A huge disappointment with Adam quality!

[jujumies]

Hi,

I recently bought myself a pair of Adam a7 monitors. I ended up with adams because I just love the sound of a7's but...

Initially when I installed these monitors I realized that the power led of other speakers was blinking like crazy. Eventually the monitor somehow got significantly more silent than the other and also the character changed a lot. Well I got it replaced and got myself a new one. Great! Well this happiness it lasted few days before the blinking started again with the replacement and after a few days the other one which was working fine until that day started to blink as well. So Adam definitely delivers out great quality I would say. I have sent emails to Adam without getting any replies and so on.

Another thing is that the each monitor I'v had have sounded a bit different. Doesn't impress me very much.

So I guess I just have to switch to another brand. Too shame because I just loved the sound of A7's. Next I will probably choose a brand that can actually deliver working products! Adam is a joke to me from now on...

Simo / Studio Bad Mama
Studio Bad Mama

[Rev2010]

Originally Posted by jujumies

So I guess I just have to switch to another brand. Too shame because I just loved the sound of A7's.

Hmm, sorry to hear of your problems with the Adams. I have a pair of A7's as a secondary reference source, my mains being Dynaudio BM5A's. I have not had any problems with my A7's (knock on wood) and I use them as my general listening speakers for music as well (when not writing music). They do feel hollow and cheap compared to almost every other brand I've had, though as I said I've had no problems. The A7's are however seriously lacking in the bass registers. The bass rolls off quite steeply below 70hz. But other than that I really like them.

So now that you're going to try another brand I would highly suggest trying the Dynaudio BM5A's if you haven't already. I absolutely love mine, much more so than the Adams which is why they're my mains. Everything I've mixed on them so far has been spot on. They do require a little breaking in though, right out of the box they have a slight nasal sound to them, though that seems to go away within the first few weeks of use. They extend down into the low registers much better than the Adams and are built very well. Also, they use switches for the sound adjustments which is nice. The level on the Adams aren't perfectly exact between each speaker which makes it a bit of a pain to set using the dials.

Anyhow, best of luck.


Rev.

[jujumies]

Originally Posted by Rev2010

Hmm, sorry to hear of your problems with the Adams. I have a pair of A7's as a secondary reference source, my mains being Dynaudio BM5A's. I have not had any problems with my A7's (knock on wood) and I use them as my general listening speakers for music as well (when not writing music). They do feel hollow and cheap compared to almost every other brand I've had, though as I said I've had no problems. The A7's are however seriously lacking in the bass registers. The bass rolls off quite steeply below 70hz. But other than that I really like them.

So now that you're going to try another brand I would highly suggest trying the Dynaudio BM5A's if you haven't already. I absolutely love mine, much more so than the Adams which is why they're my mains. Everything I've mixed on them so far has been spot on. They do require a little breaking in though, right out of the box they have a slight nasal sound to them, though that seems to go away within the first few weeks of use. They extend down into the low registers much better than the Adams and are built very well. Also, they use switches for the sound adjustments which is nice. The level on the Adams aren't perfectly exact between each speaker which makes it a bit of a pain to set using the dials.

Anyhow, best of luck.


Rev.

I might try out those. Also interested in genelec 8040's....

[larry b]

x2 on Dyn BM5a's. They get bashed around here sometimes, but to me that's a major eyeroll. Good speakers, good build quality.

thumbsupthumbsup

[8inthemorning]

I'm using BM6 with satisfaction.

[Sigma]

i stick with the standards

i had to hide a snicker when one of my students bought a pair of roger nichols monitors and the whole front panel fell off of one during class [after i told him when purchasing gear AVOID THE HYPE]

seems like a lot of old fart engineers, trying to squeeze the last buck, affix their reputation/name to an inferior product that they have no control of... for ducats

i have owned JBL monitors for over 40 years and tannoys for prob 25 or more with NO issues..my dad had his altec home monitors [ 10 inch woofer..horn top ] for almost 50 years and that was his ultimate reference for all those years

[turk sanchez]

+1 more for the bm5a's. I love mine still after 5 or 6 years.

