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Tannoy Gold 5 vs ADAM T5V

MNMLSM

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Dear community,

I'm currently listening to the T5V, ordered them a few days ago and I have to say they sound pretty good. Of course the perception of the ribbon tweeters is always subjective some feel like they are too forward but I have to say that I enjoy it. Treble resolution is the best that I've heard in the 300$ range.

I know a few mates who are also interested in active monitors and I listened to quite some studio monitors in the last months/years. I also listened to all of the monitors in my own room (just lend them, some were bought), the list inlcludes only 5" because I have a really small room:

- Yamaha HS5
- Mackie MR524
- KRK Rokit 5
- Monkey Banana (forget the exact model)
- JBL LSR 305
- ADAM T5V
- KEF X300A

In terms of personal taste, I can say that I prefer speakers which are bit more forward in the mids and highs, I don't like warm sounding speakers. In the list I'd say the most balanced speaker would be the Mackies, closely followed by the JBL. The Mackies have an exceptional stereo imaging and tight bass but the tweeter lacks in resolution when it comes to female voices, same with the JBL (at least to my ears).
I know many users hate them but I really like the HS5, the mids are boosted but to me they sound great, treble and bass response could be better.
My personal fav would be the T5V, followed by the HS5. I think the T5V lacks of mids and the bass could have more texture.
I also learned that in this price range, you get really good speakers but they always lack one thing, at least for me.
I plan to buy a pair of Genelec 8030 in the future but for now I will stay in this segment.

I know someone would probably put the Kali LP-6 in the list, which also measure really good in terms of the price but I already know that they are not my cup of tea because they sound too "warm" and I really dislike their optics.

In this price segment there is only one pair left which I'm really interested in, which would be the Tannoy Gold 5, barely any reviews but they seem to amaze quite a lot of the buyers.

I don't think those kind of videos are too meaningful but they can give you a rough impression how the speakers differ in their characteristics. They seem to have really present mids and also quite some treble, which I would like:


I was wondering if somebody listened to the ADAMs and the Gold 5 and could tell me about your impressions?
Would you say the Gold 5 is better than the T5V?

PS: Subwoofer is present, I don't care about the lows that much focus is clearly on the mids and highs.

Thanks guys!
 

mononoaware

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Hi long-term Adam Audio T5V user here. I purchased them about 2 years before the ASR review came out.
Setup is near-field in a small room, XLR from DAC/Pre-amp.

They are built-to-last and have been extremely reliable. The 5-year warranty (2 years warranty plus 3 years optional free with product registration) should give you that kind of confidence as well.

In default settings (LF: 0, HF: 0) the higher-mid to highs does seem elevated. At first I preferred this sound thinking it was more detail (probably cognitive bias over a new product), but after a few weeks of listening it started to sound unbalanced and fatiguing so I adjusted the HF: to -2dB which was an improvement.
I have kept LF: at 0dB.
Regarding the bass levels from the 5-inch woofer of T5V, I think it is slightly better than expected. But keep in mind it still has its limits, at higher SPL (near-field/small room) I do occasionally find the deeper bass fails to "pressurize" the room as much as I needed.

Talking about bass, going by manufacturer measurement's the Tannoy Gold 8 (8-inch model) rolls-off in the bass earlier than than the T5V.
And the Gold 7 and Gold 5 rolls-off even earlier.
I understand this is intentional and due to the dual-concentric driver design of the Tannoy.
With the woofer acting as wave-guide for high frequencies, the large woofer cone movement results in intermodulation distortion.

-

Worth mentioning about Tannoy Gold series, as mentioned in some threads here at ASR and elsewhere online.
There seems to be an issue with "Quality control" of the Tannoy Gold series + Terrible after-sales service that does not reply if you have issues.
One customer mentioned their store kindly replaced Gold series that failed, but then the replacement failed straight away as well. . .
And this kind of thing seems to be echoed ever since Behringer/MusicTribe became the owners of Tannoy.

Some issues mentioned from customers just from memory:
Build quality issues such as peeling of the finish out-of-the-box, when looking through the gap of tulip-wave guide/coincident driver many mentioned a mess of obviously visible "excess" glue/silicone/adhesive.
Other technical issues I recall are the "auto-on/off" feature not working properly, and the internal "limiter" engaging very easily/quickly (at low-to-mid-level SPL) causing the sound to suffer compression (Class AB heat issues or faulty limiter component).
This also raised suspicions about the claimed Amplification Power (200w - Gold 5, 300w Gold 7/8), I remember someone estimating the Gold 8 power rating is probably closer to 50w + 50w RMS (Bi-amplified tweeter + woofer).
And when you read a few feedback saying the speaker "died" it does make you concerned.
There are maybe more issues I cannot remember. . .

