ADAM Audio A4V

Mostly heard as balanced and honest in the Pure voicing. bonedo puts it in the same league as Neumann's KH 80 DSP, and delamar, Production Expert, Digital DJ Tips, Adam Talks Tech and owners call it clear, even or accurate without being sterile. ASR measured and heard a slightly bright default tuning, AMAZONA's tester prefers a more forgiving top end, and one returning owner found too much bass at factory settings. ADAM's report and reviewers agree that the UNR voicing is a deliberately coloured, bass- and treble-boosted mode for casual listening.

“Der A4V spielt definitiv in der gleichen Liga wie meine geliebten KH 80 DSP.”

Peter Könemann, bonedo ("The A4V definitely plays in the same league as my beloved KH 80 DSP")

“The A4V lands in a nice middle ground where it still feels accurate, but it does not come across as sterile.”

Adam Talks Tech

“Ich persönlich bevorzuge einen etwas gnädigeren Klang mit ausgeglichenem Höhenanteil.”

Jörg Hoffmann, AMAZONA.de ("Personally I prefer a somewhat more forgiving sound with a balanced share of treble")

Sources split three ways. Most reviewers and owners say it goes far deeper and punchier than a 4-inch box should: Production Expert, AMAZONA, Digital DJ Tips and American Songwriter felt no need for a subwoofer at the desk, and one owner with the speakers in a room corner found them no lighter than his old 7-inch T7Vs. A minority want more: an owner who moved from T5Vs on a treated desk heard "almost no bass", another found no real sub-bass, and a three-year owner left for Neumann's KH 120 II to mix electronic music. In the other direction, infosound's studio test heard far too much low end before Sonarworks correction, a returning owner found the factory tuning bass-heavy, and another needed SoundID to stop it sounding muddy. Several owners added a subwoofer and say it transforms the speaker.

Mostly praised: bonedo found it more articulate in the midrange than his KH 80 DSP and said solo voices and instruments stand out clearly, Production Expert calls the midrange together and revealing, AMAZONA open and clear, and an owner and a video reviewer heard clearer mids than Kali's IN-8. The point of contention is measured rather than heard: ASR found a narrow cancellation dip near 1 kHz caused by the front ports, which drew sharp criticism from ASR members reading the graphs. ADAM confirmed it, says it is inaudible because the resonance decays quickly, and bonedo heard nothing amiss in that region.

“The midrange is together and revealing, and the folded ribbon is very clean, giving an impression of headroom despite only 20W powering it.”

Julian Rodgers, Production Expert

“Wichtige Solostimmen/-instrumente werden sehr definiert und präsent hervorgehoben, was meinen Hörpräferenzen entgegenkommt.”

Peter Könemann, bonedo ("Important solo voices and instruments are brought out in a very defined, present way, which suits my listening preferences")

“There is an unfortunate cancellation due to front facing ports.”

amirm, Audio Science Review (Klippel measurements)

Sources split almost evenly. Production Expert, bonedo, delamar, Digital DJ Tips and many owners call the X-ART tweeter clean, natural and detailed without sharpness, and Digital DJ Tips heard no brightness in the Pure voicing. ASR measured and heard a slightly bright default that exaggerated some sounds in female vocals; AMAZONA hears a brilliant, bright character that no room adaptation removes; infosound found sibilants imprecise; Home DJ Studio and Adam Talks Tech call it bright and turned it down; and a three-year owner calls it a little too bright for a studio monitor. One owner returned his pair because ribbon tweeters aggravate his tinnitus.

Sources split. Owners describe a wide, three-dimensional presentation: one desk user calls it more holographic than ATC SCM7s, and another found stereo width and spaciousness much improved over Adam T7Vs. infosound's studio test found the opposite before correction — a narrow stereo picture that collapsed when switching from Yamaha NS-10s.

Thinly covered and split. bonedo's reviewer rates its precise, layered placement of mix elements a nose ahead of his KH 80 DSP; infosound found the imaging only slightly better with the speakers on their side and still far from ideal.

Sources split, though most land on revealing. bonedo calls its sound remarkably detailed, AMAZONA calls the speakers sound magnifiers, Adam Talks Tech's first impression was clarity, and owners coming from KRK and Adam T-series speakers say they now hear every detail and mistake. infosound heard the opposite before correction — backing vocals and vocal reverbs got lost compared with NS-10s — and a shop listener found them lacking something to sound revealing and open.

Loud and clean for its size at desk distances. ASR heard little distortion even listening loud to a single speaker, Production Expert calls it impressively loud, infosound very loud and dynamic for a 4-inch, and Digital DJ Tips heard no distortion at any level they dared. The limits appear near the top: Adam Talks Tech heard it lose purity close to 100 dB, Nuyes's data shows compression of up to about 1.5 dB, and two owners say it runs into its limit fairly quickly or that bigger models are for those who need volume.

“Dynamics/power capability was excellent.”

amirm, Audio Science Review (single speaker, desktop)

“They’re distortion-free up to way past the volume we’d dare to play them at”

Digital DJ Tips

“Once I got closer to 100 dB, I started noticing that the sound was not quite as pure anymore.”

Adam Talks Tech

“크기와 용도도 그러하듯, 고음압에 강한 타입은 아닌 것으로 보인다.”

