Clean Aesthetics

Sound, Operation, Reliability.

I too bought this without too much compairison shopping, on the advice of a friend. From the start things looked bad. The subwoofer volume level never worked properly. The surround modes sounded wierd. The thing was noisy as hell. All in all aa horrible expierence. I bought a Proceed AVP to replace it, and sent the ADCOM in to be fixed. When I got it back I sold it on EBAY, without listening to it. The guy who bought it did not like it either as it was so noisy. I took the thing back and it has been sitting in my trunk for the last 2 months. I do not know what to do with this $1400 piece of junk. I guess I am considering giving it to my little brother to go with the DVD player that I just gave him. I would have to buy a 5 channel amp for him also. I hope that the combination will end up sounding better than his current boombox.

Similar Products Used:

Proceed AVP

None

Signal/Noise ratio, Power Supply, Surround Processing, Volume Control, Reliability

Having been a long time fan of Adcom Amplifiers, my recent decision to purchase a GTP-740 DTS Preamplifier came without much comparative research....an assumption that I would soon regret! Having experienced many of the same manufacturing flaws as other reviewers (Failed power supplies, faulty surround mode switching, inconsistent source selection and an annoying volume control design) on three consecutive units, I was compensated with a "new" GTP-750. Adcom has supposedly re-designed the pre-amplifier stage of this replacement product in addition to correcting the aforementioned defects. I have only had the new GTP-750 for a couple of weeks, however, there are definitive improvements in sound quality and reliability. I would be very much interested in hearing from other 750 owners as to their experience with this product. We can only hope that Adcom has redeemed themselves!

I will follow-up with a more extensive review once I have had a chance to fully acquaint myself with the GTP-750.

Similar Products Used:

Recently Replaced by Adcom for their new GTP-750

Disappointed. Makes me want to give up on AV gear and go back to audio only. From day one I have had to turn it off and on multiple times to get the sound to come back. More recently, the unit has developed a loud hum which is really annoying. I purchased this thing to replace my GFP555II preamp (which I love) but was unpleasantly suprised that even after break-in the 740 was no where near the detail and soundstage of the 555II wired in bypass mode. (After some expermentation, I set things up so that I could use the 555II for audio and the 740 for AV). I also own Adcom's GFA-5800 amp which I think is excellent. Guess I should have sent it back as soon as I saw Made in China stamped on the box. It is obvious that Adcom has outsourced production on this to an outfit that can't produce. My other Adcom equipment gets 5 stars. This thing gets one.
System:
Paradigm Reference Studio 100 w/ MIT2 bi-wire
Paradigm Reference Espirits (rear)
Paradigm Reference Center Channel
Adcom GFA 555II pre-amp
Adcom GFP-5800 Power amp
MIT 2 interconnects throughout
Nakamichi CD

Looking to replace my Rotel RTC-970, I was drawn to the Adcom 740 because of it simplicity and usability. I had the unit in my house for about a week. The sound quality was very good, no complain here. Two aspects made me look somewhere else.Others had problem with the unit not wanting to power up. This what essentially what happen to me after I return the trial unit to the store. They tried to connect the preamp and the unit would sometime power half way up, power up but was not responding to a command or all together dead.

But what really made me decide against the 740 was this slow mute. Not only when changing inputs the unit mutes, but if and when one uses the digital in to feed their CD player (in digital domain), there is a mute before a tracks starts!!!! Deal breaker for me.
I must say, I would have trully loved to be able to choose this Adcom unit as my preamp. The price was right, the remote works extremely well and ergonomically speaking, it was a charm to use.
I am now considering the RTC-965.
Until then happy listening

ADCOM name

repeated failures and noise

As many have found, these components fail out of the box or soon after. My unit had to be unplugged to reset it when it would shut down output for no apparent reason. The volume knob has a delay and no sound at all until 20%-30%. These problems seem to be prevalent with this unit.
The rest of the system has B&W Matrix loudspeakers, Velodyne ULD-12 subwoofer and a GFA-7500 amp.
It used to hum a little but now there is no output whatsoever from the audio or video portions. Just the tuner works. I work for an A/V company and this particular unit has a very high return rate for service. It sounds like a severe internal ground problem exists from the factory.

I recently decided to upgrade my Dolby Digital system from a Yamaha 2092 to seperates. I've always heard good things about adcom and their price/performance ratio so I purchased the Adcom preamp as well as two Parasound amps (HCA-1000 and HCA-1203). Since I was looking for a rackmount cabinet for the amps and didn't have one yet, I placed the Adcom on top of the two amps. Well the Adcom started really flaking out. None of the analog inputs would work, the only thing I was getting sound from was the toslink input on the DVD player, but the surround modes were screwy. I could not get it into dolby digital mode (which was working before) and the only way I could get any sound was in an effects mode (hall, stadium, etc). The next morning all was fine for a while but it started happening again. Figuring I had a flaky unit, I exchanged it. The new one worked fine for a while but eventually started exhibiting the same behavior. I finally took the preamp off the amps (which were not that hot and were merely operating at normal listening levels) and those particular problems went away. Adcom said this is not normal and their equipment should not be that heat sensitive. Regardless, since those problems went away, I'm still not very happy with this unit. When it works, it works really well, but now I have strange surround things going on (rear channels for no reason sometimes are WAY too loud and delayed even if I turn them all the way down, regardless of the mode I have them in. I've started just shutting off the amp driving them) combined with the previous problems have just left a bad taste in my mouth. I ordered the Parasound preamp and dts/dd processor, I'm just waiting for them to come in so I can return this thing. I really can't wait to get rid of it. Dunno if I'll have better luck with the Parasounds, but I'm very pleased with the amps, so hopefully their other components will perform as well.

