Which adcom sounds best?

Designed by Nelson Pass, the GFA 555 is the best in that series.

The GFA 565 monos are good sounding too. You may also like some of the earlier B&K amps.

I had the Adcom 555, (4)555IIs, the 5400 & (2)5500s.
The 5400 & 5500 sounded much better, to me.
Try to get a later 5500 with the IEC plug, instead of the captive power cable.
This will allow you to try different power cables.

Thanks a lot to all the poster!

Daneal, which one sound the best to you?
What is the difference between the 555 and 555 II model?
Did the 5500 sound similar to 555?

Cheers,

IMO the preamps are the weekest component although the GFP750 came close to getting the most out of the amps. A lot less dark and brittle sounding.

I too had an Adcom, the GFA-7605 for about 1 month, "sterile and brittle" is spot on for an oversimplified description. IMHO they belong in distribution systems powering Bose and Cerwin-Wega speakers, nuf said.

On the other hand I read some laudatory comments on older Adcoms.

Once they take it to the Middle Kingdom and leave the process unsupervised, manufacturers find out the hard way. Look how smart Apple got with Foxconn throwing people off roofs for them, keeping the workforce under control by local standards while keeping the alfalfa munching token recyclers at home happy with their expensive gadgets.