[adl]

Also own the A7 for a about 1 year and one speaker also dropped significant in volume.

Weird you got the same problem.

[jujumies]

Originally Posted by adl

Also own the A7 for a about 1 year and one speaker also dropped significant in volume.

Weird you got the same problem.

This is just unbelievable! How can their quality suck so much. Really pisses me off. Especially now when they don't even bother to answer any of my emails. I have already send 5 emails with no replies.

If you do a search you will see that there are lots of people with same problems regarding A7's...

Simo

[IBE]

I believe they have a 5 year warranty, you may want to contact Adam with your situation

[rumimusic]

never had an issue with my p22's
mixes translate well.
so far so good.
fingers crossed.

[adl]

It just sucks sitting there without any speakers for 2-3 weeks (about this long will it take to get em back someone from my thomann musicstore told me).
Thats why i didn´t sent em back till now (the volume drop happened like 2 month ago).

[jujumies]

Originally Posted by IBE

I believe they have a 5 year warranty, you may want to contact Adam with your situation

Like I said I have already replaced one speaker and now I'm waiting to replace both of them, because both of them are broken. But somehow I got the feeling that it won't stop here...

[thehobbster]

I've got a fairly new pair, not half a year old, and I've noticed one of the speaker's light blinks every once in a while, too. But I've not had the volume issues that you've noted yet. I hope not. But I did notice that I had to turn the blinky one up 5db more than the other to center the stereo image. I read a lot of people were having to do this as well. I chalked it up to that.

[adl]

Originally Posted by thehobbster

But I've not had the volume issues that you've noted yet. I hope not. But I did notice that I had to turn the blinky one up 5db more than the other to center the stereo image. I read a lot of people were having to do this as well. I chalked it up to that.

Are you kidding?? That´s EXACTLY the volume problem i am talking about!

This can´t be good or normal or "standart". I mean this speakers cost quiet some money so i should expect quality and not some "this-speakers-has-more-volume-than-that-speaker-quality".

Damn! dfegad

[Ilkka]

Originally Posted by jujumies

I might try out those. Also interested in genelec 8040's....

Hi Simo,

Although you weren't satisfied with the 8020As, hopefully you can give us one more chance. I would recommend looking even further than the 8040As since your room is quite small and therefore acoustically challenging (if it's still the same I visited?). Our 8240A DSP speakers would most probably hit the sweet spot very nicely. With their enhanced controls and AutoCal calibration, you can fine-tune the sound quality almost limitlessly. Also you wouldn't need a subwoofer with them like you did with the 8020As.

[Suda Badri]

Originally Posted by adl

Are you kidding?? That´s EXACTLY the volume problem i am talking about!

This can´t be good or normal or "standart". I mean this speakers cost quiet some money so i should expect quality and not some "this-speakers-has-more-volume-than-that-speaker-quality".

Damn! dfegad

Sucks when a company does not deliver but...

I dont know what you guys are talking about because I have not experienced these issues but ADAM does have a 5 year warranty, surely they will sort you out... thats a long time to stand by your product, so why not make use of it and tell them...

I have never heard the volume shift and we have a demo pair in the shop thats been going as good as ever for ages....

Cheers

Suda

[jujumies]

Originally Posted by Ilkka

Hi Simo,

Although you weren't satisfied with the 8020As, hopefully you can give us one more chance. I would recommend looking even further than the 8040As since your room is quite small and therefore acoustically challenging (if it's still the same I visited?). Our 8240A DSP speakers would most probably hit the sweet spot very nicely. With their enhanced controls and AutoCal calibration, you can fine-tune the sound quality almost limitlessly. Also you wouldn't need a subwoofer with them like you did with the 8020As.

Well I'm definitely considering 8040's now. I've heard they lack very much of those characteristics that got me away from 8020's.

