anybody use a old school adcom amp before?

[bhd812]

I was thinking of picking up a Adcom gfa-555 for my 122's cause I will be using them in another room and they need a decent but cheap amp.

any input?

thanx!

 

[joelongwood]

I've been using an Adcom 535 II for over 7 years now with no complaints. It's fed by a Harman Kardon Citation 21 Preamp and the speakers are Acoustic Research AR3a, circa 1971. The high current design of the amp drives these rather inefficient (83 db @ 1 watt/1 meter) speakers very nicely. It provides them with the juice they need to produce the deepest bass I've heard from a speaker anywhere close to the size of the AR3a.

 

[mrarroyo]

I purchased a GFA-555 amplifier and matching preamp GFP-555 about 19 years ago. They work beutifully, IMO there is nothing out there that can match them unless you spend over $2,500. They are that good

At the time every article stated that they were a wakeup call to the rest of the industry. I am positive you will enjoy them.

By the way the amp produce 200 wpc at 8 ohms. What speakers will you be using?

 

[Brent Hutto]

I've used the GFA-535 for quite a long while, I believe it was in 1989/1990 that I bought a (used) GCD-575, GTP-??? and (new) GFA-535. I have long since thrown away the preamp which developed some sort of intermittent failure or another a couple years after I bought it. I still the use the CD player's variable line-out directly into the GFA-535 today and it sounds marvelous.

That said, my use is undemanding. I have super-efficienct A-D-S two-way bookshelf speakers about the size of a dorm refrigerator (each) in a bright, live room with hardwood floors and no rugs or heavy wall hangings. So it idles along with the volume control barely cracked. It sounds absolutely pristine on my bluegrass and acoustic music, including some string quartets and solo viola (assuming the source CD is good). Highly recommended.

 

[elrod-tom]

I've owned both the GFA-555 and 535 amps, and a CD-Player and Pre-Amp by Adcom over the years. It's decent mid-fi equipment along the lines of NAD. Not the best that's available, but one of the better values out there IMHO.

The 555 should drive just about anything you can throw at it...it's what we used to call heavy iron back in the day. There are also some folks who will mod these amps...consider that they're also modding Hafler amps to give you some idea of the company these amps will keep.

Back in the day, I used to have my 555 hooked up to a couple of big-assed Cerwin Vegas with 15" woofers whenever we had parties. My ears are ringing just thinking about it...and I can almost feel the thump of the bass in my chest.

 

[markl]

I had an Adcom 5-channel amp about 6-7 years ago for a about a day. First unit-- DOA. Returned it. Second unit DOA. Never will buy another Adcom product.

 

[Solude]

My speaker rig used to bounce between Acurus and Adcom. Both great value brands easily providing high price performance without the high dollar payout. Adcom falls on the dark side of neutral, Acurus on the bright side of neutral.

For me the Acurus was a better choice at low volume while the Adcom was really pleasant even at rock the house volumes where the Acurus brightness got fatiguing. Inversed though, low volume on Adcom sounded a tad distant. As always synergy is key.

 

[joelongwood]

Quote:

Originally Posted by elrod-tom Back in the day, I used to have my 555 hooked up to a couple of big-assed Cerwin Vegas with 15" woofers whenever we had parties. My ears are ringing just thinking about it...and I can almost feel the thump of the bass in my chest.

Hey Tom.....I still have a pair of those 3 way Cerwin Vegas with 15" woofer (red surround), 6" cone midrange, and a horn tweeter. Not the most refined sound, but it certainly puts out some gut thumping bass.

 

[Solude]

Sad I too once was a massmarket audio shopper, I had the 12" 3 way CV. Man that thing had a tweeter control

Come a long way since those days

 

[mrarroyo]

I forgot to mention that my Adcom 555 drives a pair of DCM Time Windows 1A speakers. The sound is fantastic even though all of this equipment is quite old (over 18 years).

 

[elrod-tom]

Quote:

Originally Posted by joelongwood Hey Tom.....I still have a pair of those 3 way Cerwin Vegas with 15" woofer (red surround), 6" cone midrange, and a horn tweeter. Not the most refined sound, but it certainly puts out some gut thumping bass.

Yes, those were the ones...love that big red surround. No doubt, it's definately NOT the most refined sound. I ended up with a pair of vintage Polks that sounded much better...but for tub-thumping bass, those CV's were it.

 

[Beauregard]

I've used an Adcom GFA-555, trouble-free, with my Vandersteen 2Ci's for over 15 years. Hmm... I'm blocking on the name of the much more expensive (but less powerful) amp that I replaced with the Adcom. But I didn't notice any trade-off in exchange for the marvelous dynamics and bass extension I got from the 555.

Best,
Beau

 

[Capt. Z]

I also have a Adcom GFA-555 to power my sub, that's 700 Wats into 4 ohms.