ADAM Audio T5V Studio Monitor (Single)

Verified purchase

“First, if like me you're coming at these from the combo hi-fi and home studio angle, these are sold as single units like most studio monitors. This allows you to buy as many as you need for the channels you need, but that also means most people will need to order two of these at a time to avoid disappointment. This also allows you to calibrate the channels to each other as each unit has its own volume knob, so you can achieve perfect channel balance on these with a little effort.These are actually my first studio monitor purchase, so I'm unable to usefully compare them to competing products. They have however set a very high bar for what to expect from any nearfield monitors I buy in future, but I won't be looking again for a long time after buying these.Setting these up was extremely straightforward and easy even with no previous familiarity with the XLR plugs I needed to use for these - you just plug in and go. They are quite large, even though the T5Vs are the smallest model of the three so make sure you have the necessary desk space before purchasing these! You will ideally need however a pre-amp (NOT a power amp!) with XLR ports to run this from, so I purchased the SMSL RAW-MDA1 to use with these and this combo has gone strong for over a year now. I have experimented with the trim options on the back but these are designed to correct for acoustic deficiencies in your room rather than as preference switches, so you will probably need to leave them in their standard middle position.I get the impression the sound quality on these would spoil me when comparing them to competing products in the same price bracket. I originally purchased these because I needed something to be able to keep up with my expensive subwoofer - my previous purchase was clearly being left behind by it! These are not and have happily taken on far more of the bass work that was previously delegated to the subwoofer. Measurements claim these speakers are flat down to roughly 70Hz but my experience was unfortunately different because I seem to have an untreated null in this room at around 90Hz which messed this up a bit. Fortunately I could just up the crossover frequency on my sub and apply a generous DSP correction on the sub to fix this on my end by throwing brute force at the problem but these monitors are as vulnerable as any other to your environment screwing with their bass response so keep that firmly in mind.These same measurements claim a broad 2dB dip between 200Hz to 2000Hz which in my experience is audible and I configured a modest EQ to correct this. After trying more elaborate attempts to "fix" this I quickly discovered that I was harming the sound more than helping it, so don't be alarmed - these are overall very flat and even keel studio monitors and that very basic EQ was enough to completely flatten everything out for my picky audiophile needs. I could easily live with the stock sound on these, however and did indeed do that for a while before deciding on filling in the minor divot. I decided on these over the T7V or T8V because I already had a sub to handle low end but also because the other two would simply have been too big on this desk! On top of that, the bigger woofers on the T7V and T8V apparently struggle more with the midrange response, so this seemed the best purchase of the three.I also bought these for the chance to try out ribbon tweeters as I greatly enjoy my planar headphones. Adam Audio have signature ribbon drivers on all their speaker designs and even their cheapest budget range that these monitors actually are are no exception to this. These have the clean highs I expected from such a setup and are happily handling most of the work of the audio from 110Hz upwards without missing a beat. They're far from being overwhelmed by the subwoofer then, and pair up together very nicely. The woofer and tweeter blend together and neither overwhelm each other nor fall behind the other, and so they handle everything you throw at them well and make it look easy.Simply put, they're an exceptional pair of speakers for general use as well as their intended use as studio monitors and they are what I'd point anyone to when they want their first pair of serious speakers. They easily blow away anything else I've ever used and I'm very satisfied with them indeed.”

Verified purchase

“I needed a couple of decent near field monitors for working away from home and on the road. I wasn't expecting the T5Vs to be as big and bulky as they are but this isn't a complaint. For the price I was expecting something much smaller.I played back some radio drama that I'd mixed and it sounded very boring and natural. Then I played some music that I'd produced and it sounded big and bold and boomy but perfectly balanced with detailed high end and a flat response across the mids.. Then I played some CDs and heard minor details on old albums that I hadn't noticed before. Previous speakers included more expensive Genelec and Mackie studio monitors but I would say these Adams Audio speakers are comfortably as good as my other monitors but for less than half the price. If the price stays thisnlow I may buy more and a .1 to use them for watching films in surround.”