Cheap Adcom GFA-555-buy it?

jimbo1421

Hello,

There is an Adcom GFA-555 here for sale-$50. The ad says that it is 20 years old. I would use it to power a pair of Monitor 10s or 7s now but looking ahead I would like to run a pair of SDA-2s with it. I cannot find anything that says for sure that it is a common ground amp; a quick search of the forums shows that some people use them on SDAs. Is it a common ground amp?

Cheap as it is, the age still bothers me a bit. I don't really want to spend $50 on a pile of trouble. What should I beware of when inspecting the amp that should wave me off? Can anyone give me an idea of the cost to refurbish this amp?

Thanks,
Jim

george daniel

call/pm Ben

thuffman03

There are plenty of repair shops that can fix for not a lot of $$$ if there is a problem. I would pick it up and get it up and running.

cnh

I have one not much younger than that....those things are almost indestructible...and in all likelihood all it needs are some new caps...if that! As George says, you should touch base with Ben.

If the amp is in need of work you'll know....by how it sounds and if there is a HUM, etc. For 50 bucks you can't go wrong, even if in need of some repairs and I doubt many....unless someone dropped it a couple of stories....those Adcoms are built like TANKS!

cnh

reeltrouble1

Cheap and Adcom, goes together like Peanut Butter & Jelly.

RT1

jimbo1421

Thanks guys. What about "common ground"? I never see this called out in any specifications listed for any amp that I have looked at. How can I tell?

Jim

Ricardo

The 555 is common ground. No worries there.

jimbo1421

Thanks, Ricardo. How does one tell if any particular amp or receiver has a common ground?

Jim

Ricardo

Take a multimeter and measure resistance (ohms) between the two negative (black) posts in the back of the amp, with the amp off. If you read 0 or very close to 0 (0.1, etc), it's a common ground amp.

engtaz

you buy it. now.

reeltrouble1

Did you hear the one about the Adcom and the NAD.

Well an Adcom and a NAD go into a bar.

They slide up a stool and the Adcom's IEC cord falls out.

A stranger walks by and picks up the Adcom's power cord and slides in back into the connector.

The Adcom says oooh that feels better, thank you very much, my power cord is always falling off like that, my tail is a bit loose you see. The stranger says no problem, and by the way here is your cap as well, it fell off when you came in.

The NAD amp simply shakes its head and says If your Caps are Off and your Bottom ain't Tight you can believe its an Adcom thats not right.

RT1--you hear me.

george daniel

Eh,, is that a NO,,, Ted;)

reeltrouble1

naw, I am just busting on Adcom recently, next week I may move on off the A's, lets see what starts with B is an audio product and not worth crap.......oh well, now there is a tough one.

I do have to admit the Adcom guys (especially Brock) refused to let me pick the scab., but I KNOW its secretly killing him not to say its a Pass Design.

RT1

jimbo1421

engtaz wrote: »

you buy it. now.

I would if he would call me back.

Jim

dpowell

Seems like a no brainer at $50.

cnh

reeltrouble1 wrote: »

Did you hear the one about the Adcom and the NAD.

Well an Adcom and a NAD go into a bar.

They slide up a stool and the Adcom's IEC cord falls out.

A stranger walks by and picks up the Adcom's power cord and slides in back into the connector.

The Adcom says oooh that feels better, thank you very much, my power cord is always falling off like that, my tail is a bit loose you see. The stranger says no problem, and by the way here is your cap as well, it fell off when you came in.

The NAD amp simply shakes its head and says If your Caps are Off and your Bottom ain't Tight you can believe its an Adcom thats not right.

RT1--you hear me.

Nice one...we could all use a bit more humor here...especially of late?

cnh

jimbo1421

Somebody else snagged it.

Jim

ViperZ

jimbo1421 wrote: »

Somebody else snagged it.

Jim

No surprise. I see GFA-555II locally for 250, and everybody thinks it's cheap... but for $50!!!! holy moly. I am surprised you had time to post here and it was still available.

cnh

Those amps are usually good to go at 300+ dollars! So anything less than that is a bargain. Like Reeltrouble says above Adcom and cheap is like P&J.

At the same time, if you're making your first steps into external Amplification you can't do much better than this at this price. A new Adcom is 1200+ dollars and the 555 is considered a superior design to the NEW models! I'd prefer to say 'value' rather than cheap. Because, one man's cheap is another's mid-high End.


cnh

jimbo1421

The seller didn't reply to me yesterday and sold it to his neighbor this morning. Nothing like being on the spot when a deal like this comes along.

Jim

cnh

Makes you wonder why he didn't just talk to his neighbor first instead of advertising?

cnh

Kex

reeltrouble1 wrote: »

... next week I may move on off the A's, lets see what starts with B is an audio product and not worth crap.......oh well, now there is a tough one. ...

Ha ha ha! Thanks RT.

I can't wait to see what you're going to pick for "E" week, when you get that far! Of course, "M" won't be much more of a secret than "B".