Adam F7 User Manual download pdf (Page 3)

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distance is equal to the tweeter-to-ear dis-

tance, that distance being somewhere

between 3 and no more than 5 feet. Any fur-

ther and you’ll hear too little direct sound from

the speakers and too many room reflections.

With the tweeters at ear level you’ll have the

best chance at hearing precise imaging and

ritical detail.

The owner’s manual (18 pages in English,

18 pages in German) states that it is okay to

lay the speakers on their sides, as long as

there is symmetry in the way you set them

up—either both tweeters on the outside or

both tweeters on the inside. That would be

indicated if you have a console with a meter

bridge, where upright positioning would

raise the tweeters too far above your ear

level. I tried both the F5 and F7 every which

way, and I achieved much better precision

with the tweeters on the inside than on the

outside when laying on their side. But my

best results came from upright positioning,

on speaker stands at least 5 feet from the

nearest wall. Which brings us to the crux of

the matter—the sound.

Listening

As I mentioned, I didn’t have the sub to

review. Does that mean I was missing bass?

Not in the least. In fact, even the smaller F5

produced serious bass, not enhanced by

either the eq on the back of the box, or by

any other bass boost, nor wall or corner

reinforcement—with the boxes standing out

in the open the bass was plentiful. Bassist/

producer Marcus Miller’s “Infatuation” (from

the CD Tale s) has a huge low end, and what

I heard from both the F5 and the F7 was

appropriately huge.

That track is not the most subtle down

low, with more girth than luster. So I con-

tinued listening with tracks featuring

bassists like studio ace Robert Hurst, with

the Clayton/Hamilton Jazz Orchestra on

Diana Krall’s From This Moment On,

recorded by Al Schmitt, and Ray Brown’s

“Some Of My Best Friends Are Piano

Players”. It turns out that the bass you can

get from the F5 and F7 includes the sub-

tleties that only an upright bass in the

hands of a master can deliver. The F7 has

deeper bass, as you’d expect, but the F5

is not shy down low!

But did that serious bass projection

leave room for midrange quality? It’s one

thing to have a big low end, but if it oblit-

erates the rest of the spectrum, all is for

naught. I’m happy to report that the vocal

range and the entire range of the piano

are not suffering from being impacted by

the impressive bass production. Both CDs

mentioned, the Diana Krall album (where

she sings, plays the grand piano, and is

backed by a full-on big band) and Ray

Brown’s, showed up enough material for

ritical listening to tell me that there is bal-

ance in the F5 and F7. The upper highs—

cymbals, solo violin, triangle and such—

speak clearly, without undue harshness.

Listening to a variety of other source

material revealed that the overall tonality

is on the bright side, a statement that

goes for both the F5 and the F7. But they

are not identical in sound.

Different strokes

I set the two pairs up side by side, with the

F7s flanking the F5s, and I rigged the signal

flow so I could switch instantly between them.

The difference between the two models was

a bit starker than I would have expected,

especially in the tweeter, and since they are

supposed to share that tweeter, I’m at a loss

as to why I heard what I heard.

When switching between speakers

while a straight-ahead jazz drummer was

riding cymbals, the cymbals sounded

more ping-y and less swish-y on the F5s,

and it was not a matter of (shorter) enve-

lope decay, it was strictly a tonal matter.

On the F7s it sounded as if the overheads

had been a couple of feet higher, giving

a broader sound than that from the F5s.

Neither presentation was objectionable,

but crosschecking on other playback sys-

tems at hand told me that the F5s were

pushing the highs more than did the F7s.

As should be expected, the smaller F5s

give a narrower sound field, and as soon

as I switched from the F7s to the F5s the

stage not only narrowed but the overall

impression of the music was more for-

ward, tighter, in my face. That’s what

speaker size will do. At times I preferred

this forward character from the F5s, as it

can help to highlight certain details. But

then again, the broader sound field from

the F7s makes for better overall balance.

Given these differences, I recommend lis-

tening carefully to both models and decid-

ing which best fits your studio and gives the

sound that works best for your music pro-

duction style. Regardless of which you

choose, both models can do good service

in your studio—and with a friendly price

tag we’re not used to seeing on speakers

bearing the ADAM name.

Prices: F5, $499/pair; F7, $799/pair

More from: ADAM Audio,

www.adam-audio.com

IsoAcoustics ISO•L8R200

peaker Stand

In our April 2012 issue we reviewed the

ISO•L8R155 stands from IsoAcoustics (www.

isoacoustics.com), and now we can report

that we’ve evaluated the new ISO•L8R200

($179.99/pair; $149.99 street) that had

een announced at AES 2012. These speak-

er stands enhance the listening experience by

decoupling the cabinets from the surface on

which they are placed. This can make a con-

siderable difference depending on just what

and where that surface is. This larger model

is named after the approximate size in mil-

limeters, 200 mm being the rough equivalent

to the width of 7.8", while the length is 10".

The unit is made up of six components: A

lower platform that stands on four rubber feet,

an upper rectangular frame that carries the

speaker cabinet, and the connecting four ver-

tical tubes, one in each corner. The user can

choose a shorter 4" or taller 8" set of tubes.

The isolation is provided by friction-fit rubber-

ized sleeves in the corners of the platform and

the upper frame where the tubes fit snugly but

with minimal transmission of vibrations.

In difficult positioning situations even this

choice of stand height may not bring the

tweeters to the user’s ear level. For such

cases, if the speakers need to be tilted

towards the listening position, a set of inserts

are available to allow for different angles.

As with the 155, these stands can pro-

vide a marked difference in bass

response and overall speaker tone, espe-

cially if the speakers are sitting on a res-

onant surface like a tabletop. If you have

heavy, isolated speaker stands they can

still improve your sound, but in smaller

studios where furniture is catch as catch

can, they can be a lifesaver.—LzR

F5 and F7 Monitors

The ribbon-tweeter revolution reaches

a new audience with these affordable speakers

Excerpted from the January edition of RECORDING Magazine 2013

5408 Idylwild Trail, Boulder, CO 80301 Tel: (303) 516-9118 Fax: (303) 516-9119

For Subscription Information, call: 1-800-582-8326 or www.recordingmag.com

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Adam F7 User Manual Page 3

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