First, I would like to take my hat off to the Adcom engineers. The Adcom GTP 740 is an amazing preamp. It has excellent sound quality along with versatility. My system consists of the following equipment:
GTP 740 preamp - 2 Adcom 555 II's - 1 Adcom GFA 5300 - 1Adcom 2535 - 1pr Infinity RS Kappa 9's - 1pr Klipsch Horns - 1pr Klipsch chorus' for the rear and a klipsch kg1.2 for the center channel. I am using the yamaha dvd player as my source for music and video.

I was originally using a Krell preamp for this particular system. However due to the lack of flexibility "not sound quality" I felt compelled to look for a new solution. I auditioned several preamps. First, There was the classe cp35. This is a nice preamp. However, I noticed it just didn't to seem to have the output voltage to drive my Adcom amps the way my Krell did. Then I checked out the Aragon 28k. This was an outstanding preamp. Beautiful sound with a warmth and richness to the music. Finally I arrived at the Adcom GTP 740. Wow! What an amaxing preamp. It had the following features that were stunning: Full Body & Richness in the music that came out of it, The ability to by-pass the preamp and go straight from the source to the amp, Tons of flexibility. This truly the bulletproof equipment that I have come to respect Adcom for. I was on the verge of deciding to go with a very expensive preamp such as a McIntosh. The volume control on this baby is even gradiant. When you turn up the volume even swiftly it adjusts the volume at a moderate pace to allow for mistakes such as a loud track. As you change the source the volume automatically detents and then readjusts to the original setting. Finally you can ad the ball system to the Adcom GTP 740. This device ads a whole multimedia experience to the pramp. This system redefines on screen programming. The ball system makes the GTP 740's on screen menu look like a multimedia program with colorful choices and very helpful menus. A real A+ Adcom. I havent even begun to list all the excellent features like the multitude of video and audio imputs: 3 digital inputs, an expansion slot for control of an additional room. Thanks for the great product. So I invite all audiophiles to get off the high horse in a never ending quest to buy an expensive preamp from a company who doesnt have the purchase power to make affordable equipment "to test try the Adcom GTP 740".

I have a GTP 740 and I love its versatility and sound quality. My entire audio system is now Adcom. Since 1990 I have purchasing each piece for my system. I originally wanted to outfit my system with McIntosh Pre-amp and amps. However, the price tag is a little too steep. Comparativley speaking the Adcom was the best sounding piece of equipment I could find for the money. The GTP 740 has all the features of its JAP counterparts but the main difference is that the GTP 740 has all effort put into quality rather than jamming features into one box. This unit is good looking as well. It is simple and has that elite look to it. All the component conections on the back are placed very well for easy access. Thanks, once again adcom for building another supierior Pre-amp.

I have waited 6 months before posting this review because I didn't want to jump to any conclusions. Unfortunately, my patience hasn’t made me a happier listener.
Like some of the other posters here, I have had to return my first unit for repairs but unlike the others, my problem was not due to faceplate interference causing a noticeable hum. Instead, my unit did not output ANY sound at all! After going through every fix tech support (who were VERY knowledgeable and nice) could think of, I had to send the unit back to Adcom at my own expense, where they kept it for 2 and a half weeks. When I received my “fixed” unit I heard, you guessed it, faceplate interference causing a noticeable hum! I called tech support and they immediately identified the problem and diagnosed it properly and then told me to SEND IT BACK AGAIN! And again, at my own expense. To say I was unhappy would be woefully inadequate. The unit came back with the hum gone, or so it seemed at first. I have since discovered a hum similar to a ground loop hum that doesn’t go away no matter what I do.

I am giving this preamp 3 stars because I do like the sound… when I can get it. For future purchases though, I would have to be REALLY impressed to consider another Adcom.

I have been into audio for about 10 years, until recently I have not been able to afford high dollar equipment. I hate to say that I feel this was the worst $1200 I have ever spent on a piece of audio equipment. The volume nob has a delay to it! I have never seen this and If someone tries to convince me it is a feature, they are an idiot. This simply means, you turn the volume nob, and a few seconds later, the volume raises.....????!!! Also I do not get ANY volume until the volume nob is at 20-30% up! And I do have an adcom GFA7000 amplifier. So I really doubt it is the amp. At this point I wish I had bought B&K equipment. The main reason I went with this preamp, is because I had already bought the 7000 amp a year before (with the promise of really good preamp(740) coming soon. I must say, however I really do love the adcom amp. it isn't that the preamp sounds bad or lacks features, it is just that you would think someone at adcom would have caught these horrible mistakes.