Overview
The S Series is ADAM Audio’s new flagship reference monitoring range, comprising five models of increasing size: S2V, S3H & S3V and the S5H & S5V (H denotes a speaker designed optimally for horizontal use, V the vertical version). The range is the combination of many years of advanced in-house engineering innovation at ADAM and the latest computer aided design techniques, and does not employ off-the-shelf loudspeaker technology.
Innovations created specifically for the S Series include: completely new woofers and mid-range drivers, newly designed waveguides for the S Series tweeter (and the mid-range driver on the S5 models), and a new DSP engine which provides crossover optimization, voicing options and expansion potential.
The result of all this technical effort is a set of loudspeakers with an accurate frequency response and wide, consistent dispersion, offering enhanced detail in the bass and mid-frequencies, and high overall performance. The range operates over wider frequency ranges compared to previous ADAM Audio designs – so there’s more bass extension and critical mid-range information, with a raised overall maximum output level but reduced distortion. The S Series also offers forward-looking digital connectivity alongside its analog connections.
- New Bass Drivers with ELE™ and SMA™ Technology
Looking at the changes included in the S Series in more detail, the redesign of the bass driver has included the creation, entirely from scratch, of: a new low-mass but highly rigid honeycomb driver cone, a highly efficient, self-cooling linear magnet assembly, a low-loss speaker surround, linear suspension and damping systems, a vented symmetrical voice coil and a new driver chassis/basket.
These innovations allow the driver to handle more extreme excursions in a linear fashion without experiencing cone breakup, while the ventilation-orientated design minimizes power compression. Even the bass reflex tubes and ports have been completely redesigned.
Taken together, all of these changes make for a more accurate LF driver that can produce higher SPLs, with reduced distortion, and permit listeners to work with raw, uncompressed audio at higher levels for longer without suffering fatigue.
Read more here: ELE™ Bass Driver, SMA™ Technology, S-Series Bass Reflex System.
- Groundbreaking DCH™ Midrange Driver
Looking at the mid-range driver in a similarly more detailed way, the new 100 mm (4-inch) mid-range driver is a dome/cone hybrid design offering the advantages of both dome and cone designs: excellent dispersion characteristics, low distortion, high power handling and a flat response. Many of the innovations designed for the new woofer also informed the design of the mid-range driver, including its new linear magnet assembly, speaker surround, suspension and damping systems, and chassis.
Read more here: DCH™ Midrange Driver
- Fundamental redevelopment of cabinets
The aesthetics of the range reflect ADAM Audio’s heritage as a manufacturer of precision tools in a country renowned for the quality of its industrial engineering – but all aspects of the design are the result of practical considerations. The thick, weighty cabinet construction minimizes unwanted vibrations and coloration, and its rounded edges reduce unwanted diffractions. Mounting points are also built in to the S2V and S3 models to allow them to be suspended.
Read more here: S-Series cabinets
- Newly developed S-ART tweeter, custom designed waveguides
The S-ART tweeter is the latest iteration of ADAM Audio’s renowned accelerated ribbon design, manufactured to much tighter tolerances, and a new custom waveguide has also been produced, milled from solid aluminum, to improve dispersion, projection and imaging, and to widen the sweet spot. The S5 models also feature custom-designed and milled waveguides on the mid-range drivers.
Read more here: S-ART tweeter, HPS™ Waveguide, MPS™ Waveguide
- High Performance DSP Module
The newly developed, high-power DSP engine is based on the most recent generation of SHARC chips and provides perfectly tuned crossovers for enhanced frequency response, dynamic range and resolution, custom EQ for in-room optimization, and digital connectivity, along with the potential for future expansion options.
Read more here: High Performance DSP Module
