Adam T8V Studio Monitor Active 50+20 Watt RMS Speakers

Product Information

Firing up a new pair of studio monitors is a similar feeling to getting a new pair of glasses. The sensation of sitting between a fine pair of monitors and hearing a dense mix being teased apart into its constituent components is similar to seeing the world a little more clearly than before. I find this analogy a useful mental starting point when reviewing studio monitors – a good monitor will offer new clarity and insight into music I may be already familiar with. BIG BOYS’ TOYS The second number represents the high end. This is where the treble frequencies sit. Much like low-end frequencies, the average human hears up to about 20kHz. Any extra range beyond this helps give the treble room to breathe and offers better clarity. Loudness The U-ART 1.9-inch accelerated Ribbon tweeter offers a more dynamic range which means even if you move around your desk, you can hear the same frequencies. During sound generation, the by folded U-ART membrane leads to direct and fast response even when maxed out or trialled with complex transients. This accompanied with the HPS waveguide taken from Adam Audio’s flagship S Series ensures the monitor has a consistent dispersion, stable imaging over a broader area and reduces early reflections on surfaces.

The highs and the mids are detailed, balanced, and ample. What they are not, though, is neutral. This is not the flattest response you can get in studio monitors. They do color the sound a little with the signature ADAM timbre. The source code under Pierre Aubert's work is licensed under GPL (General public license). He didn't perform any of the measurements himself, and instead he compiled all of them into one place, so that makes sense.This is a problem because it means that Spinorama alone, unfortunately, won't give us all we need. Placement and reflections play an equally important role there too.

The speaker monitor features a range of controls that allows you to fine-tune the audio to suit your environment, which includes gain and cutting high or low frequencies. There are several connection options, including 3.5mm and ¼-inch XLR and RCA balanced and unbalanced inputs that allow you to connect the speakers to a variety of sources. ADAM's U-ART is a 19-inch pleated polyamide film. Accelerated Ribbon Tweeters can move air 4x faster than most tweeters, making it a super-efficient machine that results in detailed audio delivery. Sharing the same build quality and many of the features of its smaller siblings, the T8V monitor measures 400 x 250 x 335mm but weighs in at just 9.8kg. This is in no small part due to the lightweight yet powerful onboard Class D amplification, which is more compact and more efficient than standard Class A/B transistor amplifiers. Because ADAM’s PWM (pulse width modulation) amplifiers are switching types that use power transistors too, they’re able to run much cooler than traditional solid-state amps, meaning there’s no need for heat sinks in the cabinet enclosures. Mr TOverall, I am happy to recommend the Adam T8V. If you were looking for a budget powered monitor with plenty of bass and good overall frequency response, your search is over. The entire T-Series range of budget friendly studio monitors retains that ADAM Audio signature sound that many ADAM Audio users instantly recognise and trust in ADAM's higher-end products. The T8V is a welcome addition to the T-Series range and cater for those fortunate enough to work in larger studios which generally work well with monitors that could be considered almost midfeild over nearfield. Temperature was 59 degrees F (yes, it is getting cold here). Measurement location is at sea level so you compute the pressure. ADAM Audio has included the HPS waveguide (high-frequency propagation system) in the T Series which is also found on the flagship S Series. Framing the ribbon tweeter, the square-ish waveguide disperses treble broadly on the horizontal plane but keeps vertical dispersion narrow to minimise reflections off horizontal surfaces like desks or consoles. Powering the T8V is efficient Class D amplification supplying 70W to the woofer and 20W to the tweeter. A DSP controlled crossover splits the drivers at 2.6kHz. LISTENING TEST

This is why most A-class brands (like SVS, Bang & Olufsen, etc) often come up with room correction features, adjusted either manually or automatically. The EQ adapts itself to the placement (room, corner, center, etc) for a better (deeper and more accurate) sound. Which is great. As for inputs, you get the usual balanced TRS, balanced XLR and unbalanced RCA connections. A slide switch activates the RCA input, so if you won’t be using it, leave this off and save yourself a smidge of summing noise. A gain knob and switchable +4/-10dB input sensitivity round out the T8V’s control options. You won’t find any onboard EQ presets to compensate for speaker positioning as is common on many monitors today. I performed over 800 measurement which resulted in error rate of less than 1% throughout the range. With the large 8 inch driver, I could play as loud as I wanted and in this regard, they are superior to just about any studio monitor I have tested in this situation. I did not detect any distortion at my 1 meter listening distance. As with many modern active monitors, the control circuitry is digital and in this instance includes DSP-based active 2.6kHz crossovers, response equalisation and driver/amplifier protection. All three monitors are compatible with the ADAM Audio T10S subwoofer, though for most home studio rooms, the T8V should be able to deliver the goods without needing help from that quarter. Indeed, that 8-inch woofer provides bass extension right down to 33Hz, while the U-ART tweeter's folded diaphragm reaches up to an impressive 25kHz. The tweeter is fitted with a waveguide designed to match the dispersion characteristics of the High Frequency Propagation (HPS) waveguide used in ADAM Audio's rather more costly S‑series monitors, resulting in a wide listening sweet spot. ...these are impressive little monitors that sit comfortably within ADAM's sonic orbit...Additionally they often emphasize the importance of placement, here is an example: https://www.svsound.com/blogs/subwoofer-setup-and-tuning/75365187-the-art-of-subwoofer-placement I let the T8V play for a while and the response is very easy to listen to with no hint of high frequency brightness. It seems the woofer is still whaling at that frequency as is the tweeter so perhaps that is causing the cancellation at that frequency. Fortunately, now we have the Spinorama data for a bunch of quite popular speakers. Pierre Aubert put all this untidy data together and put it into https://www.spinorama.org/. This is a stunning source. Pretty valuable stuff from him right there.