I am very late to this thread but I am a long term owner/user of both the GFP-565 and the GFP-750. The 565 has a great phono section in it (the line section is just ok). I still use the 565 as a phono preamp running into my (modded) 750 with great results. I recently thought I would update/upgrade to the highly touted iFi phono preamp, but after trying it I sent it right back. The Adcom phono section was so much better it made the iFi sound like it was broken--and my 565 is over 30 years old.
Keep Adcom GFP-750 or Replace
Hi all.
I am in the process of going through my system and updating it a bit. The process started about a year ago when I decided it was time to burn everything on CD to FLAC so I could easily access it. I ended up with a Jriver Id as a music server and upgrading from my old Bel Canto Dac 1 to a Schiit BiFrost Multibit. Recently my Magnepan 3.5's started to delaminate so they are off at Magnepan being rebuilt. Finally, my Sunfire Amp is about 20 years old, so it is going off to Bill Flanery to get serviced and caps replaced. So my system as it sits looks like this:
Pioneer Elite CD Transport
Jriver Id
Rega Planar 1 to a Schiit Mani Phono Pre
Bose Soundtouch Wireless Link Adapter (Please don't laugh, it was the only reasonably priced streamer for Amazon music and Spotify with an optical out. It pained me to give them my money).
Schiit Bifrost Multibit DAC
Schiit Loki EQ
Adcom GFP 750 Preamp
NHT X2 Crossover
Rythmik F15HP Subwoofer
Sunfire Stereo Amp
Magnepan 3.5 (using Revel F36s until they come back)
Monster HTS-3500 power controller
Wireworld Cables
My room is pretty large, approximately 21x21 with a cathedral ceiling and open to other rooms. It is bit lively, but I am installing some GIK panels to help mellow it out. I listen mostly to classic rock, but it can go from classical to rap depending on my mood. I historically like a more laid back sound, for speakers Magnepan and Vandersteen have always hit the mark closest. I do not do a lot of serious listing anymore, often I run the streamer. It is only once every couple of weeks that I really sit down to listen. I am also not a big vinyl person.
So I am now looking at my 20 year old Adcom and that parts are becoming NLA and that it really probably needs a refresh which will run $500-600 (perhaps it will be an upgrade because replacement parts will be better, but impossible for me to tell). In the alternative, it looks like I could get about $700 for the Adcom and not spend the money shipping it and getting it fixed, so if I bought something else, it would put me in the $1200-1300 budget range. So I have been looking and come up with:
1) Emotiva XSP-1- Hits a lot of boxes on features I would like. It has a built in crossover so I could ditch the NHT X2. It has a remote trigger so I can turn the pre-amp on an everything else comes on (yes I am getting lazy). It has a processor loop for my Loki. It has a built in phono preamp, so one less box. I am just not sure if it will hit where I want on the sound spectrum, which is a bit laid back.
2) Rogue Audio RP-1- Looks like the sound profile I like and has a built in phono preamp. Used it would likely be in my budget.
3) Schiit Saga or Freya- I really like these guys, they have gotten back to the idea of audio doesn't have to cost a fortune and should be fun. I am really intrigued by their amps, but am unsure which one if I get one. I like the Freya allows me to run as solid state or tubed. I have the ability to run balanced from the preamp to crossover to amp, but never have bothered and not sure it is worth the extra.
Also, I have to have a remote for volume and am not interested in a passive preamp (I find it just doesn't have the drive when I run the Adcom in passive mode). Thoughts, guidance, suggestions?
Thank you.
I am in the process of going through my system and updating it a bit. The process started about a year ago when I decided it was time to burn everything on CD to FLAC so I could easily access it. I ended up with a Jriver Id as a music server and upgrading from my old Bel Canto Dac 1 to a Schiit BiFrost Multibit. Recently my Magnepan 3.5's started to delaminate so they are off at Magnepan being rebuilt. Finally, my Sunfire Amp is about 20 years old, so it is going off to Bill Flanery to get serviced and caps replaced. So my system as it sits looks like this:
Pioneer Elite CD Transport
Jriver Id
Rega Planar 1 to a Schiit Mani Phono Pre
Bose Soundtouch Wireless Link Adapter (Please don't laugh, it was the only reasonably priced streamer for Amazon music and Spotify with an optical out. It pained me to give them my money).
Schiit Bifrost Multibit DAC
Schiit Loki EQ
Adcom GFP 750 Preamp
NHT X2 Crossover
Rythmik F15HP Subwoofer
Sunfire Stereo Amp
Magnepan 3.5 (using Revel F36s until they come back)
Monster HTS-3500 power controller
Wireworld Cables
My room is pretty large, approximately 21x21 with a cathedral ceiling and open to other rooms. It is bit lively, but I am installing some GIK panels to help mellow it out. I listen mostly to classic rock, but it can go from classical to rap depending on my mood. I historically like a more laid back sound, for speakers Magnepan and Vandersteen have always hit the mark closest. I do not do a lot of serious listing anymore, often I run the streamer. It is only once every couple of weeks that I really sit down to listen. I am also not a big vinyl person.
So I am now looking at my 20 year old Adcom and that parts are becoming NLA and that it really probably needs a refresh which will run $500-600 (perhaps it will be an upgrade because replacement parts will be better, but impossible for me to tell). In the alternative, it looks like I could get about $700 for the Adcom and not spend the money shipping it and getting it fixed, so if I bought something else, it would put me in the $1200-1300 budget range. So I have been looking and come up with:
1) Emotiva XSP-1- Hits a lot of boxes on features I would like. It has a built in crossover so I could ditch the NHT X2. It has a remote trigger so I can turn the pre-amp on an everything else comes on (yes I am getting lazy). It has a processor loop for my Loki. It has a built in phono preamp, so one less box. I am just not sure if it will hit where I want on the sound spectrum, which is a bit laid back.
2) Rogue Audio RP-1- Looks like the sound profile I like and has a built in phono preamp. Used it would likely be in my budget.
3) Schiit Saga or Freya- I really like these guys, they have gotten back to the idea of audio doesn't have to cost a fortune and should be fun. I am really intrigued by their amps, but am unsure which one if I get one. I like the Freya allows me to run as solid state or tubed. I have the ability to run balanced from the preamp to crossover to amp, but never have bothered and not sure it is worth the extra.
Also, I have to have a remote for volume and am not interested in a passive preamp (I find it just doesn't have the drive when I run the Adcom in passive mode). Thoughts, guidance, suggestions?
Thank you.
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- 32 posts total
| Post removed |
Hi there! This is Chris Hoppe of Hoppe's Brain. The GFP-750' passive mode is a fickle thing. The volume potentiometer has an unusually low impedance of 2Kohms, and this is difficult to drive for many source components. On the other hand, if your source component is happy driving 2K, then you get a nice and relatively low output impedance, for a passive preamp. Generally speaking, you want at least a 10:1 ratio between output impedance of your preamp, and the input of your amp. Fet and tube amps tend to have high input impedances, which makes them good candidates for passive preamps. The GFP-750 is a great design. Literally just a long-tail-pair made from mosfets, biased into their most linear region. |
- 32 posts total