Compared to previous CD player, great clarity, great lows, great highs. Variable output is great. Nice remote (new model).

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I've had my Adcom GCD-700 5-Disc CD Changer for almost 18 years now. It's paired with a Luxman integrated amp and Definitive Technology speakers. This is a long term evaluation, of course, as the Adcom CD changer is a number of years off the market. But it might help influence omeone looking at a used one. I don't think there is any CD changer still on the market as good as this Adcom! Back in the day, I comparison shopped extensively and heard quite a number of A versus B demos, some blinded. I was blown away by the Adcom. The clarity & sharpness of the 20 bit Class A analog circuitry never fails to astound me, it's like the first taste of a high end Bordeaux every time I turn on my system! It does have some mechanical sounds when the turntable rotates but I live with that noise to get excellent sound reproduction. I did have a turntable failure episode just recently but figured out it was a fuse. I took off the case, pulled out the turntable and the fuses were then visible. I tested them all with a meter and found one to be bad. Relatively easy fix and I'm still thoroughly enjoying my Adcom!

i would hate to replace the gcd 700, i love the way it sounds and the way it looks, the front look matches that of my anthem statement d2; had it since 1995.
still love it.

Wonderful sound-even nowadays! Kinda weak on "home burned" discs-never tracked them well..skipping. CD's need to be heavy & thick to stay in the tray. Love the "variable" output. If you own good amp & speakers, this feature really brings out their BEST, since you are bypassing your stereo's pre-amp section. In our contemporary world of MP3, home theatre, and digital surrond,etc; it's still very rewarding to listen to equipment on a much higher end than that which we find at the chain stores!

Sound quality?

Clunky tray operation.

Well like most have stated here, the Adcom GCD-700 is fine sounding player. Well, at least I thought it was.

I've owned mine for over 10 years. The only problem I had mechanically was the drawer/tray would stop operating for no apparent reason. Taking the cover off for a look see I noticed 6 small fuses on the board. Sure enough, after testing, one of the fuses was bad. I replaced it and all worked fine. This happened a few times through the years. But, just the other day the unit would not play. The light on the button lights up but nothing happens. So I'm thinking that its just another blown fuse. Not the case. All fuses tested fine. Now what? Some micro processor gone bad? I'm not a service technician so the thing is usless now. Would cost more to fix than its worth.

But, here's the kicker! I still wanted music so I hooked up my Sony DV-S2 DVD player ($120.00) to the pre-amp. I was not expecting much as far as sound quality compared to the $700.00 Adcom. But to my surprise that thing sounded BETTER than the Adcom. I'm thinking that just can't be but I've been listening to much of my favorites that I know VERY well and its there. Go figure.

Customer Service

Never used any and looks like never will.

Similar Products Used:

none

Excellent sound, good soundstage, focus and detail. Hear sounds on c-d's I didnt know existed before.

build quality seems poor, very noisy tray when opening and closing

I have used the gcd-700 since 1995 Although the build quality seems poor with a very noisy disk tray. I have had no problems with unit pysical or otherwise. The sound is excellent, great sound stage, and vocals. You need good stuff downstream to appreciate the quality. I use a hafler 9300 power amp which does it justice, but would probably sound even better with an upgrade from the Yamaha pre-amp and Altec Lansing speakers. Godd interconnects and speaker cable also a must to get the most out of this player.

When it worked sound was good.

Horrible qulaity control, customer service. The remote was pretty lousy too, if I can recall properly. Unit's been out of commission so long I can'tclearylt remember all the weaknesses....

