OVERVIEW

The AX-Series from ADAM Audio provides you with a wide range of monitors for different applications. Their excellent price-performance ratio makes them suitable for professional studio applications as well as upscale home recording.

Many technical innovations are also in the AX models. The chamfered upper corners of the sturdy cabinet fronts minimize edge diffraction so that phase cancellation is not an issue. The speaker interior is equipped with a special fleece that prevents disturbing internal resonances as well as ensuring a better bass reflex tuning. The power switch and volume control are easily accessible on the front panel for greater ease of use. The front-firing bass ports are very useful as well, allowing the monitors to be set up closer to a wall if need be.

While the bass/mid woofer of the A3X is made of carbon fiber – an extremely resistant material – the woofers of all other AX models are built using a sandwich construction of woven carbon and glass fiber in conjunction with the synthetic material Rohacell. These three materials vary with respect to their physical density, but used in combination they provide an ultra-lightweight yet extremely rigid material with excellent transient response.

All models of the AX-Series feature two discrete amplifiers: an A/B amplifier that functions very quickly within its broad frequency range drives the X-ART tweeter. In the A5X, A7X, A8X and A77X monitors, the bass/mid- range woofers are each driven by powerful and highly efficient pulse-width modulated (PWM) amplifiers that do not require additional heat sinks and are more reliable and durable than other amplifiers.

The ‚Tweeter gain‘ function is a part of each AX monitor’s basic configuration and lets you raise or lower the level of the high frequencies by up to 4dB. Beyond that, shelving filters allow further adaptation to room acoustics with the A5X, A7X, A8X and A77X. The low shelf filter allows smooth control of the lower frequencies below 300 Hz from -6 dB to +6 dB, the high shelf EQ is introduced at 2.5 kHz with the same levels from -6 dB to +6 dB.

It goes without saying that all models of the AX-Series are equipped with our X-ART tweeter that is handmade in Berlin. The tweeter works according to our proprietary X-ART principle, based on a slim, pleated foil working as the tweeter’s diaphragm. The precise transient response and capability of reproducing the finest sonic details make the AX-Series monitors superior working tools.

THE X-ART TECHNOLOGY

The X-ART (eXtended Accelerated Ribbon Technology) tweeters and midranges incorporate a new approach to the Air Motion Transformer concept originally developed by Dr. Oskar Heil. ADAM Audio has improved upon this splendid idea utilizing superior geometries and materials to achieve unprecedented audio fidelity. X-ART strikes a new path concerning the kinematics of moving air, resulting in a dramatic improvement in the quality of audio reproduction.
Adam Audio X art tweeter
Adam Audio
Adam Audio
Adam Audio Membrane Comparison
The X-ART membrane consists of a pleated diaphragm in which the folds compress or expand according to the audio signal applied to them. The result is that air is drawn in and squeezed out, like the bellows of an accordion. The ADAM X-ART design overcomes the piston-like motion of all conventional drivers and their inevitable problems by achieving an improvement in air loading by a factor of 4 over conventional transducers. To illustrate the basic principle by a comparison: When you breathe, your thorax is moving slowly whereas the air is moving comparably fast. Similarly, the X-ART diaphragm presses the air faster in or out of its folds than they themselves are moving. This markedly superior ”motor” is responsible for the unprecedented clarity and pristine transient reproduction that can be heard with the ADAM X-ART drive units. In addition, the X-ART tweeter’s pleated membrane avoids the typical breakup/distortion and subsequent dynamic limiting at higher frequencies of stiffer voice coil designs, such as those found in dome and cone tweeters. Another positive result of the X-ART design is that the driving ”stripes” are in direct contact with the outer air and are cooled immediately.

MORE AREA = MORE DYNAMIC

Diaphragm area is another important factor in determining the dynamic range of a transducer. Basically, what you see is what you get. The cone area you can see is always the acoustically active area of the loudspeaker–this is true for practically all other drive units. By folding the X-ART diaphragm into the 3rd dimension (as seen from the listener’s position) a larger foil can be used, thus increasing the acoustically effective area of the diaphragm by a factor of more than 2.5 times. This results in higher dynamic output with extremely wide dispersion.
Adam Audio Air Motion Transformer

“…an excellent piece of craftsmanship…”

Audio Media was amongst the first magazines to review a new SX-Series model. About the tweeter they say: “The famous ART tweeter as used in ADAM’s monitors has also undergone reconstruction in the X model providing 4dB higher efficiency and reproducing frequencies accurately all the way to 50kHz, which has made such a difference. The ART tweeter from ADAM has always been one of its strong points, but this new X-ART tweeter is a perfect balance in what is an excellent piece of craftsmanship. ” (Audio Media)