Adcom Questions

littlewoodboats

I have been toying with various options for the long term powering of my SDA 2A's.

I gave thought to tubes at one point but do not see myself getting into the idea of tube rolling and the like. I am more the set it and forget it type.

I see great praise for Adcom and the 555 especially. My problem (one among many) is there are so many different variants of the 555 I am not sure where to begin.

Sticking with Adcom for the pre just to keep my life as simple as possible which one do people prefer?

Thanks for viewing

naturallight

Well i guess i would have to ask what is your source material, CD?, Vinyl or both??

littlewoodboats

Right now the primary source is an AM/FM tuner with a CD changer for poker nights. I have been lurking the digital forum and plan to make a move in that direction for everything but the tuner. At some point I want to set up to rip vinyl as I have several friends with extensive collections.

naturallight

OK..you lost me. What are you useing to push the SDA's now...?? some type of Integrated amp with a tuner, CD player....What equipment do you have right now?

littlewoodboats

Sorry about that. I am using a Yamaha CA-1000 integrated amp from the early 70's. Separate tuner also Yamaha.

I have a Sony SACD/CD changer I picked up form a member here.

naturallight

OK..the Adcom 555 stuff will for sure power the SDA's...which model is better..that i can't tell you, maybe someone else will chime in on that. They are not the warmest amps on the planet and tend to be a bit bass heavy, from what i know about them. I have run SDA 1C's for years with an Onkyo M-504. It a warmer amp. I also use an Adcom Pre.
And old 400 model. Now there not the best pre's..nore the worst.

It really comes down to dollors, how much you want to spend, and what your looking to do with this setup. If it's backround for saturday poker....your wasteing your money. If your really getting into 2 channel stereo, and doing some serious listening..then it's going to cost you some bucks, and the first thing that has to go would probably be the Sony.
But thats just me.

heiney9

littlewoodboats wrote: »

I have been toying with various options for the long term powering of my SDA 2A's.

I gave thought to tubes at one point but do not see myself getting into the idea of tube rolling and the like. I am more the set it and forget it type.

I see great praise for Adcom and the 555 especially. My problem (one among many) is there are so many different variants of the 555 I am not sure where to begin.

Sticking with Adcom for the pre just to keep my life as simple as possible which one do people prefer?

Thanks for viewing

Actually there are (2) variants the MK I and MK II. Well, actually (3) if you count the current 555 Special Edition being marketed.

Early MK I's don't have the ridged front plate, just flat. Thr MK II essentially the same amp. Uses a slightly different topology (Darlington output stage) although unless you are really into the design part of it you probably wouldn't notice.

Most if not all of these are long in the tooth so I'd look for one that might have be refreshed vs. which exact model it is. A refreshed one is more desirable.

Good luck

H9

heiney9

They are very neutral and need a proper pre-amp to sound their best. Never thought they were bright nor bass heavy.

littlewoodboats

naturallight: I am not anywhere near as into 2 channel as most here seem to be. My listening consists of talk radio in the morning followed by the local swap shop. Classic rock in the afternoons. Nights the guys are over the CD player sees use or may stick with radio. The player is a Sony SCD-C2000ES I picked up here. If I had any real complaints with the player it would be the transport noise. I have not had the cover off but would imagine some sound deadening could be done. Once I have had the chance to go digital a nice single disk player will likely be in my future. Some nights I sit with my feet up listening to CD (or maybe a ball game) with a bucket of ice and a bottle of single malt. I want to end up with something nice

H9: I find the engineering fascinating but do not have the technical chops in electronics to say why one might be better than another. I have worked in and around industrial shipyards most of my adult life so most likely could not hear the differences.

I have read threads where you have discussed the 555 vs the 555II. What I was unsure of were the SE and MS models that I have seen offered for sale. The MS looks to be about a third shorter. Given a choice I would buy one that had already had the necessary work if I could be assured it was done in a professional manner. I am not opposed to buying knowing it needed to be sent off for work. What are the costs for refreshing/updating one?

