Well, just as the title says, today I travelled for 1,5 hours to listen to the ADM 9.1 These AVI speakers are active powered , with DAC built in. Costs: 1125 for the speakers, 750 extra for the sub. Apparently a cable connecting the speakers together comes for free, the Toslink cable needs to be bought separately. On first glance a great system for anyone embracing a mac/pc based hifi system.
I listened to them connected to an apple tv, which was a nice plus, as I could see the apple tv in action (I have a mac mini myself). My first impression of them was that they sounded very clear. The midrange, voices and instruments are easy to follow. So much so I could easily place the drums, guitars, piano and the singers when playing "Genius loves Company" by Ray Charles, as if they were playing between the speakers. Detail is very good. The ringing of the bells on AC/DC's Hells bells can be picked out of the music with ease. The high notes are very much noticable when playing. In fact, after two hours of listening, with and without the sub, I decided to turn up the sub a notch as I found the sound lacking in body. With this I mean I found instruments to a certain extent and voices in particular a little lean. A second -very minor- critisism is that the ADM 9.1 sound best when playing music with just a few instruments and one singer. They seem to portray a little more congested picture when playing music like AC/DC and other (well recorded) rock-music. Like I said, it's nothing major, but it is noticible.
I had nothing to criticize the sub on though. It's fast and pounds when necessary (Missy Elliot you rock!). All in all a very, very, very -did I already mention that?- good system. Excellent at displaying an accurate musical image, sounding very clear with almost anything that's thrown at it. Is this a giant killer? Could well be. If, in time, I can get used to that lean sound I will buy them.
I listened to them connected to an apple tv, which was a nice plus, as I could see the apple tv in action (I have a mac mini myself). My first impression of them was that they sounded very clear. The midrange, voices and instruments are easy to follow. So much so I could easily place the drums, guitars, piano and the singers when playing "Genius loves Company" by Ray Charles, as if they were playing between the speakers. Detail is very good. The ringing of the bells on AC/DC's Hells bells can be picked out of the music with ease. The high notes are very much noticable when playing. In fact, after two hours of listening, with and without the sub, I decided to turn up the sub a notch as I found the sound lacking in body. With this I mean I found instruments to a certain extent and voices in particular a little lean. A second -very minor- critisism is that the ADM 9.1 sound best when playing music with just a few instruments and one singer. They seem to portray a little more congested picture when playing music like AC/DC and other (well recorded) rock-music. Like I said, it's nothing major, but it is noticible.
I had nothing to criticize the sub on though. It's fast and pounds when necessary (Missy Elliot you rock!). All in all a very, very, very -did I already mention that?- good system. Excellent at displaying an accurate musical image, sounding very clear with almost anything that's thrown at it. Is this a giant killer? Could well be. If, in time, I can get used to that lean sound I will buy them.