For some years now TV and home cinema systems have been driving the market, but people are beginning to shift away from the clutter of surround sound, and there are also huge developments in On Demand TV - such as the BBC iPlayer - and film rentals from Apple TV.
Many devices combine photography, computing and TV into one single home media centre and in part account for the decreasing popularity of hi fi separates that don’t dovetail well with the rest of people’s media. They won’t present a slideshow of your holiday photos, play Youtube or other downloaded video and music that everyone now wants in one place and looking good.
Another problem for separates is that the metal casework is often the most expensive part, and makes them bad value. Therefore we decided to take a different approach. ADM9s were the beginning and now the ADM9.1s are selling in greater quantities than everything we’ve ever done before including our multi award-winning Neutrons and the similarly successful Lab Series Integrated Amplifier.
We’ve recently introduced the Neutron 5s and they were never intended to be alone, they were designed as part of of a new system that gets rid of expensive separates boxes, costs a fraction of the price and performs at least as well as a conventional system costing three times the price.
What you get is a subwoofer containing a very high power 10” drive unit, and the latest Wolfson DAC with a special digital receiver chip that makes jitter negligible, thus rendering it independent of source. Some argue that this DAC is the best made. There is also a remote-controlled six input preamplifier and three 100 Watt power amps: one for the subwoofer and two for the Neutron 5s. A digital display indicates the selected input, volume level and subwoofer set-up. The six inputs include one analogue, three optical digital, one coaxial digital, and one USB digital input. The latter can also send any source digitally to your computer so that it can be recorded - perfect for digitizing vinyl records!
The 2.1 Sub will cost £900, which equates to the price of an entry-level amplifier or CD player, and Neutron 5s cost £399. Therefore £1299 buys you a complete hi fi system, which would normally cost three times as much, and not include the subwoofer that’s so important for movies and some music now.
As a source all you need is Sonos, Apple TV, pS3, Sky Plus or a FreeSat PVR, and you’ve got the lot and saved a fortune. The ADM9.1 + its Sub costs £1875, so the Neutron % is our entry level system at £1299.
Another key advantage to the system is that all variables from the source to the speaker are known and addressed by Martin Grindrod our engineer, so we can be certain of the sound quality. The “mix and match” nature of hi fi separates would often create unpredictable results, as well as additional hassle and cost.
The Neutron 5 2.1 system starts shipping in March and Neutron 5s are available now in lustrous Piano Black lacquer.
Read the news item about the Neutron 5.2.1 system on www.enjoythemusic.com
We have just recieved these emails from very satisfied customers with their new ADM9s:
These speakers are way ahead of anything I’ve ever heard, and I simply love them - in fact, I had no idea music could sound like this. There just so polite, and truthfulness just means no bells and whistles which is what I hated with everything else. There’s no more sitting there wishing it sounded a bit more this and a bit less that - I’ve come home.
I bet you can’t wait for that next show, and you get these little babies out and blow everything else out of the water for a grand.
These little monitors are perfect in conception and wonderfully engineered.
I can listen to them all day without any sense of fatigue. They give the lie to the common misconception that 'high end hi-fi' should ever add something to the music that was missing in the original recording. Surely a monitor should enable you to hear what is wrong with the recording process as well as all that is good about it, however you perceive it.
That is precisely what happens here and if, like me, you like to hear everything that makes the music sound live, with all the pops, scratches, slaps and natural acoustics that implies, then don't ever expect to find better.
Finally, a system I can keep indefinitely.
The original sound - not the closest approach to it.
I have only briefly used the ADM9s but inital impressions are amazing. I have connected my budget Nad CD player to the analogue stage using £1.99 phone leads and can't believe the level of performance. It took me about 5 mins to acclimatise to the way they do things but once things came into focus there was no going back. I cant help feeling smug at the thought of others going out and spending thousands of £s on multiple large boxes and not giving something like this a chance..
For the price and size these truly are a revelation.
I am always a bit sceptical when somebody praises their own efforts, but every thing you have said and written about these speakers seems to be true. I have been playing around with audiophile equipment since I was 14 and now feel that i have reached my journeys end. Anything else just seems completely unneccessary unless you have too much disposable time and cash. I am really looking forward to spending a bit more time with these speakers.
The ADM9s are just wonderful. I am enjoying my music more than for years, and as you had predicted, the sound at even lower download rates is superb - certainly better than I ever got from my N**m system. I have settled on 256 kbps, and that works fine for me (and my wife, who is enjoying the system almost as much as me, much to my surprise and delight). It's the versatility that amazes - Bach chorales, electric jazz, world music, all of it sounds great. I am downloading all my CDs at present, which will take a while, but I am so glad that I took the plunge and got the ADM9s. If I can help persuade anyone else who is dithering, please feel free to contact me. And you were right (I think) - the sub-woofer has so far not been missed. The combination of the Mac with the ADM9 is a particularly fine one, with attention to detail the main defining factor.
I am sure you are absolutely correct in your predictions for the future of home audio - and I hope that the AVI strategy with the ADM9s will put the company in pole position as people make the inevitable change from `conventional' hi fi. Certainly, the innovation and customer service from AVI are the best I have experienced, and you really deserve to succeed. I am sure that the good name that AVI already had in audio circles will be enhanced. I am not in the least surprised at the success of the ADM9s so far - even on a financial basis, to replace my original system with conventional audio separates would have cost several times more than the ADM9-Mac Mini combination has done, and would not have sounded as good.
Good luck with the ADM9s - and with the future development of the company. And thanks again for all your help.
"I am absolutely delighted with my ADM9s! Having collected them from John Townrow at Fiveways on Saturday (who has been brilliant to deal with again) I got home, plugged in everything and listened. Having realised first of all that I'd read the programming instructions incorrectly for the one-for-all handset and so had swapped channel and volume, I switched to the digital input and played. It is absolutely incredible. The breadth and depth of the soundstage is remarkable - much wider than the speakers in my listening room. And the detail is amazing too - I'm hearing things I haven't before. Friends and family alike could not believe that the sound was coming from the mini-mac and "those little loudspeakers". I hooked up the turntable through the analogue input too - it was so easy to do though I can't see vinyl surviving the cut for me much longer. This system will transform the way I and my family listen to music. Thanks for a brilliant product."
