Adcom GFA 5500 Or Nakamichi PA-5 Or Bryston 3B
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KentTeffeteller
Gimpus Stereophilus!
Bryston is still superior in every way. Still better sounding, better built, better everything. The Nakamichi is good but no Bryston. You get what you pay for somewhat.
FootFungus
Super Member
The Nak will be warmer sounding than the Bryston to most people. The Adcom is a moving target sound-wise, depending on the state of the caps and how much its warmed up.
The Bryston has the best build quality, followed probably by the Adcom, then, sadly, the Nak.
The Adcom runs hotter at idle than the Nak and Bryston.
The Adcom and the Nak will likely need more warmup time to hit close to optimal sound than the Bryston.
The Bryston has the best build quality, followed probably by the Adcom, then, sadly, the Nak.
The Adcom runs hotter at idle than the Nak and Bryston.
The Adcom and the Nak will likely need more warmup time to hit close to optimal sound than the Bryston.
I can't speak for Bryston other than I heard a lot of good things about it. It's also the most expensive also by a lot.
I own a Nak. PA-7 which is the big brother of PA-5. I disagree that the quality is not as good. There are Nakamichi and there are Nelson Pass designed Nakamichi. He designed the PA-5 and PA-7. I won't put these two in general term Nakamichi. The PA-5 and PA-7 is almost the same circuit as the famous Threshold S200 to S300 series designed by Nelson Pass. It was his famous Stasis design that put him on the map of the high end audiophile world. PA-7 is the higher power version that has 7 pairs of output transistors. PA-5 has 5 pairs and smaller heatsink. Threshold used cascode voltage gain stage where Nakamichi does not. BUT Nakamichi used newer and faster transistors that is still available today they are 30MHz. Threshold used old transistors that are only 4MHz. I will take the Nakamichi any time of the day over the Threshold as the speed of the power transistor is the key of the design. I torn the PA-7 completely apart to fix and recap it, It is of very high quality with big heatsink.
Nakamichi use separate secondary winding for each channel. Each channel has it's own bank of big filter caps on the PA-7. That's better than the Threshold.
I think the Adcom you mentioned was designed by Nelson Pass. I don't know anything more except the circuit is not the same as the Threshold. That's all I can say.
It's up to your budget and what kind of speakers you have. I think these are very good amp for the price. To realize the full potential, you need better than average speakers. I have two pairs of Kef and a Reference Series center, so I am allow to use that as example. If you have speak in the league of Kef only, I doubt you can tell much between the amps. One might sound a little darker or brighter, but I don't think you can tell the overall quality. If you have a better pair than Kef, then you better look a lot deeper.
I own a Nak. PA-7 which is the big brother of PA-5. I disagree that the quality is not as good. There are Nakamichi and there are Nelson Pass designed Nakamichi. He designed the PA-5 and PA-7. I won't put these two in general term Nakamichi. The PA-5 and PA-7 is almost the same circuit as the famous Threshold S200 to S300 series designed by Nelson Pass. It was his famous Stasis design that put him on the map of the high end audiophile world. PA-7 is the higher power version that has 7 pairs of output transistors. PA-5 has 5 pairs and smaller heatsink. Threshold used cascode voltage gain stage where Nakamichi does not. BUT Nakamichi used newer and faster transistors that is still available today they are 30MHz. Threshold used old transistors that are only 4MHz. I will take the Nakamichi any time of the day over the Threshold as the speed of the power transistor is the key of the design. I torn the PA-7 completely apart to fix and recap it, It is of very high quality with big heatsink.
Nakamichi use separate secondary winding for each channel. Each channel has it's own bank of big filter caps on the PA-7. That's better than the Threshold.
I think the Adcom you mentioned was designed by Nelson Pass. I don't know anything more except the circuit is not the same as the Threshold. That's all I can say.
It's up to your budget and what kind of speakers you have. I think these are very good amp for the price. To realize the full potential, you need better than average speakers. I have two pairs of Kef and a Reference Series center, so I am allow to use that as example. If you have speak in the league of Kef only, I doubt you can tell much between the amps. One might sound a little darker or brighter, but I don't think you can tell the overall quality. If you have a better pair than Kef, then you better look a lot deeper.
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