Well, this is a bit of a score (sort of), but to make a VERY long story...
sort of shorter, here's this nonsense. I'll try to sum up the best I can. lol
.....
This saga started 4 days ago on Sunday. I replied to an ad online for an Adcom GFA-6000 5-channel amplifier for $75. It had been posted for about 3 days before I responded to it, so I just figured it had sold already, and that it was just an old ad that the seller had forgotten to take down after the sale, but I replied to it anyway. To my surprise, I got a response back saying that I could come to pick it up, and the seller gave me his address. After a couple more emails, we set up a time to meet, and that was that. Well, a few hours later I get another message from him saying that there had suddenly been more offers on the amp! But he said if I would take it for $120, I could have it. I hummed and hawed over it for a bit, but decided to pull the trigger (TBH, I really didn't
need it, as I have hoards of gear already).
I went over to the seller's house to pick it up, but he didn't have anything to test it with. He said that his brother in-law had given it to him a few years prior, but he never used it because he didn't have any audio gear of his own at the time. Shortly after that, he and his wife had kids, and he decided he didn't want a system with wires all over the place and speakers for kids to poke, scuff, etc., so he decided to get a sound bar instead (shudder), and the Adcom sat in a cabinet in his front room ever since. However, he assured me that, to his knowledge, he knew of no issues with it. He seemed to be an honest, straightforward guy (for other reasons I'm not going to get into, I'm trying to keep this story "short" after all lol), so I decided to bite the bullet and do the deal.
I took it home that evening, but didn't hook it up, as it was getting late and I was tired. The next evening I decided to hook it up to see what I had. I plugged it in and the lights dimmed slightly when I did, and I was like, "Oh, is it already turned on???" Well, as it turns out, it was...for eternity. The power switch was essentially non-functional, and the unit was stuck in the "on" position with no way to turn it off. Damn it. I decided to contact the seller to tell him about the issue, and to see if he would be kind enough to refund me the money considering we had no way to test it out before buying it. He promptly got back to me, and seemed to be genuinely mortified that there was an issue with it. He apologized and said to come back so he could give my money back. Very generous. Another meeting time was made (tonight after 8:30PM) and we agreed to meet at that time.
Well, this morning I get an email from the seller saying, verbatim, "...you can just dispose of the broken amp. We really don't need it back"!!!
I figured, well, if they don't want it, and they would just "dispose" of it otherwise, I'll keep it!
Well..that's not quite the end of the saga. lol.....So I went to meet up with the seller this evening, and before I left, the rain that had been coming down all day had turned to wet snow...and it was coming down
hard. Essentially it took me 45 minutes through the snow to get there. I knock on the door and his wife answers it. She said that he (the seller) was still at work, and unfortunately, one of their kids had come down sick this afternoon. She said she didn't have any money to give to me, and she was unable to get the money for me because she had been tending to her sick child. lol
She said, "I can have my husband drop the money off at your place on the way home if that's okay?" So out came her cell phone and she texted him my address and a time to meet. So I had to head back
another 45 minutes through the snow to get back home in time. lol
Anyway, to sum up, the guy came to my door, on time -
to the minute - bundled up, hood up, and with the snow whipping around outside in the wind. Again, he was very apologetic, and he handed over the $120. He smiled, we said our "goodbyes" and our "take cares", and to make a long story
sort of short(lol), I essentially have a free Adcom amp sitting in my listening room waiting to be fixed. lol
A word about the power switch though: the reason I didn't know it was broken was because I didn't know what kind of power switch it was - i.e. if it was mechanical, electrically switched, etc. I don't know a ton about the mechanics of switches (so excuse my ignorance and lack of proper terminology), but from what I can tell, there are three kinds of power switches I have come across on more modern gear:
1. A mechanical push "in" for power "on", and "out" for power "off".
2. An electrically-controlled switch with a very "short throw" (very minimum inward travel), and a micro "click"; similar in action and operation to the push buttons on the face of more modern gear.
3. A "long throw" push-syle switch with no "click", and that does
not stay in once you push it in. It just pushes in (usually about 1/4" or so) until it stops and hits a non-clicking contact that turns on the amp. Again, sort of like an internally/electrically switched kind of thing - i.e. the button is non-mechanicaly switched, and it is just "telling" something on a board inside to "turn the amp on" (or whatever device it may be).
Sorry if my descriptions are a little vague, but the switch on the amp acted like the latter (#3). Before I bought the amp, I pushed the power switch and it was softly spring loaded and smooth traveling just like that kind of switch, so I just assumed that was the kind of switch it was. However, I read the manual, and it says, "After making sure that the GFA-6000's power switch is in the 'Off' position, plug the GFA-6000 into a wall outlet." So one would assume that if it has an "off" position, it must be a mechanically operated switch like switch #1. But who knows? I have never had an Adcom before, let alone this model, so I don't have a reference point to say for sure. All I know is that it won't turn off.
Anyway, these aren't my pictures, but this is what it looks like:
A little about the amp itself:
It's rated at 100 WPC, has 72,000uF of filter capacitance, has a good-sized toroidal transformer (it's actually bigger than it looks in the picture above, and measures 6 inches across), it's a high current design which pulls a maximum of 1,070 watts out of the wall (55 watts at idle though), and has a rated damping factor of 1,000!
If and when I get it fixed, I plan on using it for stereo duty only.
So anyway, that's my "score", even though it's a bit of a project. Thanks if you made it this far. You're a real trooper. lol