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Adcom Gfa 1a

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stereoandy78

New Member
Dude! Does anyone have any real hard specs on the Ascom Gfa 1a? I sent e-mail to adcom and they were great, very quick response, but there was something weird with my email browser format. It was all this strange computer code. I am just trying to find the performance specs, and if anyone out there is using them, if so is the fan very noisy? Are you owners happy with them?

Thanks,

Andy:banana:
 
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Introduced in 1981, 200wpc @ 8 ohms, 350 wpc @ 4 ohms, and featured fan cooled heatsinks.

Here's a link to an Owner's Manual.

The GFA-1A is the predecessor to the GFA-555, which is arguably Adcom's best known creation. All of these models set price-to-performance standards that were uncommon at the time.
 
I own the GFA-1 (not the A). The fan is whisper quiet on these. Right now my is hooked into some Wharfedale 60s and a Roku Soundbridge.
 
Hey that is great. I was wondering more about Damping Tim and Thd. I just bought one, is on the way here from some guy of questional moral fiber who resides in Colorado springs via E-bay.
 
How can you tell he's of questionable moral fiber? Did he tell you this? If so why did you buy from him?
 
It isn't as if I am going to give out his info. i found out after doing some sleuthing that this very same amp had only been in his posession for 3 days. He had just purchased it from another e-bayer in honolulu. I am sure he is just flipping it for profit, which is totally fine by me, but you can just tell he is kinda shady. If I were to engage in libel that would be another story. Have you ever told anyone you were of questionale moral fiber? I haven't......oh it was sarcasm. Do you know anything about the old gfa 1a?
 
Wow for a first timer you did your homework. The only reason I'm looking at your thread is to learn about this amp. I seen several on the bay myself and have wondered if it was any good? 200 watts per can't be bad. Let us know how it sounds. How are you planning to use it?
 
Planning on running my MMG's with it, if it likes the 4 ohm load that is. Yeah well in all of my new wbay excitement I figure out how to go back through peoples past transactions. It is like the ultimate in weird sociological studies, I saw some guy that had been buying the same brand of shoes for months, I know they were for him too because every pair was mens size nine and a half, and then he bought like a lot of one hundred pen ink refill cartridges, and then an aerator for his fish pond. I love it. Anyway I am excited to get it. I will deffinately let you know how it does with the Magnepans, if it does'nt work out just another good excuse to keep looking.
 
Yeah, it will probably do pretty well with the MMG's. I am going to go through it and make sure it is all up to spec before I use it.......so I better keep shopping. There was a great post I read on here where the guy said his wife kept noticing different remotes and he feared she was starting to catch on. It is funny, so many projects, so little time. If I worked enough to be able to afford all of my potential projects, I wouldn't have time for any projects.
 
Re: GFA 1A's

Hi all,

These were actually good-sounding, rugged little powerhouses. My ex-partner and I installed probably 60 or so of these in discos in the NY/NJ area, were really rugged, as long as you cleaned 'em once in a while with a hoover or the like. They did quite well with difficult loads, one place we did, we had three of them, two drove TWO pairs each of E.V. Sentry IVB's, and the third drove a pair of w-bins with Gauss 18's. That system KICKED ASS, and required little to no maintenance. Plus, it sounded VERY good! The rest of the system was a Bozak CMA10-2DLS mixer/preamp, three Thorens TD125's with Stanton 681 carts, a Pioneer RT1020H reel to reel, some Rauland-Borg 1/3 octave e.q.'s, and a DBX 500 BOOOOM! box (subharmaonic synthesizer). Beautiful system that ran, and ran, and ran for 10 years with almost no problems. So, needless to say, that GFA1A is a fine souding , and running amp. Just don't EVER try to bridge it! Each channel is already a BTL, true-balanced circuit. Bridge it, you blow it. Adcom, as of five years ago, still had parts for these!

Cheers,
Robbie
 
Yeah, I put on a test record (not my daily listening fair per se) Daft Punk and the controll in the lower register is astounding! I am truly impressed. I have to say this think has seen better days, everything is running properly, offset is decent, but it is from Hawaii and that whole tunnel has a very thin layer of rust on it. I am fairly certain considering how this thing performs that it is merely cosmetic. I am going to get in there with a wire brush at somepoint, but for now she is makin the neigbors dance!!!!:banana::banana::banana:
 
I see this thread is a tad old, but...

I have this amp since it was new. I think sometime around 1980 or 1981. It was $400 brand new.

One of your posts used the phrase 'boat anchor' ... :nono:

The fan is 2 speed so on low it is quieter, obv.

It has been in a closet for a while, but I pulled it out a few days ago as i was trying to judge the sound of an HTR I got for the projector room. I hooked up to some ADS L810's that were in the closet as well. Sadly, I was disappointed as my 810's had completely lost there high end (I'm thinking new caps in the crossovers) but that is another topic.

This thing was always bullet proof and it definitely got it's share of work outs when I was younger. It's 200w with almost another 200w of headroom. Clipping should not be a problem in any home setting.

When I was college age(1983 I think), i was visiting some friends at another school and brought the Adcom because one of the roommates had a pair of Altec Lansing Voice of the theater and they really had nothing to push them. We played them both indoors and out. We cranked the **** out of them with all kinds of stuff. I had (still have) virgin vinyls of Dire Straits first album, CSNY Deja Vu, Steve Miller Fly Like an Eagle. Ahh, the life of those in their early twenties.....

I think the amp is terrific. It has tremendous headroom, represents all frequencies nicely, and produces a really nice dynamic range at loud listening levels. It's nice to have that power at one's disposal, but I think it does well at moderate levels too.

You have had this for a few months now, how do you like it? Have you pushed it a little bit. I would like to hear your impressions.
 
I just picked up a used one (I had a brain fart that echowars settled). Anyway, I am currently running this little guy with AR91s that I just got, and I have to say that even at low volumes it is a really decent amp. I must admit though that at higher volumes this amp tends to really shine and I do agree that it appears to have lots of headroom.
Impressions --> listening to Gordon Lightfoot greatest hits "eh" the soundstage is fantastic. Sounds like I am in a bar in Montreal listening to him play.
Aerosmith - greatest hits - house is a rocking and I am sure that wife was yelling - again great separation of instruments, highs are defined and not overpowering, lows are punchy and tight (for my room the AR91s are about 5 insches off the gound).
SRV - tin pan alley - holy crap - lets just say that if I lose my hearing during this listening session, I will have a smile on my face!

That being said, I haven't auditioned too many amps, but am very happy with $/value.

In terms of pushing this amp, I don't think my speakers would be able to handle it quite frankly, and I haven't moved this setup to the basement yet where the room is much larger to give the amp a true test.
 
Glad to see someone is out there playing with this.

After i posted I remembered that this has an auto limiting feature and I don't think it will clip. Of course that doesn't mean it won't blow the speakers.

There is a led on the front that will start to glow as the amp is maxed out.

What is the price range of these amps things these days??
 
I paid $180 CA, which probably is too much, but I certainly don't have buyer remorse :) Most of the amps with this type of power are really out of what I would call my price comfort zone for vintage stuff...especially when being purchased from someone I had never dealt with.
 
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