ADAM Audio T5V

Mostly praised, with a caveat about the top end. Resident Advisor, MusicRadar, Tape Op and bonedo describe a balanced, pleasant monitor with a little extra air; Amir found it very good out of the box on his desk, a tad bright, and near textbook once he added a treble shelf. A critical blogger calls the response far from flat, and March Audio on ASR, reading the same data, expects it to sound thin and bright without EQ.

“There's a bit of air added to the top-end but not at the expense of overall balance.”

Mark Smith, Resident Advisor

“Out of the box, slapped on my desk with half inch foam under it, the sound was very good.”

Amir, Audio Science Review

“Both T5V and T7V have a frequency response that is far from flat, which is not a good news for studio monitoring.”

digitalstereophony

Sources split. Most editorial reviewers and Streaky call the ribbon tweeter smooth, open and airy, never harsh — Resident Advisor says it comes across as air, not sizzle. The measurements show a real shelf above about 4.5–5 kHz, and Amir, several ASR owners and Thomann buyers hear it as bright; one owner finds it bright even with the −2 dB switch. An owner at a 90 cm desk triangle found it piercing without EQ but smoother from 2–3 m, which suggests distance and toe-in explain part of the split.

Sources split, but the weight is firmly positive. Amir heard more bass than the Neumann KH 80, JBL 305P MkII and Kali LP-6 on his desk; Resident Advisor and Tape Op call it meaty, and Zeos says it comes out of nowhere. bonedo hears a clear roll-off below 60 Hz, and Streaky — mixing loud in a pro room — found it got muddy and recommends a subwoofer.

Mostly praised. Resident Advisor calls the upper midrange the star of the show and hears a gentle low-mid scoop that keeps kicks and basslines uncluttered; a retired broadcast engineer found voices startlingly realistic. MusicRadar would like more low-mid presence, bonedo a touch more midrange for vocal work, and a critical blogger measured a dip between 2 and 4 kHz in his room.

“The star of the show, however, is the upper mid-range.”

Mark Smith, Resident Advisor

“The highs are particularly sweet and clean, and because of the seemingly lower midrange distortion, it can sometimes yield startlingly realistic human voice reproduction.”

DavidMcRoy, Audio Science Review forum

A consistent strength: reviewers keep coming back to depth. Resident Advisor hears depth left-to-right and front-to-back, Zeos says the T5V does depth where the JBL 305P does a wash of sound, and AMAZONA.de and bonedo single out the depth of the stage for the price — bonedo adding that its far pricier Neumanns still go further.

“these do imaging detail and depth”

Zeos, Z Reviews (YouTube)

“If you're a producer who's forced to over-use headphones due to dodgy acoustic environments, the T5V's depth, both left-to-right and front-to-back, is a great antidote to the trapped-in-your-head spread of a headphone mix.”

Mark Smith, Resident Advisor

Strongly praised. MusicRadar credits the waveguide with excellent imaging and separation; AMAZONA.de hears a distinct phantom centre, and bonedo calls the precise placement of sources remarkable for the price. One Thomann owner is the outlier, finding the image clear up close but confused from further back.

“As noted in the S2V review, the HPS waveguide delivers a broad horizontal sweet spot but is more restricted vertically. This is the same for the T5V and contributes greatly to the overall imaging and separation, which is excellent.”

Jon Musgrave, MusicRadar

“Der Klang ist sehr klar mit deutlicher Phantommitte und guter Tiefenstaffelung.”

AMAZONA.de ("The sound is very clear, with a distinct phantom centre and good depth layering")

Strong agreement that it is clear and revealing for the money. Resident Advisor found resonances and masking in the 1–5 kHz region remarkably easy to pick out, bonedo praises precise transients, and owners call it very clear. Streaky is the exception: not massively detailed in the mids until he added a subwoofer to take the bass load off the woofer.

“Picking out resonances and masking in this region is remarkably transparent for such a cheap monitor, comparable even to the A8Xs.”

Mark Smith, Resident Advisor

“Hearing the subtle details is critical in mixing and these deliver, and at a bargain price.”

