ADAM S2A Active Studio Monitor User Manual

S2A Nearfield Monitor
Operation manual

S2A Active Studio Monitor

Introduction

First of all, we would like to thank you for choosing ADAM Audio. ADAM Studio Monitors are built to a maximum in reproduction quality and perfection. You have selected a precise high resolution active speaker system that allows you to professionally judge audio recordings. We are confident that these monitors can meet your expectations to a faithful sound reproduction.
To enjoy the capabilities of your new speakers, please read the following safety and warranty considerations before connecting these. Get informed about the speaker placement and the available control elements. The positioning and the  acoustical properties of the control room often play a bigger role than you might think.
The S2A is a professional and compact near field monitor. A suitable tool for home studios, small control rooms, recording vehicles and post productions suites.
The S2A is a two-way ported active system that uses a single A.R.T. tweeter and a Hexi Cone® bass/midrange driver below the crossover frequency at 1.8 kHz. Each section uses an individual amp with continuous output of up to 150 Watts (RMS).
The use of our exceptional A.R.T. tweeter ensures full compatibility to the latest media formats such as DVD Audio and SACD with their expanded high frequency resolution. At the same time the S2A allows to monitor the low frequency  range down to 35 Hz with a flat response. Because of the extraordinary stiffness and lightness of the Hexacode’s® Nomex/Kevlar sandwich membrane, this results in an exceptional accurate frequency response of the speaker.
If you have chosen the correspondent option, the speakers are magnetically shielded and can therefore be used in close combination with sensitive equipment like computer screens.
We very much hope that you enjoy your new monitors and their unique transducer design. If you have any questions about this or any of our products, don’t hesitate to contact us – we will be happy to advise you. The Team from ADAM Audio

Safety Instructions

In case of a problem, please either contact your ADAM dealer or us. We are happy to try and help. Always refer servicing to qualified personnel and never attempt to repair this product by yourself. Please read through the following safety  instructions completely before setting your system up.

• Do not open the monitor. There are no user-serviceable parts inside.
• Do not expose this product to rain or moisture, never wet the inside with any liquid and never pour or spill liquids directly onto this unit.
• Never use flammable or combustible chemicals for cleaning audio components
• Avoid touching the speaker membranes and do not block the woofer’s ventilation port.
•  Assure free airflow behind the speakers to maintain sufficient cooling.
• Always use fully checked cables. Defective cables can harm your speakers. They are a common source for any kind of noise, hum, crackling etc.
• Always switch off your entire system before connecting or disconnecting any cables, or when cleaning any components.
• This product, as well as all attached extension cords, must be terminated with an earth ground three-conductor AC mains power cord. To prevent shock hazard, all three components must always be used.
• Never replace any fuse with a value or type other than those specified. Never bypass any fuse.
• Never expose this product to extremely high or low temperatures
• Never operate this product in an explosive atmosphere.
• Always keep electrical equipment out of the reach of children.
• Always unplug sensitive electronic equipment during lightning storms.
• If you have not ordered the magnetically shielded version of these monitors, do not place the speakers to electronically equipment like computer screens.

Quick Start

• After having unpacked your monitor, please allow the system to acclimate to the temperature of the room. Please do not connect the speaker for approximately an hour.

• Make sure the power switch at the back of the unit is turned off as well as the switch on the front of the monitor.

• Connect the XLR-Input (1) of the speaker to the output of your audio system.
  Decrease the volume of your audio system to protect your speaker and ears from damage when switching the system on.

• Now, check the voltage setting (2). It has to conform with the voltage standard of the country you stay. Please, contact ADAM Audio, should this not be the case.

• Connect the provided power cord to the speaker.

• Switch on the rear power switch first, then the front switch. By increasing the volume of your audio system, you should now hear sound.

• To achieve the best possible sound reproduction, please see the following considerations for speaker placement.

Setting up your speakers

The S2A is designed for vertical operation. The speakers should be positioned on firm ground or a stand. Vibrating parts of nearby objects can mask the sound.
In case, you plan to modify the speaker cabinet (e.g. drilling holes), please contact us before doing so. We will guide you and handle your warranty obliging.
Set up your speakers with the A.R.T. tweeters pointing upwards.Horizontal placement is possible. Please position both tweeter sections either to the outside or to the inside. You will get the best linear frequency response from different listening positions.

Obstacles between the speaker and your ear must be avoided. You should be able to see the speaker completely. Avoid placement near reflective surfaces, too. You will lose room information!
The Tweeter should be positioned approximately at the height of your ears. In case you need to position the speaker in a significant lower or higher position, the monitor needs to be angled.

Placement of 2 speakers
The ideal placement of two speakers and a listener in a two-channel stereo listening situation are the corner points of a equilateral triangle (60° angles). Since the S2A is a near field monitor, the best performance will be achieved with a  stereo base/listening distance between 1 and 3 meters.
Surround placement
Speaker positioning for multi-channel stereo purposes is ideally based on a circle with speakers placed at 0° (Center), 30° (Front Right), 110° (Rear Right), 250° (Rear Left), 330° (Front Left), with the listener being the circle’s center  (Radius between 0.7-2.0 m). This ITU recommended configuration may vary depending on the purpose of the control room (music or fi lm). However, it is recommended to create a symmetrical listening position with the front side and surround speaker pointing to the listener’s ear.

The distance to the surrounding walls should be at least 40 cm to avoid early reflections, which will degrade the sound.

Controls

The power switch and the XLR-input are located on the rear panel.
The monitor offers adjustment of important parameters on its front panel (see fig.)

