Adam T5V Review (Studio Monitor)

[sonofabass]

Greeting all.

Recently got my T5Vs and they are awesome. Heard them in a store, listened to LP-6s as well and loved the sound i heard from the Adams. Plus they fit so well on the desk.

Lots of fiddling to do now however i need your guys' help.

Connected to my computer through a jack to rca splitter and rca inputs on the speakers, they produce some strange sounds by themselves, what i believe to be something like digital noise. For example i can hear the mouse move, i think the fans on the pc case, etc. Same thing happens when i connect the speakers to a dj controller, with it's own audio interface, on the rca outs.

Very certain that my mains are unearthed, and already tried different sockets for speakers and pc. There's no hum or such from just the speakers unconnected (unless you put your ear to the tweeter).

Any way i can stop that noise from happening? Dedicated interface? Optical to analog converter? Monitor controller with balanced outs? DI box?

Please help!

 

[somebodyelse]

@sonofabass There's just been a near identical discussion in the Kali LP-6 thread. Start reading here - it carries on for a bit but should cover most of what you need to know.

 

[khark]

I had a similar issue with Adam A5x speakers, rca input picked up a lot of interference noise while xlr was clean.

Also, is your GPU overclocked or undervolted? Sometimes this can amplify interference which can pass through an unbalanced connection to speakers (the famous mouse move noise).

 

[infinitesymphony]

Greeting all.

Recently got my T5Vs and they are awesome. Heard them in a store, listened to LP-6s as well and loved the sound i heard from the Adams. Plus they fit so well on the desk.

Lots of fiddling to do now however i need your guys' help.

Connected to my computer through a jack to rca splitter and rca inputs on the speakers, they produce some strange sounds by themselves, what i believe to be something like digital noise. For example i can hear the mouse move, i think the fans on the pc case, etc. Same thing happens when i connect the speakers to a dj controller, with it's own audio interface, on the rca outs.

Very certain that my mains are unearthed, and already tried different sockets for speakers and pc. There's no hum or such from just the speakers unconnected (unless you put your ear to the tweeter).

Any way i can stop that noise from happening? Dedicated interface? Optical to analog converter? Monitor controller with balanced outs? DI box?

Please help!

Ground loop noise. You can try using an isolation transformer / ground loop filter to decouple the grounds. If you're using a 3.5mm connection, this could be a nice inexpensive solution:

https://www.amazon.com/Mpow-Ground-Isolator-Stereo-System/dp/B019393MV2/

Using balanced connections should resolve the issue as well, but you would need to purchase an audio interface with balanced outputs to make that happen.

 

[sonofabass]

Late response but thank you guys for the input. Checked the other thread as well and came up with a plan. Tried right off balanced rca-xlr cables but no go. A bit fainter the "noise" i'll call it, but it was still there. Waiting now for a order i put in at thomann for the quote: "trusty Behringer HD400" a guy was mentioning in the other thread. If that fails ill return it and just get an external audio interface or ultimately dac with optical input.

To answer:

@khark No the gpu is not overclocked by me. Comes factory overclocked a bit iirc. It's a 5700xt red devil. And yeah when i run a game the "noise" intensifies.

@infinitesymphony As i understand the behringher serves a similar purpose so i will see how that goes. I live in Europe and didn't find it on some quick searches closer to me than Amazon.

 

[dfuller]

Tried right off balanced rca-xlr cables but no go.

That wouldn't do anything. You need balanced out to balanced in to make a difference.

 

[Lilith]

Hi all, just registered here. I'm producing music with Bitwig / Linux and have a semi treated room. Some bass traps, side absorbers and some basotec on the ceiling. Still fighting with some resonances at 45 Hz, 70Hz and 130 Hz which I control with Sonarworks.

My current speakers are the Presonus Eris 5 and I want to upgrade to have at least the 50 Hz range. The Eris stop at around 60 Hz. I had the KH80 for a year but returned them. These had more bass than the Eris. Thinking about getting something like the Genelec 8030 or KH120 first, but I find the Adam T5v quite sexy... Also in terms of the 5year warranty.

The Adams have 50Hz at - 6dB and I wonder how they can have more bass than the JBL 305MII, which at least on paper have more bass. Is this slope different between these two speakers, so that the Adams have more low end?

