Adam a5x or Yamaha HS-7

  • Hey all,


    Been using my Kemper with an old pair of Yamaha HS50m's. I am finally thinking of upgrading and have narrowed my search to the Adam A5X and the HS-7.

    99% of the time will be used for playing guitar and practicing. Not much recording..and if I do it's just for me (fun). I am usually 2 -3 feet away from the monitors.


    Would I be better off getting the bigger woofer in the Yamaha? O r would the Adam be a significant upgrade over both?

  • The Adam’s should be a significant upgrade but then they are wice the price. Whether the upgrade is necessary for your needs is a different story. I haven’t tried either but I do have Adam A7x and my mate uses a 5:1 setup with 5 A77x and a sub =Owhich sounds AMAZING. the difference is he composes film soundtracks for Hollywood directors. My point is simply that what you need to spend is dependent on your own needs. In general, you get what you pay for (there are always going to be some snake oil rip offs but mostly price is a decent indicator) but you may not need to spend much to get what you need for your particular situation. The only way to real know which is best for you is to try them side by side but I know this isn’t always possible.


    Good luck, I am sure you will be happy with either of those though.

  • Like always with gear, get the best you can afford to avoid extra steps of upgrading your gear. You'll save a ton of money in the long run.


    Personally I've been very happy with the A5X and see no need to change. If you're worried about the low end, unless you're making dubstep they do fine for rock and metal. I can hear down to 35 Hz on my setup in a treated room, and I always high pass my mixes at 50Hz anyway. :)

  • I am upgrading from Event 20/20P monitors to Adam T7V ($498 retail for a pair) with the new T10S sub ($399 retail) when it becomes available (3rd quarter, according to Adam). The T10s frequency response is said to be 32 to 120 Hz. It has a 130 watt class D amp.


    The T7V is getting rave reviews. Are the A5X's better monitors? Based on price they should be. I am sure they are. But is the difference worth the extra money?


    Based on your use more as a back end for your Kemper, I'd think you would rather have the extended low end of the T7V/T10S combination. The extra octave in the low frequency range will also be needed if you want to use bass profiles.

  • Quote

    Verdict

    If you choose to buy either the T7V or smaller T5V monitors then I'm certain you will not be disappointed with your investment. Both these monitors have since been returned to ADAM Audio and I'm left missing them. My brother in law wants to get a set for his studio... and so do I! I have yet to choose between the T5V and T7V.

    Part of that signature ADAM sound that I discussed earlier in this article makes an impression on you, especially when you hear a set of ADAMs for the first time. That's why I got into using ADAM Audio monitors ten years ago. You can't unhear quality.

    So to answer the question laid out at the top of this article:

    Are ADAM Audio's new T Series a cheap shot at entering the budget home studio market or the opposite… The studio monitor bargain of the century? Without a doubt, the studio monitor bargain of the century.

    This is a quote from Production Expert. The full article can be found here:


    https://www.pro-tools-expert.c…-low-cost-studio-monitors


    Note that the reviewer says, "I have yet to choose between the T5V and T7V."


    I think there are two reasons for this statement. He is using the two models with his Sub 8. I am having a hard time deciding too. If I get the T10S sub, why bother spending the extra $100 for the T7v versus the T5v? The sub covers the low frequencies needed for both models. The amp, tweeter and cabinet design for both models are the same. On the other hand it is only $100 and I might feel like I am cheating myself in some way if I don't spend the money.


    But there is one reason to go with the T5V. I am now thinking of going to a 5.1 monitor setup. 5 T5v are $250 less than 5 T7v. And the smaller height of the T5V cabinet is easier to integrate physically ina 5.1 setup with my room and desk.

  • The more i think about it, i should probably stick with 5 inch woofers. I would always be 2 feet or so from the speakers when playing at my desk. And I wouldn’t be mixing anything. I might just invest in the Adams a5x and be done with it.

  • Like always with gear, get the best you can afford to avoid extra steps of upgrading your gear. You'll save a ton of money in the long run.


    Personally I've been very happy with the A5X and see no need to change. If you're worried about the low end, unless you're making dubstep they do fine for rock and metal. I can hear down to 35 Hz on my setup in a treated room, and I always high pass my mixes at 50Hz anyway. :)

    The speakers frequency range goes down to 50Hz, but you can listen down to 35 Hz? How is this possible?