Simo

[jeremyglover]

the fact that they did not reply to your emails is simply not good enough.
can you go through your dealer? sorry to hear about this.

[willsing]

Wow, things must have changed with their support. When I thought I had a problem with the A7's I contacted their support for California and two different people contacted me by phone and by email and were extremely helpful. Turned out that I did not have a problem with the speakers, it was a problem with my recording that was revealed with the A7's. This was a couple of years ago. Mine have been fantastic since I first pulled them out of the box. None of the mentioned issues. Hard to say what support is like in your area.
Best of luck,
Will
BTW, I too almost bought the BM5A's but the rear ports make it difficult for me. Very curious though.

[12ax7]

Originally Posted by adl

Are you kidding?? That´s EXACTLY the volume problem i am talking about!

Yeah, 5dB of level difference DOES seem like a "volume problem"!

(What part of "volume" do you not understand?)

[thehobbster]

Originally Posted by 12ax7

Yeah, 5dB of level difference DOES seem like a "volume problem"!

(What part of "volume" do you not understand?)

Lol. Nice smiley. The keyword that you missed was "eventually," meaning his volume became different, whereas mine was different right out of the box, and has not changed since. Many people noted this problem, and if everyone calibrated their monitors appropriately, it wouldn't matter what direction the knob was turned on the speaker.

[Spall]

There's nothing worse than having to replace something only for it to give you the same headache. I know the feeling.

Have you considered Focals? I bought Focal Solo 6's after doing long tests A/B with them against the Adam A7's and they were a winner and are really fantastic - I love them to bits. Solid, they just do what they are supposed to do and in a very high quality manner.

I went in wanting to buy Adams, came out with the Focals. There was no question in the end.

Good luck.

[12ax7]

Originally Posted by thehobbster

Many people noted this problem, and if everyone calibrated their monitors appropriately, it wouldn't matter what direction the knob was turned on the speaker.

Well, I don't know about that:

There should NOT be that much difference as to calibration. That points to bad quality control, and would indicate that gain-staging was not of great concern to the manufacturer.

...NOT a good reflection on a company holding itself out to the public as a maker of "high-end" gear!

[IzzyRock]

Similar Issue here (i made a post about it a year ago)
Mine were delivered with one speaker sounding different and quieter
I got the power amp replaced and also the volume pot. They still not sound the SAME and also there are volume differences.
I like how they sound tho, but yes. what a crappy manufacture

[oudplayer]

Genelec 8040a are nothing like the 8020 or 8030 in sound. Definitely give them a listen. The new Focal CMS are also awesome possibilities.

The ADAM S and P series have always seemed like they were well engineered. I've never worked with the "artist" models, so I won't comment on their lack or presence of quality...

[matucha]

My S3A work 100% after 6 years... no problems there.

[Klaush1]

Hi,

this is Klaus Heinz from ADAM Audio.

By some bad reason your mails that came in last week actually have not been answered as I had to find out, an unlucky vacancy in the support department was not compensated, sorry insofar.

You wil be approached by Marc from support@adam-audio.com in the matter shortly.

greetíngs


Klaus Heinz

[Klaush1]

Originally Posted by 12ax7

Yeah, 5dB of level difference DOES seem like a "volume problem"!

(What part of "volume" do you not understand?)

Hello there,

may I indicate that we lowered the sensitivity of the A7 some time ago (Dec 2007, starting with se.nr. 40651) to achieve a better signal to noise ratio and have a more similar overall gain compared to our competitors.

If you have different sensitivity within your pair please take the volume pot to compensate for that, sound quality is not affected by that.

greetings

[jujumies]

Originally Posted by Klaush1

Hi,

this is Klaus Heinz from ADAM Audio.

By some bad reason your mails that came in last week actually have not been answered as I had to find out, an unlucky vacancy in the support department was not compensated, sorry insofar.

You wil be approached by Marc from support@adam-audio.com in the matter shortly.

greetíngs


Klaus Heinz

I look forward to hear from you.

Simo / Studio Bad Mama