Recording - May 2016 - 41

harmonics. Kick drum punch and low notes
on the piano were also solid and believable, but I have to admit I don't have very
much music in my collection where the
pianist makes a lot of use of that low A (27
Hz)!
As I listened up the spectrum, there
were no obvious weirdnesses in the vicinity of the crossover (3 kHz), and the mids
and highs were as lovely and clear as I've
come to expect from well-made air motion
tweeters. Acoustic music was simply glorious on the A7X, with clarity, vibrancy, and
exquisite detail. Great recordings sounded
great and less-than-great recordings couldn't hide their warts. The X-ART tweeters
were especially good at highlighting digital artifacts like overzealous noise reduction and lossy data compression; they're
fantastic for the engineer who may be too
eager to think of digital processes as
magic black boxes that can't screw up his
audio because the computer is obviously
smarter than he is!
The A7X continues to build upon the
ADAM tradition of exceptional
quality and clarity. I have a
real love for folded-ribbon
speakers in general; my mostused casual listening speakers
are an old pair of ADAM
A5s. The A7X was familiar to
me, and yet its strong extension and high power handling
were revelations. I had a blast
working with them. Well... I
guess I have to admit that the
"blast" part really happened
when I added the subwoofer!
The Sub10 MK2
ADAM Audio has matched
up its satellite/sub bundles
based on SPL at one meter; the
A7X sounds exceptionally clear at lower listening levels, but it can in fact go up to a
shattering 114 dB SPL (peak), with a steady
106 dB SPL being no problem at all. The
subwoofer that matches that power delivery
is the Sub10 MK2, a real behemoth of a
speaker by almost any measure.
Measuring 22 x 12 x 15.5 inches in
size and weighing a hefty 46.3 lbs., the
Sub10 MK2 takes its name from its 10"
front-firing coated-paper woofer. The cabinet rests on sturdy metal feet with nonskid
pads, giving clearance for a huge flared
down-firing port. Rear panel connections
include balanced XLR and unbalanced
RCA inputs and outputs for the Left and
Right signals, and a separate XLR out to
daisy-chain more subs. There's no submute footswitch, which I missed having.
Controls include knobs for Sub Level
(mute to +6 dBu) and Sub Filter (lowpass filter with corner frequency from 50 Hz to
150 Hz, with a detent at 85 Hz, the recommended setting for surround use). There are
switches for always-on vs. "standby until

you receive audio, then back to standby
after 15 minutes of silence", subwoofer
polarity inversion, and an 85 Hz highpass
filter for the satellites so they're not trying to
process the audio handled by the sub
(especially for surround-see above). Use
of this filter is a matter of preference; I like
my satellites to deliver their full frequency
response and be supplemented where
needed by the sub, so after a few trials
with it on, I turned it off and left it off.
The Sub10 MK2 has a 200 W power
amp and can deliver up to 113 dB at one
meter, making it well matched to the A7X.
Once I got it placed, I tended to set it very
conservatively, just adding a bit of lowend "feel" rather than earthshaking bass. I
did make an exception one evening and
cranked it up for dance mixes, and had a
lot of fun before I had to dial it back and
save my ears (and my stomach).
The amount of power the Sub10 MK2
can deliver is seductive, especially when
you have to "give good client" for rock,
pop, or dance music. While I feel it's a
great match to the A7X
(reaching down to 25 Hz), it
has to be set with care so that
it's giving you the right
amount of bass at the listening levels normally used in
your studio. Remember those
pesky Equal Loudness
Curves-the balance of bass
to mids changes with listening
level!
Final thoughts
Any time you use a smaller
monitor to record and mix
music, you should always
check your work on larger
monitors to make sure the
extreme bass holds up properly. The lower the bass extension of your
small monitors, the narrower the range of
frequencies you need to worry about.
In the case of the A7X, that range
begins at about 45 to 50 Hz. Really deep
bass and piano notes (especially if the
bassist has a 5-string with a low B) will fall
below that, as will some of the boom of a
kick drum or a sub-bass synthesizer used to
emphasize the lows in dance music. So if
you're doing anything that relies on significant low end, you'll want to supplement
the A7X with the Sub10 MK2. The result is
an incredibly powerful and well-balanced
listening system that covers the full frequency spectrum with aplomb. It won't let you
down... but please keep your usual levels
below 90 dB if you want to still be doing
this job years from now.
Prices: A7X, $749.99 each; Sub10
MK2, $1499.99; A7X-Sub10 MK2
bundle, $2549 (until June 30, 2016)
More from: ADAM Audio,
RECORDING MAY 2016

