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Adam T5V Review (Studio Monitor)

phoenixsong

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I was thinking... Will using very high capacitance XLR cables reduce the elevated treble shelf on these?
 

dfuller

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I was thinking... Will using very high capacitance XLR cables reduce the elevated treble shelf on these?
certainly not. The input impedance on these is high enough that any preamp or DAC output will easily bridge.
 

phoenixsong

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None here pretend a cable can change the frequency response… guess a cable with few db shelving at upper treble…!!!! Naaa
Naaa indeed, cables can alter *audible frequency response under certain conditions. After a bit more reading though, I think not in this case under non-deliberate and non-extreme measures
 

infinitesymphony

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I was thinking... Will using very high capacitance XLR cables reduce the elevated treble shelf on these?
Naaa indeed, cables can alter *audible frequency response under certain conditions. After a bit more reading though, I think not in this case under non-deliberate and non-extreme measures
The story goes that many guitar players including Slash, Santana, and Jimi Hendrix intentionally played through long (50+ feet) high-capacitance cables because they acted like subtle low-pass filters. Maybe apocryphal, maybe not.
 

phoenixsong

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The story goes that many guitar players including Slash, Santana, and Jimi Hendrix intentionally played through long (50+ feet) high-capacitance cables because they acted like subtle low-pass filters. Maybe apocryphal, maybe not.
Exactly. Guitars are also more susceptible to this phenomenon due to inductance. It's not practical for me to run hundreds of feet of cable within the confines of my living room so I will have to abort this plan :D
 

infinitesymphony

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Exactly. Guitars are also more susceptible to this phenomenon due to inductance. It's not practical for me to run hundreds of feet of cable within the confines of my living room so I will have to abort this plan :D
Jimi Hendrix solved that one. Just gotta coil up a 100' coiled run.

L30232000001003-00-500x500.jpg
 

olymind1

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For multimedia purpose (watching movies, series, youtube, playing games, listening to music) aren't these too good or too revealing?

I understand these are studio monitors, and the JBL 305p MKII and KALI Audio LP-6 has a slightly more pleasing (veiled?) sound. They aren't that far apart from each other in pricing so i'm wondering which one would be better and easier on the ears. I would be using them from 1m to 2-3m distance. I heared the 305ps that floating sound were awsome and clean, but maybe a bit bright for my taste and male vocals sounded thinny sometimes.
 

phoenixsong

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For multimedia purpose (watching movies, series, youtube, playing games, listening to music) aren't these too good or too revealing?

I understand these are studio monitors, and the JBL 305p MKII and KALI Audio LP-6 has a slightly more pleasing (veiled?) sound. They aren't that far apart from each other in pricing so i'm wondering which one would be better and easier on the ears. I would be using them from 1m to 2-3m distance. I heared the 305ps that floating sound were awsome and clean, but maybe a bit bright for my taste and male vocals sounded thinny sometimes.
I have a pair of JBL LSR30X (special coated and frequency-matched version of the mk 1 305) and am thinking of replacing it with the T5v. Although not the clearest sounding, it is quite wearisome to listen to, something I can only attribute to higher distortion levels and maybe potential resonances. I don't think the elevated treble on the T5v would be too much of an issue for me given the -2dB attenuation with the flick of a switch, and the option to angle the speakers slightly off axis for some treble roll off in the affected frequency region
 

dfuller

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The story goes that many guitar players including Slash, Santana, and Jimi Hendrix intentionally played through long (50+ feet) high-capacitance cables because they acted like subtle low-pass filters. Maybe apocryphal, maybe not.
high impedance + very small voltage swing (no larger than maybe 300mV RMS if that) will do that. Cable losses are pretty severe at that point. Average guitar cable has a hot to shield capacitance around 100pF/m. That gets to be noticeable.

For multimedia purpose (watching movies, series, youtube, playing games, listening to music) aren't these too good or too revealing?

I understand these are studio monitors, and the JBL 305p MKII and KALI Audio LP-6 has a slightly more pleasing (veiled?) sound. They aren't that far apart from each other in pricing so i'm wondering which one would be better and easier on the ears. I would be using them from 1m to 2-3m distance. I heared the 305ps that floating sound were awsome and clean, but maybe a bit bright for my taste and male vocals sounded thinny sometimes.
Nope! The myth that studio monitors are "too revealing" or what have you is total hogwash. These do need a shelf down to correct that high end bump.

As for the other two, 305p MKIIs definitely have a bit of an upward slope on-axis; why this is, I'm not sure. The Kalis are commendably flat on axis minus a couple of resonances around 1k which may or may not be noticeable. The Kalis have better distortion behavior overall than the 305s, but arguably not as good as the Adams (the tweeter seems to behave itself better - there is a pretty severe narrow band spike that looks like an undamped resonance around 4k in the Adam which from experience I can tell you gets very ugly if you hit it with the right tone at high levels).
 
