Adcom Amps & Pres

Hi,
I have owned both amp and preamp from adcom. The amps will never run out of power,very relieable also. Great amps for a home theater set up. I found the pre amp to be lacking in the detail, depth, air dept. The pre's just would'nt get out of the way for a all 2 channel system. I did however buy a better pre and used the amps for 2 channel music. I now use the Adcom amps { 555II, 5800, and 2- 5200} models for home theater. For 2 channel music tubes are the way to go. The Adcoms just can't do the mids and highs as smoothly as a good tube amp, and pre. The Adcoms do control bass somewhat better then tubes, but that should not be a suprise.
Brian

Adcom defintely offers high value for the dollar. I used a pair of GFA-555's as monoblocks (over 800 wpc into a 4 ohm load!) with Apogee Calipers for many years. If you have current-hungry loudspeakers, Adcom amps are a good bet. I've since moved on to Bryston amps, which I think are superior, but I still wouldn't knock Adcom.

For a good bit of history, see if you can find Anthony H. Cordesman's original review of the GFA-555 in the early 80s' in The Absolute Sound. In my mind, that review kind of launched Adcom as a mass market manufacturer offering high end sound.

That very Anthony H. Cordesman review actually launched ME To my dealer for my first of several 555s. I've been a devoted follower since. Can't say I've been impressed with their processors but hey, even Sara Lee bakes a crappy cake now and then. One thing I learned a long time ago is that nobody does EVERYTHING right. The newer MOSFET designs are smoother and more polite, while the older gear like the 555s and the 565 had more slam! Either way, they make my Maggies sing and never let me down when I demand the juice!!

Bang for buck is what attracted me to Adcom. My step out of the mass market world and into hifi was an Adcom GTP400, GCD575 and GFA545. This rig kept me quite happy for a while. I owe Adcom a big "THANKS" for showing me what better hifi was all about.

I just traded my GFP 750 for an Acoustic Reality digital amp. I still own an Adcom 5500. This is THE most underrated 200 WPC Mosfet amp available today, in my opinion. It will STOMP a 555 everywhere but the bass, which mosfets just don't control as well...

Well said Danielk141!!! IMHO It'll STOMP a few others selling at twice its price. Same goes for the 5802. To say nothing of a couple of excellent Pres. Some like to point to a few well known QC glitches that have occured over the years as justification for their poor regard, but truth be told and all records exposed, some of the most highly regarded names out there have had more then their share of same. Lets face it, it's always been in vogue to beat up on the underdog. I think it would be interesting to know how many folks who could EASILY afford those are perfectly happy hanging on to these fine examples of FAIRLY PRICED GEAR.

I had a GFA-5500 and ran flawlessly for years. I never had power hungry speakers though. Now, I have 2 Adcom amps in my car stereo, and they are awesome..and I had McIntosh car amps just before them.

I used Adcom amps for many years, usually in biamp systems where amplifier cost (particularly for multichannel) can really get out of hand. "Bang for the buck" really sums it up. The only problem I ever had was a blown power supply fuse (internal) caused by my stupidity in shorting out the amp with some homemade cables. Replaced the fuse and everything was OK.

Now I am using CarverPro ZR1600 amps. They have even more bang for fewer bucks, and sound great.

Thanks for the responses! I'm also curious as to how others feel about the sound of the newer MOSFET Adcom amps versis their older powerplants such as the 565 mono blocks?

Adcom is good. Krell is a tad more forgiving in the treble, 'tho. So I guess that is some of what you pay for with the big boys? YMMV.