Gear review: ADAM Audio T8V studio monitors

The T8V is a rather large studio monitor with a simple yet smart-looking design. It’s a nice-looking monitor with its single front panel that features a ribbon tweeter and an 8-inch woofer. No LED on the front to indicate power, but that isn’t an issue for me, really. It has a rear-firing bass port, volume knob, high-pass filter, low-pass filter, high shelf and XLR, as well as an RCA input.

It has a rather deep cabinet and here’s why: there are two separate drivers that power the tweeter and the woofer. The ribbon tweeter uses something called UART, which is short for ‘accelerated ribbon technology’. For those of us who like simple English, this means the tweeter provides a pristine, clear, high-frequency response of up to 25kHz, which is much higher than most tweeters on studio monitors in this price range.

Another cool and interesting thing is the shape of the wave guide on this tweeter. It uses a high-frequency propagation system, which is the exact same system used in their much higher-end series of studio monitors, the S Series. It’s such an awesome perk to have on Adam’s budget range of monitors.

Why this is so cool, for the ones in the back, is that it gives the tweeter a much wider sweet spot, horizontally speaking, which gives you room to move about and do more in your workspace. So, if you’ve got outboard gear on the side, for instance, or if your MIDI controller is set up on one side of your workspace, you’re able to do stuff on it, or on your keyboard or synth, without leaving the sweet spot; you’re able to hear everything that you do perfectly within this wide range of motion within your workspace, which is excellent.

And then with this 8-inch woofer, you’re looking at 100dBs of SPL. In terms of frequency response, it goes as low as 33Hz, so you might not even need a sub when using this monitor. Additionally, as I’ve already said, it’s bi-amped – a separate amp powering the tweeter, and one powering the woofer. It’s got a crossover frequency of around 2.5kHz, and you get a five-year warranty with every pair, as long as you register it on the MyADAM User Area. Of course, you can choose not to register it and only enjoy a two-year warranty, but why would you do that?

How much do they cost?

You are looking at R13 995 ($1 000) for the pair, which is not bad at all for the quality you’re getting.

Some tech specs for the nerds:

• U-ART 1.9” ribbon tweeter.
• Polypropylene 8” woofer.
• HPS waveguide.
• Rear-firing bass-reflex port.
• 90 watts of RMS power.
• Frequency response 33Hz – 25kHz.

The verdict

I make a lot of jazz, neo-soul and R&B, so I really love the clarity I get on my mids and low ends with this product – very impressive stuff. Then the frequency range you get from the low ends, all the way to the tweeter, is quite smooth. Just a beautiful curvature of frequencies all the way. All in all, I love the ADAM Audio T8V and I am happy to be able to join the ADAM family. That’s my story and I am sticking to it!

Pros

• Quality sound.
• Sleek clean build.
• Very good treble performance.
• Beautiful low frequency response.
• Outstanding value.

Cons

• Cabinet a little too big.
• Requires large space for best results.