Always wanted to hear sound generally heard in the studios and now finally I can get the same punch and clearity at home, thanx to my Adcom GFA 5800 and GFP 565 pre.Now all I think is to get a good CD player and better interconnects.I use Klipsch Heresy yr of manufacturing is 1980, they are old but they sound very good, there is a little high mid in the bass but overall sounding is good.
When it comes to classicals the pure sound of strings and horns is as real as
inside a concert hall. I would suggest u to have this equiment because you can't have a better sound under $3000.

Owned the 555 a long time before this one. Can't say that the 5800 blows away the 555. The 555 was and still is amazing at it's price point. The 5800 is a little more refined, more better bass and high freq. extension. Does not run out of gas easily, although I blew a speaker fuse on my MGIIIa's while playing the Scorpions very loud, the amp clipped and lights blinked. A clean sounding amp that does little wrong. Speaking of which you cannot go with this amp at waht they can be had for. Go balanced from source to pre to amp and the sonic perfection factor almost doubles although not as big of an improvement as with the 5802 and an all adcom top of the line system. Is there better sound out there? Of course but you gotta spend more.

Watts, sound quality, looks

weight, heat, and power consumption

this is the best amp I have heard in a long time, I would recommend it to anyone who's speakers can take the power it dishes out!

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This is just some info I emailed some people, wanted to post it here...

You should try the 5802 in your system... I upgraded to that from the 5800 (mostly to keep it new, the 5800 was getting old, I thought it would sound the same)

But it is surprisingly better, a whole variable was missing w/the 5800, i think people call it harmonics/timbre of every instrument... you should try it out

also the bass is more refined, tigher & deeper, seems like less bass at first, but you eventually see how good it is!


--Scott

I have tried some of the better amplifiers on the market (Mark Levinson No.331, McCormack DNA-1 Deluxe, and Pass Aleph 5) and feel the 5800 competes with the best. The only amp I felt beat the Adcom at all was the Aleph 5, and that was not by much, and not enough to justify its additional price. The Levinson sounded good, but after living with it for a while I found that there was a naturalness missing that the Adcom had in spades. The Adcom 5800 amp really combines the best attributes of both tubes and solid state and I highly recommend it. It is extremely hard to do better than the 5800 in my opinion.

I've owned the GFA5800 for nearly 8 months now; it is one hell of an amplifier. Yes, the micro-cooling fans are audible (one even makes a little "tick" noise for the first few minutes on power-up), but so is my Hi-Fi VCR, the refridgerator, central air, the wind outside, the highway nearby, and my own tinnitus. The sound is absolutely breathtaking driving my Polk LS90 loudspeakers. It offers a sweet high-end and incredibly dynamic bass. The 16 matched FETS have no problem dampening the speaker's complex load. The sound is not as harsh as one would expect from a solid-state architecture; nearing that of a tube amp. Yet, with tons more power. It is a real treat to turn this thing on and let it go to work.
I would suggest mounting this in a rack further away from the listening position to effectively reduce any mechanical fan noise. Don't let that keep you from enjoying one of the finest solid-state amplifiers under $3000.

I have determined from the ADCOM service department that the 5800 is being replaced by the 5802. They said this is being done because too many people complained about the noise made by the micro cooling fans inside the amplifier. The main differences between the 5800 & 5802 are:
1) Micro fans eliminated
2) Heat sinking improved
3) Power output increased from 250 to 300 watts

My ADCOM 5800 is driving a pair of CARVER AL-III (electrostatic) speakers. The speakers were previously driven by an ADCOM 555-II amplifier. The ADCOM 5800 sounded much better than the 555 so I bought it. Much more authority in the low end and tube sounding (for a solid-state) high-end with about the same midrange qualities as the 555 had. One great benefit of the 5800 is the micro fan/cooling channels. I can push this amp as hard as I want and as long as I want without thermal protection ever kicking in. With the 555 this was not the case and many good long listening sessions were interrupted by the thermal protect feature.

This amplifier sounds even more incredible after it has a chance to" Burn in" . It really is a sweet sounding, musical amplifier. Those who
might think its harsh or bright probably never properly " burned in " the

amplifier. ( Buying an amp one day -then returning it the next dosen't give
it a chance to burn in. Well mine is burned in and I must tell you it smokes
anything I've heard, and I've heard some very good amps. It is absolutely the
best amp in its price class, or any class as far as I'm concerned.
So....." woof " this, ok ?

I have heard some audio snobs rating the 5800 well below the newer 5802. I've heard the 5802 and dont hear much if any difference. I have the amp running to pair of Hales Concept Two( an absolutly great speaker). The adcom has had no problems at all! I looked but could not find a better amp for the clams. However, I am thinking of jumping to a different sounding speaker. Does anybody have a suggestion? Other equipment:adcom 5503 GFP 750 and the GTP 600(terrible)

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