41


http://www.mojaveaudio.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - May 2016

Contents
Recording - May 2016 - Cover1
Recording - May 2016 - Cover2
Recording - May 2016 - 1
Recording - May 2016 - 2
Recording - May 2016 - 3
Recording - May 2016 - 4
Recording - May 2016 - 5
Recording - May 2016 - Contents
Recording - May 2016 - 7
Recording - May 2016 - 8
Recording - May 2016 - 9
Recording - May 2016 - 10
Recording - May 2016 - 11
Recording - May 2016 - 12
Recording - May 2016 - 13
Recording - May 2016 - 14
Recording - May 2016 - 15
Recording - May 2016 - 16
Recording - May 2016 - 17
Recording - May 2016 - 18
Recording - May 2016 - 19
Recording - May 2016 - 20
Recording - May 2016 - 21
Recording - May 2016 - 22
Recording - May 2016 - 23
Recording - May 2016 - 24
Recording - May 2016 - 25
Recording - May 2016 - 26
Recording - May 2016 - 27
Recording - May 2016 - 28
Recording - May 2016 - 29
Recording - May 2016 - 30
Recording - May 2016 - 31
Recording - May 2016 - 32
Recording - May 2016 - 33
Recording - May 2016 - 34
Recording - May 2016 - 35
Recording - May 2016 - 36
Recording - May 2016 - 37
Recording - May 2016 - 38
Recording - May 2016 - 39
Recording - May 2016 - 40
Recording - May 2016 - 41
Recording - May 2016 - 42
Recording - May 2016 - 43
Recording - May 2016 - 44
Recording - May 2016 - 45
Recording - May 2016 - 46
Recording - May 2016 - 47
Recording - May 2016 - 48
Recording - May 2016 - 49
Recording - May 2016 - 50
Recording - May 2016 - 51
Recording - May 2016 - 52
Recording - May 2016 - 53
Recording - May 2016 - 54
Recording - May 2016 - 55
Recording - May 2016 - 56
Recording - May 2016 - 57
Recording - May 2016 - 58
Recording - May 2016 - 59
Recording - May 2016 - 60
Recording - May 2016 - 61
Recording - May 2016 - 62
Recording - May 2016 - 63
Recording - May 2016 - 64
Recording - May 2016 - 65
Recording - May 2016 - 66
Recording - May 2016 - 67
Recording - May 2016 - 68
Recording - May 2016 - 69
Recording - May 2016 - 70
Recording - May 2016 - 71
Recording - May 2016 - 72
Recording - May 2016 - Cover3
Recording - May 2016 - Cover4
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202404
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202403
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202402
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202401
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202312
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording-november-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202310
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202309
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202308
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202307
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202306
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202305
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202304
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202303
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202302
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202301
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202212
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202211
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202210
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202209
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202208
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202207
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202206
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202205
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202204
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202203
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202202
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202201
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202112
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202111
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202110
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202109
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202108
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202107
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202106
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202105
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202104
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202103
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202102
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202101
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202012
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202011
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202010
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202009
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202008
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202007
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202006
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_20205
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202004
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202003
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202002
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202001
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_201912
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_201911
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_201910
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_201909
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_201908
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_201907
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_201906
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_201905
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_201904
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_201903
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_201902
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_201901
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_201812
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_201811
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_201810
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_201809
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201808
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201807
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201806
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201805
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201804
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201803
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201802
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201801
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201712
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201711
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201710
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201709
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201708
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201707
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201706
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201705
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201704
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201703
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201702
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201701
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201612
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201611
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201610
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201609
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201608
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201607
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201606
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201605
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201604
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201603
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201602
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201601
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201512
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201511
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201510
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201509
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201508
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201507
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201506
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201505
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201504
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201503
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201502
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201501
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201412
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201411
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201410
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201409
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201408
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201407
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201406
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201405
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201404
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201403
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201402
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201401
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201312
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201311
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201310
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201309
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201308
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201307
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201306
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201305
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201304
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201303
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201302
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201301
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201212
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201211
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201210
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201209
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201208
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201207
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201206
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201205
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201204
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201203
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201202
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201201
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201112
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201111
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201110
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201109
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201108
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201107
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201106
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201105
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201104
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201103
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201102
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201101
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201012
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201011
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201010
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201009
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201008
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201007
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201006
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201005
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201004
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201003
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201002
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201001
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_200912
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_200911
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_200910
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/nxtd
https://www.nxtbookmedia.com