Emotiva vs. Adcom

Mr. Sharpe

Which one would you get? I want something to power my monitor 10's, I usually would just jump right on adcom bc I grew up listening to their gfa 1. I was thinking of if I went adcom matching the components, like preamp amp etc. I already have good sources.

If you went adcom which preamp is good? All of them? I read they don't make a good better best so....

And any experience with emotiva amps, the sound compared to adcom.

Toolfan66

If going Adcom.

Pre Amp.

GFP-750 Best..
GFP-715

Amp.

GFA 5802..


I had owned the XPA-2 and I do own the GFA-5802, there is a reason I own the Adcom and sold the Emotiva.. The Emotiva just didn't mesh well with my system..

With that said Audio Alan ( a member here ) owns the XPA-2, and I have been to his house, and his system sounded great..

Mr. Sharpe

Any of the less expensive models? The two you mentioned are out of my range. 600 is budget but I'd like an amp with it

PreCd

The 5802 has the Mosfets which is why it is considered a Adcom amp worthy of owning. I have never laid ears on one but anyone I have talked with that owned one sang its praises.

I power my SDA2Bs with a GFA-545 and it is plenty of amp for those. I am not familiar with the speakers you have but if the 545 is not able to manhandle them go to the GFA-555. The 545 is around $180 for a nice respectable amp and the 555 around $300.

After I posted I noticed that the monitor 10s are part of your 5 channel system. Forget what I said ^

Mr. Sharpe wrote: »

Any of the less expensive models? The two you mentioned are out of my range. 600 is budget but I'd like an amp with it

Mr. Sharpe

Eh I put them in my two channel system after listening to them.

I forget which of the 555's more desirable? The older one right?

PreCd

The 555 is more desirable over the 555 II yes. However the II does have speaker protection which the 555 MKI does not. Like I said before the 545 drives my SDA2Bs like there is no tomorrow and sounds wonderful. I owned a 555 and sold it because it was more amp than I needed for my little room. Come to think of it the SDAs are too much for my little room!

Also the 555 MKI does have the problems with leaky electrolytics. The 555II does.

Good luck.

Mr. Sharpe

Thank you much, I actually jumped on a big parasound late last night, always wanted one of their amps.

cnh

In general, Parasounds have a warmer signature than Adcoms. And the better Adcoms are the earliest Pass iterations, as a rule.

Adcoms are a workhorse that will run and run and run, with a neutral sound for the most part, don't add or subtract much from what's in the original source.

But I find Parasounds a little more pleasing to the "ear" because of their warmer signature.

Nonetheless, I have a GFA-555 as a go to power amp below that's never failed me and can run most speakers. It's also a great bang for your buck amp compared to many others because you can get it for "less" coin!

Enjoy!

cnh

Toolfan66

Good choice going with parasound , as CNH said they are pleasing to the ear..

soundfreak1

Have had multiples of each imho parasound is just plain better. More serviceable, modable and less fatigueing to the ears good choice.

Mr. Sharpe

nbrowser wrote: »

You won't be disappointed, now which model did you pick up ?

HCA 1500A. It's probably a little much power wise, but it really was a deal.

Mike Reeter

Mr. Sharpe wrote: »

HCA 1500A. It's probably a little much power wise, but it really was a deal.

Have had the 1500A powering SDA's before, great combo. You did well!

heiney9

PreCd wrote: »

Also the 555 MKI does have the problems with leaky electrolytics. The 555II does.

Good luck.

No, the the 585 with the leaky caps.

polklifer

I have both in my stable, the Adcom 5802 and the Emotiva XPA-2..that said, the Adcom still takes the place on the rack, the Emotiva is an awesome amp, but, synergy was not quite what I was planning on, currently using the Emotiva, am building a DN IC cable

The Adcom is awesome, but the Emo was brand new, with a warranty, nothing better than a brand-new shiny amp...:)

Cheers!

mccarty250

Great info, I can state that I have an XDA-2 preamp and love it. Thumbs up for emotiva but I've heard nothing but good about the adcoms as well.

Mr. Sharpe

thanks all, I figured I did good jumping on this one:) I can't wait to get it either, ships out tomorrow!

headrott

I cannot recommend Emotiva in any way, shape, or form with the exception of home theatre. Even then, you can do better..... You will be sorry if you use Emotiva for 2 channel. That's my blunt, honest opinion.

F1nut

even in my humble system it has yet to cough up a hairball when I ask it to provide power

headrott

Sorry Mr. Sharp, just realised you bought a Parasound amp. Much better choice han either Adcom and especially Emotiva. Please let us know what you think after giving a listen.

Mr. Sharpe

nbrowser wrote: »

Mr. Sharpe, ask tonyb how quick I justed on my Parasound...lol. Just you wait til you get that beauty home, hook it up, let it warm up then give it outright hell!

Words of advice, it'll run a touch warm, don't be alarmed. Don't run the gains maxed out, results in noise at lower volumes and finally, enjoy that ****

ah, a little heat never hurt anybody:)

headrott wrote: »

I cannot recommend Emotiva in any way, shape, or form with the exception of home theatre. Even then, you can do better..... You will be sorry if you use Emotiva for 2 channel. That's my blunt, honest opinion.

wow thanks, I almost got their larger 2 ch. amp too off amazon, glad I didn't.

headrott wrote: »

Sorry Mr. Sharp, just realised you bought a Parasound amp. Much better choice han either Adcom and especially Emotiva. Please let us know what you think after giving a listen.

no need to apologize sir, I can't wait to get it!!!

Mr. Sharpe

So I got the amp today, it's really nice, it looked brand new but damn it all if I didn't nick it with my knife cutting it out of the bubble wrap:(( that was so stupid, I wanted to kick myself for diong that!!

Anyways, so I'm going to be using my Onkyo tx 8555 receiver as a preamp and can't figure out how to use the Remote trigger to turn the amp on with it.... I did cut apart a 3.5mm cable and it had 3 wires, I'm guessing one for each channel and ground wire. this amp only has little screws for the trigger input labeled 12volt and a ground. hooked the ground wires to ground and tried hooking both other wires into the 12v screw, also tried doing the same only using one of the wires for the 12v screw.

nothing happened with both of those. is the in and out on this receiver even used for triggering something like an amp to come on?? surely it is.

http://www.avland.co.uk/aasp/onkyo/0920/tx8555/rearlrg.jpg

see the IR in/out? the rear of this unit is the same for American piece. or am I completely missing it and is it the RI remote control? I haven't even tried it lol

Mr. Sharpe

I know what the phono ground is for thanks. I was talking about there's a Ground screw on the back of the amplifier that is used for 12v trigger. The RI remote control is awful close to the phono ground on the receiver though.

okay so a mono cable, can do I just hope it works and does what I want it to do.

Mr. Sharpe

I saw where someone plugged a 12v power supply into the switched outlet on his preamp and it worked. What should I consider if doing that? use a 2 amp? all this amplifier needs 15ma to trigger it, 2 amps is 2,000 miliamps.... would that burn something up?

zane77

No it will only draw what it needs to turn the. Amp on.

Mr. Sharpe

m'kay, that just seems like the easiest way to do it. the manual for the Onkyo says I would have to have a ir emmitter and I see no point in doing that if I can just use the switched outlet and a 12v power supply. thank you.

Mr. Sharpe

I have a 19 volt power supply for my laptop 3.2amp, would that work is that too high voltage?

Mr. Sharpe

got it. http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Can_you_use_a_19V_DC_power_supply_for_a_12V_DC_load?#slide=1