Vintage Adcom Amp whats it worth ?

[hoogoosedmoose41]

I have an old Adcom Amp a GFA 555 the manufacture date is from 1985. its rated at 200 watts per channel. ive had it for about a decade, im wondering if its worth anything? at one point i sanded down the lid and painted it satin black as it had a few scratches on it. it works pretty good as a 2 channel stereo amp but I now have a 5 channel Rotel amp. which site would be better to list it on? ebay? audiogon or craigslist?

[Big Daddy]

Originally Posted by hoogoosedmoose41

I have an old Adcom Amp a GFA 555 the manufacture date is from 1985. its rated at 200 watts per channel. ive had it for about a decade, im wondering if its worth anything? at one point i sanded down the lid and painted it satin black as it had a few scratches on it. it works pretty good as a 2 channel stereo amp but I now have a 5 channel Rotel amp. which site would be better to list it on? ebay? audiogon or craigslist?

Review in Stereophile:
http://www.stereophile.com/amplificationreviews/678/

Used Adcom on Ebay:
http://shop.ebay.com/items/adcom%20g...+Amp+a+GFA+555

[PhooNami]

I still got one of those...it still does the job

[Canada]

Originally Posted by Big Daddy

Review in Stereophile:
http://www.stereophile.com/amplificationreviews/678/

Used Adcom on Ebay:
http://shop.ebay.com/items/adcom%20g...+Amp+a+GFA+555

1985, god, I was 1 or if that at the time.

[DerrellB]

Originally Posted by hoogoosedmoose41

I have an old Adcom Amp a GFA 555 the manufacture date is from 1985. its rated at 200 watts per channel. ive had it for about a decade, im wondering if its worth anything? at one point i sanded down the lid and painted it satin black as it had a few scratches on it. it works pretty good as a 2 channel stereo amp but I now have a 5 channel Rotel amp. which site would be better to list it on? ebay? audiogon or craigslist?

If this is the original 555 and not the 555 II I think you can fetch 300 or more for it. The original 555 was a nelson pass design. Very sought after, supposedly the consensus is the original 555 had better sound quality than the 555II but of course all of that is sudjective. The key is that the original was designed by nelson pass and the 555II wasnt. hope this helps

[Drew664]

Originally Posted by DerrellB

If this is the original 555 and not the 555 II I think you can fetch 300 or more for it. The original 555 was a nelson pass design. Very sought after, supposedly the consensus is the original 555 had better sound quality than the 555II but of course all of that is sudjective. The key is that the original was designed by nelson pass and the 555II wasnt. hope this helps

I'm guessing he makes the Pass amps?

EDIT:

Ya, I guess he does make the Pass Labs amps. Spendy...

[naturephoto1]

Originally Posted by Drew664

I'm guessing he makes the Pass amps?

EDIT:

Ya, I guess he does make the Pass Labs amps. Spendy...

Nelson Pass was involved with Threshold Amps/Electronics, and is involoved with Pass Labs, and First Watt (Nelson, I think hand builds these low power limited number amps).

Rich

[hoogoosedmoose41]

Originally Posted by DerrellB

If this is the original 555 and not the 555 II I think you can fetch 300 or more for it. The original 555 was a nelson pass design. Very sought after, supposedly the consensus is the original 555 had better sound quality than the 555II but of course all of that is sudjective. The key is that the original was designed by nelson pass and the 555II wasnt. hope this helps

It is the origional 555. id say comparable to my rotel but it only has 2 channels. ive had it hooked in my system for a while, It was great for 2 channel music listening but with my high sensitivity Klipsch speakers you could always hear a very audible " thump" when it was turned on or the source was changed. I got the amp at a garage sale for 5 bucks it wasnt working. only thing wrong was 2 of the internal fuses were blown. I replaced all the fuses and painted the lid on on it and it worked great. I think my total investment was $25 dollars on buying it and fixing it up. now its sitting in a closet. it will probably get ebayed fairly soon.

[naturephoto1]

My suggestion may be a bit different than some. First, as a suggestion, always turn down the volume on your Pre/Pro or receiver when shutting it down and when changing sources. That way when you turn it on or change the source there is less chance of damage or the "thump" that you hear. As to the amp itself, it may well be worth keeping if you have the room or expect to have the room to go to a 7.1 surround system since you already have a 5 channel amp. That would allow you to use the Adcom for the front speakers and when you wish to listen to stereo. Keeping the amp however, and using it in this fashion would require the addition of 2 additional speakers.

Rich

[hoogoosedmoose41]

i always do turn the volume all the way down before shutting down .. the adcom amp will thump when the volume is alll the way down on the preamp.. the adcom amp will still put sound out even after its turned off for a few seconds while the caps get emptied. when i turn the preamp on I have the volume set to be at -70. the adcom amp also doesnt have a 12 volt trigger whereas the rotel does. I do like the rotel though it is a beast.
I have no intention of going to 7.1 my room is not big enough and the layout is not right.
in order to properly locate the side surrounds in 7.1 the left surround would have to be mounted on a brick fireplace. the right one would right where a window is so i compromised with a nice 5.1 and mounted the surrounds in the rear. 7.1 is not worth it to me.. i love my music and movie sound but i like my house that much more to not put holes in bad places.

[pgblu]

I am the original owner of a GFA 555 and could not be happier. It has worked flawlessly for 23 years (bought it new in 1986). When this amp debuted, it turned the hi end audio market on its ear. It retailed between $600-$700 (can't remember exactly) and competed with amps in the thousands. I agree you do not need such a hardy amp to push Klipsch speakers, as they are very efficient and probably any receiver would work well. I have seen them on Audiogon, although never one that had been painted. Despite that, I would guess you could still get $100-$200?

JMHO,
Paul

[ralphie-1]

Was curious if you sold it yet?

[ralphie-1]

Originally Posted by hoogoosedmoose41

I have an old Adcom Amp a GFA 555 the manufacture date is from 1985. its rated at 200 watts per channel. ive had it for about a decade, im wondering if its worth anything? at one point i sanded down the lid and painted it satin black as it had a few scratches on it. it works pretty good as a 2 channel stereo amp but I now have a 5 channel Rotel amp. which site would be better to list it on? ebay? audiogon or craigslist?

did you sell this?

[hoogoosedmoose41]

yes sorry for the late response sold it in 2011 LOL