bass is tight and fast when spkrs are two ft away from side walls and 1.5 ft away from the back wall

mid range is shy

got this amp at a moonlight madness sale at the s.a. i''ve had this amp for a month and it sounds good and it''s in good shape. have not come across any problems. i have a thorens 150 connected to the gfp 555II preamp and the result is nice. sounds lush at low volume (around 8-9 o''clock) and harsh at around 1-2. i don''t listen to music loudly. i usually have the volume at 11-12 and i sit 8-9 feet away from my spks. as of now, i have not noticed any drops in dynamics, bass, volume, or clearity at this vol. level. the amp has plenty of clean ooohmp for me. room size is 17 by 22 by 15 i am please with my purchase. it has not pissed me off. however, i would not pay adcom''s suggested retail price of ~700 for this amp because i feel that you can get similar to better results with vintage marantz, sansui, or macintosh gear for less.

Affordable for most. Biased a bit more Towards class A, Heat durring idle is evident factor

High THD%, lacks detail in the trebel region. No remote trigger.

My local dealer is always maintaing the concept of Adcom''s products as being affordable whislt maintaining a fair level of quality. I have heard this from other audiophiles as well as other dealers,So there I am in search of a solid 100+ watt amp to drive the lower half of my Studio 100''s and I see the GFA-5400 sitting there. What I was missing before was the slam when I sometimes play demaning music at a high volume. All this would change with the addition of the GFA-5400 to my Arsenal. Presto! the lower end came alive on such tracks as "One" from Metallic and "Money for Nothing". The real test came when "welcome to the Machine" a Pink Floyd stapple had much more detail in the opening Sequence''s whirling fans. While the GFA-5400 lacks the Slam of a Mac or Krell and lacks the pin-point acuracy of a Levinson it will add that something extra to those hard to drive floorstanders and bookshelf speakers. If you are in a pinch and need an affordable amp to drive the lower half while you dream of the next upgrade, look to the GFA-5400 as an option.

Similar Products Used:

Many amps

Bass authority and control are excellent on this mid-powered amplifier. 200 W/ch into 4 ohms, dynamic headroom 300 W/ channel into 4 ohms.

soundstage depth is not extreme. midrange is a little dry.

My system sounds pretty good for budget audiophile gear. Adcom separates, mag cdb650 cd player - it just keeps going and going, and home designed and built 6" two way monitors (91 dB /W tuned to 37 Hz). Morel MDT33 tweeters and Gold Sound GS-620 woofer. First order cross-overs with impedance compensation. Polyprop caps and 14 gauage inductors.

I picked up adcom GTP450 and GFA5400 from ebay for $610. For the money it was is was a good deal. If you want a glimpse of high-end purchase adcom. performance/$ is hard to match.

Blows away the JVC 60W/ch receiver
Not as refined as the Hafler DH500, but 1/2 the power.
B & K sonata - very close.

Similar Products Used:

Hafler DH500, B & K, JVC receiver 1982 (my first real stereo)

Well Controlled Low End, Good overall performance.

Can be a touch harsh at times, not as detailed as some amplifiers.

Having owned an Adcom 535 prior to this one, I was familiar with the sound that Adcom amplifiers tend to have- the 5400 was not a dissapointment at all and I have found it to be an excellent amplifier as long as I have owned it. In comparison to the others listed above, I found it to be infinately more satisfying in the low frequencies when compared to the Hafler or Carver. Although the Adcom was not as fast as these last two and did not have their detail, overall I believe the Adcom was MUCH better than either of these two amps.
The Rotel had what I have come to recognize as the classic Rotel sound- very musical, deep (if uncontrolled) lows and a sweet midrange. The Rotel also had better soundstage and depth than the Adcom- This Rotel was Stereophile recommended component for some time. However, I still choose the Adcom hands-down over the Rotel- the low-end is so much more controlled and the Adcom compares very well in the other frequency ranges as well.
As for the Bryston, it exceeds the Adcom in all catagories- but this should be expected as it cost about twice as much at least.
For the money, I think the Adcom is an extremely solid choice and I would recommend it without reservation. Some reviewers have noted the shoddy ON/OFF switch on these newer units- I agree with their assessment, it is kind of a cheap switch, but it has never given any trouble as long as I have owned the unit and I was never a great fan of the switches on the 535 either. As for the grainy/harsh highs- I have found them to be only a very minor concern, if at all. If anything, I found the Rotel to be much more grainy on the high-end. But, of course, much of what we hear is dependent upon the other gear within any system.

