Good sound quality and depth

Poor build quality, unreliable

I was quite happy with the clear, accurate sound reproduction, depth and detail. Odd that the a balance control doesn't fully seperate the sound in each channel? Adcom comes with only a 2 year warraanty and it completely dies on me after one year. I took it back to the dealer who said that they have had lots of units die like that.

I decided not to take a chance on another one. What if it breaks after 2 years? I switched to a tube preamp VTL which is awesome sounding and has a 5 year warranty. Only hope I can figure out how to change the tubes when the time comes. I really didn't want to go that route but I couldn't resist the incredible sound once I auditioned it.

I have to give ADcom's product a poor rating because the reliability problem is unacceptable.

Similar Products Used:

Now own a VTL

great price/performance ratio

build is suspect, fast decays of notes

A very good pre-amp considering the price paid. You get a sort of a remote control & balanced connections too. The unit I checked out was straight out of the box. I ran it in for only a few hours. It was dead quiet with solid images and fast transients with good definition all around. Adds very little -neutral with the best of them... But takes away somethin'.The music had faster decays of notes than usual!! This was apparent in both active & passive mode. As for me this is where the emotion in music is savoured - so I was a bit disappointed! It probably needed a longer burn in. Unfortunately my ratings are based on that short experince of about 6 hours usage. Worth investigating further some day. It's switches and remote looked fragile.

Similar Products Used:

Belles OCM 55, NAIM NAC 72, Copland CTA 301 MKII

Very clean sound. Build looks good. Balance control on remote. Balanced in/out.

Haven't noticed any yet.

I like this Preamp alot. I think it is the best sounding unit in my system. I have all the Adcom Gold series. I have very high end speakers that are unbelievable. This preamp adds no character of its own. I like the balanced inputs and outputs. It is very reasonable for the price.

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha CX-1000 Pre-Amp, Yamaha CX-800 Pre-Amp. Sony TA-E1000ES Pre-Amp.

Nice to look at.

Sound!

I heard this preamp in a setup with Adcom gear as follows: GFA-5300 amp, GFP-750 pre, GCD-750 CD driving B&W N805s with nice interconnects, etc.

What I heard was, in a word, awful. Then I heard another Adcom system with same pre and amp powering Canton E2.2s. Still awful. I blame the tin-sounding, non-coherent sound on the electronics. In comparison, the Parasound sound amps are much smoother. No, I didn't have a chance to hook the GFP to other amps.

Similar Products Used:

Other pre/amp setups

sound

I first bought this pre and returned it for a dobly pre/pro because I could not justify $1250, at the time, or so I thought. Once I got the pre/pro home and listened to some CD's, I immediatly went back and shelled out the clams. I compared this to the sunfire pre. I really liked the sunfire but it did not have a remote and cost a bit more. I did not feel that it was that superior to the adcom and the adcom had a remote. Looking back, I made the right choice :-) PS: stay away from the adcom surround pre/pro, they all suck!!!

I have an adcom 5300 3-channel
Adcom 5800 2-channel
Denon 1650AR cd player(also great unit)
Hales Concept Two

transparency, soundstaging, it adds nothing that I can detect

RCA jacks seem flimsy, not solidly mounted to chassis; I don't think it's good looking - sort of an ugly beauty

I was looking for a neutral preamp with remote control and balanced input/output. My savior was Adcom. This unit is neutral, reavealing, quiet... like one review said, it's like a volume control on pure sound; no coloration, just the music in all its splendor or disgrace as the case may be. I'm really enjoying the sonic benefits of a balanced connection from my Parasound DAC-2000 Ultra DAC via a pair of Kimber Select 1120 to the Adcom. Wow! It's breathtaking.

My only concern is that the jacks on my unit don't seem very securely mounted to the back panel; they push in a bit when I connect the unbalanced interconnects. I have a Sony ES tuner and DAT deck that are the same way, but neither has had any problems arrise from this flexing. Wondering if anyone else has noticed this on their Adcom. Otherwise the build quality is solid. All functions work perfectly as they should.

I strongly recommend that you give this preamp serious consideration. I will have it in my system for quite some time.

Primary components:

Parasound CBD-2000 Transport and DAC-2000 Ultra
Audio Alchmy DTI v2.0
Adcom GFP-750
Sonographe SA400
Paradigm Reference Studio 100 v2
Kimber, Canare and MIT cables

Similar Products Used:

Conrad Johnson PF-R, Sonographe SC26, Forte Model 40

Sound quality. Seems to be well built. Looks good works well and is very flexible.

No indicators on the volume and balance, but thats nit-picking

This is the best pre I have had in my system, I could not belive the differance between the Adcom and the Rotel. The Adcom was so much more open and effortless, the rotel was closed in and not as transparent. I have tried the passive mode and I think it doesnt sound as good in MY SYSTEM, its not as dynamic and lively, could be the cables since it requires very short runs. I got this at a steal from my dealer used, it still had plastic protection on the the gold badge and the remote was still sealed in the bag. Paid 599.00 plus tax, that makes this a truly great value for a great pre-amp. Thanks Adcom for giving us regular folks something excelent that doesn't cost a fortune.

Similar Products Used:

tube integrated rotel rc972 home made passive

Upgraded from a 500 series adcom.
I cant complain of the pricebut the performance is mediocre, somewhat clean and sterile and it can border on harshness when CD sources are used.Match with a warm amp.
My major gripe is the QC. first unit had a crackling
in the volume pot and in my second unit, one of the units had a cold solder resulting in the death of the right channe1 after 6 mths. Also, the units sounded very different with the second unit sounding coarser and more upfront.
I know Adcom make mass mkt products but still it should maintain at least a reasonable QC.

For my case, this model gets a thumbs down.

Openess/accurate sound reproduction

NONE

Its the best Pre I ve ever listened to, here in Brazil
Good and tight bass, openess . This is a real champ. I agree w/ Stereophile class A.Buy this wonderfull pre and forget all other s you can afford to , if something goes wrong when u rear it in your system , its a good time for an upgrade. Start w/ your Power!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Similar Products Used:

Proceed Pre, TLC 1, Krell old model,Sony ES9000

After finding this site only a few days ago, I must admit that I'm a bit confused about something. I've read a number of reviews and I am wondering how anyone can purchase a component for $1,200, take it home, and be unhappy with it. Don't you conduct considerable research and listen to it several times, narrow down your choices and finally decide to buy the preamp that best fits your needs and budget? If that's your process, then you should know exactly what you're buying and the result is the improvement in sound from your system. No surprises, aside from a qc issue.

My comments are directed at the prospective buyer. If you are considering a new preamp, you owe it to yourself to audition the GFP750. I do not believe that you will find a better preamp for less than $4,000 that will give you the untouched sound benefit and functionality of the Adcom.

Because this thing is so clean, its downside is that it will unmask every poor cd recording that you have in your collection. But, it will also "open up" every great studio recording with exceptional detail. If you like your music to sound like the artist and studio intended it to, give this Adcom a peek. It is a superb component for the money, and I don't believe you can match its performance for less than $4k.