The unit sounded very good - when it worked. Had the attributes others describe hear - tight extended bass, good detail without fatiguing treble etctetc. BUT, endless problems. Tray jamming, or just not opening. Controls both on the front panel and via remote rendered useless. Have to open up the machine to get my discs out. Take it the dealer, get it back after 6 weeks supposedly repaired. They fixed somthing with the drawer mechanism that caused a fuse to blow so they told me. Checked it at the shop before I left and noticed a grinding sound when switching to discs 4 and 5. Had them note it before I left and said I would give it a try, but wasn't optomistic. 3 weeks later the machine was locking up again, same problems - no response to controls, drawer jammed shut. Un;ugged it and left it for a day, plugged it back in. Worked for a day or 2, then locked up again. Took it back AGAIN for repair. It's been gone for over 3 months. Numerous calls etc. have yielded no resolution. Still waiting for parts. I will never buy another Adcom product agaiun, or anything from Kromer. Worst customer service experience I can recall in my lifetime.

Well, I can't really describe this unit as it died within one hour of hooking it up. It was a demo unit, and the place from where I purchased it is refunding my money. What a headache and disappointment though! I can comment on how much nicer it was compared to the secondary system Sony CD player normally used in the basement (with an NAD receiver). How is it that I have a Sony on my Conrad Johnson 2300A amp? Because the movers destroyed my Adcom GCD 600 that I really enjoyed and I unlike other people I have a family and other hobbies/interests for which I balance my disposable income. I'm probably going to get flamed for writing that I had an Adcom hooked up to my CJ, but I really listen to music that's mass produced, and its hard enough to read the reviews about well engineered vs. poorly engineered CD's on $$$$$$ystems compared to mass produced CD's that I seem to play on mine. If anyone can tell me what popular music CD's have been engineered with the highest quality, I would greatly appreciate it. I apologize in advance to all the philes out there who are going to raise an eyebrow or two, but I also have NHT 2.5i, Super Two's, a Super Center, Sub, and Super One XU speakers. Yes, they're all for my HT system, sitting in my once a solarium, now being renovated, redesigned and rebuilt to be a HT room. I'm an average guy that can afford average components who also I suppose has an average ear. I purchase what my ears like. It definitely helps reading the reviews, but like wine, people's tastes vary tremendously. Yes, I'm a believer in high quality products, and somewhat convinced by the marketing that goes with them. But, I always rely on my ears to make the decision. So, here I am, throwing together a hodge podge of components. An Onkyo that I use as a pre-amp and for (dare I say it my HT system), Better Cables for interconnects (with the Bullet Plugs) - yes I do think they're worth every penny, So, unfortunately, I cannot comment on how well this product would have stood up over time. I'm not sure if I'm going to be purchasing another Adcom CD player as I've seen now good reviews of musicality, but not so good reliability. For the price, I'm sure there are other units out there, Parasound, AR, etc... that have both excellent sound and reliability. I really like the GCD 600 and was hoping for better things out of the 700 with its en

Good clean sound.

When a power failure occurs and the power comes on again, the player starts playing. Can be scary in middle of night if you leave system on with volume set high and just stop the player.

This is a very good cd player for the money.

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha cd players

better than mass-fi sound at very fair prices

build quality is sad, multiple problems with my unit.

In the process of rebuilding a decent system after a period of austerity, I grabbed one of these when my cheap-o Sony consumer player crapped out. It lived up to my performance expectations, but not quality wise; I've had a lot of troubles with it. The sound is distinctly superior to my preceeding Sony (OK, hardly high praise, but it really is an improvement over mass fi gear); most surprising was clearer, deeper bass. Normally I attribute such claims to listener bias, but this was pretty hard to miss. Overall, it sounds good yet is fairly inexpensive. Of course, the front panel track display has started to go, and I've had to pry it open to get my discs out a couple times...and it often requires manual assistance to open or close. Today, it just went into endless shuffle...hmm. I'd heard before that Adcom has quality control issues. Still, a nice sounding piece of gear for what I consider a very reasonable price. I hope others don't have the QA problems. On the *huge* assumption that not many others are defective (I do hear of some), I'll only ding them slightly in the rattings. Adcom actually reminds me of what HK or NAD was 20 years ago. All IMHO, of course. Happy trails, and good luck.