have XLR balanced connections and unbalanced 1/4" jacks.

They don't have built in pre-amplification, volume control or a built-in DAC, or a domestically harmonious range of finishes unlike the AVIs. (Yamaha only offer matt black with white bass cone and no grilles.)

To get the very best from them means buying a DAC with volume control and balanced XLRs (Benchmark springs to mind) or a preamp with balanced XLR outputs (not cheap either).

This is the problem with most active speakers aimed at pros, the need for 'boxes' to sit between them and sources. (Defeats the object really. At least for a typical home audio user.)

AVI need some competition in this respect. Another company to offer up a true active bi-amp design with built in pre-amp (analogue + digital) and DAC and remote control volume + remote input selection designed for normal (or traditional) domestic use rather than desktop or nearfield studio use. (And available in different finishes with grilles.)

I think we could be waiting a while.

 

[Anonymous]

You're making a good point, but a humble Beresford Caiman between your sources and your Yamaha/Genelec/Adam/Dynadio/AVIs actives gives you that - bar remote! So we either need more all-in products of the type you mention, or cheaper pre-amp/dac combinations to compete with Benchmark DAC1 HDR which is absurdly expensive...

 

[the record spot]

Native Instruments Kontol 1 here: http://www.native-instruments.com/#/en/products/producer/audio-kontrol-1/

Looks like a good unit and at £200 is on the right side of wallet friendly.

More info, specs, etc., here: http://www.native-instruments.com/#/en/products/producer/audio-kontrol-1/?page=385

 

[Anonymous]

Very nice! But no remote still, and limited number of inputs for the living room (Sky box, music source, Bluray player, ...). Looks good for a bedroom/study/studio setup though and certainly more versatile than the Beresford.

 

[the record spot]

Yep, no remote, but while Chebby's right about the AVI thing to a degree, I know he's keen to reduce the box count, so while the Yammies are DAC and remote free, add this little box and you get an AD/DA converter and upsampling capability, as well as a bunch of other handy stuff all in. One possible option.

 

[idc]

I had a listen to the Yamahas today was very impressed. It was in a pro-audio shop, but they had some Pink Floyd and whilst at volume they were a bit bassy, at more sensible volumes they sounded really full bodied, detailed and forward, which I like. You get two for £240.