No matter how hard I try...

nadams
nadams Posts: 5,877
edited May 2009 in Electronics
I have never seen the distortion lights even flicker on my GFA-545. makes me wonder if I'd ever need anything bigger. Running the SDA 2's, even with power-sucking music like Prodigy - Fat of the Land. The entire house shakes... still no lights. Maybe the LEDs are shot? No audible distortion, of course... it just feels like I should be reaching the limits of this amp, yet it keeps doling it out in spades, whatever the hell that means.
Ludicrous gibs!
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  • zarrdoss
    zarrdoss Posts: 2,562
    edited May 2009
    Adcom, built like a tank!
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  • nadams
    nadams Posts: 5,877
    edited May 2009
    Found that with my old GFA-535, as well... Yet I'm still glad I decided to upgrade to a 545. It made a huge difference even though I never clipped the 535. I still wonder if dual mono's is in my future :p
    Ludicrous gibs!
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  • Serendipity
    Serendipity Posts: 6,975
    edited May 2009
    I had a 535 and it never clipped.
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  • fbm211
    fbm211 Posts: 1,488
    edited May 2009
    Ive never seen mine light up.But I know they work because they lit up last year before I sent them out to be repaired.
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  • dorokusai
    dorokusai Posts: 25,577
    edited May 2009
    I've clipped a pair of 565 monoblocks on a pair of Soundlab A1....not that it matters much.

    Adcom is a really robust brand with a solid and reliable build quality.
    CTC BBQ Amplifier, Sonic Frontiers Line3 Pre-Amplifier and Wadia 581 SACD player. Speakers? Always changing but for now, Mission Argonauts I picked up for $50 bucks, mint.
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  • danger boy
    danger boy Posts: 15,722
    edited May 2009
    be glad that you have never clipped your Adcom. it's cool to see the lights come on.. but when they do.. it's never a good thing. my Adcom is the same way... never seen the lights flicker.
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  • bassfann
    bassfann Posts: 151
    edited May 2009
    that amp is incredible.dont worry about clipping it
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  • reeltrouble1
    reeltrouble1 Posts: 9,312
    edited May 2009
    As you have found Adcom is plenty of amp power for your Polk's, they are easy to drive with a reasonable impedance curve.

    RT1
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  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,249
    edited May 2009
    FWIW, I never clipped my 545 with the 1C's either. The thing with SDA's is that they are effecient and their impedance curve doesn't dip particullarly low(not too much below 4 ohms)............but they are harder on the (negative) side of the amplifier because of the dimesional array. So a robust amp is needed and the Adcom's seem to fill that bill.

    This extra taxing on the negative side of the amplifier is why many if not all HT receivers shut down when pushed driving SDA's. This is of course part of the reason why you need to use common ground amps.

    I've often wondered if using the AI-1 isolation transformer would take some of the burden off the negative side of the amp and perhaps make them slightly easier to drive for lesser amps.

    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 | Puritan Audio PSM136 Pwr Condtioner & Classic PC's | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node3 - Tubes add soul!
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  • Ricardo
    Ricardo Posts: 10,636
    edited May 2009
    You are not playing it loud enough. My 555 performed light shows with the 1.2 tL's.
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