SDA-1 and Adcom 5400 Problem!

IrishNiner
IrishNiner Posts: 116
edited July 2008 in Vintage Speakers
Hi All,

Here is the problem I need help to solve.

I recently purchased an Adcom 5400 amp and hooked it up to my SDA 1's using my Onkyo tx-sr 804 as a preamp. When I turned on the Adcom the SDA's made a loud 1 sec screech and the thermal protection lights came on. When I turned the amp off the same 1 sec screech happened.

I've double checked my connections and everything was hooked up properly.
I checked all the fuses in the Adcom, one in back and five inside and they were all fine?

I hooked the SDA's back up to the Onkyo and thankfully they are still working fine.

Any info you could share would be appreciated!

Farrell
Post edited by IrishNiner on
· Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Comments

  • McLoki
    McLoki Posts: 5,231
    edited July 2008
    I bet it is not a common ground amp. (my 7500 isn't)

    You should be able to hook a piece of speaker wire between the black terminals on the back of the amp for the two channels you have hooked up to your SDA's. Call Adcoms tech support just to be sure before you do it though.

    In the mean time, you should be able to listen to your SDA's, just not with the interconnect cable connected between them.

    Michael

    Edit - of course that is assuming you do not have a problem with your amp nor speakers.....
    Mains.............Polk LSi15 (Cherry)
    Center............Polk LSiC (Crossover upgraded)
    Surrounds.......Polk LSi7 (Gloss Black - wood sides removed and crossovers upgraded)
    Subwoofers.....SVS 25-31 CS+ and PC+ (both 20hz tune)
    Pre\Pro...........NAD T163 (Modded with LM4562 opamps)
    Amplifier.........Cinepro 3k6 (6-channel, 500wpc@4ohms)
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • george daniel
    george daniel Posts: 12,096
    edited July 2008
    IIRC the 5000 series of the Adcoms were not common ground,, the 5400 may fit that category as well. Good luck , be careful.
    JC approves....he told me so. (F-1 nut)
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • IrishNiner
    IrishNiner Posts: 116
    edited July 2008
    Thanks Michael and George for the info.

    I'm going to hook up the adcom to some non sda polk speakers I have and make sure the amp is functioning properly. If so, then I'll call Adcom CS on monday to see if I can tie the neg terminals together to run it with my SDA's.

    In the mean time, anyone here using an Adcom 5400 with SDA's?

    Farrell
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,204
    edited July 2008
    Adcom 5xxx series are NOT common ground. Make some heavy duty straps and strap the negative terminals together to make it common ground. Do NOT continue to run the Adcom with SDA's as you risk damaging both, most likely the speakers first.

    H9
    "Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul!
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,204
    edited July 2008
    IrishNiner wrote: »
    Thanks Michael and George for the info.

    I'm going to hook up the adcom to some non sda polk speakers I have and make sure the amp is functioning properly. If so, then I'll call Adcom CS on monday to see if I can tie the neg terminals together to run it with my SDA's.

    In the mean time, anyone here using an Adcom 5400 with SDA's?

    Farrell

    There have been other threads about this. Try to search as the search engine isn't that great. If you do find the thread(s) please "tag" them appropriately.

    H9
    "Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul!
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • IrishNiner
    IrishNiner Posts: 116
    edited July 2008
    H9,

    I did try to search first but did not find a definitive answer to my question. Maybe I didn't look hard enough. Thanks for your help, I'll make the straps today and try again.

    Farrell
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • NJPOLKER
    NJPOLKER Posts: 3,474
    edited July 2008
    I my have posted my problem with the Adcom 5400 not being common ground which was easily fixed. The folks at Adcom told me to tie the black terminals together/ left to left and right to right which corrects the non-common ground problem.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • IrishNiner
    IrishNiner Posts: 116
    edited July 2008
    Thanks,

    Following the advice you guys provided I just tied the two black terminals together with a piece of 12 awg speaker wire. Problem solved:) The amp and speakers sound great!

