How do Adcom power amps sound?

Adcom amps get a bad rap . Some are in fact as the Kid correctly pointed out bright and edgy . Especially the 555 and 555 11 series . They do make good amps for passive sub enclosures . They are also bridgeable to 600 watts mono as well . Adcom made a grand leap with the 5800 and the amp was a distant cousin to their former line. It was sweeter and mated well with the excellent and reasonably priced 750 preamp and cd player which in my opinion still holds its own in the market. I still hava a 535 in a multi zone audio distribution system which is also a pretty smooth unit.

The Adcom GFA-5802 is a warm and sweet sounding amp from my experience. It also has outstanding vocal reproduction, and a great midrange, IMHO. It is a really great sounding amp in its price range, and is not hard or edgy at all. It is basically an all MOSFET design. It sort of reminds me of a tube amp in some respects.
It does match up extremely well with the Adcom GFP-750 preamp.
The only slight drawbacks that I heard from the 5802, in comparison to high dollar amps, is the bass isn't quite as tight, deep, or controlled, the sound is slightly slower and not as detailed, and the highs are VERY SLIGHTLY rolled-off.
Would I buy it again for a secondary system? OH YEAH!

I have the Adcom 5802 with the Stan Warren mods.
DaltonLanny your right what you said.
But with the mods, the bass becomes fast and tight.

I have had an Adcom GFA-555 since about 1991.? Sometime around 2000, I bought a used GFA-5503 (3 channel MOSFET) and compared it to the 555. The 555 sounds pretty bad in comparison! The mosfet design is much better! I would not recommend the GFA-555 unless you were going to use it bridged mono for a subwoofer amplifier. It would be a bargain for that at about $325. However, I WOULD recommend the GFA-5500 (2 channel MOSFET), for the used price of about $450, as a bargain. Of course, if you are willing to spend more, the 5802 would be even better. But then for that much money, there are probably alot of other good choices. (BTW, there is one up for auction right now.)

It is funny how the GFA-555 got such rave reviews when it was on the market and it actually isn't that great! I'm pretty sure it was a Stereophile Class B recommended component. Of course, I still have mine on my rear speakers. It won't die! It is well built and dependable!!

I have a 5400 w/ Stan Warren mods. I also owned a 555II and 545II. Go for the current models. The older series amps can sound bright/hard.