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Denon,Onkyo, or Adcom? Need help.

gto47,

I see you have an NAD 7140 Receiver. Boy, do I have fond memories of that one! Biggest 40 watts around in solid state. I regret selling my GFA-535...just because. Great amp.
 
musichal said:
gto47,

I see you have an NAD 7140 Receiver. Boy, do I have fond memories of that one! Biggest 40 watts around in solid state. I regret selling my GFA-535...just because. Great amp.
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I first heard the 7140 at a friend's parents a few years ago with some speakers that were custom made by a hi-fi shop in the area. I only used the tuner at that time but the sound was pretty incredible. The speakers were pretty big 3 ways with a 12" woofer. The bass they were making was really surprising. My setups always have a subwoofer but clearly that setup didn't need one. Just really great sound out of a conventional setup.

I found my 7140 on craigslist for only $40 which is a steal compared to what they go for on ebay. Its not exactly mint. It has some rust on the bottom plate, most of the fm preset buttons are missing but everything works great. I would never part with it. I use it as a tuner and a subwoofer amplifier. At one time I tried running my monitors off of it but from what i could tell the sound quality was a bit weaker than my C320. However, the build quality and features are quite a bit better on the 7140. In a way its like comparing apples to oranges because the 7140 was a more expensive higher end amp for its time. The 7140 even has a bridged mode as well as a 4 ohm switch. It was definitely the business back then. I also have a Nikko Alpha 230 and 1978 Nikko Alpha III that sell for a song on ebay.

They are all great amps. It just depends on how big you want to go. There are a lot of great values out there in vintage... power amps especially. The irony is that some of this old stuff probably has a lot more life left in it than these cheaply made overcomplicated new models.
 
I don't understand why people are suggesting other brands when the question was about Onkyo, Denon or Adcom.

Anyhow, I'd go with the Denon. I have heard similar units GFA-5802 and POA-3000Z, and the Denon kicks ass.

I think it has alot to do with the type of music one listens to. Adcom is very powerful and brute, it's excellent for rock and roll and metal type or even rap, but for my type of music, jazz, vocal, classical, TO ME the Denon is a much better choice.

Adcom may have more power but at this level, it's not so much about power but fidelity to music and refine-ness.
 
I know it's an old thread but isn't the consensus nowadays in 2019 that the Adcom gfa-555 -2 is dangerous to use with your precious speakers?
No protection circuit seems to be a scary thing considering so many people have run into destroying their speakers when the output transistor goes....

I have a lead on a possibly obtaining a
GFA555 - 2 but I am hesitant to get it because of this problem.
And wouldn't my Kenwood basic m2a be just as good?
 
I am probably getting a reputation as a Adcom defender but so be it.... There are many amp designers who have built amps without speaker protection so Adcom is not alone in that respect.

Some people have had an issue with Adcom amps (my understanding is that they had a run built with faulty cap which were prone to leaking) but overall I think that issue is “overblown” when you look at what Adcom amps are still bringing on the used market. As a % of their original cost Adcom amps have retained their value more than a lot of higher end amps from the period. Not what you would expect to see if a majority were experiencing the issue some have had.

Sound wise I had the Kenwood and currently own 4 Adcom amps. No question the Adcom to my ears is a better amp able to deliver more detail than the Kenwood.
 
Wolverine said:
I am probably getting a reputation as a Adcom defender but so be it.... There are many amp designers who have built amps without speaker protection so Adcom is not alone in that respect.

Some people have had an issue with Adcom amps (my understanding is that they had a run built with faulty cap which were prone to leaking) but overall I think that issue is “overblown” when you look at what Adcom amps are still bringing on the used market. As a % of their original cost Adcom amps have retained their value more than a lot of higher end amps from the period. Not what you would expect to see if a majority were experiencing the issue some have had.

Sound wise I had the Kenwood and currently own 4 Adcom amps. No question the Adcom to my ears is a better amp able to deliver more detail than the Kenwood.
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Thanks for the response and your thoughts...
 
Adcom earned their reputation re: no speaker protection. They are not the only amps that didn't have it but they were one of the amps that did some damage, other amps might have just not broken. But today there are workarounds. Not many here want to suffer the lose of a vintage speaker with the vagaries of finding a proper replacement driver so erring in the side of caution is recommended...put in the DC protection that is available on the bay to help save the speakers in the event of a problem, also rebuild the amp with quality parts to make it more reliable than when it was new with whatever parts Adcom could source at their price point. Then kick back and crank it up. It is going to sound better than the Kenwood.
 
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Blue Shadow said:
also rebuild the amp with quality parts to make is more reliable than when it was new with whatever parts Adcom could source at their price point. The kick back and crank it up. It is going to sound better than the Kenwood.
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Mayank a fellow AK'er worked on both of my 555's and removed my fear of some type of a issue but I think the larger point Blue Shadow is making is that any vintage amp should be checked for issues and is working to specs.
 
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Between the three, Adcom hands down. Had a wonderful sounding GFA-5400 powering some nice B&W's. I pushed it really hard and it never broke a sweat. Just compare the weight differences and that kind of gives you a clue to build quality. See pictures of internals...Adcom wins hands down. Much greater capacitance, toroidal transformers...higher damping factor. It's pretty much no contest.
 
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