Adcom?

schubert
I thought so too geoffkait. why I put it on here.

Really? It kind of came across like you believed it.

HIphile, thats funny! I actually did take the cover off, don’t tell Adcom, and looked it over. Those are the biggest 15000 uf caps I’ve ever seen, they were flat black and the name wasn't visible.  They didn't appear to be a high end brand.   As for others, I’m not familiar enough with Nichicon to recognize their caps. I didn’t look too closely on the 3 boards, though.

It did look all business in there, though, 8 bipolar transistors and 2 of the big caps per side with a large toroidal transformer.

Edlchiang62, thanks for that. I believe the 555ms and se and probably the same design, while the 565 and up start to employ other circuitry. I’m getting to be a big fan of the 555se.

I’ve been playing it at low level in an effort to break it in. I’ve read that science can actually document electron paths as they form, and caps need this time. At any rate, I’ve been switching up the cables to see if the 555se responds, going from mid level Morrow MA cables, and Silver Stager solids. I can definitely hear the sound getting more open with the silvers and Tress cable.

The Tress is Totem speaker cable, some kind of copper that’s silver plated and is 14 gauge. The two conductors are twisted together for the length of the run. Also, Wireworld Oasis 7 speaker cables. I’m running Ascend Sierra 2 and Totem Rainmakers, which are 4 ohm. Nothing big or even a tower right now, I’m planning on an upgrade in the summer.

Anyway, after tonight I"ll have 12 hours on the Adcom. I’d like to get 50 hours on it at least. Thanks for your thoughts all, I’ll update again when I’ve got more time on the amp.

I have been a big fan of Adcom.  My first mid/hi fi equipment was a GFA-535 II amp and GTP-400 tuner/preamp.  Thirteen years later zi got a GFA-5400 amp and GTP-602 tuner/preamp.  I kept that amp for 13 more years until I got the GFA-555ms amp.

I've had a first generation 555II paired with a GFP-750 in my vinyl system for many many years and they've been completely trouble free, not even a blown fuse. I recently bought a tube preamp for my other/main system and tried it a few times with the Adcom and it really makes it sound much sweeter. My music choices have changed significantly since I bought the Adcom set and I also used to listen to my music much louder and always felt the Adcom got a bit edgy at higher volumes. With the tube preamp I can crank it up real loud and the music never gets grainy or harsh. Made me wish I had bought a tube preamp instead back then. Something you guys might want to try.

That's something I'm sensitive to, grainy or harsh highs.  I got rid of an Emotiva amp that got harsh at higher volumes and it drove me nuts because back then I was under the impression that all amps sounded the same.  I also had an Onkyo receiver that impressed me until I realized it sounded different than my main system.  Grain, I'd never heard it before and suddenly I realized that these audiophiles speaking of grain and such were on to something.

That's how I got turned onto Parasound.  Not harsh, just smooth full sound.   These days, for a preamp I've got the Parasound Halo P5 for the Adcom amp.  Not harsh in this set up.  But I've also noticed that the amp responds to different cables.  If I put in silver wire IC's and silver plated copper speaker cables, at least with my speakers it can get bright with some recordings.  With Morrow MA 3 and 5, and copper based speaker cables, there is no brightness.

I don't believe my old Parasound amp was as responsive to different cables, it's another way to fine tune the system.  I've heard tube components do have a different sound, but tubes are higher maintenance and such, not my cup of tea.