DOES ANYONE KNOW WHERE I CAN GET A GOOD DEAL ON THIS ADCOM 5800 OR SIMILAR ADCOM AMPS USED?? PLEASE HELP!! I NEED POWER !!!

THANKS !!!

I have just spent some time reading the other reviews, to date. If you want to have any odea of the performance, do the same. The average number is skewed by stupidity. You need to read the reviews, and mentally discard some of them. For instance, one gave it a "1" because it isn't a Krell. Another a "1'
because he had to have it worked on once, under warrantee )he loved the sound). Still a third gave it a "1" because it is not a 1502, he too loved the sound. There were several other "1"s and "2"s for equally lame brained reasons, so again, read the reviews, pay no attention to the average; it does not factor in the "duh" element.
I have owned the 5800 for over two an a half years. It is driven by the GFP 565 preamp, and feeds large DIY floor standing, full range speakers. I can find noamp that matches this one for the money (when new, it could be had on the street for $1400.00). It is extremely powerful, and relaxed sounding, never getting hard and glassy as do a lot of SS amps. It will produce 20 Hz at 115 Db (12 feet away at the listening position) all day long without overheating. At the same time, it offers a silky smooth mid and treble range that is as articulate as one could hope for without its becoming forward and "sizzley" on the top. It does not sound like a tube amp; if it had, I would not have bought it. It has excellent highs and lows, and a combination of cleanness and smoothness through the midrange. You don't get most of this even with the best of tubes costing as much as a decent new car.
There are better amps around than the 5800, but none at close to its price, and none that most of us could afford the speakers to utilize. It is strong, smooth and dependable; what more could one ask. They are starting to become available on the secondary market, so keep your eyes open, and you might pick up a true audio bargain. Oh, for the dork who gave it a 2 for having a little "pop" when he turns it off, Turn it off dirst, and then the rest of the gear, and nothing will pop.

Stereophile Class B - reviewed by analog nut Micheal Fremer - Nuff said !

Owned the 5800 for over two years. When I crank it up, the birds sing, the grass grows and the dog wags it's tail. Angels come down from the heavens and smile. It's a fantastic sounding unit, and for the price I'll put it up against anything out there. When I listen to it, it makes me all warm and fuzzy inside, and let me tell you, it takes a lot to do that. I think the last time I felt like that was in 1968 when my girlfriend introduced me to modern ( aural ) technology, if you know what I mean. Hey , is there a spot on here for six speakers?

Solid build quality, power, balanced inputs.

Fan noise but mines is not very obtrusive.

I brought this amp at my local dealer used and have not regretted it on bit. From top to bottom this amp is a great sounding. I have never had any problems with harshness that other people have spoke of in MY SYSTEM. The midrange and highs are very tube like but with bass that no tube amps can match. Some say that this is the best sounding amp that Adcom has made and I belive it. One thing that I do know is that its a great value on the used market. Thanks Adcom
system;
Sony XA20ES cd
Adcom GDA 700 dac
Adcom GFP 750 pre
Adcom GFA 5800 amp
Paradigm monitor 7 speakers(modified)
Adcom ace 515 plc
Technics 1700 tt with Grado gold cart.
Rotel RQ970BX phono pre
Sony JB920 Minidisc

Similar Products Used:

All kinds on tube amps, rotel, PS Audio.

You cannot identify this amp is in the circuit. It sounds as good as my reference 555 monoblocks. Lots of Power.

Hum!!!! The amp started humming 1.5 min. after turn on. The hum is mechanical. It is so loud that you can hear it from 10 ft. away. Mercifully, the hum does not pass through to the speakers. I am keeping it because I am afraid what might be wrong with the next one. It is very hot. That is OK and tells me that the Bias current is keeping the MOSFets on, i.e. Class A for the better part (level) of my listening range.

The amp sounds terrific but I wish it would not hum. This should have been caught during QC. If you want to buy one and after 40 years of trading amps I do recommend this one, I suggest you get some type of exchange policy if you have the same problem with mechanical hum. My overall rating would have been 5 without the hum.

I am using this amp to power (2) VMPS Super Tower III's.

Similar Products Used:

GFA555 (Rear Channel), Yamaha B2 (center channel)

This really is a great amp -- does everything well, the fans are no longer a problem (adcom did a factory update on them) they are now silent. My original amp was the 555II -- night & day difference, much more musical, incredible depth & bass extention. Other amps I have tried in my system are the krell 300i, acurus A250, sunfire -- I have to say I enjoyed the adcom the best. Also this amp has 4 internal green LED's that shine through the grate -- very tough looking amp!!

Well of course this Amp would be the next one for me to try after I wasunhappy with the GFA5500 compared to my GFA555mkII. Well first no matter
were I listened to this amp the GFA5800 or what equipment I used with it
I still heard and got the same popping noise when shutting it off. The
power was there and it was easier to listen to for longer periods of
time then the 555mkII & 5500. Base was nice and tight but I still got
that in your face, though not as much as with the others. So I decided
to change interconnects & speaker cables, this was one of the answers
that helped the mid & highs, but there was no tube sound to this amp at
all. I then compared it to the Acurus A250 & Aragon 8008ST. The 5800 and
the Acurus A250 was tough to pick but if purely on money then the Acurus
was more for the dollar. The 5800 wasn't even close to the performance
of the Aragon. All around for a GFA5800 I see it as a good pick for someone
first starting out if there are no Acurus A250 left. And to just let you
know I found the Aragon so good I kept it.

I have been using the GFA 5800 for 2 years and found it to be a very good product. Sonically it is very pleasant, not harsh nor overly warm, has decent bass and noise level is low. I use it with Aerial 10Ts and found bi-wire to improve the bass response. I believe shorter cable length, by positioning the amp closer to the speakers and larger gauge would improve bass response even more. ( Note: larger cables can easily be built without having to resort to purchasing expensive commercial cabling. )
I compared its performance to the Krell KAV-300i and found the bass reproduction of the GFA 5800 to be superior when using my preamp. To verify this, I also used only the Krell KAV-300i preamp output to drive the GFA 5800 and noticed that the bass reproduction to be better than the power amp section of the Krell. I listened to both setups at moderate low to moderate volume to ensure that I was not pushing the Krell unit.

I have found the GFA 5800 to be an excellent power amp at its price point and would recommend it highly.

Yes there is the 5802 which I believe is a better unit since it does not use fans but it was not available at the time I purchased this unit.

Power to spare! Easily drives my low impedance Infinity speakers. Tight bass, clean highs.

Fan is waaaay too noisy. Can drown out the quietest musical passages when running at full tilt.

Overall, the Adcom 5800 is a super amp -- I'd buy another in a heartbeat. I bought mine while overseas with the military (as a 220v unit) and had it converted prior to moving back to the USA. Would be nice if the voltage change were simpler -- I had to go to the Adcom dealer to get the work done.