Preamp for my Adcom 555

TennMan

I have an Adcom GTP-450 preamp and a Adcom GFA-555 amp. They sound great with my SDA 2BTL speakers. The 555 has upgrades & speaker protection added by Club Polk member OldmanSRS. With the mods he made the Adcom 555 is a keeper.

I'm considering replacing the Adcom preamp to get the features of a more modern preamp. Since I'm considering a small home theater setup I was considering getting a Marantz NR1504 to use as a preamp for my Adcom 555 to power the front speakers (it has preouts) and to power center and surround speakers. It also has a connection for a sub if I want to use one.

Do you guys think the Marantz would work well as a preamp for my system using it as described above? Most of my listening would be done in pure direct, 2 channel mode listening to CDs so I don't want to take a step backwards compared to using my Adcom preamp. If spend the money to I get another preamp I want it to sound at least as good as the Adcom preamp when used for 2 channel listening.

I also like the idea of having Audyssey to setup the speaker for room accustics. The Adcom preamp does a poor job in that regard. Your opinions and suggestions on adding the Marantz to my setup would be appreciated.

TNHNDYMAN

Hey stranger! Looks like a pretty sweet unit for your needs. Not much power, but should be fine for center and surrounds since you are using preouts for front left and right. Do you have speakers in mind yet to use for surrounds and center? What about subwoofer? Sound quality wise, I don't think it would be worse than the mid level adcom preamp but would be nice to know if there is a return period if not satisfied after trying it out.. Good luck. I've got a Polk CS-350 center speaker that needs a new home and would work great with your SDA's for home theater listening if interested. Also need to find a new home for a great HSU VTF-3 subwoofer that would blow your hair back. I don't want to have to try and ship it, but wouldn't mind driving down to your place. Best of luck in your hunt.

TennMan

Thanks for your reply. You got me to thinking about their return policy if I didn't like the Marantz. I talked to customer service today and they said returning it wouldn't be a problem but, even though they give free shipping, it would cost me shipping both ways if I return it. At least $50 - or more if they choose to charge a restocking fee. I guess that is fair but it still is something to think about a little before ordering it.

I was hoping someone here would have some experience with the Marantz. I guess it is under powered for most peoples setup. For that reason it's probably not a good choice for use as an AVR. Since I have the Adcom and I know it does a good job powering my SDAs, I'm more concerned about the quality of sound the Marantz would have as a preamp that would also power surround speakers. I wouldn't be happy if it wasn't at least as good as the Adcom GTP 450 preamp I got from you. I guess the only way to know for sure is to try it. I'm going to give it some more though before I jump in.

Thanks for the offer on the center speaker and the sub. I might be interested if I get a new preamp once I get it dialed in. Right now I don't feel like I need a sub for 2 channel but who knows if I get the home theater bug.

TNHNDYMAN

I honestly think for 2ch music use the newer Marantz would be better than the Adcom. It should work fine for home theater use as well since that was it's first purpose and design. At the price I saw from your link, I don't honestly think you could go wrong. If you knew you wanted a big time dual use rig and were switching back and forth all the time, then I would recommend the Parasound P5, but keep in mind that's in the $750-1000 range. I think the Audyssee room correction software could actually really surprise you for two channel listening going thru that Marantz. If I was spending your $, I'd get it and try it. Even if it costs an extra $50-75 to return, I think it would be worth it.

TennMan

I think the Marantz should sound better too. It's hard to compare specs since the Marantz specs seem to be more about video stuff than sound.

I intend to give the Marantz a try but funds for it have been pushed to the back burner for a while. My gas furnace went out yesterday and I had to get a new "draft inducer" installed. That's HVAC talk for an "expensive blower fan that sucks". When my credit card account recovers from that I will be back on the hunt for a preamp.

Toolfan66

Get the Marantz..

The only Adcom pre worth getting is the 750 IMHO..