Adcom - A Good Value?? Auctions risky??

My experience with Adcom is similar to Sdcampbell. I used to sell Adcom products in a few retail audio stores. I changed professions in 1995. They use to run many contests for retail salespeople and along the way I had picked up a number of their components through these contests. In my opinion, their DA converter, the 600 model at that time, was a great buy at its pricepoint.
Their amplifiers and preamplifiers were solid products that had few mechanical issues. The 555 amplifier sold itself. I found it to be a bit harsh compared to other amplifiers that we sold, but it must be said that those amplifiers were more expensive and less powerful. I am told that their current line is well produced.
I also agree that auctions are risky only if trust between the buyer and the seller is not established. I have had many positive experiences working with Audiogon members. That has been predicated by conversations either by phone or on the internet with buyers and sellers before committing to sales.

why are you stuck on power? i have seen quite a few krell 100 watt amps for 800 dollar range. they would kill a 900 watt adcom. i still say buy a chiro c-200 for 450 to 600 bucks. yes it is only 140 into 8 and 280 into 4 but it will simply outperform the adcoms in every way. take the extra cash and upgrade the rest of your system. i agree with the crown amp idea as well. they have tons of power and are dead reliable. i have a crown macro reference on a home theater sub. it beat a krell kst in to the ground with plenty of juice to spare. good luck.

Kirk, i think that you and a few others bring up a very valid point. Since many folks that are looking at Adcom, NAD, B&K and other like products are probably not very well versed in gear, they are still pretty reliant on product specs. This is not to say that specs are completely meaningless or that these are bad products, but that one should NOT rely on "advertising claims" that manufacturers provide you with.

As such, anyone that has played around with a half dozen different amps can tell you that Brand X watts are not the same as Brand Z's watts ( even though they are supposedly measured the same way ). It is not so much how "powerful" an amplifier is, it is really how well it interacts with the rest of the electronics and the speakers. I am talking about both the ability to drive the load AND sound good doing it at a wide volume range.

With that in mind, most of us have all run into "smaller" amps that seemed to perform with a LOT more "gusto" than other "big" or supposedly "beefier" amps. Since Classe' was also mentioned, i'll use them as an example. At one point in time, I had a Classe' 70 ( 75 wpc @ 8, 150 wpc @ 4, 300 wpc @ 2 and 3 dB's of headroom ). While i did not particularly care for the tonal balance of this particular amp, it actually drove some low impedance / low sensitivity speakers that i had better than a "much bigger" Bryston 4B ( 250 wpc @ 8 / 400 wpc @ 4 ). Not only did the "little" Classe amp sound cleaner, clearer and less strained at volume, it cost less money. If the sonics would have matched what i was looking for, it surely would have ranked ( in my book ) as a "giant killer" given its' low power rating and reasonable cost. Since others have different systems and different preferences, it very well MIGHT be a giant killer and a bargain to them. Sean
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Actually, I agree with other posters who have suggested looking for alternatives. If power for low bucks is the main concern you can get a B&K Reference series 4420 for under $600used (220 watts per channel, very solid, perhaps a little dark). For more money, but better sound I would go up to the Bryston 3B-ST (a little less power, but a really fine product with truly musical sound) for $800-$900 used or the Bryston 4B-ST for aroun $1300-$1400 used (massive power, but very musical). The Brystons also come with a 20 year transferable waranty, so buying used is much less risky than with other brands.

If $$$ was a concern I would take the B&K Reference amp over the Adcom, most any day. I just heard a B&K Reference 2220 (2x220wpc) and was pretty impressed for the money. I'd rather have it than the monster adcom, unless I was driving a stack of subs, or something.

BTW, the 2220 was driving a pair of Maggie 3.6/R's.