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Adcom GFA-7500
#29491 01/02/04 04:20 AM
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mhorgel Offline OP
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There ia an Adcom GFA-7500 5x150 watt THX-certified amp on Ebay. Anyone have experience with one of these units? If I used my TX-SR 800 as a pre/pro in conjunction with the Adcom would I see a noticable difference in sound?

Mark


"Shoot, a fella could have a pretty good weekend in Vegas with all that stuff"
Re: Adcom GFA-7500
#29492 01/02/04 04:24 AM
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Mark, except in the unlikely circumstance that your 800 is distorting on peaks, the answer clearly is no.


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Re: Adcom GFA-7500
#29493 01/02/04 04:37 AM
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Is the rationale for your answer that the 800 is so good that it won't benefit from the better quality power amp or that the that it is so bad that I would need a better pre/pro to take advantage of the Adcom?

My assumption is that where HT receivers skimp is on the power amp section, and that the pre-amp section (being THX certified and all) is pretty good. I thought that a better power amp would translate to better sound, but If I can be convinced otherwise, I'd just as soon save the $$$ (or save up enough $$$ for separates).

Mark


"Shoot, a fella could have a pretty good weekend in Vegas with all that stuff"
Re: Adcom GFA-7500
#29494 01/02/04 04:54 AM
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Mark, there's no reason to believe that the Adcom is "better quality" in any aspect that would affect the sound of your system in normal operation. Within its power capabilities, which it's unlikely that you're exceeding(the amp section is of course also THX certified), the Onkyo is audibly transparent, as would be the Adcom. A longer service life might well be a possibility, but somehow changing the sound wouldn't be.


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Enjoy the music, not the equipment.


Re: Adcom GFA-7500
#29495 01/02/04 05:36 AM
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If by "better sound" you mean better detail and much more dynamic than what you get with the Onkyo then yes, it will sound better. However you have to be careful with what you pair the 7500 with since it tends to lean on the bright side. I don't know if I'd add it to an Onkyo or Denon receiver either since their receivers used as pre-amps also lean on the bright side, especially Denon. If you are seriously in the market for an external amp I'd check out B&K's ST line for a good "bang for your buck" amp.

Re: Adcom GFA-7500
#29496 01/02/04 05:48 AM
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really, now days i would take THX certifications with a grain of salt. I mean REALLY. its almost like going to walmart and seeing the cheap portable cd players with the word "Digital" on them.

Re: Adcom 'upgrade' VS THE ROOM!!
#29497 01/02/04 05:01 PM
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Mark,
I would have to agree with JohnK here.
I just demoed a Parasound Halo, an Anthem MCA20 and my Onkyo DS797 together over the past 2 weeks.
There were no golden lights, insights from angels, rainbow colours or dogs playing poker. My Axioms were still bright. The bass was still tight.
All 3 amp sections sounded excellent and identical (using an A/B listening setup, 2 speakers running in mono each powered by a different amp) with only the Onkyo lagging a bit in its power output to preamp volume setting.
e.g using the Onkyo as a preamp, it had to maintain a volume of 83 on the scale of 0-100 to hit a 98dB peak over 3 test tones whereas the Parasound Halo A23 for example would do the same at 73 on the Onkyo volume knob.
By far a deciding factor on which amp was better came down to aesthetics and features for price.

On another note, the forgotten component, one's listening environment, makes a HUGE impact on sound. Just this week i brought my Axioms over to a friend's basement. He has yet to purchase any speakers of quality so we did a trial run in his movie viewing/listening room with my equipment.
His room is far more furnished than my own with a thicker rug, no drop ceiling and more inside walls with a proper subfloor (approx. 16x18 room). My own basement (approx. 12x15) has 3 concrete walls and a concrete floor, lightly finished with drywall and a thin carpet.
The difference in sound from the Axioms in my basement to his was just superb. The Axioms were no longer bright whatsoever. The soundstage was seamless and quite easy to setup (no fussy tweaking of the speaker angles). His basement had more room to move the M60s further apart and to sit a couple of more feet back.The bass from the EP350 no longer "rattled" but rather "rumbled" the room far more smoothly than in my own place. This was one area in which i was finally satisfied with the EP350 performance for the price that we paid.

I had never been 100% pleased with the sound of our Axioms in our own listening room (referring only to music, not HT) but i suspected that a couple of tweaks would be needed to the design our listening room after moving to a new house sometime in the near future.
Those tweaks are ALL about the room!!


"Those who preach the myths of audio are ignorant of truth."
Re: Adcom GFA-7500
#29498 01/02/04 05:30 PM
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Hey Mark, the models from B&K you might want to check out are the ST125.5 or ST125.7. If you want to go more "audiophile" you can check out the ST125.1 or ST125.2, either way any of those will greatly improve on seperation, detail, and dynamics for anyone who knows what to listen for, and even if ya don't.




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