I've got a PS Audio GCC-250 on the way. Mistake??

Hey Johnnyb53 - yep, thought I'd give it a try and see if it fits well with my system. I understand everyones point about "only in my room and with my speakers, and to my ears etc." I'll report back once I have it up and running a while, just was curious to hear from other owners.

Very helpful Nieuwen.... very specific - really apreciate the post.

Too true, Avrij.

I was just freaking out a bit after pulling the trigger then finding a few negative posts from some forum members around the usual audiophile haunts. I know to take all these with a grain of salt and only my ears will tell me.

Hi Stereo - that's good to hear that you've had good results with Class-D amps. I love my PS Audio GCPH phono stage a great deal which is why I jumped on the GCC-250 when I saw it. Hopefully it will mesh well with my gear and I'll live it! If not, that's why we have AudiogoN - right?

I guess this works both ways - equipment that was purchased under the recommendation of others that aren't synergistic with your system and others that are loved by some and hated by others (the GCC series of amps, it seems) that are synergistic with some systems.

I just hope it works as well in my system as the GCPH does... we'll see!

Thanks Eric - did you use it with your 803's? I figured that their had to be some synergy between the GCPH and GCC series that was worth exploring. Thanks again for your input.

It will be here Wednesday - took the guy a week to ship it which was a little frustrating, but that's okay.

I'm very interested to hear it - I'll be trying it with a pair of NHT Classic Threes and some Usher X-718's, curious to see how it sounds. I'll report back once I've had it up and running for a while.

Holy mother of crap!!! NOT a mistake!

I've been running the amp pretty much non stop since it arrived. I've tried it with a pair of NHT Classic Three's and it sounded very good. After a few days, I switched out the NHT's for some Usher X-718s I recently purchased and, what a revelation.

I don't want to get too caught up in the flowery metaphors and usual mumbo-jumbo. However, the best way I can describe it is that I'm "seeing" so much further into the music than I ever thought possible. The clarity, definition, and detail is beyond anything I've ever had in my room.

One aspect of the amp that I’ve found very interesting over the last week is how much its presentation changes with regards to associated equipment. Cables, for example, make huge differences where with other amps the changes were much more subtle. I’ve also never had an amp change so much, so quickly, with “break-in”. Perhaps it’s the level of detail this thing digs out that’s the reason.

The point is, that if you're expecting this thing to work "out of the box" with your associated equipment, you're probably going to be disappointed. If you’re committed to it, you’re going to have to rethink your associated equipment sources. If you get it right – you’ll be rewarded with unbelievable clarity, transparency, and detail with loads of musicality; not an easy feat for any system.

I initially tried it with a combination of three speakers I had on hand and three pairs of speaker cables. The speakers were pairs of NHT Classic Threes, Paradigm Studio-20s, and newly acquired Usher x-718s. Speaker cables were PS Audio xStream Plus, AudioQuest CV-4 w/ 48v DBS, and AudioQuest Type-4.

I have thoroughly enjoyed the NHT’s in the past, so those were first up after running the amp in for about 24-36 hours. My natural selection for cables were the PS Audio – it’s a PS Audio amp, after all, those HAVE to be a match, right?!? Horrible, horrendous, unlistenable sound – painful. I let it run overnight again but it didn’t improve so, I figured, it was time to start experimenting. Here’s how things played out:

Speakers – the NHT’s improved with speaker cable changes, but never sounded right to me with the GCC-250. The Studio-20’s sounded wonderful and the Usher X-718’s are just stellar, beyond belief for their size, really.

Speaker Cables – the xStream cables sounded terrible with almost everything (they were actually tolerable with the Ushers). I’ve used them in the past with other amps with great success. Odd. The Type-4’s sounded pretty good, but the CV-4’s were the ticket with both the Paradigm and, especially, the Ushers.

The GCC-250 / Usher X-718 combo is the first time I’ve heard dramatic differences between the Type-4 and CV-4 DBS cables. Don’t get me wrong, with my other amps I can hear subtle differences between the two; but, with the GCC-250 the CV-4 cables are clearly much more transparent than the Type-4.

Simply put – with about 100 hours on it and being fed a Dynavctor 20XL cartridge via a PS Audio GCPH phono stage via the balanced connection, this is hands down the best system I’ve ever had in my room.

It took some experimenting, however, and will probably result in changes in other equipment to get it right in most systems. I did some research and found that PS Audio used Usher speakers with the GCC amps at the Rocky Mountain Audio Festival in 2007. Instead of re-inventing the wheel and going through a bunch of speakers that might have worked, I decided to trust PS Audio’s judgment and ears. It paid off in spades.

I’m convinced that the upper midrange/lower high-end problems people have experienced are due to one of three things: associated speakers, associated cable, or (less likely) they’re hearing recording anomalies for the first time due to the overwhelming resolution of this amp.

Hey Johnnyb53 - I'm using a Furman Elite-15PFi power conditioner and PS Audio Plus power cables with good success. I was surprised by the XStream cables too - they sounded pretty good with my old A/AB amp. They really closed in the highs with the GCC-250 and just didn't sound natural. The AudioQuest CV-4's I thought sounded much much better.

I've been trying to locate a nice PS Audio Quintessence power conditioner but am not having any luck. I'll keep watching the 'gon, one will show up eventually!