|
Amp/Preamp Asylum Looking for a new Amp or Preamp? If you're after tubes, post over here. |
|
|
|
Amp/Preamp Asylum Looking for a new Amp or Preamp? If you're after tubes, post over here. |
|
The Adcom GFA-535 was my first "high-end audio" product. But here's the thing. It stayed at home in San Francisco, while I was away in college in Santa Cruz. Thus, my family (not I) got to familiarize itself with the GFA-535.
That changed in September 1992, when I returned to UCSC for my senior year. I lived in the Crown-Merrill apartments, top of the hill. I brought that Adcom GFA-535, and its matching GTP-400 tuner-preamp.
My friend Violet, also a senior, lived in a residential college downhill from mine. She went back to the dorms. Her prior-year roommate became an RA, and thus, had her own room. Violet then had to find another roommate.
At UCSC, it was "Slug Life," not "thug life." Violet loved the power ballad, "When I Look Into Your Eyes," by Firehouse. For Violet, the beginning of the school year brought about mixed emotions. On one hand, there was always the optimism, that she'd finally find a good boyfriend. But OTOH, as a girl, she pretty much was not looking at, and had no patience for, freshmen and sophomore guys.
That year, because Violet lived downhill from me, more times than not, I walked down to meet her. She did not want to make the daunting hike up Cardiac Hill, in order to get to my apartment.
Upon move-in, my housemates and I took inventory of which household items we had, and what we needed. So, the first weekend, I went back home to San Francisco, and fetched AudioQuest cabling. Violet happened to be over, when my housemate brought in a wooden board. With this board, we could bridge the two end tables, to form our "entertainment center." The coffee table, which previously housed the A/V gear, could then go back to being a coffee table.
When I inserted the AQ F-14 into the GFA-535's terminals, and turned 90-degrees to lock, Violet thought it was kind of sexual. For most of that school year, the F-14 remained in use.
Now that I think about it, most of the times Violet came over, she slept overnight. Why? Because her roommate's boyfriend(s) came over; i.e., Violet got sexiled.
It was kind of funny. Even if my housemates liked Violet, she didn't like them. Violet also had a sophomore cousin, Alice, who lived across campus, at College Eight (now called Rachel Carson). Alice looked just like Violet, but fatter. Everyone thought that Violet and Alice were sisters. Alice had a crush on my roommate, Will. Will had a lot of respect for Alice, but didn't like her, in a romantic way.
Early in the Spring 1993 quarter, I went back to S.F. There, I picked up a 1-meter XLO Reference Type 1 line-level interconnect [do a search on Cable Asylum, for my posts about this]. At the same time, I got to try some green-and-black XLO Pro speaker cable. That went on the Muse Model One Hundred at home. I then brought the old AudioQuest Type 4 down to Santa Cruz.
One Friday evening, Violet invited me to her dining hall, for dinner. Because that meant I did not have to cook, I gladly accepted. Nah, her roommate once again needed the dorm room. So after dinner, I went with Violet to her room, where she fetched toiletries, swimwear, and a change of clothes.
At my apartment, the AQ Type 4 had replaced the old F-14. Violet did a double-take. She felt that the music had become less grainy and thin. She asked if we had made any changes to the stereo. The only change was to go from F-14 to Type 4. She previously did not think that anything was wrong with the F-14. But she was astounded that, with the Type 4, music now had more body, power, and bass depth.
The next morning, Violet and I made sandwiches, and we hit the beaches. Violet said that, going out in the morning was unusual for her. She explained, "I eat brunch [in the dining hall], then go to the beach in the afternoon. I get a food coma, and just want to doze off on the sand." But, this being late morning, Violet was hungry, and felt that her stomach was growling and concave.
As we finished eating our sandwiches, Violet, without any prompting, compared that to the AudioQuest F-14 and Type 4. She likened being hungry to the F-14. The Type 4, said she, was like having eaten lunch (but not over-eating), and being ready to enjoy tidepooling, going in the water, or just sunbathing nude, without a care in the world.
Now that I think about it, even though her name was Violet, I never saw her wear any purple-colored clothing. Life is like that.
We now are testing Adcom's current production GFA-6002, which is also a descendant of the old GFA-535. We still have raw AudioQuest F-14 pieces, which can be twisted or threaded around the GA-6002's binding posts. Yes, versus heavier-gauge speaker cables, the F-14 exhibits losses in body, power, and bass depth.
We do not have any XLO Pro series speaker cables. However, we do have the Ultra 6, which, at $470 for an 8' stereo pair, is almost as much as the $600 GFA-6002 itself. The reaction between GFA-6002 and Ultra 6 is a mixed bag, reminiscent of Violet and my housemates. They certainly respected each other, and were friends. But Violet wasn't romantically and physically attracted to my housemates.
With the XLO Ultra 6, images become blockish. There is a distinct lack of air, both in (1) the atmosphere above the music, and (2) the distance between those blockish images. There are losses in instrumental texture and detail. So along with the blockish images, their surfaces are kind of slick. The Ultra 6 does a good job of preserving body; your tummy is satisfyingly full, and muscular, not fat. Although the music moves with good linear speed, something is awry in the midbass. The overhang isn't treated as cleanly as it should. Thus, when kick drum and baselines come together, they shudder.
Bottom line, when the GFA-6002 is used with the Ultra 6, the sound is modern. When you play music from 1992-93, this type of sound will not transport you back in time. It seats you in the present.
XLO's original Reference Type 5 (not pictured) speaker cable is a good match for the Adcom GFA-6002. The Ref Type 5's even tonal balance, sharp image outlines, resolving power, and overall control go a long way, in keeping you interested in the music. How convincing is this in making you feel as though it's 1992-93? Eh, very mild; I'd peg it as 30%.
We do have AudioQuest CV-8 (not pictured) speaker cable. It does provide a "friendly" midrange, which is somewhat reminiscent of the old (early-1990s) Type 4. However, the CV-8's rolled-off treble is not a good match for the GFA-6002. It's as if you are in a warm bath, and you slowly submerge your head, so that water covers your ears.
We do, of course, have many other speaker cables. In a future post, we shall highlight which of our speaker cables allow the GFA-6002 to shine brightest. During that 1992-93 school year, Violet's love life did not shine brightly. She never did get a boyfriend, quality or otherwise. As our graduation beckoned, Violet did feel as though the dating pool was about to get a lot smaller.
-Lummy The Loch Monster
This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:
Topic - Adcom GFA-6002, Part 9 - Luminator 18:41:55 02/04/23 (0)
Top of Page ]
[ Contact Us ]
[ Support/Wish List ]
[ Copyright © 2024, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]
