Which adcom sounds best?


I went and heard an Adcom GFA-555 and I loved it!
Sounded clean and clear as diamond - uncolored, and with black background.

I have other great amps like Quad, McIntosh, Krell, but I really like Adcom now - go figure.

So, my question is which one to hunt down on used market - since they don't make them any more - :(

GFA-555 or GFA-555 II, or GFA-5500?

5500 is the newer one, no?

Anyone know what years they were made in?

Thanks for your time and expertise on the subject!
liquid-smooth

Showing 3 responses by wolf_garcia

Adcom is a great bargain brand and I think was always well made...I've owned a couple of 535s (one new back in the day, others used for studio monitors) and some nice preamps, and now use a 5300 Mosfet for deck speakers and as a backup amp...sounds great for this purpose anyway, cost maybe 100 bucks in "like new" shape a couple of years ago. I think they make a new version of the 5500 now, but plenty of their older amps are a steal...no geek cred, but so what? The 5400 has legions of fans seemingly, but of course you have to try these and decide for yourself. For such small money you don't have a lot to lose.
My 5300 is also Mosfet, and I think it sounds better than the 535s (I owned both the 535II and a couple of the original 535s)...I A/Bd these when I was trying to sell the 5300, but nobody wanted it (the 5300) so the 535 went away, and I'm fine with the 5300 as I think it's utterly a steal for the current prices.