  • The speakers frequency range goes down to 50Hz, but you can listen down to 35 Hz? How is this possible?

    Tested with a frequency generator. You'll need to ask the manufacturer about why. :)


    I don't know which graph you're reading but it's probably so that the freq curve stays even down to 50Hz and goes down from there. It doesn't sharply stop there.


    Edit: Actually it was 42 Hz I remembered wrong. Still more than enough for rock and metal.

  • I have just purchased the A7x for my studio at the mo im using the HS8's they are very mid range focused. when i tested the Adams they sounded clearer and more crisp. I will be using both in the studio and flicking between them both.

    If using for just guitar playing, is there really a differnce from the yamaha and the adam?

  • Couple of years ago I was comparing exactly the same monitors:)

    Specially the bass responce of the Adams is much clearer than the Yamahas. The HS -7 seemed to sound undifined and muddy while the AX5 were tighter in the low end. Same with the AX7.

    I would go for the Adams!

  • If you are not going to be mixing anything I wouldn’t bother with the sub. You don’t need 35hz for guitar tones. Also unless your room is of decent proportions and fairly well treated with lots of bass trapping a sub may actually cause more problems than it solves.

    As the owner of a small one room studio, I can attest to the fact that it is of paramount importance that one starts with a proper job of physical room treatment. Then use hardware room correction (Audyssey, Trinnov).


    At some point if you want to hear all of your mix, you will need to do these steps to get there. I understand that the OP is concentrating on recording guitar at this point. But what if he adds a synth bass line, a grand piano, or a string bass to his song at a later date. How can he possibly determine how these tracks sound together without extending his monitor low frequency response?


    Also, in order to hear anything at 45 Hz and up with any clarity, some room treatment will be required. If the OP properly treats his room and adds room correction, subwoofer integration is easy.


    Room treatment suggestions are available from many web sources. Major manufacturers also have services that help you measure your room to properly match various treatments and customize them for your room.


    You can find out about Trinnov here:


    https://www.trinnov.com/st2-pro/


    This is Trinnov's stereo studio hardware room correction hardware. I have never used it, but it gets really good reviews.


    I use Audyssey in my room. I send the stereo mix from my Apollo 8's monitor outputs via S/PDIF coaxial into a Marantz AV-8801 preamp/processor. It has excellent D/A converters and Audyssey XT32 room correction.


    The Marantz D/A conversion and analog output stage is on par with my UA Apollo 8, and bests my Apollo Silver Face (1st generation) by a noticeable amount. So I have no compunction about using a high end consumer device in my studio.


    Audyssey in the Marantz does the job of analyzing my monitors and subs (Event 20/20 + two Apogee subs) within the room. It sets the crossover point between the monitors and subs, and makes the room correction changes based on that crossover point. As a result, I have no integration issues with this combination of hardware and my small room. The result is a huge improvement.


    The AV-8801 has another advantage. It has both balanced XLR and unbalanced RCA outputs, the ability to handle multiple monitors and Hi-Fi speakers, and it comes with a remote control. The remote lets me place the AV-8801 on a shelf away from my desk so it doesn't take up desk space. I can change volume and switch monitors with the press of a button. It is in essence an excellent stereo monitor controller. Used AV-8801's sell for around $700 on eBay.


    Sonarworks Reference 4 software gets rave reviews. It is actually two products; one for headphones and one for room/monitor correction. The room/monitor correction assumes stereo monitors without a subwoofer. So, it doesn't apply to a monitor/sub setup. However, if you decide to go without a sub, it should help quite a bit.


    See it here:


    https://storeus.sonarworks.com…4-studio-edition-with-mic


    Note that it is really worth it to get Ref 4 headphone calibration if your cans are on their list. At $99 it will definitely improve your headphone monitoring.

  • scratch17 all of that makes sense but the OP is asking about a guitar monitoring solution ad isn’t recording. He appears to be on a budget. The Trinnov looks amazing but it’s over $4000 in addition to the speakers and room treatment =O


    I still think If I was looking at a solution for guitar I would rather have something with more detailed mid range and treat my room first. I wouldn’t worry about the sub bass which isn’t in the signal anyway. If I subsequently decided to start recording and mixing I would then I would consider so ething li,e Sonarworks and add a sub when required. To me that’s a better solution than buying a lower quality main monitor and a sub without treating the room or including some corrective software to keep within budget.