Thiel Owners

Rob should be OK. He's in Lexington which is 100 miles west of the trouble, and on a high limestone dome - good surface drainage and underground caves. Plus my daughter in Lexington would tell me if they had problems.

harrylavo - from page 235.

I spent a couple hours this afternoon comparing the Benchmark AHB-2 to your recommended Adcom GFA555 II. Both amps are bridged, running the same CS1.5 (stock) in mono. I must say that the Adcom acquits itself nicely. The sonic signature of the two amps is quite similar as is the bass / treble balance. The Adcom presents slightly more upper end and a rounder low end. The AHB has a smoother texture. For the short money these used Adcoms command, it would indeed be hard to beat.

I’ll report on the 555 II vs the 555 (straight) in a day or two.

The reviewers loved them both and they sold boatloads in the 1990s.

tomthiel

Thank You for the Kentucky update. Good to read that the Adcom is working out.

I am looking forward in reading more about your impressions and thoughts.

Happy Listening!

The Adcom / Benchmark comparison was a response to trickeydude’s call for a good, inexpensive amp for Thiels. Plus, I have a personal interest in the journey of that GFA555 moniker from a Nelson Pass, simple, low parts count design to a different designer's complex, high parts count design. There’s a lot to learn there including the nature of the ’improvements’, what may have been sacrificed, and different solutions applied to that original amp.

At Jim Williams’ suggestion, I am exploring his solution of upgrading Nelson’s original design and comparing and contrasting outcomes between the three iterations, plus the AHB2 as reference. I'll keep you posted.

tomthiel

Which brand(s) does JW upgrade other than Adcom ?

Happy Listening!