ADAM S6-A Mark II

[matucha]

Woofer 315mm (15.5"), 186mm (7.3") HexaCone
Freq.response (± 3 dB) 24 Hz - 35 kHz

Power
2 x 500W sin (600W music) Digi amps,
3 x 150W sin (200W music) analogue amps

The ADAM S6A MK II is a real milestone in the history of active main monitors. It combines numerous innovations with great flexibility in compensating for different room acoustics, butforemost it delivers a stunning overall realism in sound reproduction that we consider to be unsurpassed. The woofers and woofer-midrange units carry a HexaCone diaphragm, a honeycomb structure made of Nomex, coated with Kevlar on both sides, making them lighter and stiffer than possible with classical materials. All drivers are mounted on a 25 mm Aluminum honeycomb plate, that leads to a very close connection between cabinet and drive unit. As a result we obtain a much better impulse coupling that audibly improves the clarity and precision of the reproduction. A rich choice of controls influence the characteristics of the two digital (PWM) and three analogue power amplifiers built in. Besides level controls and shelve filters you find three fully parametric EQs that enable you to compensate for standing waves phenomena in the control room. The S6A MK II certainly is the best monitor ADAM has ever made, and it is certainly one of the best monitors built by anybody.

...strong words...

[barefoot]

Wow, that black and aluminum color scheme is unusual! Who would have thunk!????

[matucha]

where did I see it? Don't worry, your design is aestheticaly much more pleasing than adams... you'll sell more ;-)

[bee]

Wow!!!!!!!!!!!! How much are those bad boys gonna cost?


bee

[alphajerk]

Originally posted by barefoot
Wow, that black and aluminum color scheme is unusual! Who would have thunk!????

well, it least its not part of the driver.

[barefoot]

No sense of humor?

Anyhow, imitation is the highest form of flattery.

[matucha]

I think they should hire another photographer, because most of their photos looks flat, overlighted and without any "vibe". For ex. S3-A doesn't look nice on their photos, but I like how they physicaly. MiniMains surely look nice on the photo.

[barefoot]

Originally posted by matucha
MiniMains surely look nice on the photo.

Thanks man. I took those. I was just trying to capture the impact they have when you see them in person. Funny, though, because my wife says I suck when it comes to taking family photos! I guess speakers don't move around so much.

Thomas

[Bryce]

Originally posted by barefoot
Wow, that black and aluminum color scheme is unusual! Who would have thunk!????

It's not that unusual - the Oakland Raiders have been using that color scheme for about forty years. I'm a huge Raiders fan - black and silver have always been a fave of mine...

Hartke's been using that combination for many years as well - they made a nice two-way studio monitor back in the '80s that was black and aluminum...model HS-18, if memory serves. I think that was the first studio monitor I ever saw/heard with an aluminum woofer.

I'm definitely looking forward to hearing a pair of your monitors at AES this fall, Thomas! I hope they're doing well for you...

Originally posted by bee
Wow!!!!!!!!!!!! How much are those bad boys gonna cost?

They're about $30k for the pair.

dB
ADAM Audio USA

[matucha]

looking again at the picture, I must admit it is impressive array of transducers, seeing an S3-A component in there gets me an idea of how big is it... oh my ;-)))))

This thing should play powerfull, but I'm curious about one thing... there is still only 1 tweeter. It has to get seriously worn out in a quite short time. Or it is so over-spec for for ex S3A?

[Bryce]

Originally posted by matucha
This thing should play powerfull, but I'm curious about one thing... there is still only 1 tweeter. It has to get seriously worn out in a quite short time. Or it is so over-spec for for ex S3A?

The folded ribbon tweeter handles less in the monitors that also have folded ribbon mid-range units.

On something like the S3-A, the crossover point from the ART tweeter to the first woofer is around 1.8 kHz. On the units with the folded ribbon midrange units, the ART tweeter crosses into the ART midrange unit at a higher point - around 2.8 kHz, if memory serves.

I believe the folded ribbon mid-range unit goes from 2.8 kHz down to around 600 Hz.

dB
ADAM Audio USA

[barefoot]

Originally posted by Bryce
On something like the S3-A, the crossover point from the ART tweeter to the first woofer is around 1.8 kHz. On the units with the folded ribbon midrange units, the ART tweeter crosses into the ART midrange unit at a higher point - around 2.8 kHz, if memory serves.

Yes, this is that classic compromise with main monitors. In order to get the required power handling, you need to raise the crossover frequencies. This tends to degrade the off axis performance of the speakers, limiting their usefulness to "far field" listening distances. This is also the reason why I believe many engineers regard mains as fairly useless for anything other than impressing clients. Judging from the physical size and spacing of the midrange drivers in this S6A, however, they seem like they should have decent off axis response - at least in the crossover region.

Thomas

[MIKEHARRIS]

cool stuff dave...but enuff power?? never enuff

[Bryce]

Originally posted by MIKEHARRIS
cool stuff dave...but enuff power?? never enuff

Hey, they come in passive as well. You can hit them with as much power as you'd like...

dB
ADAM Audio USA

[dave-G]

dB, as you will undoubtedly remember from our visit with Mr. Harris, ... He likes him some power!

If these Raidah-colored boxes can drive to bone-marrow-liquification-resonance-levels, Mike might just be pleased.

(sorry.. inside joke)
-dave

[barefoot]

Originally posted by barefoot
Wow, that black and aluminum color scheme is unusual! Who would have thunk!????

It was graciously pointed out to me that all of my comments in this thread may not have been in the best spirit.

I always try to give very objective opinions regarding the technical pros and cons of any speaker - including my own. This is something I've been doing on several forums, long before I started selling my own monitors. And as long as I can remain objective, I don't see any reason to stop.

However, I must admit that when I saw the aluminum on the Adams, I was a little irritated. And I can see now that this is just silly and my first comments in this thread were simply childish. So, I hope you all will accept my sincerest apologies for these particular comments. I put myself before the mercy of the court.


As far as my technical statements here, or in any thread, I completely stand by them. And from now on I will try harder to keep things on a purely technical level. And if anyone can show me where I'm wrong, I'll be grateful to admit it.

Once again, my apologies.

Thomas

[alphajerk]

i got some Energy home theater speakers that are black and silver too.

[Jam]

Thomas

I didn't think that was to over the top and your posts are always valuable and informed so please keep on keeping on. But don't get to technical it's cool once awhile to see the Slutz behind the Gear. Especially the ones that have the good grace to laugh at themselves sometimes.
And if you weren't as passionate I doubt your speakers would be the objects of desire I find them.

Jam

[Bryce]

Originally posted by dave-G
dB, as you will undoubtedly remember from our visit with Mr. Harris, ... He likes him some power!

If these Raidah-colored boxes can drive to bone-marrow-liquification-resonance-levels, Mike might just be pleased.

(sorry.. inside joke)

Mike's system did put out some SPL, didn't it?

dB

[preben]

Hats off to you Thomas. Not a lot people would have the guts to do what you did in your last post.

[barefoot]

Ok, enough of the sap.

As for bone liquifaction, I do like that fact that they're restricting the switching amps to the subs. This is the right place, and they can deliver outstanding performance. I see some manufactures using "digi" amps in the high frequencies, and I have to say Wrong... Wrong... Wrong! Probably someday soon switching amps will be as good or better than analog across the entire audio spectrum. But that day is not today.

Thomas

[hmurchison]

Thomas how many tries did it take you before you had a speaker built that sounded better than the typical mid priced set $1k-2k?