ADAM Audio
ADAM (Advanced Dynamic Audio Monitors) Audio was founded in March 1999 in Berlin, Germany by the physicist Klaus Heinz and the electronic engineer Dipl.-Ing. Roland Stenz.[1] Since then the company has been developing, manufacturing and distributing loudspeakers in the field of Professional Audio, adding HiFi-Speakers to the portfolio very soon.[2]
The development of the ART (Accelerating Ribbon Technology) tweeter by Klaus Heinz based on the 1960s invention of the Air Motion Transformer by Oskar Heil was largely responsible for the company’s founding. Producing sound not with a piston-like diaphragm as is done in most of the loudspeakers that are on the market, but using a pleated diaphragm that is capable of moving the air 4 times faster than the folds themselves are moving was the appealing idea behind it all. The achieved results were intriguing and gave ample reason for moving forward.
One step forward was achieved with the use of modern materials like rare-earth magnets and high-strength diaphragm foils that made new driver geometry possible.
After ten years of being on the market, the original ART driver construction had been re-engineered from scratch and became known as X-ART (eXtended Accelerating Ribbon Technology[3]). Based on the ART technology, these new X-ART tweeters and midrange speakers are characterized by an extended frequency range and higher efficiency compared to their predecessors. In order to realize the full bandwidth of the X-ART tweeter of up to 50 kHz, ADAM has developed their own A/B amplifier with a bandwidth of up to 300 kHz which has brought significant improvements to sound reproduction.
In June 2010, co-founder Roland Stenz left ADAM Audio. In May 2011, he founded the company EVE Audio[4] to compete with ADAM Audio by offering basically the same products, i.e.: loudspeakers for professional and home use, with ribbon tweeters looking very similar to those known from ADAM Audio products.[5]
ADAM Audio currently has 55 employees[6] at the Berlin factory and is represented worldwide through a network of distributors and dealers in more than 75 countries. ADAM has local branches in the USA (NYC), the United Kingdom (London) and China (Beijing).
ADAM Audio filed for bankruptcy on 19 November 2014.[6][7]
German entrepreneurs with the CWM holding company have acquired ownership of ADAM Professional Audio on December 11, 2014. The new owners stated that their goal is to invest in ADAM Audio bringing production back up to normal and to invest in new products.[8]
Current Product Line
Professional Studio Monitors
• F-Series
• A-Series
• AX-Series
• SX-Series
• S7A Mk2
• Studio Subwoofers (Sub7, Sub 8, Sub10 Mk2, Sub12, Sub15, Sub2100)
Home Audio Loudspeakers
• Classic Mk3 Series
• Tensor Mk2 Series
Multimedia Loudspeakers
• ARTist Series
Installation Loudspeakers
• GTC Series
References
- ↑ Company History (PDF, in German)
- ↑ link to company website from 2002, already offering HiFi loudspeakers then
- ↑ Description of eXtended Accelerating Ribbon Technology on ADAM website
- ↑ Roland Stenz's LinkedIn-Profile
- ↑ EVE Audio web site
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Announcement from the liquidator
- ↑ Report in online magazine
- ↑ Announcement on ADAM's web site