Question on a pre amp

wutadumsn23

I am slowly building a 2 ch. rig (as some of you may remember, lol) So far I am building it around a set of Peerless Monitor 10A's I got for $50 that sound awesome. I recently wanted to get an AVR to use as a pre and then get an amp, but was advised by many to go a different route. I found an Adcom GFP-555 for sale on CL for $100, and it is in Seattle which will involve shipping. All said and done it would be about $113 for the unit at my door. Looks to be in good shape from the pictures, any thoughts? Should I pull the trigger and use this as my pre, or look elsewhere?

-Jeff

http://seattle.craigslist.org/see/ele/1709965927.html

comfortablycurt

Jeff,

For a little over $100, I'd go for it. The GFP-5x5 preamps aren't regarded as highly as the GFP-710/15, and especially the GFP-750...but at that price, I'd snag it.

I've never heard the GFP-555, but many people around here are using them, and love them. I almost bought a 555 preamp a while back, but I ended up with my Acurus L10 instead.

The GFP-555's are supposed to have a killer phono stage as well, if that's of any concern to you.


This would be a great step into the world of separates for you.

Have you made any kind of decisions on an amp yet? I'd strongly suggest looking into an Adcom GFA-545. I'm running a 545 in my rig, and I love it. Don't be a'skerred by the "only" 100wpc rating. This thing will get loud.

wutadumsn23

Thanks for the quick reply Curt, I may snag it. I was actually looking at the GFA-555 that is for sale on the forum, but there is another guy intrested already. Plus $300 is a little out of my price range right now, so I'll probably just keep waiting. The 545 and 555 are on my short list though for amps. There is a 545 for sale not far from me for $200.

-Jeff

comfortablycurt

I've never heard the GFA-555 before, but I imagine it's a great sounding amp as well.

Many people have said that they found the GFA-545 to be slightly more musical and detailed than the 555. I'd love to do a side by side comparison sometime.


You'll be astonished at how great a well thought out budget 2 channel rig can sound. I've got a rough total of only $1000 invested in my 2 channel, and the sound I'm getting out of it astonishes me on a near daily basis.

cnh

Any time you can get almost 'any' pre for 100 it's a pretty good deal. As Curt says that's NOT Adcoms best. It is 'passable', but it tends to be a little forward and bright for my tastes. However the Monitor 10s you have may NOT be that bothered by that since you have the peerless tweeter, etc.

It's worth a listen but don't expect a soft warm sound out of that pre...personally I'm holding out for the 750 or a 'tube' pre. But I may be waiting for a LONG time...not exactly chump change.

My suggestion is why don't you just hook up a power amp to your Onkyo for now and see what that sounds like....in other words...buy the AMP first and then the pre..

I know your wife might not like to see M70s and Monitor 10 next to each other in your AV space. But it's worth a try...the Onkyo is not a bad 'cheap' pre. Until you can upgrade, that is!

cnh

cnh

comfortablycurt wrote: »

I've never heard the GFA-555 before, but I imagine it's a great sounding amp as well.

Many people have said that they found the GFA-545 to be slightly more musical and detailed than the 555. I'd love to do a side by side comparison sometime.


You'll be astonished at how great a well thought out budget 2 channel rig can sound. I've got a rough total of only $1000 invested in my 2 channel, and the sound I'm getting out of it astonishes me on a near daily basis.

That's interesting because I've never heard the 545...but I can tell you that the 555 is all about POWER, raw power. I haven't put a good pre-amp on it yet so I can't talk to its musicality, but I can say that it is very CLEAN! And LOUD!

cnh

wutadumsn23

cnh wrote: »

Any time you can get almost 'any' pre for 100 it's a pretty good deal. As Curt says that's NOT Adcoms best. It is 'passable', but it tends to be a little forward and bright for my tastes. However the Monitor 10s you have may NOT be that bothered by that since you have the peerless tweeter, etc.

It's worth a listen but don't expect a soft warm sound out of that pre...personally I'm holding out for the 750 or a 'tube' pre. But I may be waiting for a LONG time...not exactly chump change.

My suggestion is why don't you just hook up a power amp to your Onkyo for now and see what that sounds like....in other words...buy the AMP first and then the pre..