Nuyes, DCinside speaker gallery ("As its size and purpose suggest, it doesn't seem to be a type that's strong at high SPL")

Mostly easy to place on a desk. bonedo found the 120-degree waveguide gives a practical sweet spot on a 1.15 m triangle in a treated room, Nuyes measured smooth horizontal directivity, an owner fitted them into a room corner using only the backplate controls, and reviewers note the front ports and Desk/Bass switches suit placement near a wall. Against that, ASR measured the tweeter narrowing above about 8 kHz and an uneven vertical response, an owner says the narrow tweeter dispersion demands exact height (too high or too low changes the treble and bass), and a shop listener heard it overwhelmed by a larger room — desktop use only.

“Der HPS-Waveguide erzeugt mit einem horizontalen Abstrahlwinkel von 120 Grad einen praktikablen Sweetspot, wohingegen vertikale Reflexionen (Decke, Desk) bei einem Winkel von 70 Grad weitgehend im Zaum gehalten werden.”

Peter Könemann, bonedo ("The waveguide's 120-degree horizontal dispersion gives a practical sweet spot, while its 70 degrees vertically keeps ceiling and desk reflections largely in check" — 1.15 m triangle)

“Die schmale Abstrahlcharakteristik der Hochtänders erfordert eine exakte Aufstellung.”

simbie, Thomann UK owner review ("The tweeter's narrow dispersion requires exact placement")

“It sounded quite good for such a toddler but ultimately was overwhelmed by the room. Strictly for desktop only.”

RoA, Audio Science Review forum (shop audition)

Sources split. Production Expert used them as his main pair in place of Neumann KH310s and missed little but the bottom octave, and Adam Talks Tech says music, mixing and video edits translated well. ASR said he would step up to something without the 1 kHz hole and the treble lift if mixing for a living, an ASR member called it disappointing for mixing and mastering, and a three-year owner found Neumann's KH 120 II translated far better and left the A4V, while still calling it a great monitor.

Sources split, partly by how close and how quiet the room is. ASR found tweeter hiss very low and of no concern. bonedo heard a faint hiss at nearfield distance in a studio-quiet room where his Neumann KH 80s were silent (below the threshold of a complaint), delamar heard slight hiss with no signal that disappears under music, and a mastering user who returned his pair found the noise floor unacceptable for a DSP monitor.

The strongest point of agreement. Every review praises the DSP: four backplate room-adaptation buttons, Pure and UNR voicings, and A Control's 6-band parametric EQ and delay over Ethernet, plus the ability to store a Sonarworks SoundID room profile in the speaker so it applies to any source without a plugin. infosound, sceptical before correction, rated it very good after SoundID. AMAZONA notes that the correction adjusts only frequency response, not timing or phase; reviewers also note there is no TRS input, no digital input and no wireless control.

“It’s super neat, and no other speakers to our knowledge have this currently.”

Digital DJ Tips (on storing Sonarworks filter sets in the speakers)

“Tak jak na samym początku podchodziliśmy sceptycznie do tego modelu, to już po korekcji jest bardzo dobrze!”

Rafał Kossakowski, infosound.pl ("Sceptical as we were about this model at the start, after correction it is very good!")

Mostly liked, with some friction. ASR, bonedo, Production Expert and Adam Talks Tech praise the lit push buttons over fiddly DIP switches, and A Control is described as intuitive. The complaints: remote control needs Ethernet cables and a router or switch (no Wi-Fi or phone app), which Digital DJ Tips calls a lot of faff for a stereo pair; switching settings briefly interrupted playback for Production Expert; AMAZONA misses a TRS or combo input; one owner found SoundID set-up a bit hard and another says the backplate buttons barely change anything.

“The rear panel is one of the better implementations I have seen on a studio monitor in this size range.”

Adam Talks Tech

“it’s an awful lot of faff to save you nipping behind the speakers when initially setting them up to make adjustments”

Digital DJ Tips (on Ethernet remote control for a stereo pair)

“My only slight disappointment was that switching between settings briefly interrupted playback some of the time”

Julian Rodgers, Production Expert

Mostly called solid: bonedo, ASR, Digital DJ Tips, Home DJ Studio and Adam Talks Tech describe a dense, heavy-for-its-size cabinet (5.8 kg) with careful finishing, though ASR notes very sharp corners. Production Expert felt the cabinet less "pro" than the rest of the package, one owner found the level knob cheap, and a returning owner was surprised how inferior it felt next to the old A7. No A4V hardware failures turned up in the sources read.

“In Relation zur kompakten Größe wirkt das Gewicht von 5,8 kg recht stattlich und unterstreicht den studiotauglichen und robusten Eindruck des tadellos verarbeiteten Monitors.”

Peter Könemann, bonedo ("Relative to its compact size, the 5.8 kg weight feels substantial and underlines the studio-ready, robust impression of the impeccably made monitor")

“the cabinet construction feels less ‘pro’ than the rest of the package, being relatively lightweight”

Julian Rodgers, Production Expert

“the volume nub is made super cheap”

Usta, Thomann UK owner review (returned the pair)

Sources split. bonedo, delamar, Production Expert and most Thomann owners see good value for the sound and DSP features at launch prices of about $450–$500 a speaker. Against that, Adam Talks Tech and owners find it pricey for a 4-inch monitor, an owner who came from T5Vs calls it not worth the money, and ASR members argue Neumann's KH 80 or ADAM's own cheaper T-series measure as well or better. As of November 2026 a pair sells for about $1,080 on discount from a list price near $1,240.