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In Reply to: REVIEW: Adcom GFA-5500 Amplifier (SS) posted by mr.bear on June 15, 2015 at 11:57:18:
I recently acquired the next Adcom amplifier in the series- a very well-preserved GFA-5503, the 3-channel variant of the 5500. According to published reviews it has the same circuit topology for each of the 3 channels as the 5500 has for two, and it appears that way just looking inside. There is 50% more power supply accommodating an additional 500 watt capacity toroidal transformer. I wanted to clean up the equipment rack by using a single amp to drive my now 3 front channels (refer to discussion regarding center channel under my review of the Pinnacle QP 9W).
Without knowing more about the amplifiers' internal state and considering they represent two totally random samples from rather a long time ago, the difference between the 5500 and the 5503 is readily audible. The 5503 has more oomph. It's also discernably warmer and smoother (acknowledging that such perceptions can be largely attributed to minor frequency response anomalies that have been altered to a more pleasing set of colorations...). Same great bass, maybe a little more of it- corresponding to the added "warmth," toward which I feel MOS-FET designs tend anyway. Very listenable, relaxed, and extraordinarily powerful.
It may become necessary to re-cap the Adcom sometime but judging by the excellent sound and the external appearance of the original electrolytics, it's not needed at this point.
Nelson Pass put out this clean design 30 years ago; as he states himself: "[designed] the GFA5800, 5500, and so on. The circuits are familiar by now, three stages of MOSFETs..." I think it owes nothing to 21st- century amplifier designs; nothing "new" has been invented since the 90's that makes music sound "better;" it's still all about volts, amps, linearity, and the ear of the designer. This 5503 is a very nice sounding amp and a serious value - if you're willing to peruse the used "vintage" audio market and have patience to wait for the right unit to come along.
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Follow Ups
- FOLLOW UP: Adcom GFA-5500 and 5503 - mr.bear 10:33:03 12/11/15 (0)
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