Weaknesses of the Adcom GFA-5802 ?

Having purchased a GFA 5802 along with the matching GFP 750 and GCD 750 when they first came out, I can tell you that the preamp was the star of the show by a long shot. The GFA 5802 although not bright, is a bit of a grainy sounding amp with very average bass and does not provide the kind of headroom you would expect with its stated power output. I feel there is much better sounding out there at that price in the used market.

Thank you Chris74. This is exactly what I was fishing for. It's looking like what I need, and what I can afford are two different things ... LOL

Well I owned a GFA-5800 which was I think the same design but with fans for cooling.

The bass was phenominal. Bascom King did the review of that amp and loved it saying it bettered amps selling many times it's price and he especailly liked the bass calling it Krell-like. There was nothing wrong with the headroom. I wouldn't call it grainy either, misty maybe, and that was it's main failing -- the highs were not the best.

I sold it and replaced it with a Threshold S/550e because I didn't like the fans and i've missed it on my subs ever since.

Hi have to agree with Chris74...many moons ago I had an Acurus A200...thought I was upgrading to the Adcom 5802...boy, was I wrong. The Acurus outperformed it in every way and it was half the cost. Goodluck!

I quite enjoyed my 5802 when I had it. Good punch and a capable driver. I didn’t find it bright or grainy but it was certainly a few notches above being neutral. Probably my biggest dislike was the noise floor.

If you have ever heard something like a Levinson you will know how it is purse music and eerily quiet otherwise in spite of pushing 250-300 watts a channel. With the 5802 you always know it is “on” if you know what I mean. At louder volumes not a problem but at lower listening levels it becomes more apparent.

I also found it did not quite have the detail and articulation that you can find in some amps in that price range. Personally if you were going in that direction I think the Adcom GFA 555 Mark II is better value.

For the money of the 5802 you can get into an Aragon, Accurus, Counterpoint, Odyssey even that lower level CJ “Sonographe” I think are all better amps for similar money.

I've owned many amps and the Adcom GFA 5802 has never been grainy. They do run hot to the touch and many people had the bias dialed back to lower the temperature. The amp throws a deep soundstage with lots of room ambience, lots of low level details, absolutely no harshness and effortless dynamic presentation. 

I see no negatives other than heat.

Unfortunately based on all the variants involved, cables,cd and preamp there is no way the amp will sound the same in your system!  In the past I have had a Rowland, Levinson, Krell, Bryston, Acurus, PSAudio, McCormack and a ton of other amps. I came across an Adcom 555II and the difference between all the other amps, with the exception of the Levinson, were very close.  I had a difficult time accepting that an amp I had bought for $400 could produce a similar sound!  If you were to do the blindfold test it would be difficult to justify the the thousands of dollars that are spent when there is just a subtle difference.  So without hearing the 5802 and knowing that it has the Adcom signature, with balanced as a bonus, I know that it has to be a worthy contender.

Are the new Adcom amps an improvement? their specs look very similar to Parasound amps.   I've not seen much press about the the newer units.