jhaan92
A Work In Progress...
I know that this is totally off topic, and is probably thread jacking, but I gotta tell you that I love that avatar! I remember watching that episode of Top Gear...funny stuff!
Adcom or Carver ?
- Thread starter oldskl
- Start date
I know that this is totally off topic, and is probably thread jacking, but I gotta tell you that I love that avatar! I remember watching that episode of Top Gear...funny stuff!
rroobbcc
Active Member
I have owned a Carver M1.0t and two Carver M1.5ts. I currently own two Adcom GFA-5802s, two GFA-545IIs, a GFA-555II and previously owned a GFA-555.
I liked the sound of the M1.5t better than the M1.0t. I liked the Carvers, but I would take ANY of the Adcoms over the Carver M1.0t. To be fair, most of my speakers are hard to drive older Infinities. The Carvers do NOT handle tough loads like the Adcoms can, so that also influences my opinion. They would do better with a speaker that stays above 4 ohms.
I liked the sound of the M1.5t better than the M1.0t. I liked the Carvers, but I would take ANY of the Adcoms over the Carver M1.0t. To be fair, most of my speakers are hard to drive older Infinities. The Carvers do NOT handle tough loads like the Adcoms can, so that also influences my opinion. They would do better with a speaker that stays above 4 ohms.
Edriz
AK Member
Id go with Carver also. Having owned a M-400a for over 30 years. an M-400 and now in use the M-4.0T, the Carver amps can handle anything you wanna drive em with. For a pre amp, you cant go wrong with a Carver C-1. That is a great pre amp and I've used one as long as my 400a. The C-1 can handle both MM and MC carts and has enough ins and outs to accomadate almost any gear you want to hook to it.
Oh, and that "challenge" everyone is refferring was done in a hotel room, not in a shop. A search here on AK will show the entire article.
Oh, and that "challenge" everyone is refferring was done in a hotel room, not in a shop. A search here on AK will show the entire article.
RobRoy
It's just stuff - but fun
Love your avatar. Where did you end up burying the dog?
Tedrick
Infinity-phile
+1. A GFA-555 Mk II walked all over a TFM-25 when used to power my Infinity RS-IIIb's.
Intersting how some equipment strive's to emulate the sound of something else. Really not a fan of changing what's going in, with my current Adcom 565 pre and Carver 760x's keeping thing's accurate. Recall ad's year's ago for kid's staying off drug's. To rephrase, I don't do tube's.
if I am not mistaken, one thing Carver had was a fair sized ego. While talking to someone from Stereophile magazine, he suggested that he could make his amp sound just like any of the amps which cost thousands of dollars more - basically saying his design etc was just as good. They called him on it and he proceeded to win the bet. From the Stereophile article
"Bob admits that he is not sure himself about the audible effects of some of the parameters he juggled to match the transfer functions of his amp to that of our reference. Had he been using this trimming technique to produce a certain desired combination of sonic qualities, using only his ears to evaluate what was going on, the task would have been quite a bit more difficult and time-consuming, the results far less predictable. This, in fact, is what he did with the 1.0 amplifier, which in his opinion still sounds excellent on the loudspeakers with which it will most likely be used (if not on the loudspeakers we used).
Secondly, Bob had never before had a chance to listen critically to a "world-class" amplifier like the one we chose as our reference, and ended up admitting that there were things about its sound that he preferred to his own amp. He might, he averred, "do some things differently in future designs."
But whatever Bob, and others who can match his technical virtuosity, choose to do with the results of this project, I think that the field of high-end audio amplifier manufacture will never be quite the same again. High price and high status will continue to be handmaidens in audio, but the knowledge that high performance and high price need no longer be inseparable cannot help but impair the glamor of cost-no-object power amps.
Carver himself knew there would be a difference once you hooked up different loudspeakers, but the last paragraph pretty much sums it up for me.
It has not impaired the glamor of high end amps for me, but imo, Carver amps do offer me a relatively low cost amp that has excellent sound and the power I crave. I would not use it as a high current amp, but for the price they sell for, I can afford a Carver amp plus a high current amp to drive those pesky speakers that like to dip down into the 1-2ohm range.
I got rid of my fire hazards; woops I meant my adcom 555's years back. I thought the sound was ok at best but not worth the risk. I still have and occasionally use a Carver tfm 45. I like the Carver because it does sound nice but mainly because of the very deep soundstage that it throws.
sebrof
Super Member
I owned the "Triple Nickels" a while back and never woried about them catching on fire. What are you referencing here?
Also - Interesting to me that the OP has gotten a lot of recommendations and not one question about his room, his preferences, his speakers...
Just a thought.
