2. amps-preamps
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Adcom or Creek?

Hello,

I have recently re-started aquiring a budget hifi system...
The last one was in the UK, circa 1997: Pioneer A400 - a Giant killer:

http://www.audioreview.com/Amplifiers/Pioneer+400X/PRD_116076_1583crx.aspx

B&W P4, Pioneer stable platter transport and Cambridge DAC - The A400 sounded very neutral and magically delicate and powerful :)

Now if the Pioneer were available in 120v I would be happy with that, but that's another story...

I now have a Creek 4330R integrated and an as yet untried Adcom GFA 5200 Power Amp (watts are less important that the quality of them).

My question is would an complete Adcom system including say the GFA 450 Pre/Tuner sound better than the Creek on it's own?

I like a neutral and not artificialy "warm" sound which is what I am finding with a lot of gear I've tried.

Any comments will be much appreciated.

Thx,
Josh
San Francisco
joshcloud9
audioman4
174 posts
 
The Adcom 5200 is a basic power amp. Not very musical...
good to power other room speakers and outdoor speakers in most applications... at least in my opinion... I have owned a 535, 545 I and II and 555... the 545 amp was the best of the bunch... dont like creek ,except for the phono stages... Now, for a nice, and I am assuming not staggeringly expensive setup... Consider a B and K Pro 10 mc
preamp... saw one this morning on agon for under 300..
Excellent piece...external power supply, passive mode, good mc and mm input..
and try an aragon 8002 amp or macintosh mc 2100 even the older adcom 545 will perform better than the combo you suggested with your stated gear...
Just my 2 cents...
Good luck,
Joe
Custom Audio LLC
philjolet's avatar
philjolet
2,305 posts
 
I have the Adcom 5300 and even though it is not bad the high end is constricted and a little grainy, it is a little flat sounding too, It is not offensive just not special.
lou_3rd
74 posts
 
Hi Joe,

If you want the most bang for the buck, Adcom is a great place to start. Until recently, their unmoded gear has been a bit less than impressive, items like the GCD-750, GFP-750, and the 5802 amp have changed that. These too need mods to really smoke, but they are pretty good out of the box, which older gear was not. The thing is that Adcom generally uses a solid design, though I hear they have had issues with manufactures not following those designs, etc. Anyway, even most of the ones they had issues with, because of their sound design in general, can be moded to sound pretty fantastic. For more specific information I would contact Stan Warren, co-founder of PS Audio, later he founded Superphon, and now he has SuperMods.

Stan Warren
Supermods
2375 W. 21ST Ave.
Eugene, OR 97405

(541) 344-3696

He has no answering machine, and ususally is available in the evenings. I have worked with him and he is fast, reliable, and a great guy. He does Adcom mods all the time and can adivse you more properly as far as what gear to buy, so you can mod it to rival some of the super gear out there.

Best Regards,

Lou
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