Introduction—and thanks for pointing me to Adam Audio (with questions)

[Chaconne]

Hello! New member here, although I’ve been lurking long enough to have gained some valuable knowledge. One thing I learned about is the Adam Audio T5V. I was curious, so I bought a pair from my local Guitar Center, and I must say, I am VERY impressed. To me, one of their biggest virtues is that they do nothing wrong. I listen to classical music, and the instrumental tone colors sound very genuine. The soundstaging is superb. And bass is more than adequate for my needs.

So a big thank you to Amir and the others for calling these wonderful speakers to my attention. To put my experience into context, I own—or have owned many speakers—including Harbeth Compact 7s and P3ESRs, KEF LS50s, Vienna Haydns, Spendor 3/1Ps, B&W Matrix 805s, Maggie 2.6Rs, and yes even DCM Time Windows. The little Adams rank right near the top (which I guess won’t surprise many of you!).

A Few Questions
• CABLES: Because I have no balanced outputs on my amp (Arcam A85 integrated), I’m using single-ended, RCA-to-RCA cables to the speakers. One speaker is much closer to the amp than the other. I’m getting by temporarily with inexpensive cables, one 6 feet long and one 15 feet long. I get very little hum. Soon I’ll be ordering better cables (Blue Jeans??). Is it okay to keep using cables of different lengths to the two speakers?

Also, would there be any advantage to running RCA-to-XLR cables instead? I understand that this would not create a truly balanced connection.

• BUZZING: Every once in a while I hear a buzzing sound that lasts just a few seconds then goes away. (I can hear it over the music.) Any clue as to what might be causing this? It occurs randomly, and I can’t tie it in to any other household appliances kicking on (i.e., A/C, refrigerator). I did notice that when I tightened the clips on my cheap RCA cables, the buzzing occurred less often. The noise is centered around 6,500 Hz, according to my iPhone RTA analyzer. It sounds a little bit like crickets. Perhaps when I get better cables, this will improve.

THANK YOU!

 

[2ndHarm]

Your RCA cables won't make a difference at the lengths you mention. The differences in resistance from 3 to 6 feet is negligible. Going from RCA to XLR won't provide any benefit - I wouldn't bother. Decent gold plated RCA cables can be bought on Amazon for less than $30. The sound you mention sounds like RFI coming from a defective LED light. Do you have a faulty street light nearby? I've had noises like that coming from the transformer for my outdoor high pressure sodium security light. It's a buzzing that goes away after a few seconds. Also have had bursts of noise from police radios when their cars were driving by the house. All of that went away when I bought a Marantz pre-pro that had XLR outputs which allowed me to connect all of my outboard equipment with XLR cables.

 

[Chaconne]

Thank you for the info, 2ndHarm. I don't know about the street light or police-car issues, but the buzzing is certainly brief and unobtrusive enough to ignore. It's far less distracting than someone fiddling with a cellophane wrapper during a classical concert! And perhaps it will disappear with better cables. Thanks again.

 

[Chaconne]

Just thought I'd bump this up in case anyone else has any theories/solutions/ideas about the buzzing and cable issues. Still awaiting better interconnects. THANKS!

 

[Anti-Climacus]

Hello friend! Fellow Adam T5V owner here.

I would suggest you get a balanced XLR connection to the speakers if you can - I had a similar buzzing sound via RCA and when I switched to XLR from the speakers to TRS in the audio interface (a Scarlett Solo) any noise inherent to the signal was eliminated. That was with a pc and a laptop as source, connection directly from Adam to the motherboard, RCA to 3.5 jack. May I ask what do you use as a source? Perhaps therein lies the problem combined of course with Adam's sensitivity to any kind of interference.

 

[ahl]

Thank you for the info, 2ndHarm. I don't know about the street light or police-car issues, but the buzzing is certainly brief and unobtrusive enough to ignore. It's far less distracting than someone fiddling with a cellophane wrapper during a classical concert! And perhaps it will disappear with better cables. Thanks again.

First get the better rca-rca cables. Then you can try to hook the speakers to a different power circuit.

 

[Chaconne]

Hello friend! Fellow Adam T5V owner here.

I would suggest you get a balanced XLR connection to the speakers if you can - I had a similar buzzing sound via RCA and when I switched to XLR from the speakers to TRS in the audio interface (a Scarlett Solo) any noise inherent to the signal was eliminated. That was with a pc and a laptop as source, connection directly from Adam to the motherboard, RCA to 3.5 jack. May I ask what do you use as a source? Perhaps therein lies the problem combined of course with Adam's sensitivity to any kind of interference.

So sorry I missed your question. The T5Vs are connected to the preamp-out RCA sockets of my Arcam A85 integrated amp (which I love). Sources are a Creek Evolution 50 CD player as well as Oracle Paris and Technics SL-1210 MK5 (modded) turntables. (Occasionally I run my MacBook Air with iTunes through the Creek CD player, which serves as a USB DAC.)

UPDATE: I now have Blue Jeans interconnects (RCA to RCA), and the problem has diminished greatly. So I'm getting along pretty well. Thanks to all for your thoughts.

 

[Chaconne]

UPDATE: Buzzing problem solved (I think!) five months later. I always suspected faulty connections on my RCA cables. I switched them out once, and the problem persisted, so I just used the Adams as occasional speakers. Then today, I decided to wiggle one of the RCA plugs, and the buzzing came and went as I did it. So I changed the cable again, and the speakers have been dead quiet for several hours. Knock wood! Thanks again for everyone's thoughts.

 

[DavidMcRoy]

UPDATE: Buzzing problem solved (I think!) five months later. I always suspected faulty connections on my RCA cables. I switched them out once, and the problem persisted, so I just used the Adams as occasional speakers. Then today, I decided to wiggle one of the RCA plugs, and the buzzing came and went as I did it. So I changed the cable again, and the speakers have been dead quiet for several hours. Knock wood! Thanks again for everyone's thoughts.

Another ASR member helped me with buzzing in both Adam Audio T5Vs and with JBL LSR305s and 305P Mk IIs that you might consider exploring. AC on my cable TV feed was getting into my system, seemingly through the Cat 6 connections (or my house wiring?) from my router to my AVR, Sony TV and Apple TV 4K. Inserting a coax transformer ahead of the cable entrance to the modem cleaned things up.