Increadible power, detail and air. Great value!

As with most other Adcoms, it runs pretty hot and doesn''t have a 12V trigger.

Let me start by saying that when I came upon this amp, I wasn''t looking for one. It was sitting on the shelf in a fellow audiophile''s office. He had upgraded to separate music / theater systems in his house and no longer needed it. I asked how much, he told me the price and I figured, for that much, no matter what it sounds like, I can''t go wrong. I took it home and hooked it up to run my mains and center channel. It replaced my favorite main speaker amp up to this point, the NAD 2700THX (still an awesome amp). After turning it on and recalibrating my system, I started hearing more air, a little better detail and best of all, my Energy 5.1e''s no longer had the sightly flabby mid-bass that I thought was inherent to their design. The amp, while not night and day better, did sound better on music. I then worked it out on all my theater demo material. Again, it just punched the crap out of everything I threw at it. It didn''t start to sound fatigueing at very high volumes as the NAD did once in a great while. This is an awesome amp - my first Adcom piece for a diehard lifetime NAD owner. Given it''s normal price, you probably couldn''t touch anything that sounds this good in this price range. My system: Energy e series speakers (5.1e, 3.1e) NAD T761 (as processor/pre) NAD 2700THX (now for rears) NAD 512 CD Toshiba 2705 DVD Pioneer 605 LD Sony T60 DirecTivo Monster Power Center 3500 Tara Lab''s Interconnects Monster CX12 biwire

Similar Products Used:

NAD, Acurus, Rotel, Marantz, PSB

Clarity,Strong Bass,Lots Of Power

None So Far

Purchased this amp to drive my front speakers and my center channel. Fell in love with this amp right away before it was even broke in. Sound was dynamic, clean and clear, bass was punchy and tight which is what I was looking for in an amp. I am going to give this amp a high rating in both areas because it truly deserves it. Do yourself a favor, if your in the market for an amplifier that will not only sound GREAT for stereo listening but also spectacular for home theater this is the amp for you. Buy one and see for yourself.

Sound, Power, Build Quality

A little pricey, maybe...though used ones can be found on Ebay for about $600 to $700 bucks.

I got into the home theater thing by bits and pieces. First it was just a DVD movie here and there. Then going from a 27" TV, to a 32" TV, then up to a 61" TV. Prior to DVD, I really didn't like watching TV that much. But I now like watching movies on my home theater system much more than going out to the movies.

I've been a big fan of Adcom power amps since I purchased a GFA-555 way back in 1987. The GFA-5503 was a great idea: three channels at 200 wpc. The sound is lush, detailed, and powerful, with great dynamics.

System Equipment List:

Source Components:

Sony KP-61V85 61" Rear Projection TV
Sony SLV778HF VCR
Panasonic PY-9661 VCR
Sony DVP-S7700 DVD Player

Amplifiers:

Sony TA-E9000 ES Digital Preamp (version 2.01 software)
Adcom GFA-5503 Power Amp for front and center speakers
Adcom GFA-555 MkII Power Amp for rear speakers

Speakers:

Polk Audio CS-400i Center Channel Speaker
Polk Audio SDA-1B Front Speakers
Polk Audio RT-55i Rear Speakers
Polk Audio PSW650 Powered Subwoofer

Interconnects and Speaker Cables:

Monster Z100i interconnects for preamp to power amps
Monster Video 3 component video cable for TV
Monster Lightspeed 200 fiber optic interconnect for DVD Monster Z2 Reference speaker cable for center and front speakers
DSR Silverline interconnects for VCRs
DSR Silverline 8 ga. speaker wire for rear speakers

Similar Products Used:

Adcom GFA-5802 (in my audio-only rig)