This was the quickest decision I've ever made. When I auditioned the GCD-700, all it took was one track to know this was the sound I've been looking for. When I got it home and listened to a CD I've played may times before, I heard instruments that I didn't even know were there. Very musical. The rest of my equipment is all Adcom with CDM-1 B&W speakers and F-1000 Velodyne sub. I give this player 5 stars for sound, but unfortunately zero stars for quality. I had to return the original player I bought because it wasn't consistently picking up the remote's signal. The second unit worked fine with the remote, but within three days the mechanics went out and it started skiping around insanely. I know problems can happen, but two strikes and you're out. Great sound, poor build quality!

This is an addendum to my original review of the GCD-700 CD-changer. I discovered the problem with the erratic tracking -- I didn't have the rear feet solidly level, which must have very slightly twisted the chassis causing the optics to mistrack. This still leaves me to wonder how rigid the unit is mechanically. Now that its solidly level its glorious sound is once again working great. The difference between this player and my previous Yamaha is like the difference between enjoyment and pleasure. I used to enjoy my music, now its a pleasure. The one thing I've discovered with such a revealing player is now I can really "hear" the mediocre sound quality of too many of my CDs. I now give it the full 5 stars it truely deserves.

Not any that WE could find,I returned the unit!!!!!

You name it it has them from build quality to sound,this thing is AWFUL!!!!!!!!

Picked it up at Good Guys for cheap on a 30 day trial no wonder there trying to dump Adcom this sounds bad built like crap.Now I know why I never have owned Adcom .As Dick Vitale would say it's GARBAGE CITY BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Similar Products Used:

Dennon,Marantz,Parasound.

Surprisingly good sound for the money.

VERY sensative to interconnects used. Discs can jam drawer if not placed in carefully.

I have owned both the GCD 600 and 700. The 700 is an upgrade from the old 600 (which I still use in my background system). The 700 sounds as good as the interconnect that you use. I have tried many brands and ended up with either Straightwire Virtuoso or Kimber silver Streak. It all depends on what is down the line. The 600 gave me fits if I didn't load discs in it carefully. The 700 doesn't seem to be as sensitive. I find the 700 open and clear sounding. I haven't found any CD player to match at it's price. I'm not buying a new player until this DVD-audio and SACD thing is a bit more resolved. I also found that experimenting with different types of isolation (varying from soft and absorbent to metal points) can make quite a difference. I give the unit an honest 4 out of 5 based on both performance and value.

Similar Products Used:

ADCOM GCD 600

revealing, ability to pull details, not coloured

nothing important

My system is nearly all Adcom, except the pre which for now is a Chiro C800. The methodology where I live is the source digs for information, the pre leaves it alone, the amp boosts and the speakers provide the colour. So in a value system, Adcom is untouched. Are there better? Of course, but not for the money. Anyway I have always had my eye on this player but have never liked the idea of a changer as a transport. So for the longest time I used the Sony as a transport connected to an outboard DAC. An Adcom DAC. Since moving into a new place I have really been trying to clean up my system and not only improve the sound but the look as well. The GCD-700 does both quite well matched with the GFA-5500 and soon to arrive GFP-710 to replace the Chiro.

Reading down I see a lot of reference to brightness and harshness. That's not inherent to this player. Look elsewhere in your system, perhaps wiring or some last piece of mass-market still connected in the chain. I used to think NHT's were inherently bright until I replaced the Marantz with the Classe. So for me, Adcom's 2nd from the top, with Kimber PBJ/8TC for cabling and PSB Stratus Golds providing the soul, is heaven.

Regis Poirier

Similar Products Used:

Classe CDP.5, Sony DVP-7000, Marantz CD-65se

revealing, ability to pull details, not coloured

nothing important

My system is nearly all Adcom, except the pre which for now is a Chiro C800. The methodology where I live is the source digs for information, the pre leaves it alone, the amp boosts and the speakers provide the colour. So in a value system, Adcom is untouched. Are there better? Of course, but not for the money. Anyway I have always had my eye on this player but have never liked the idea of a changer as a transport. So for the longest time I used the Sony as a transport connected to an outboard DAC. An Adcom DAC. Since moving into a new place I have really been trying to clean up my system and not only improve the sound but the look as well. The GCD-700 does both quite well matched with the GFA-5500 and soon to arrive GFP-710 to replace the Chiro.

Reading down I see a lot of reference to brightness and harshness. That's not inherent to this player. Look elsewhere in your system, perhaps wiring or some last piece of mass-market still connected in the chain. I used to think NHT's were inherently bright until I replaced the Marantz with the Classe. So for me, Adcom's 2nd from the top, with Kimber PBJ/8TC for cabling and PSB Stratus Golds providing the soul, is heaven.

Regis Poirier

Similar Products Used:

Classe CDP.5, Sony DVP-7000, Marantz CD-65se

revealing, ability to pull details, not coloured

nothing important

My system is nearly all Adcom, except the pre which for now is a Chiro C800. The methodology where I live is the source digs for information, the pre leaves it alone, the amp boosts and the speakers provide the colour. So in a value system, Adcom is untouched. Are there better? Of course, but not for the money. Anyway I have always had my eye on this player but have never liked the idea of a changer as a transport. So for the longest time I used the Sony as a transport connected to an outboard DAC. An Adcom DAC. Since moving into a new place I have really been trying to clean up my system and not only improve the sound but the look as well. The GCD-700 does both quite well matched with the GFA-5500 and soon to arrive GFP-710 to replace the Chiro.

Reading down I see a lot of reference to brightness and harshness. That's not inherent to this player. Look elsewhere in your system, perhaps wiring or some last piece of mass-market still connected in the chain. I used to think NHT's were inherently bright until I replaced the Marantz with the Classe. So for me, Adcom's 2nd from the top, with Kimber PBJ/8TC for cabling and PSB Stratus Golds providing the soul, is heaven.

Regis Poirier

Similar Products Used:

Classe CDP.5, Sony DVP-7000, Marantz CD-65se

Detail, subtlety

Quantization noise, harsh high ends.

I'm listening to the ADCOM plugged directly (variabel output) into a Classe CA-201 amp and B&W N803 speakers. I've heard from several people that this is the best CD player for under $1,000 ... that may be true, I don't know, but now I'm wishing I'd spent a thousand more to get something better. Harsh high end ... granted, I'm usuing very revealing speakers. The CD player is very good for detail, subtlety ... you know, decay on cymbals, reverberations in tom-toms, tambre of vocals. Much better than the Rotel, but that's another matter. The trade off, I suppose, is that the quantization noise (square-edged wave forms) is not adequately filtered. Highs are not entierly natural, not realy smooth. Trumpets not so good, thin embrochures even worse ... forget about listening to Miles Davis, but most stuff is pretty good.

Similar Products Used:

Rotel

Excellent detail
Very true to the music

Mechanism is noisy and at times cumbersome

I have been extremely impressed with this CD changer. The sound quality is absolutely phenomonal. I fell in love with it the moment I heard it, I switched from a lowend Yamaha 5 disc changer. I was greatly impressed with the difference.

The first disc I tried in it was Telarc's 1812 Overture, and I was absolutely breathtaken. This is a damn fine CD changer, and I'd say it's downright exceptional for it's price.

The only thing that I would consider a problem would be the somewhat noisy tray mechanism, but it doesn't really bother me very much, and it's a fairly small con for so many pros.

It seems to mate very well with the rest of my Adcom system, and I highly reccomend it!