Rotel 965 Ax Cd Player
Entec 205.2 DAC
Rotel 960 AX Preamp
Nordost cables
B&W, THiel, Paradigm, Phase Tech, M&K, Magnapan Speakers

Excellent value for the money, I have not heard anything it its price class that can beat it. Overall- can't compete w/ the big boys-but then it should not have to...

Similar Products Used:

Adcom 535, Bryston 3B, Rotel 980Bx, Carver TFM-15, Hafler DH200

Decent value, reputable brand, rock solid build.

Wimpy sound...runs out of oomph...laid back sonic character with a high noise floor. No bridging capabilities.

Not enough balls or detail for me.

Similar Products Used:

NAD 218THX, GFA 555II, Carver TFM 35X, Nak Receiver 2, HK 6200 integrated...the list goes on.

i purchased the 5400 after repeatedly paying to have my older, yamaha stuff fixed again and again. in a fit of rage (all i wanted was my amplifier to work and she just wouldn't give it to me...)i drove to my nearest adcom dealer and plopped the big bucks for a completely new adcom system. at any rate, it was the value (even at full retail!) that first attracted my to the adcom components but it has since been the better than average sound,quality, and overall performance that has prompted me to write this reveiw. keeping in mind that i am not a true audiophile but rather a very particular audio-enthusiast, my review should be read in relative terms. so, with all that in mind, i would have to say that this adcom stuff really does work and is most likely the best vaulue on the market. combine that with its simple design and clean lines, the 5400 is in a league of its own.

i cant really think of any for now--maybe that adcom is often criticized for "selling out" and moving production overseas. however, this fact has not affected my 5400.

if you want to buy new gear you can't go wrong with adcom--the value is too hard to beat.

Similar Products Used:

some older yamaha stuff and more recently some classic marantz stuff from the mid 70's.

I own the Adcom GFA 5400, and for an amp in the $600-700 price range, this little guy does a fantastic job! I have compared it to the B & K ST-1400 (whick is also a good amp for the same money) and found the bass much deeper, the soundstaging better, and not as bright as the B & K. This, I feel, is due in part to the 5400's rated 500 damping factor compared with the ST-1400's @ 180. I briefly used the 5400 to power my Energy Veritas v1.8's, which are rated @ 6 ohms nominal (4ohms minimal) with an eff. rating of 87db. Again, this amp did a great job of controlling these speakers.
The only complaint I have with the 5400 is the build quality. Adcom could have used a detachable (and larger guage) power cord. Also, the little rubber stoppers on the front sides keep popping out.

I have just replaced the 5400 with the B & K Reference 4420 with the gold face plate (which I also feel is a terrific amp for the money). Of course the 4420 has made a tremendous difference, and should for twice the price.

If you are considering buying an amp for under $1000, I highly recommend giving the 5400 a listen. As for the rest of my components, I will only list the ones I use for music, which are: Yamaha RX-V990 (pre-amp), Pioneer PD-59 (cd player), Monster M950 interconnects (amp, cd player), Monster 1.4 biwire (speaker cable) and Monster Reference power center HTS2500 (line conditioning, surge).

thermal protection circuit, fuse protection, affordable

push button on/off, it made a little noise every time I turned it on (not so when turned off). Toggle switch preferable.

Good amplier for the money, o lot of power in its class, however, I wish I spended more money to get a 200w/channel.
My amp. has only 125w/channel. eventually, I will up grade to another ADCOM power amp. but not so with push button on/off again.

Similar Products Used:

none

plenty of power for a not too ridiculous price

no preout for addition of another amp or subwoofer

This amp does a great job. There are plenty of 'audiophiles' who would bash this amp because theirs is more expensive, but don't listen to those geeks. It sounds good, it doesn't do anything wrong, and you can find it for a reasonable price.

Similar Products Used:

just recievers

If you own the Onkyo 9911 and/or Onkyo Amp M-504 with the Onkyo Pre-AmpP-304, May I have your reviews? Ive heard them and can't decide between the integrated(9911) and the seperates. I am using KEF 103.3 speakers. I would
rate the the integrated and the seperates with 4 stars but for different
reasons. The integrated 911 seems to have better highs but weaker lows
than the 504 and the 304.