Adcom GFA-535ii vs AudioSource Amp One

[krazygrrl]

Question...

This may really sound stupid, how would you go about protecting speakers then from such an amp that could destroy them? Inline fuses? A type of fused hub?

 

[terra1]

I would be interested in what others say too.

The GFA-535II seems to have quite a few safeguards like Instantaneous Distortion Alert, Thermal Protection LEDS.

And has Internal Protection Fuses for the DC rails on each channel.

 

[eli17]

I have had both amps and the audiosource is not in the same league as adcom in fact it is the murkiest amp i have ever listened to imo My gfa 535ii holds up against my better parasound amps and betters my zamp 2

 

[luvvinvinyl]

I have had both amps and the audiosource is not in the same league as adcom in fact it is the murkiest amp i have ever listened to imo My gfa 535ii holds up against my better parasound amps and betters my zamp 2

Welcome to AK.

I'd like to call your attention to the date & time stamp on every post, at the bottom left-hand corner. Your first post on AK resurrected a seven-year-old thread. The decision has probably been finalized.

If you intended to re-awaken this thread, please disregard this message.

We now return you to your regularly-scheduled programming. Thank you.

 

[embrown057]

Question...

This may really sound stupid, how would you go about protecting speakers then from such an amp that could destroy them? Inline fuses? A type of fused hub?

Not a stupid question at all. As far as I'm concerned any amp without speaker protection is just a accident waiting to happen. It may have not been reported very often but I know first hand it has happened and more than you may be aware of. I have seen first hand what rail voltage can do to a speaker and it's NOT pretty. Well then what to do to prevent such a catastrophic event. There are more than a few ready made protection board that are very easy to install if you have the space. This is just an example, I have not personally used this exact board but all are very much the same,

https://www.amazon.com/Assembled-Sp...00&sr=8-5&keywords=speaker+protection+circuit

You can use a 12v Wall Wart if you can not find suitable provisions off the internal power supply.

If I had a car without a seat belt I would surely install one before I got behind the wheel, but that's just me.

 

[Pio1980]

The best advice above!

I'm not sure about the 545 II, because Adcom fiddled with Nelson's design by that point...and Pass did not particularly agree with the Adcom refits? I have an original GFA-545 that is hard to beat in its 'used' price range. I run it with another Pass unit, the Nakamich CA-5 pre-amp and, for the price, to me, this is as good as it gets.

Of course, there are better if you want to spend more. There are Pass's own higher end Pass Labs (class A amps) for example and quite a few other audio greats (Levinson, Curl, etc.).

cnh

The Mk-II amps were another design by Walt Morrey, tho similar in appearance to the original Pass designed 5#5 amps.

 

[SaturationPt]

I've had all three, and the 535ii is IMO the best. It is a high-current version / modification of the 535 also adding a temperature shutdown, has distortion protection, and again in my opinion is of very little risk to speakers if not run into the ground (reasonable condition and maintenance). It sounds similar to the 535 but in my application I was running 4ohm loads and I feel that it had more energy than my regular 535s (I had two of each, used them to bi-amp PSB Stratus Gold for some time. Ran warm, but never dropped out in overload).

The AudioSource Amp One I bought used, never sounded great, meters were worse than Carver TFM-15 meters (ornamental only), and moved to the workbench for a test-amp only. Sold all of the above about a year ago.