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Ajax

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For multimedia purpose (watching movies, series, youtube, playing games, listening to music) aren't these too good or too revealing?

I understand these are studio monitors, and the JBL 305p MKII and KALI Audio LP-6 has a slightly more pleasing (veiled?) sound. They aren't that far apart from each other in pricing so i'm wondering which one would be better and easier on the ears. I would be using them from 1m to 2-3m distance. I heared the 305ps that floating sound were awsome and clean, but maybe a bit bright for my taste and male vocals sounded thinny sometimes.

I have had a pair of Adam A7 active speakers as desk top speakers for nearly 10 years. My son is an accomplished musician and now uses them as monitors for his home studio. They have not missed a beat in all that time - so reliability is obviously excellent.

I have not heard the Adam T5V, JBL305p or Kali, however, on the first (or second page) of this thread Amir states the Adams are vastly superior IHO. Have a read again of his conclusions in his review.

FYI Adam studio monitors were used to mix the "Love" album of The Beatle's classics and are preferred by many professional sound engineers. I love mine and I am obviously biased.
;)
 

SimpleTheater

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Just picked up a pair of these based on the review by Amir. I meant it when I wrote that I’m not buying anything that doesn’t get ASR’s seal of approval.
 

Ajax

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Just picked up a pair of these based on the review by Amir. I meant it when I wrote that I’m not buying anything that doesn’t get ASR’s seal of approval.

I've had a pair of Adam A7 for over 10 years (which I love) and interested in your thoughts on sound quality of the T5V.
 

SimpleTheater

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I've had a pair of Adam A7 for over 10 years (which I love) and interested in your thoughts on sound quality of the T5V.
Only had them for a couple of days, but they’re doing exactly what I expected, which is I am no longer using the crappy Rockwell $100 subwoofer I needed with my Monoprice 5” desktop speakers. These 5” Adam woofers can’t play as low as the sub, but the sub was a distortion monster so I didn’t like much of what it could produce. The Adams definitely get down to 80hZ, which is all I really need for my work desktop.
 

mononoaware

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Here is a first attempt at producing a measurement.
Measured in a small-room and listening near-field.

I played pink noise through the Adam Audio T5V (one at a time) and used the "KRK Audio Tools App" on the tablet to get a real time spectrum, then used the "Peak hold" function and waited for a few seconds for the graph to smooth out then took a screenshot.
I read somewhere “pink noise” is more accurate to a in-room measurement.

T5V adjustments: Low shelf 0dB, High shelf -2dB.

I do not have a "Tablet holder mount" for the tripod, so I had to center the tablet microphone between the tweeter and woofer best I could, and hold it at a distance of around 8 inches (20cm).
As you can probably tell I was off in distance by a little bit since left and right monitor measured at different SPL.

Top = Left monitor
Bottom = Right monitor

Left-Right-Spectrum-RTA.png


That green monster in the left monitor measurement (top) is the tablet screenshot button press (I made sure it didn't hit the graph).

How interesting it is to look at your own measurement.
Right monitor (bottom) measurement is more accurate in the low-frequency.

500hz dip looks like a problem (room issue?) although I cannot say I hear it, I was able to hear the 2khz dip and filled that in with EQ (EQ is off in measurement).
Also the 125hz peak is probably from placing the monitor's close to the front wall (around 10 inches/20cm), I put them in this position in attempt to increase low-frequency SPL and extension.

I am impressed by the function of this free KRK App.
I think it can be useful for helping speaker placement and basic EQ.
 
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Ajax

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Only had them for a couple of days, but they’re doing exactly what I expected, which is I am no longer using the crappy Rockwell $100 subwoofer I needed with my Monoprice 5” desktop speakers. These 5” Adam woofers can’t play as low as the sub, but the sub was a distortion monster so I didn’t like much of what it could produce. The Adams definitely get down to 80hZ, which is all I really need for my work desktop.

According to Amir's review the T5V are only down -3db at 60Hz. In his subjective listening he reported they played very loud with plenty of distortion free base. Adam claim they go as low 45Hz.

Using my A7s as desktop speakers I never felt the need for a sub. Obviously they have a 7" woofer vs 5", however, the technology is over 12 years old (and they are still going strong).

The value for money for the TV5, US$400 for a pair, is incredible IMO. Linked to your desktop computer via a decent DAC, such as a Topping D50s or SMSL SU8A (balanced), and with Tidal say as your source you can have a very good system for around US$700-$800.

I hope you get as much pleasure from your Adams as I have got from mine. All the best.
 
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