You will probably find on YouTube/read some positive Gold series review's (articles) but you will quickly realize they are advertisements.

If you are willing to take the risk purchasing a product with potential build-quality issues and questionable reliability + no after sales support/service, you can try with Tannoy Gold.
If you care about quality and reliability (especially professionals), I recommend avoiding them.
 
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MNMLSM

MNMLSM

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Wow, thanks for the quality response!

Good to know about the issues in terms of quality. Availability of the Gold 5 is pretty bad, maybe it's a sign and I should just close the chapter in the 300$ price segment, save some money and invest in a pair of Genelec 8030 or Neumann KH120 in the next years. For now the T5V are doing a fantastic job and they look simply amazing to me.
Equalizer APO is already installed, pretty new to equalizing so I will try to learn more about that.

Further opinions are welcome!
 

mononoaware

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I just recently found a video revealing a Tannoy Gold 8 with audible resonance from the rear plate amplifier.
Frequency around ~90-100hz caused the plate amplifier to vibrate and create a clearly audible resonance.

Terrible product. I would be extremely disappointed if I bought a "Professional Audio" product/Studio monitor and it had an audible flaw like this.
 
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Lilith

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I just recently found a video revealing a Tannoy Gold 8 with audible resonance from the rear plate amplifier.
Frequency around ~90-100hz caused the plate amplifier to vibrate and create a clearly audible resonance.

Terrible product. I would be extremely disappointed if I bought a "Professional Audio" product/Studio monitor and it had an audible flaw like this.

Resonances with Sine tones is quite common I would say. One of my Eris 5 has a resonance at 470Hz and even a KH 80 I had was rattling at the back at a similar frequency. Musically that's not a problem, cause I rarely listen to Sine tones.
 

mononoaware

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Musically that's not a problem, cause I rarely listen to Sine tones.

Depends on the music I would say. . . Modern orchestral and soundtrack music have long lasting overtones in the bass.

I agree most people including myself would not "stress test" a speaker with generated sine tones, but I am assuming the video uploader noticed it during music playback and only used sine tone to highlight the flaw.

I am speaking for myself here, but if I noticed such a flaw in any Studio monitor I would have it replaced.
 
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ernestcarl

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I just recently found a video revealing a Tannoy Gold 8 with audible resonance from the rear plate amplifier.
Frequency around ~90-100hz caused the plate amplifier to vibrate and create a clearly audible resonance.

Terrible product. I would be extremely disappointed if I bought a "Professional Audio" product/Studio monitor and it had an audible flaw like this.

Can you please provide a link to the video in question? Thanks!
 

YSC

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Dear community,

I'm currently listening to the T5V, ordered them a few days ago and I have to say they sound pretty good. Of course the perception of the ribbon tweeters is always subjective some feel like they are too forward but I have to say that I enjoy it. Treble resolution is the best that I've heard in the 300$ range.

I know a few mates who are also interested in active monitors and I listened to quite some studio monitors in the last months/years. I also listened to all of the monitors in my own room (just lend them, some were bought), the list inlcludes only 5" because I have a really small room:

- Yamaha HS5
- Mackie MR524
- KRK Rokit 5
- Monkey Banana (forget the exact model)
- JBL LSR 305
- ADAM T5V
- KEF X300A

In terms of personal taste, I can say that I prefer speakers which are bit more forward in the mids and highs, I don't like warm sounding speakers. In the list I'd say the most balanced speaker would be the Mackies, closely followed by the JBL. The Mackies have an exceptional stereo imaging and tight bass but the tweeter lacks in resolution when it comes to female voices, same with the JBL (at least to my ears).
I know many users hate them but I really like the HS5, the mids are boosted but to me they sound great, treble and bass response could be better.
My personal fav would be the T5V, followed by the HS5. I think the T5V lacks of mids and the bass could have more texture.
I also learned that in this price range, you get really good speakers but they always lack one thing, at least for me.
I plan to buy a pair of Genelec 8030 in the future but for now I will stay in this segment.

