Adam Audio A77X Review: Make Your Best Choice!
ADAM Audio monitors have long garnered an international reputation as a main instrument utilized by sound engineers, owing to their technological advancements that originated in the domain of loudspeaker technology. Since 1999, ADAM Audio has been making high-quality studio monitors. And so, with the A77X, they bring their best dual-driver technology to small studios.
Adam’s studio monitors are known for their X-ART tweeter, with ART meaning the Accelerating Ribbon Technology mostly found in the AX series.
When an audio signal is applied to the X-ART tweeter, the pleated, very light membrane’s folds expand and contract, letting air move into and out of the spaces between the folds. The design creates an extremely efficient engine, with air moving four times faster than the membrane that moves it. According to Adam, this makes the X-ART clearer and more responsive than ever before. Additionally, the X-ART tweeter doesn’t have a voice coil or cone, so it doesn’t seem to have the distortion and dynamic limitations of regular dome tweeters at higher frequencies. It has a useful frequency response of up to 50kHz.
Now that we’ve introduced what you need to know about the X-ART tweeter that comes with all AX models, let’s talk about the main device, the A77X.
Adam Audio A77X
The ADAM Audio A77X, which combines all the latest technology in the AX line, can be used as both a nearfield and a midfield monitor thanks to its power and dispersion characteristics. With its clear midrange, transparent highs, and superior transient response, the A77X is a great active horizontal 3-way studio monitor for midfield monitoring.
And it’s not just an A7X on its side with an extra driver; the A77X is a three-way A7X on its side. The A77X has two crossover frequencies, 400Hz and 3kHz, instead of the single frequency of 2.5kHz in the A7X. This makes it a real three-way loudspeaker.
Characteristics:
Build and Design
Working with modern materials has helped ADAM Audio make loudspeaker parts that keep pushing the limits of what is possible in studio monitor design. High-strength diaphragm foils and rare-earth magnets are two materials that have made A77X’s drivers more reliable, better at what they do, and with great function thanks to the new driver geometry.
Moreover, A77X seven-inch bass/mid “hexacomb” drivers are made with a cone structure that is also worth mentioning. On both sides of these, Kevlar is layered over a honeycomb core of Nomex. This makes the cones very stiff and resistant to breakup resonances. It also connects to two 100W Class-D PWM amplifiers with high efficiency.
Sound Quality
The A77X’s low end is clearer and deeper, and its phantom center is a bit better. But when pushed hard, the sound quality and ability to fill a 16 ft × 30 ft with 12 ft ceilings was limited. Although you could still get mixes and hear details about tracking sessions where you wanted them, you couldn’t get the full, emotional playback experience you might’ve been accustomed to. It makes sense that the A77X’s three amplifiers put out less power because when you compare its prices to other flagship models of Adam Audio, this is way cheaper.
The A77X was just a little bit lacking – it wasn’t quite as loud as what clients would expect in a professional studio. However, these would be great for a small studio or a very nice home setup.
Controls
On the edge of the cabinet, above the tweeter, there is a small panel with an on/off switch and a volume control. Then, the IEC mains socket, unbalanced phono, and balanced XLR input connectors are all on the back panel. Three controls let you change the A77X’s response to fit your specific sound environment. The two knobs at the top of this group control the high and low shelving filters. The high shelving filter has a range of ±6dB above 5kHz and the low shelving filter has a range of ±6dB below 300Hz. You can turn up or down the tweeter’s level by up to 4dB with the third control.
For some people, these controls are useful, but we recommend that you leave them alone. If you want to change something, you should first figure out what the real issue is with what you’re hearing.
Sound Technicality
ADAM indeed made their AX series monitors up to extremely high standards. The bass/midrange drivers in the A77X work perfectly with its large front-baffle bass reflex ports, which give the speaker a powerful but controlled low-end bump. Together with the 50W Class AB tweeter amp, the system’s two woofers are powered by a 100W PWM amplifier. This makes it possible for the A77Xs to reach an impressive maximum SPL of 122dB at one meter.
As mentioned, they have cutting-edge technology, their famous X-ART accelerated ribbon tweeter, which is made by hand.
Takeaway
Part of A77X’s overall power is the X-ART tweeter, which has a flat response up to 50kHz. In the real world of today’s main playback systems, you might be wondering why we need a monitor with this much power, but trust us on this.
Here we have the Adam A77X, an active monitor that can play back frequencies from 38Hz to 50kHz very accurately and without any problems, even when turned up to pretty high volumes. With the Adam A77X’s level of performance, all of this comes at a price that indicates outstanding value for money. You should put the A77X at the top of your list of active monitors to hear if you’re in the market for ones in their price range.
Why You Should Read Reviews Before Buying
While finding a perfect set of studio monitors (or any other devices for that matter) can be a bit of a headache, it’s important for you to explore more on your options rather than settling down on the first thing that you see. As smart buyers, we know how important it is to do research on a product and think about its pros and cons before we buy it. with that, it’s great that the internet gives us access to so much information that we can learn everything we need to know about a piece of equipment before we decide to buy it. So, there should be no excuses on your part as a smart buyer.