RichL, Sweetwater customer review

Sources split, mostly favourably. Amir played it louder than the Kali LP-6 on his desk with little or no distortion in the deep bass, and Zeos, an ASR owner comparing it with the JBL 306P, and a Korean measurer's distortion sweeps (from 85 dBA at 1 m) agree it stays clean. Streaky, mixing loud from the listening seat of a pro room, found it muddy once it was pushed; a Sweetwater owner says it isn't very loud, and a Thomann owner says it distorts easily.

Sources split, over two different things. The listening window is wide: MusicRadar, Tape Op and ADAM's own pitch stress a broad horizontal sweet spot, and Amir's data shows more vertical leeway than usual — though MusicRadar found it tighter vertically. The cabinet is the problem: it is 297 mm deep with a rear port, so Resident Advisor and Home DJ Studio warn against pushing it near a wall, a Korean owner reports a deep 100–120 Hz dip from the reflection off the wall behind it, and one ASR owner with the port a few centimetres from a corner found it dull. MusicRadar had no trouble at about 25 cm from the wall, and an SOS forum owner with the ports 18–20" from heavy curtains hears no problems.

Positive where it's discussed. Tape Op found edits and levels made on the T5V at home held up in the studio and vice versa; Resident Advisor calls it clinical where it counts, and owners who mix on them report no surprises. Several add that room treatment matters more than the monitor.

“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 the T5Vs at home translated well in the studio and vice versa.”

Geoff Stanfield, Tape Op

“They're clinical where it counts and the compromises are workable.”

Mark Smith, Resident Advisor

The sharpest split, and slightly more on the noisy side. Amir couldn't hear hiss past a few inches, several ASR owners hear nothing from their seat, and a retired broadcast engineer found his quieter than his JBLs. Others hear a constant tweeter hiss at a 1 m desk: Nuyes says he couldn't use them within 1 m, a critical blogger calls it annoying over quiet music, and several Thomann owners and one ASR owner returned their pairs; ADAM support told one owner the hiss is normal. Owners agree the level knob matters (keep it at or below the 0 dB mark), and that RCA from a PC invites ground-loop noise that balanced cables cure.

Adequate for the class. Balanced XLR and unbalanced RCA with a selector switch, an input-sensitivity switch and ±2 dB high and low shelves — MusicRadar calls the inputs a wise choice, and Zeos likes that the bass shelf can boost as well as cut. There is no TRS jack, no sub output and no room correction, and Resident Advisor notes the shelves are a small range to work with.

“Finally, you get both balanced (XLR) and unbalanced (phono) inputs with a selector switch - wise, given the target market.”

Jon Musgrave, MusicRadar

“But the lack of a TRS may be a dealbreaker for some.”

Home DJ Studio

The most consistent complaint. Every control is on the back, including the power switch and a power LED you can't see, and the level knob has no detents or 0 dB click — Zeos, Streaky, the critical blogger and an ASR owner all found it hard to match left and right, one measuring a 2–3 dB mismatch with both knobs on the 0 dB mark.

“When I turned both speakers to the 0db mark, one side was 2-3db louder than the other.”

doalt, Audio Science Review forum

“setting them up is a bit of guesswork”

Streaky (YouTube)

Mostly praised for the price. Tape Op, Streaky and Home DJ Studio call it solid and well made, and owners like the looks. The critical blogger and a Sweetwater owner find the plastic front and fit and finish budget-grade. Reliability reports are scattered — a unit dead on arrival, a woofer noise, a standby pop — and ADAM's warranty runs five years with registration.

“The cabinets are reasonably well constructed and look sleek.”

Geoff Stanfield, Tape Op

“Obviously those two have identical build quality that is avarage for this class, with plastic fronts and "inexpensive" fit and finish.”

digitalstereophony

Strong agreement. Amir says the bass and loudness put it a clear step ahead of its rivals and are worth the premium; Resident Advisor, bonedo, Tape Op and MusicRadar call it hard to beat for the money, and owners agree. The caveats: on spinorama.org's preference score it trails the cheaper JBL 305P MkII and the Kali LP-6, and the street price has risen from about $400 a pair at launch to about $480.

“The ability produce lots of bass and loudly so puts it a clear step ahead of the competition.”

Amir, Audio Science Review

“And given their similarity to the A8Xs, you'd be hard-pressed to find a better all round option in this bracket.”

Mark Smith, Resident Advisor