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Adcom GFA-6002, Part 8

"I know you are going to deflect or say no," writes an audiophile named Chuck, "But you're the audiophile with the best frickin' music. You just gave us my two current favorites: [A-ha's] True North and [David Guetta & Bebe Rexha's] I'm Good (Blue)."

But this is what Chuck really wanted to tell me: "All those years ago, I bought the [Adcom GFA-] 545. I thought it'd be stronger than the 535. Plus it had binding posts. And the 555II just seemed so big."



As many of you know, on 9/1/1992, my former girlfriend, KJ, attended her classes at UC Berkeley, and then met me in downtown San Francisco. From there, we went to San Francisco Stereo Plus, where we bought an Adcom GTP-400 tuner/preamp.

The next Saturday (part of Labor Day weekend), KJ came over to my place. She and I (temporarily) disconnected the Muse Model 100 power amp. There was only about 12" of space between the wall and the back of the entertainment center. I placed my old Adcom GFA-535 on the shelf above the TV. KJ's big ass got wedged, as she hooked the amp up. She had to straighten the bare copper twisted ends of the AudioQuest Type 4, and thread them into the GFA-535's awful connectors.

When we heard Lisa Stansfield's "All Woman," something clicked, between the Adcom GTP-400 and GFA-535. KJ forgot about (a) getting scratched by the Muse amp, (b) her big butt banging into a lamp, and (c) getting stuck, while plugging the GFA-535's fixed powercord into a power strip. Swaying to "All Woman," KJ was actually sultry and slinky.



Because the Adcom GTP-400 and GFA-535 worked so well together, I decided to bring them down to UC Santa Cruz. Which meant that the Sony TA-E1000ESD stayed in S.F. Because of the music, KJ was in a good mood. So much so, that weekend, she got her legs waxed. She then pinkie-promised that, during this school year, she would make a trip down to Santa Cruz, and spend a night or two with me.

That 1992-93 school year, dozens of neighbors, friends, and even relatives came to my college apartment. They all saw the Adcom GFA-535. The GFA-535 just sat there and was left ON all the time. Visitors overlooked it, and got their hands on the GTP-400 instead. The good news was, the AQ CD Feet and Simms Navcom Silencers didn't effect much change, when placed under the GFA-535. Therefore, these footers could be used under other gear.



Since the mid 2010s, the #1 audiophile complaint I receive is that a poster will put up a YouTube link to a song, and, as Chuck says, "Not say a frickin' thing about it or the artist!" But prior to the mid-2010s, the #1 complaint was that, with the preamp's volume control at or near MIN, the sound was TOO FUCKING LOUD!!!

Go behind the Adcom GFA-6002, which is the present-day version of the old GFA-535. See the "level" potentiometers? Keep them turned all the way clockwise. But if the sound is too loud, when your preamp's volume control is at or near MIN, back off the GFA-6002's level controls.

Note that the GFA-6002's channels are not labeled "Left" and "Right." Because these amps can be "bridged," it's "ch 2" and "ch 1." And the line-level interconnect goes into the red-colored RCA jacks.

Unlike the GFA-535, the GFA-6002 sports actual binding posts. SIGH. But notice their layout and positioning. Because of their proximity to the input RCAs, you most likely will have to use speaker cable terminated with banana plugs.



My friend originally got a front upper-leg tattoo, located just below her panties. She liked it so much, a few years later, she got a second tattoo, right below the original. As an audiophile, that made you think about bi-wiring.



If you use two stereo speaker cable pairs, in order to bi-wire, you can double up at the amp's binding posts. One pair will have banana plugs, the other spades. However, on an Adcom GFA-6002, the pair with spades will have to enter from the bottom. That means you'll have to push the GFA-6002 to the back of the shelf.

Chuck says that he's impressed and surprised, at how "mature A-ha's 'True North' is." He adds, "I turn 70 this year. But 'I'm Good (Blue)' makes me feel like I'm the same age as my grandkids, bouncing up and down with thousands of people. Damn, that's powerful."

-Lummy The Loch Monster


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Topic - Adcom GFA-6002, Part 8 - Luminator 20:08:25 01/28/23 (0)

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