I had the M1.5t, PM1.5, and and Adcom 555 at the same time...using an Adcom 750 preamp the PM 1.5 sounded the best of the group run passive into my CLSz2....the Adcom amp was too tipped up in the treble on the stats but sounded good on a pair of Large Advents I had at that time.
RobRoy
It's just stuff - but fun
In my case, it's because it's not really all that relevant. But I think that is because I am not quite as much as an audiophile as many here. Heck, in my condo in Seattle I wanted to build a small system for when I'm here. I ended up with cheap Bose 301's. I hate bose, but these were cheap, and with the help of a 9 band EQ and a (cheap) powered sub from an old surround setup I can dial them in "good enough" for me to enjoy the music quite a bit. IOW, I think so much of this is subjective that the only thing I could really add is what I did in my first post. And it is all within the context of my tag line.
Edriz
AK Member
Are you kiddin? That mutt is so spoiled you think he was a kid. Believe it or not, he was unwinding a reel for me.:scratch2: The tape was shot but I figured I'd keep the reel.
RobRoy
It's just stuff - but fun
Yer just afraid I'm gonna sick PETA on you.
Yeah, I figured it was set up since the reel was resting next to the dog. Great pic though. Any picture that "tells a story" is a great pic.
mywifespissed
AK Freeloader
are Adcom amp designs good enough to benefit from changing the caps and resistors to higher quality parts? I'm looking for a solid 200 WPC amp for inefficient speakers, but cant spend 1K plus. I bet the stock parts are pretty crappy (just a guess, relax..)
1st, I have never actually had an Adcom and can only go by what I have read about them.
Seems most of the speakers I tend to gravitate to are not very efficient. While researching them, of course the topic of a high current amp always crops up and one of the amps that is often mentioned is the Adcom GFA-555. For example, in a Stereophile review of some Quad speakers, they go into detail about how the speaker dips down into the 2-3ohm range and the phase angle is also like -47 when it does that - so you need a hefty amp to drive it. They mention some expensive amps then of course they mention how the Adecom GFA-555 will do it.
After everything I have ever read, I would put it near the top of my list for an inexpensive amp that would work well with low efficiency speakers.
They do have a reputation as "smoking" speakers because I do not believe they have a speaker protection circuit, so if a channel goes out etc, it could easily send high voltage to your speaker. That is a pretty inexpensive fix in my opinion as you can buy a protection circuit pretty cheap (under $30.00).
As for cheap parts in them, not really. Of course at the price point they were at, you could always upgrade things, would just depend on how much you wanted to spend, but that can be said for any amp. Due to it's age, I am sure it would benefit by being re-capped. Basically treat it as you would any amp of it's age, just be sure to add a DC protection circuit so you don't fry those speakers in case of a mishap.
I have seen the GFA-555 go for as low as $280.00. That is pretty darn cheap, imo, for an amp that can handle many speakers that most amps can't.
JoeESP9
ESL's & tubes since 83
Re-cap any series 1 Adcom GFA. They are all old enough for the caps to have deteriorated. Sure there is no protection on the outputs of those Adcoms. That was a design choice as was the extremely wide operating bandwidth. That this can cause problems when the caps age is a given. The ultrasonic oscillation when working into highly capacitive speaker cables is also a known trait.
Just about any amp with an extremely wide bandwidth and no protection circuits will have the same problems. At the time of their design it was believed that wide bandwidth and no protection circuits resulted in better sound. This is probably true under the less is more rule.
For ~$300 and another $100 for new caps etc an Adcom GFA-555 will deliver plenty of power, sound very good, drive any load imaginable and last twenty more years before the caps deteriorate.
FWIW: I wouldn't add any protective circuits. New caps would make this unnecessary. If I was worried about melting voice coils a fuse in the speaker cables would sooth my nerves.
Just about any amp with an extremely wide bandwidth and no protection circuits will have the same problems. At the time of their design it was believed that wide bandwidth and no protection circuits resulted in better sound. This is probably true under the less is more rule.
For ~$300 and another $100 for new caps etc an Adcom GFA-555 will deliver plenty of power, sound very good, drive any load imaginable and last twenty more years before the caps deteriorate.
FWIW: I wouldn't add any protective circuits. New caps would make this unnecessary. If I was worried about melting voice coils a fuse in the speaker cables would sooth my nerves.
mywifespissed
AK Freeloader
OK then. Good thoughts. I will be driving ATC SCM100 clones I am in the slow process of building. I have the genuine drivers, totaling $1600, all second-hand but minty, so definitely don't want to fry any of them.. I think the big Adcom will be my first choice. Otherwise, the rare Counterpoint Solid 2 (200 wpc) would be great but are about $700-800.