Standby switches the monitor on and off. Please note that this switch does not separate the monitor from the mains. The operating state is indicated by a LED that will be lit green with the system ready to play, yellow if the monitor is turned off. With the rear power switch turned off, no LED will light.
The monitor comprises a overload protection circuit. In case the input signal is too high and therefore causes distortion, the circuit mutes the monitor to protect the speakers. The red Overload-LED will blink as long as the protective  action is active. The maximum input level is reached when the Overload-LED starts blinking. Excessive use of the monitor in this state will likely result in a reduced lifetime of the components. If possible, turn down the source signal level.
INPUT GAIN
To match the monitor’s input to the source signal level, the input sensitivity can be varied by -10 dB to +10 dB.
ROOM EQ
A detailed way to optimize the reproduction for the room are the two shelve filters at both ends of the frequency band. Above or below the given cut off frequency the amplitude is progressively changed. The given dB values occur at 30 Hz  and 15 kHz. We show five curves, the controls can be changed continuously however.

HIGH GAIN
The voltage gain of the tweeter amplifier and thus the complete tweeter level can be varied in a ±4 dB range. This is a considerable change in the sound characteristic and should be used with caution. In case you have a considerably  damped room or if there is a special taste you are after this control will serve you well.

A.R.T. Accelerated Ribbon Technology
So far, all loudspeaker drive units, whether they are voice coil driven, electrostatics, piezo or magnetostatics, act like a piston, moving air in a 1:1 ratio. As the specific weight of air is much lower than that of the driving mechanics, there is  a bad match between source and load. This is one of the main reasons for the small 1-2% efficiency of conventional speakers.
All ADAM speaker systems take a completely new approach in kinematics to move air and overcome this problem.
Based on the original works of Dr. Oskar Heil, who invented his “Air Motion Transformer” back in 1972, new electrodynamical transducers have been developed. The A.R.T. tweeter’s and midrange membrane consist of a lamella- like  folded diaphragm whose single folds move according to the alternate current, thus squeezing air in and out (see Fig. 1).
The A.R.T. principle achieves a 4:1 velocity transformation between driving diaphragm and driven air, i. e. the air moves in and out four times faster than the folds itself are moving. This superior “motor” is responsible for the enormous  clarity and transient reproduction and thus their increased efficiency.
Another factor in dynamics is diaphragm area. For practically all drive units, the cone area you can see is the acoustically active area of the loudspeaker. By folding the A.R.T. diaphragm into the third dimension as seen from the listener’s  position, the acoustically effective area of the diaphragm is increased by a factor larger than 2.5 (see Fig. 2). Thus, a smaller movement is needed for a given sound pressure level, enabling the unit to reach a higher sound pressure level  without dynamic compression.
Besides these advantages, the membrane construction in single stripes avoids the typical break up of stiff domes or cones at higher frequencies and the resultant dynamic limiting.
Since the A.R.T. membrane is directly driven by a current, not by a voice coil, it is extremely light and therefore ideally suited for high frequency reproduction up to 35kHz. In comparison to magnetostatics and ribbons, the A.R.T. tweeter  offers an above average efficiency of 93dB/W/m, as well as a perfectly linear impedance of 3.2 ±0.05 Ohms, an equally perfect phase response of ± 1° within the used bandwidth, a reasonable directivity characteristic and a thermal power  handling that exceeds that of 1” domes by a factor of 2 to 3.

Limited Warranty

ADAM Audio GmbH grants a two years limited warranty for this product. If anything goes wrong with this product, ADAM Audio and its national distributors will provide repair free of charge (exclusions may apply) and replacement  parts.
Terms and Conditions
This guarantee complements any national/regional law obligations of dealers or national distributors and does not affect your statutory rights as a customer.
This warranty is limited to the repair of the equipment. Neither transportation, nor any other costs, nor any risk for removal, transportation and installation of products is covered by this warranty. Products whose serial number has been  altered, deleted,  removed or made illegible are excluded from this warranty.
The warranty is only valid for the original owner. It is not transferable.
The warranty will not be applicable in cases other than defects in materials and/or workmanship at the time of purchase and will not be applicable:
a. for damages caused by incorrect installation, connection or packing,
b. for damages caused by any use other than correct use described in the user manual
c. for damages caused by faulty or unsuitable ancillary equipment,
d. if repairs or modifications have been executed by an unauthorized person.
e. for damages caused by accidents, lightning, water, fire heat, war, public disturbances
or any other cause beyond the reasonable control of ADAM Audio.
How to claim repairs under warranty
Should service be required, please follow the following procedure:
If the equipment is being used in the country of purchase, you should contact your ADAM Audio dealer.
If the equipment is being used outside the country of purchase, you should contact your ADAM Audio national distributor in the country of residence. You will be advised where the equipment can be serviced. Please visit our website to  get the contact details of your local distributor.
To validate your warranty, you will need a copy of your original sales invoice with the date of purchase.
Transport
In case you have to send your speakers to any other location, it is of vital importance to use the original packaging materials. Experience shows that it is very difficult to avoid damage if you have to send them without these. We will not be  responsible for damages due to improper packaging.

Technical Data

1 = long term IEC 265-8-Wrms / 10 min
2 = nominal IEC 265-8 = Peak Power 5 µsec
*3 = entsprechend den Anagen auf der Rückseite

Notes

ADAM Audio GmbH
Exerts. 16 | 12059 Berlin-Germany
phone: +49 30-863 00 97-0
fax: +49 30-863 00 97-7
email: info@adam-audio.com
ADAM Audio USA
31312 Via Colinas
Unit 108 | Westlake Village | CA, 91362
phone: +1 818-991 3800
fax: +1-818-991 3808
email: usa@adam-audio.com
www.adam-audio.com

References

• ADAM Audio - High Precision Studio Monitors from Berlin, Germany
• Manual-Hub.com – Free PDF manuals!

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