
A brief
history of ADAM Professional Audio
It was in
Spring 1999 when the physicist Klaus Heinz and the electrical engineer Roland
Stenz, loaded with vast experience on the field of speaker systems and a
revolutionary tweeter design, founded ADAM Professional Audio. This highly
sophisticated design was soon to become the pinnacle of authentic sound
reproduction and the basis for achieving the very goal of the young but
ambitious company: to challenge the few giants in the industry by offering a
superior product. And as a matter of fact, in a short amount of time, Advanced
Dynamic Audio Monitors managed to become one of the most preeminent tools in
professional monitoring. However, the instantaneous success had been preceded
by many years of thorough research in acoustics and loudspeaker technology.
In 1982,
small summit talks took place, with large-scale changes for the further
development of the tweeter. Klaus Heinz met Dr. Oskar Heil who had stirred up
the world of audio with his Air Motion Transformer (AMT). This encounter was to
bear fruits in decades of intense conversations as well as Research and
Development. Since then, Klaus Heinz was on the quest for a solution that
combined the unique advantages of the AMT with improved dispersions, avoiding
the hornlike magnetic construction at the same time.

Good things
may come to those who wait but outstanding innovations to those who
uncompromisingly devote themselves to their goal. The Accelerating Ribbon
Technology (ART) came to see the light of day. This superior tweeter design, a
landmark in loudspeaker technology, marked both the beginning of a new era of
tweeter technology and of ADAM. This technology showed all the best qualities
of Heil´s AMT while avoiding its problems: crystal clear sound combined with
outstanding dispersions.
Klaus Heinz
on the new ART tweeter design: "It is more than 30 years that I had been
intrigued by Oskar Heils invention. The new kinematics to move the air was
intellectually brilliant, and the audible success inspiring. However, I always
thought that the huge magnetic structures in front of the diaphragm might
discolor the sound and that the pure dimension of the construction would lead
to unwanted narrow dispersion patterns. Using new materials like neodyme magnets
and Kapton® (by DuPont™) diaphragm materials and combining them with new
geometries I succeeded in designing a tweeter that on the one hand improved
both the electro-acoustic behavior and the measurement data of the original
construction. On the other hand, I could avoid the weak points often to be
found in unusual tweeter design. Distortion, efficiency, dispersion or power
handling all exceed what someone can find in 1" domes. Of course, the
final opinion is to be formed by the listeners. I am more than confident of
their judgment."

Since then,
many more innovations have been presented. To name some examples:
- The ART
principle could be applied to the midrange.
- Introducing
Impulse Coupling (IC), ADAM was able to find a method to vastly improve the
connection between drivers and cabinets.
- With the
Force Compensation (FC), some bigger speaker and subwoofer models are able to
employ two bass drivers which compensate distortions.
Furthermore,
with the Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) ADAM managed to find a solution to many of
the previous problems of amplifiers and therefore is able to offer unexcelled
and highly reliable active monitor systems.
Just in
time for their 10th anniversary, ADAM Audio proudly presents the new X-ART:
Based on the very technology of ART, the new tweeters and midranges show an
eXtended frequency band and a higher efficiency than their predecessors. ADAM
also presents their own A/B amplifier to realize the full bandwith of the X-ART
tweeter up to 50 kHz without any limitations. Combined with most sophisticated
woofers, ADAM in consequence offers an unsurpassed transducer assembly.
Nowadays,
ADAM is represented in 45 countries. A growing number of the most famous and
prestigious studios around the world own and use ADAM monitors. A wealth of
glowing print reviews and a consistent stream of praise across many internet
forums have helped firmly establish ADAM monitors as being among the most
dependable and desirable audio recording and production tools available.
With all
the vast experience from the professional audio world, ADAM Audio started to
enter the hifi market. Ignoring the traditional gap between pro audio and hifi,
ADAM home speakers followed the very goal of their professional relatives: the
reproduction of music should be as authentic as possible. This commitment to
nothing but the best possible sound was to bear fruits: In no time, ADAM home
speakers became synonimous with the highest standard in HiFi and High End. And
similar to the success in professional audio, truly ardent reviews by the
leading trade magazines helped to establish ADAM Audio as one of the leading
companies in both professional and home speakers. The ADAM Family is growing...