Adcom GFA - 555II

xjghost

A couple years ago I went in a pawn shop in Florence, SC and saw one. I had to go over there this afternoon and decieded to see if it was still there. Yep. Asked the guy what he would take for it and he said $100.00! Seemed like a no brainner to me. It's a little scuffed up and dirty but it did power on. I have not hooked anything up yet to test it. I figured I'd open it up and see what it looked like and clean it. Any sugestions or things to look for?

xjghost

hochpt21

Long as she works, that seems like a real good deal.

cnh

Looks original in there, for the most part. May need a recap at this point. Should have someone check what's coming out of the speaker terminals so that you don't fry your speakers with a SURGE.

I'm not sure about the 555II but the 555 has no relays or protection circuits so you have to be careful. Get a meter and check it. I'm no tech but there are guys here who can give you the values you should be looking for.

Other than that $100 is a really good price for that!

cnh

xjghost

Cleaned it up some and checked all the fuses. Everything looked good and no smells or problems came up when I powered it on. So I hooked it up to the 3.1's and listened to some Bad Company on the TT.



Didn't think about hooking up the Bose 101's first. Oh well I guess I got lucky! Once I get some of my other "projects" out of the way I'll look at recapping this and use it as my main amp for the 2 channel system. Really excited about the possibilities here.

boston1450

Super price & looks clean inside. Looks like the outside will clean up nicely with some minor touch-ups. Nice amp

xjghost

boston1450 wrote: »

Super price & looks clean inside. Looks like the outside will clean up nicely with some minor touch-ups. Nice amp

The outside did clean up fairly well. Not sure what to do with the scratches though. What kind of touch ups?

boston1450

There are lots of different ways. Id use a marker (sharpie)& when doing it wipe it as soon as you touch it up & then wait 30sec & use magic eraser & lightly rub it in so it blends together. Ive done that with great results. It is worth a try. I read somewhere this guy used black shoe polish on rag-then wipe onto area's (never tried myself)

cubdog

Nice amp, especially for the price. I used one for years to power a pair of DQ10. Enjoy!

cubdog

Devlon

This amp was waaaayyyy too cheap lol! A laughable price if in good condition. Few amps are considered legendary and stood the test of time, but this is definitely one of them.


Review: www.kenrockwell.com/audio/adcom/gfa-555-ii.htm

xjghost

Thanks for that link. This amp "seems" to sound a little better to me then the Hafler 500 I had on my 3.1's. Of course I have been supper busy and only listened to a couple albums on the system so far. Had some time and work and did some research. Looked at Musical Design's site:

http://www.musicaldesign.com/MC_AdcomAmp_mods.html

Also found this service manual:

http://www.audiolabga.com/pdf/GFA555II Adcom.pdf

So when you say "recap" is that the four big blue caps that get replaced or is there more to it then that?

xjghost

Ended up sending this amp in to be checked out. Audio Advice in Pineville, NC sent it to their man in Raleigh and he put it on the bench for a couple days they said. Tested out a ok. Further digging and I've discovered my TT RCA's are making noises when touched so I'm guessing that is the problem. Plugged this one in and it sounds great listening to movies and cd's through the Emotiva mmc-1.