AVI is moving inexorably away from being simply one of the better names in hi-fi.

Although AVI still produces its standard - and very well received - range of electronics and loudspeakers, it seems that the company is now intent on leading the charge in bringing computer music into our little fold and, in the process, raising the standards for computer audio in general.

The forward observer for this conquest of digital downloads was the little Active Neutron loudspeaker, however this merely surveyed the battleground for digital's true champion, the ADM9.

On quick inspection, the ADM9 looks and feels like little more than a good, solid stereo standmount speaker, albeit one with active amps built in.

The front-ported two-way with its 25mm soft dome tweeter and the 165mm paper cone bass unit looks surprisingly traditional and works best on 60cm stands when positioned about half a metre away from the side and rear walls.

That said, the ADM9 remains firmly in the 'not fussy' camp when it comes to placement. You could happily plonk them on a bookshelf and still get most of the performance you will get from obsessive 'quarter of a millimetre to the left, please' type installations.

A closer look at the ADM9 reveals some differences from ordinary standmounts, though. The first difference is found in the amplifiers behind those two drive units; two bipolar designs, the first being a 100 watt model for the tweeter, with a 250 watt unit for the bass driver and an active fourth-order crossover sitting in front of them.

Look closely at the back of the right-hand speaker and you'll see the rear panel has five solid gold-plated phono sockets (with just one in the left speaker).

One of these connects the left and right speakers together, and a five-metre length of phono-to-phono cable is supplied for this purpose. Two of the connectors act as inputs for an analogue line source, while the other two are outputs for a slaved speaker and a subwoofer (a matching subwoofer with a front-firing 250mm bass unit is also available).