    Farrell
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • NJPOLKER
    NJPOLKER Posts: 3,474
    edited July 2008
    How do you like your Adcom 5400 amp?
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • danger boy
    danger boy Posts: 15,722
    edited July 2008
    SDA's + Adcom 5400 = disaster

    I know this from experience.. it blew two internal fuses when I tried it... I don't think the Adcom GFA5400 is a common ground amp. I will never use it with SDA's again.
    PolkFest 2012, who's going>?
    Vancouver, Canada Sept 30th, 2012 - Madonna concert :cheesygrin:
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,204
    edited July 2008
    danger boy wrote: »
    SDA's + Adcom 5400 = disaster

    I know this from experience.. it blew two internal fuses when I tried it... I don't think the Adcom GFA5400 is a common ground amp. I will never use it with SDA's again.

    Al, it's simple........tie the negative terminals together. Paradise babyyyyyyy.

    H9
    "Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul!
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • danger boy
    danger boy Posts: 15,722
    edited July 2008
    heiney9 wrote: »
    Al, it's simple........tie the negative terminals together. Paradise babyyyyyyy.

    H9

    yeah i have heard that before.. i'm just not sure the Adcom 5400 is powerful enough for SDA's. Just my opinion... but I don't think anywhere they talk about 4 ohm loads in their lit. there are other better amps IMHO ;)
    PolkFest 2012, who's going>?
    Vancouver, Canada Sept 30th, 2012 - Madonna concert :cheesygrin:
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • McLoki
    McLoki Posts: 5,231
    edited July 2008
    danger boy wrote: »
    there are other better amps IMHO ;)

    There always are..... :p
    Mains.............Polk LSi15 (Cherry)
    Center............Polk LSiC (Crossover upgraded)
    Surrounds.......Polk LSi7 (Gloss Black - wood sides removed and crossovers upgraded)
    Subwoofers.....SVS 25-31 CS+ and PC+ (both 20hz tune)
    Pre\Pro...........NAD T163 (Modded with LM4562 opamps)
    Amplifier.........Cinepro 3k6 (6-channel, 500wpc@4ohms)
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • george daniel
    george daniel Posts: 12,096
    edited July 2008
    McLoki wrote: »
    There always are..... :p

    which is exactly my problem,,especially with phono pre's,,, as I sit patiently waiting for an Acousteh PH-1P to pop up ahain on Audiogon,,in the meantime,,I'm gonna hook the little dynavector up to a 12 volt battery.;)
    JC approves....he told me so. (F-1 nut)
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,204
    edited July 2008
    danger boy wrote: »
    yeah i have heard that before.. i'm just not sure the Adcom 5400 is powerful enough for SDA's. Just my opinion... but I don't think anywhere they talk about 4 ohm loads in their lit. there are other better amps IMHO ;)

    Absolutely they are powerful enough. I have a 545 which is a little bit less power and it makes my SDA's sing to levels that hurt my ears. All Adcom's are high current and able to easily drive difficult loads. Are there better amps out there? Sure, but Adcom's are hard to beat for the money and I've compared mine to many other brands and I still prefer the sound and the drive capabilities of my Adcom. :)

    Your 5400 didn't float your boat, that's fine, but they are more than capable of running LSi's or SDA's easily. I still think your's had issues from day one.

    FWIW

    H9
    "Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul!
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • IrishNiner
    IrishNiner Posts: 116
    edited July 2008
    For what it's worth, the literature I received with the amp states:

    200 watts continuous average power into 4 ohms: 20 Hz and 20 kHz with both channels driven at less than 0.18 THD.

    Admittedly I've only owned the 5400 for a few days, but with the common ground problem solved it runs both my SDA 1's and Rt2000i's just fine. A very capable amp for $175 off my local CL.

    Farrell
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • george daniel
    george daniel Posts: 12,096
    edited July 2008
    175.00,, I don't think that you or the sda's got hurt,,have fun and enjoy.:)
    JC approves....he told me so. (F-1 nut)
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • daboyz
    daboyz Posts: 5,207
    edited July 2008
    545 plus SDA's are a beautiful match IMHO. If I can get my hands on a Marsh I'd change but otherwise I'm very happy.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter