ADAM Audio A7V Powered Two-Way Studio Monitor

Product Information

Redesigned front-mounted flare bass port helps to minimise noise by optimising airflow throughout your speaker ????? Adding effects to the mix was particularly gratifying with the A7Vs, with the tails of reverbs and delay lines being beautifully revealed. This really helped with being able to accurately perceive decay times of reverbs without second guessing nor becoming lost in the mix. This was something I had noticed too in the reference material testing. To hear the depth and decay of a snare being sent to a plate, pure delight.

The A7V comes with a 60-day trial of SoundID Reference, after which it will cost €249 (or €299 with microphone) for a full licence. Making a profile within that time is easy, even with a non-Sonarworks measurement mic, and the resulting profiles can be stored for use without any need for a SoundID licence, but if the room or monitor position changes then a new calibration will be needed. A Control SoundID ReferenceADAM Audio has become quite the household name in pro audio since their introduction in 1999. The Berlin-based company has introduced some of the most revered studio monitors in modern times, particularly holding strong in the mid range studio monitor market, with their best selling and ever popular A7X near-field model dominating this domain for years.

When I review speakers and microphones, I often feel I have a duty to point out that there is a lot of choice in most price ranges and that some of the competitors are also extremely good. Very often the final choice of monitor comes down to what character of sound you prefer to work with, and how well the speakers perform in your particular room. If you can test the ADAM A7s alongside other speakers on your shortlist you're more likely to make the correct decision, but don't fall into the trap of assuming that the loudest or brightest speaker is best, as that's often not the case. What sounds lively and exciting in the shop can prove to be fatiguing after prolonged use in the studio, so what you're looking for is a speaker that presents your music impartially, not one that hypes it up. In the main, the A7s do this very well. The A7V crosses over at 2.8kHz, at which point ADAM Audio’s signature X‑ART (Extended Accelerated Ribbon Technology) high‑frequency driver takes over. Hand‑built in the company’s Berlin factory, the X‑ART driver’s pleated ribbon construction delivers precise transient response and highly detailed resolution up to 50kHz. In the A7V, a new 120x70° HPS (High‑frequency Propagation System) resin and glass‑fibre waveguide has been designed specifically to match the X‑ART’s dispersion angle in the crossover region to its accompanying bass driver. In the horizontal plane, this matching, coupled with the waveguide’s wide dispersion angle, results in a smoother off‑axis response and creates a larger usable ‘sweet spot’. In the vertical, the HPS waveguide’s 70° dispersion is designed to help reduce unwanted desk and console reflections.

A Control

The ADAM Audio A Series delivers highly accurate, transparent sound across a full line of monitors that can be controlled remotely and in real time. Comprising five models, the A4V, A7V, A44H, A77H and A8H are the right fit for an array of professional and home studios — as well as broadcast, fixed-installation, 3D, immersive, and home audio environments. Innovations such as rotatable HPS waveguide technology, and DSP-based room correction and voicings enable users to tune speakers for their room and ears. The ADV voicing’s powerful six‑band, fully parametric equaliser is accessible only from the A Control application. The primary use of this EQ will either be to tailor the response of the A7V to your own personal taste, or to try to persuade it to sound like another monitor of your acquaintance. If you want to try to optimise the A7V for your room, I feel that using it successfully would require either a lot of patience and care or the use a standalone frequency response analysis program, which seems a bit of a hard way of achieving a result that Sonarworks SoundID will turn out with very little effort on your part. This does come with a trade-off – the A7V Studio Monitor is quite heavy for a medium-sized studio monitor. However, I find it reassuring that the device feels bulky and has a considerable weight, as this means the housing is capable of shielding the components from damage. Adam Audio is a manufacturer that is renowned for making monitors that are solidly built. The key to this is the durable metal cabinets, which enclose the inner components and protect them from wear and tear. The A7V also offers Voicing options. The Pure setting keeps everything as neutral and flat as possible, while the UNR option is an ADAM Audio voicing that more closely resembles the previous AX Series. It’s also an engaging and more dynamic voicing profile for casual listening. Finally, the Ext option opens up the remaining tuning options.

Both technically, sonically and operationally, the A7V is one of the best nearfield monitors that I have heard at its price. Final Thoughts For smaller studios or entertainment systems where space is at a premium, the A7V offers wall-mounting solutions via the onboard M8 threaded screw holes to accommodate a wide range of mounting plates.

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Solution for every space with rotatable HPS waveguide to use your monitors horizontally or vertically The Voicing button cycles through the three available options: the flat‑response Pure; UNR (Universal Natural Response), which, according to ADAM, is a dynamic, natural‑sounding response curve based on a variety of previous ADAM loudspeakers including the A7X; and Ext, which selects a Sonarworks room calibration profile that has previously been loaded into the onboard DSP from the A Control software application. The A Team This state-of-the-art control lets you adjust virtually every parameter of your speaker system simultaneously, including everything from EQ and delay from various listening positions within your studio as well as volume level all without ever reaching for your speakers. UNR delivers a natural-sounding response curve, custom-designed by Adam Audio to replicate the sound of legacy products such as the AX series. It is the perfect sound profile for songwriting and composition, providing an engaging sound to will spark your creativity. It is also the best option for casual music listening.