any adcom gfa-5500 users out there?

anyone have any experience with this amp past or present? if so, i'd like to know your impressions from it.
trhanks, sam

I have a GFA 555 and GFA 5500, but have not had a chance to compare the two side-by-side due to health issues. I bought it new in 1996, then got divorced and it went back in the box without having spent time with it. But I'd love to hear what others have to say!

I also have a Hafler 9505 that needs to be in the comparison testing. I have not listened to that one either! Then put the best of those against the Sonographe SA 250.

I have several "conventional" speakers and a pair of MMGs, so the synergy could be very different.

Columbo said:

I have a GFA 555 and GFA 5500, but have not had a chance to compare the two side-by-side due to health issues. I bought it new in 1996, then got divorced and it went back in the box without having spent time with it. But I'd love to hear what others have to say!

I also have a Hafler 9505 that needs to be in the comparison testing. I have listened to that one either! Then put the best of those against the Sonographe SA 250.

I have several "conventional" speakers and a pair of MMGs, so the synergy could be very different.

Click to expand...

I have a GFA-555 Mk II and a Sonographe SA-250. I can safely say that the Adcom has the better bass: tighter, deeper, more defined, more control of the woofers. The Sonographe is definitely softer and sweeter on the top end, with a lush midrange.

Regarding the GFA-5500, sadly I've not heard one. But, AK member rrbboocc has the 5500's bigger brother (GFA-5802) that he is quite fond of. It has all of the hallmark Adcom qualities: neutral sound; deep, tight bass; clean treble that is not bright or brittle sounding. What speakers would you be using the 5500 with?

adcom gfa-5500

i'm using klipsch kg 5.5's that i've owned since new. i'll be mostly using my turntable, a jvc ql-y66f, with it. i'm running a cambridge 640p phono amp with audio technica's at33ml-occ lomc. i've also got a few step-up amps, an audio experience solo, and a battery powered marcof. i have an outlaw 950 preamp. i've been using an adcom gfa-7000 to run everything. i got the 5500 for a good price on ebay and decided to run my mains with it and use the 7000 to run the sorrounds and center in my 7.1 rig. the 5500 should be here in a few days and i think it'll be interesting to hear how this setup works out. the outlaw 950 allows me to configure my system in a variety of ways, analog with bypass, and digital.

regards, sam

Tedrick said:

I have a GFA-555 Mk II and a Sonographe SA-250. I can safely say that the Adcom has the better bass: tighter, deeper, more defined, more control of the woofers. The Sonographe is definitely softer and sweeter on the top end, with a lush midrange.

Regarding the GFA-5500, sadly I've not heard one. But, AK member rrbboocc has the 5500's bigger brother (GFA-5802) that he is quite fond of. It has all of the hallmark Adcom qualities: neutral sound; deep, tight bass; clean treble that is not bright or brittle sounding. What speakers would you be using the 5500 with?

Click to expand...

Since my hearing drops off rapidly after 10khz, I doubt I would be able to hear the "sweeter top end" of the Sonographe.....and since you say the bass is much better on the Adcoms over the Sonographe, I will HAVE to check this out. I'm not sure how the MMGs will like the Adcoms or Hafler though. I already know the ADS and SARAS like the Adcoms.