Reviews for Adcom pre amps are all over the spectrum. You have the GFP-750 listed on your tag line. Do you like it? I am less interested in bells and whistles than I am in sound quality and longevity. I hate buying things that end up on the scrap pile after there or four years because some proprietary part crapped out.

I do not mind spending the money just want good value.

Thanks again for the input.

naturallight

The GFP-750 is pretty much considerd the best Pre amp Adcom has ever made. With that said, they are not cheap, and usually hard to find. For somereason right now there are 2 of them on Audiogon, but again the prices are 7-800.

The 555II amps are easy to find, prices range from 350-500 for the most part, depending on condition.
Pretty much you can't go wrong with these choices.

littlewoodboats

naturallight wrote: »

The GFP-750 is pretty much considerd the best Pre amp Adcom has ever made. With that said, they are not cheap, and usually hard to find. For some reason right now there are 2 of them on Audiogon, but again the prices are 7-800.

The 555II amps are easy to find, prices range from 350-500 for the most part, depending on condition.
Pretty much you can't go wrong with these choices.

Just for the heck of it, which pre was their second best? I would prefer to keep it under the amount listed if possible. From what I have seen your amplifier price range is dead on.

If one were thinking more along the lines of $500.00 tops for the pre what are the better choices? It does not have to be Adcom if better options exist in my price range. This is assuming the 555 as the amplifier.

heiney9

second best is far below the GFP-750.

H9

naturallight

Well price is always a consideration...LOL $500 and below is kind of limbo land for preamps. Not alot out there thats good, or it's very old and you have to throw alot of money at it to upgrade it.

On the Adcom stuff, i would say a GFP-565 would be something you might like. It has a very good phono section(which your not useing) but is a pretty netrual pre..altho H9 will say it dose not hold a candle to the 750. But it is in no way a bad pre amp. If you can find one used, probably around the $400 range.

A Rotel RC-1550 may not be a bad pre amp. Some people have them on the forum, I have not heard bad things about them. Used can be had for around that $400 range also.

littlewoodboats

naturallight wrote: »

Well price is always a consideration...LOL $500

I come in here humbly asking assistance and you guys laugh at me. Just kidding, go ahead and laugh.

I did some reading and the GFP 750 looks like one heck of a nice piece of gear. $650.00 and up for the prices I was finding. It fits all of the criteria I think I could want and the reviews were fantastic. One thing I did not see were reports of dead units left and right.

Looks like I have some shopping to do. My house sale closes next week so I will even have some money to spend. My house will get smaller but the stereo should be quite happy.

Thank you to you both for your time and guidance.

naturallight

Sorry if it came off like i was laughing at the price...thats not the case. I could not afford more them $500 for a pre amp. Price is always an issue, what you can afford..well thats what you can afford, no big deal. Everybody tries to get the best deal for the dollor.

littlewoodboats

naturallight wrote: »

Sorry if it came off like i was laughing at the price...thats not the case. I could not afford more them $500 for a pre amp. Price is always an issue, what you can afford..well thats what you can afford, no big deal. Everybody tries to get the best deal for the dollor.

I did not think that at all. That is why I threw in the little laughing head dude. I sometimes forget that type shows no emotion

I do not mind paying for the gear but every bit of savings helps somewhere else. cables, rack, dac, wires, home run its own supply line, still need crossover parts, spikes and stands I was hoping to get through this little upgrade for around $2,000. Ain't gonna happen.

My house has finally sold so I have a bit of money to do something nice for myself. Were it not for that I would not be shopping for gear.

Fate set a trap for me the day I saw those Yamaha boxes at a garage sale. "Fifty bucks for both pieces and they work! How can I go wrong?" It has been laughing its **** off ever since.

Does the board have an upgrade/repair guru for Adcom? Seems I am soon in the market to have some work performed.