I know your wife might not like to see M70s and Monitor 10 next to each other in your AV space. But it's worth a try...the Onkyo is not a bad 'cheap' pre. Until you can upgrade, that is!

cnh

LOL, that was my plan C, but as you said my wife is not crazy about all the speakers in the living room already, and I have been asked to make a man cave in the basement for my 2 ch. rig. The 806 will have to stay upstairs for my HT, so that won't be an option. I wanted to buy a "cheapo" AVR that had pre outs and get a good external amp to hook it up to to run the 10's but was advised to go with seperates. The tube idea was mention as well, but is also way out of my budget. Not having any luck finding any pre's other than the GFP-555 on CL, but would like to get a good one that won't break the bank.

-Jeff

wutadumsn23

NM, that GFA-555 for sale here on the forum is sold!! Damn, lol.

-Jeff

cnh

Hang in their Jeff....I suspect either Curt or I will be upgrading sooner or later...so a 545 or a 555 might be available at a good price. If I upgrade mine I would bite the shipping? But who knows when....in the meantime just keep on 'truckin!

I honestly think the cheapest and fastest route for you and the Monitor 10s which are pretty efficient is a good 'integrated amp' like a NAD C325BEE, or an Onkyo A9555, or a Cambridge Audio 650. You have your pre aleady built into one unit and still have pretty decent two channel sound for a low price if you can get these 'used'....we're probably talking about 300 or so and you Monitors are playing. Then you can mess with DACs, tube buffers and all that other jazz that 'boys' here are CONSTANTLY tweaking and buying?

I've found a place here that sells the Onkyo digital amp and I'm going to put my ears on that one...only 85w/channel but almost twice that into 4 ohms (stable) and some nice 'reviews'. Already heard the NAD in the states--also very nice! I plan to buy a more expensive pair of bookshelves and run one of these in my home office later this or next year.

cnh

wutadumsn23

Thanks C, I am being very patient on this endeavor for a couple of reasons, mostly due to limited funds and WAF, lol. I will get there eventually, but I want to do it right. My 10's will sit where they are for now, they make it downstairs every once in awhile, lol.

-Jeff

Dawgfish

Don't fret at that pre being sold. Another will turn up or you can get other solid state pres from Parasound, B&K, Carver,Nad, etc in that same price range if you are patient. The deals will come, just be patient and pounce on them when they do come. Adcom makes some great products (like the others said the 700 series pres are about as good solid state pres as you will find), but the 500 series pres weren't there best showing.

As far as the Adcom amps, I used to own both a GFA-545 and 555. I prefered the 545 for normal 2 channel applications (that didn't require massive power). As the others have eluded to it was a little more musical and slightly smoother than the 555. The 555 was a powerhouse, but lacked a little refinement IMHO. The great thing about Adcom amps are their reliability. The older 545s and 555s do tend to suffer from leaky caps, but they can be easily fixed and will last forever if operated and taken care of properly.

I would suggest checking out some other brands out there also. Adcom makes some great stuff, and their bang for the buck is off the charts, but diffferent people have different tastes and system synergy is also a key factor. What kind of sound do you prefer; i.e warm, neutral, bright? If you lean towards the warm sound, Adcoms are not your best choice. If you do like the warm sound you can find used B&K ST125.2, ST140.2, and ST200,2 for around the same prices as you would find the 545s and 555s. For my tastes I much prefer the B&K sound to the Adcom sound, but YMMV. If you can get out there and listen to as many different amps and pres as you can so you can get a better idea of the sound you're really looking for. This will save you money down the road. I bought and sold a lot of different stuff before finding an Amp and Pre that had the sound I was looking for. Hope this helps.

Oh yeah, CNH is giving you great advice about going with an integrated amp. NAD and Cambridge are great choices for this.

Steve

wutadumsn23

Thanks Dawg,check your PM box.

-Jeff

kcoc321

IF you are still going "adcom" there are a couple of new listings today.
A 555 for $110
http://seattle.craigslist.org/see/ele/1716484756.html



and a 565 for $100
http://seattle.craigslist.org/see/ele/1716509081.html

curved

cnh wrote: »

That's interesting because I've never heard the 545...but I can tell you that the 555 is all about POWER, raw power. I haven't put a good pre-amp on it yet so I can't talk to its musicality, but I can say that it is very CLEAN! And LOUD!

cnh

Very true!! I actually like my 555 over my 545 with my RTi8's with my Nak CA-5. The low end punch isn't as great with the 545. Both are accurate, detailed and great amps IMO.

The interesting thing is that my 545 gets hotter when powering my 8's at the same volume