I know someone would probably put the Kali LP-6 in the list, which also measure really good in terms of the price but I already know that they are not my cup of tea because they sound too "warm" and I really dislike their optics.

In this price segment there is only one pair left which I'm really interested in, which would be the Tannoy Gold 5, barely any reviews but they seem to amaze quite a lot of the buyers.

I don't think those kind of videos are too meaningful but they can give you a rough impression how the speakers differ in their characteristics. They seem to have really present mids and also quite some treble, which I would like:


I was wondering if somebody listened to the ADAMs and the Gold 5 and could tell me about your impressions?
Would you say the Gold 5 is better than the T5V?

PS: Subwoofer is present, I don't care about the lows that much focus is clearly on the mids and highs.

Thanks guys!
Did you do in room measurement of the FR and subwoofer integration? for me it seems measuring it and see if any EQ can tame the highs a bit would be better off than upgrading to 8030C, as my personal experience about them are although above the T5V ballpark, they arn't that night and day difference since the T5V is very good already,maybe a FR plot would show you more where the problem lies, say room modes which needs absorption, or it's that you put them on a desk which boosted the 150-200hz range where you would like to tame a bit.
 

Lilith

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Did you do in room measurement of the FR and subwoofer integration? for me it seems measuring it and see if any EQ can tame the highs a bit would be better off than upgrading to 8030C, as my personal experience about them are although above the T5V ballpark, they arn't that night and day difference since the T5V is very good already,maybe a FR plot would show you more where the problem lies, say room modes which needs absorption, or it's that you put them on a desk which boosted the 150-200hz range where you would like to tame a bit.

Do you mean the T5V can compete with the Genelec 8030? I want to upgrade from Eris 5 and get something with more bass. Looking for the 8330 maybe or I'm waitung for a DSP version of the KH120. But I find the T5V extremely sexy considering the review here. There's also a review from HOFA at youtube (in German) which is very very good.
 
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YSC

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Do you mean the T5V can compete with the Genelec 8030? I want to upgrade from Eris 5 and get something with more bass. Looking for the 8330 maybe or I'm waitung for a DSP version of the KH120. But I find the T5V extremely sexy considering the review here. There's also a review from HOFA at youtube (in German) which is very very good.
In my personal view, it’s still not able to compete with the 8030, especially considering how many options in the dip switches presets and how well they work generally to counter various room modes. Just that the upgrade IMO is more like from a BMW M car to a 911 or so, it’s better performer but not as significant when you go from a Prius into an M

and if measurement can suggest something costing a lot less and improve your satisfaction a lot, then why not? Keep changing speakers is fun in a geeky way we forum dwellers enjoy but not really friendly to environment and our wallet no?
 
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MNMLSM

MNMLSM

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or it's that you put them on a desk which boosted the 150-200hz range where you would like to tame a bit.

No room measurements up to now but I'm planning to get a fitting mic in the near future.
Your recommendation referring to placing them on the desk is pretty spot on. I use two stands on my desk for a couple of years now, tweeters are exactly on ear level. I tried placing them directly on the desk (with pads) and it's crazy how drastically the bass response is changing, treble gets tamed but it comes with a cost (not that clear anymore). When you place the pair on the desk, the bass response is really impressive and a sub is not essential anymore, I agree with amirm.
I also did some EQing in the 5500Hz region, I think it was about -3dB and it did the trick. But as I said in the beginning, I prefer brighter sound, currently I'm listening without EQ again. Switches on the backside are all on 0.
My sub (ADAM Sub 7) is currently not available, so I'm using them solo. I'm not thinking about an upgrade at the time, I'm still really satisfied with the pair!

Cheers
 
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ThsM

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If s.o. is still interested in the Tannoy Gold 5. Andrew Robinson did review them. The review should have been already available at the time this thread was opened...

Btw, I use the Gold 5 + Loxjie D30 for about a year now, as my daily desktop drivers during home office (background music on Spotify or web radio) and in my free time (YT, Netflix or even gaming). They are very reliable (did have none of the quality issues mentioned above) and sound really great.

In the past 2 1/2 years I had several Setups on my desk (e.g. SVS Prime Wireless, JBL LSR 305 MK2, SMSL SA300 + passive speakers like the Q Acoustics Concept 20 and a few others). The SVS Prime Wireless were by far the worst. And the Tannoys are my personal winners.
 
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