Some of the best money spent on your studio is in your playback. Invest some of your hard-earned cash on a good monitoring setup, and your mixes and production choices will improve dramatically. ADAM Audio has been making high-quality reference monitors for many years, and although the company's ownership has recently changed, the product remains recognizable. I like ribbon tweeters, and in a perfect world one might even have a pair around as an alternative to standard tweeter monitors in order to offer a different perspective on the top end of mixes.
Featuring 5-inch and 7-inch low end drivers, theT5VsandT7Vsare 2-way active monitors that claim a frequency response of 45 Hz to 25 kHz and 39 Hz to 25 kHz, respectively. Their polypropylene woofers, along with a rear firing port, provide plenty of low end energy for use in many genres, while the U-ART 1.9-inch accelerated ribbon driver (tweeter) has a nice, wide high-frequency dispersion, making for a large listening sweet spot. In fact, this is the same tweeter design employed in ADAM's S Series monitors [Tape Op#123]. TheT5Vsare rated at a max SPL of 106 dB and theT7Vsat 110 dB. The back of each speaker has switches for +/-2 dB high and low shelving adjustments, balanced XLR and unbalanced RCA inputs, and a level control with a range of -60 dB to +18 dB. The cabinets are reasonably well constructed and look sleek.
I was initially interested in a new set of small monitors for my home setup as an alternative to the Event Electronics PS5s that I have been using (I'm not even sure where I got them). I had not typically been doing much hypercritical listening at home - just edit work before bringing projects to my studio to mix. Some 20 years ago I thought those old Event monitors sounded pretty good, but I have since learned to appreciate a finer reference monitor - and I now mix on PMCs and Focals.
Out of the box, theT5Vssounded pretty dang good for what ADAM totes as their "budget" monitor. The low end is meaty for such a little box and the top end is as I expected; smooth with decent clarity but not harsh or brittle. Because of their size I found them to be a valid "check your midrange" option, against a pricier speaker. TheT7Vsare a more grown up version of theT5Vs, with the bigger woofer providing more oomph. The tweeters remained very similar to theT5Vs. I set theT7Vsup in my mix room beside my Focal Trio6 Bes [#114]. This is not an apples-to-apples comparison - due to the vast price differential between these two monitors. On their own, without a bunch of A/B testing, theT7Vshandled low end heavy music pretty well, and my ears were not destroyed after mixing a song that really pushed the ADAMs' tweeters. Stereo imaging was good, and, as noted, the sweet spot was wider than you'd get or expect from most budget priced monitors.
The T Series monitors would be at the top of my list of recommendations for a budding engineer, or neighbor with a home studio in search of a solidly built, but affordable option. In fact, I recently had a filmmaker in my studio. He took a quick listen to the ADAMs and proclaimed he would be returning the pair of monitors he had just purchased so he could buy a pair ofT7Vsinstead. For fun, I plugged theT5Vsinto my television for movie night, and they provided nice clarity and beefy low end. I also connected them to a Mytek Brooklyn DAC and had the same overall impression when listening to CDs, files from my computer, and my phone. The music was clear and detailed with a defined low end, good midrange presentation, and a nice, smooth high end. Compared to my old "beater" Event monitors, the difference was night and day. When compared to the more expensive ADAM Audio monitors, the T Series seemed a little less firm and a little less fast across the spectrum, but editing and leveling with theT5Vsat home translated well in the studio and vice versa.
I would gladly have a pair of these monitors for either my home rig, or as second set at the studio, and the associated price tag makes that an easy decision. For those without a ton of cash that are thinking of purchasing a first set of monitors or an upgrade pair for a project studio or broadcast work, the T Series should be seriously considered.
T5V $399.98/pair MSRP, T7V $499.98/pair MSRP;adam-audio.com BUY NOW from Sweetwater! - GS