 

[infinitesymphony]

The Adams have 50Hz at - 6dB and I wonder how they can have more bass than the JBL 305MII, which at least on paper have more bass. Is this slope different between these two speakers, so that the Adams have more low end?

The bass extension doesn't seem to be largely different between the two, but the general slope throughout the rest of the range can create different perceptions. The JBL LSR305P MkIIs have an upward slope which could create a bass-light impression. The Adam T5Vs have a high-frequency boost at 5K+ but otherwise the rest of the frequency range is relatively flat. In other words, going lower won't necessarily lead to a bassier or warmer-sounding speaker, what matters more is the relative level of low frequencies to the other ranges.

 

[BYRTT]

...The Adams have 50Hz at - 6dB and I wonder how they can have more bass than the JBL 305MII, which at least on paper have more bass. Is this slope different between these two speakers, so that the Adams have more low end?

Based Amir's share spindata you can see them in below same scale ratio animation as a side by side view and as overlaid..

 

[Lilith]

Based Amir's share spindata you can see them in below same scale ratio animation as a side by side view and as overlaid..

View attachment 120892

Thanks, that helps. The JBL go much lower (I guess the Genelec 8030 will look very similar to the JBL). Also the Adams have more highs, so I expect that they sound thinner overall. Did anybody hear the JBL and the Adam and can compare?

 

[infinitesymphony]

Thanks, that helps. The JBL go much lower (I guess the Genelec 8030 will look very similar to the JBL). Also the Adams have more highs, so I expect that they sound thinner overall. Did anybody hear the JBL and the Adam and can compare?

Don't let the slopes mislead you, the difference at -6 dB is only 5 Hz (45 vs. 50 Hz). Granted, the JBLs do go about 10 Hz lower before rolling off.

 

[khark]

@Lilith May i ask why you gave up on the Kh80? Lack of low end?

 

[Lilith]

Don't let the slopes mislead you, the difference at -6 dB is only 5 Hz (45 vs. 50 Hz). Granted, the JBLs do go about 10 Hz lower before rolling off.

I´m just confused by this from the first post:

"I substituted the JBL 305P Mark II. Again, no contest. The 305p had far less bass and could not play nearly as loud. "

 

[Lilith]

@Lilith May i ask why you gave up on the Kh80? Lack of low end?

They had an issue on the board (which was noisy before going to sleep). I ordered one of the first speakers and only very few had this... I could return them after a year... got new ones that had a mechanical resonance from the back plane..... in the end I bought the Eris 5 (one of the speakers also has a resonance from the front plate, but for that price I don´t care too much... it´s only audible when playing sine waves).

 

[khark]

I see, thanks for the answer.

 

[infinitesymphony]

I´m just confused by this from the first post:

"I substituted the JBL 305P Mark II. Again, no contest. The 305p had far less bass and could not play nearly as loud. "

That's what I was getting at with my first response:

The JBL LSR305P MkIIs have an upward slope which could create a bass-light impression. The Adam T5Vs have a high-frequency boost at 5K+ but otherwise the rest of the frequency range is relatively flat. In other words, going lower won't necessarily lead to a bassier or warmer-sounding speaker, what matters more is the relative level of low frequencies to the other ranges.

When it comes to perception of warm vs. bright, the entire frequency balance matters more than bass extension. Take for example a Bluetooth speaker that starts rolling off at 100 Hz but still sounds warm because the in-room frequency response has a downward slope from low to high.

 

[Lilith]

That's what I was getting at with my first response:

When it comes to perception of warm vs. bright, the entire frequency balance matters more than bass extension. Take for example a Bluetooth speaker that starts rolling off at 100 Hz but still sounds warm because the in-room frequency response has a downward slope from low to high.

Do you mean with upward slope for the JBL the elevated region above 1kHz?

 

[infinitesymphony]

Do you mean with upward slope for the JBL the elevated region above 1kHz?

Over the entire usable frequency range. Here's a rough trendline from low to high -- notice the upward tilt:

 

[hvbias]

I've been out of the loop on objectively good small speakers for several years. Do the T5V ever go on sale? For instance I picked up 306MKII for (I think) $170 or 180 a pair when someone posted a deal for them in the deals thread here a couple of years ago. Not expecting something that significant though!

Thanks.

 

[Lilith]

Over the entire usable frequency range. Here's a rough trendline from low to high -- notice the upward tilt:

View attachment 121143

Ok, got it. But the Adam looks not so much different compared to the JBL.