Drenis

Since I can't buy this, Adcom GFP-750 For Sale

gdb

Think Carver ! Powerful, Musical, Accurate :cheesygrin:

naturallight

Well 2K is a pretty tight budget for what your looking to buy. A number of the 555II's say they have been "checked" out and 100% working. Altho that can mean anything, But it dose not mean you have to buy it and ship it off to be updated either.
Just a note on the GFP-750. Now you said your not into alot of bells and whistles, which is fine. the 750 pretty much has none. It also has no bass, treble controls. So if you use them now, to compensate for the CD's that your playing, that may bother you on this preamp.

I have ALOT of Cd's....most are recorded pretty well. But X amount are just NOT, without the bass and treble controls..would not be very nice to listen to. But thats just me.
You can probably get the Amp and Pre amp for 1K...use the rest for your upgrades, you will probably have to hold off on the CD player...just use what you have for now, and save up, and do a lot of reading on what you may be looking for in the player.

heiney9

I haven't needed tone controls for about 25 years now. They have no place in a serious 2 channel audio system, nor are they needed.

H9

naturallight

Well H9...I said it was only my opinon..Nothing more. Most of my CD's are recorded well, and don't need any help.
But some are really recorded badlly. They tend to be old analog recordings..were not done well, and need some help to get back to what they were originally recorded at..so you may need to add some bass, or cut back on the treble if there far to over compressed. I have the old analog recordings of most of this stuff..so i know how it was recorded. So if the CD version, is recorded far to low as to not to clip the digital recording media....the bass tends to drop off. So i will kick the bass up a notch to match what the original recording is. Nothing more.

But again, thats MY opinon on this.......

heiney9

It's my opinion as well. I have found that simple bass and treble controls can in no way help compensate for a poor recording. In many cases it makes it worse, and at best no improvement.

Even if I had them in a rig, I wouldn't use them.

H9

naturallight

Well all i can say is....we "agree" to disagree....LOL what works for you, may not work for me. But this is all in the ear of the person doing it. Nothing more.

littlewoodboats

I do not use the tone controls either. When I first brought the SDA's into the house I would turn the treble control down a notch but have stopped that since the RDO-194 swap.

When I was using some old pro sound stuff I had full third octave eq but have not found it to be necessary with the SDA.

I had the 2k in mind as a general budget. The GFP-750 put a dent in things as I was most likely optimistic to begin with.

littlewoodboats

You are correct when you said "serviced" could mean any number of things. I would buy one serviced up front but only if I knew I could trust the seller. Individuals selling amps and service centers selling the same gear have widely ranging differences in prices.

The upgrade service is a bit different depending on the place performing the service. I have seen prices running from a basic refresh for just under $200.00 to a full "we do everything" listed at $349.00.

naturallight

My point about the treble and bass controls was only basied on what i do..and agian..only MY opinon.

The it's been checked and 100% working..as you said can mean anything. If it was checked for leaking caps and what not....you may not have to do anything to it. Pretty much if you can find the right amp at the right price..and you think it was not beat on...you may not have to do anything to it. .....Plug it in see how it sounds.....

littlewoodboats

naturallight wrote: »

My point about the treble and bass controls was only basied on what i do..and agian..only MY opinon.

I am with you. If it makes your listening what you want it to be then more power to you. I feel lucky with the room they are in now. The only adjustment I have had to do is the position out from the wall. Worst case I have a third octave parametric. Even then it is set once using an analyzer and forget. I did notice the lack of tone controls and was not concerned. Someone else might not have noticed so you were right to point it out to me.

My problem with the "its been serviced" amp is I would not be seeing it before purchase and auctions are hit or miss at best. Anything I buy will go straight to wherever it is going to be serviced. My first order of business is to figure out where the work will be performed for their recommendations. The mods for the 555 series are extensive with every version being different. Sometimes variations within the same series. I was reading earlier today on another forum where some of the diagrams are posted. Nelson Pass (it was an old thread) posted saying he did not recognize the circuit diagram for the GFA-555 MK1 that was on the site.

I think I remember a thread where H9 was talking with someone else about this and the variations within the series.