Opinion on the GFA 5802

The GFA5802 is a very solid muscle amp with great build quality. I like it better than the GFA555MK II or the GFA5800 mainly because it has all the heatsink on the side and looks very sexy with the gold metal plate on front. Sonic wise it is also the best among three. Its hefty toroidal transformer and the huge storage capacitance make it a real bargain in used amp market(if you paid less than $700).

I will recommend you to get the Adcom GFP750 pre amp if you want to fully explore the GFA5802 potential.

Thanks Lec, although I had a GFA-545II, the 5802 is so much better in dynamics and sound better to my ear.

with the 5800 series. Adcom started using some real power supplies. they have great dynamics and can drive just about any speaker. with some simple mods they can really sign. The 555 was an OK amp designed to a price point, not in the same league as the 5800 series.

The 5800 and 5802 models were based on contracted design work done by Nelsen Pass. I have owned both. I liked the 5800 better sonically as it had a noticeably better bottom end in my system (deeper, more impact). I did not like the fan noise however. I think you would be happy with the 5802 and agree with other posters who say it's a big step up design-wise from the 555.

While these Adcoms are well built and an even better value at used prices, they getting older. Just a slight caution that it may not be that easy to get it repaired if something goes wrong as some parts are not readily available. I know this from personal experience.

Thanks Barrysandy for your comment. What makes the 5802 different from the 5800 model besides having the cooling fan on the 5800? Thanks

Not a lot. The 5802 has higher output by 50 watts/ch but the 5800 is a little heavier by 8 lbs. - maybe larger transformer although I can't be sure as they look very similar.

Thanks Barrysandy.

Is it fully differentially balanced?