Adcom GFA 2535

[Fred Sanford]

Any opinions out there on the Adcom GFA 2535 4 channel power amps? My office is in a purge mode, and is throwing out every old thing in sight. Don't worry, I put in dibs for anything with a JBL logo on it, so far that's gotten me a t-shirt. I dumpster-dove and grabbed a 2535 today, to go with another one a customer gave me recently. Should I plan a room with these in mind, or should they hit E-Bay? I also have an Adcom GTP 600 preamp, it's only pro-logic surround, but a nice preamp. I also grabbed a Marantz digital surround decoder for AC3 and Dolby 5.1, so I could make all that work together.

Any experience with these?

Thanks,

je

[Zilch]

I put in dibs for anything with a JBL logo on it, so far that's gotten me a t-shirt. :rotfl:

[Titanium Dome]

Is it the Edge style t-shirt worn by the U2 guitarist at Live Eight?

[Fred Sanford]

No, but that t-shirt is pretty cool. The one I got is a JBL logo on the front, some blurb about "Life Has An Official Sound" on the back. Missed out on a baseball cap.

Maybe you can find something here to tide you over until you find Edge's shirt:

http://t-shirts.org/hipster/

...site seems all work- and child-safe, can't say I've looked at all pages, though.

je

[Art J.]

The 2535 is a very nice amp. I am using one to power the
Altec 9846's in the picture in bi-amp with a Rane AC-22.
Makes for a neat small setup for the living room.
Its 4x 65w damping factor 400. Plenty of power for home use.

[Fred Sanford]

Hadn't thought of the bi-amp angle, thanks for the post.

je

[Art J.]

I found the bi-amp route was well worth the effort.
The 2535 manual is on the Adcom site in pdf if you need it.
http://www.adcom.com/pdfs/gfa2535manual.pdf (http://www.adcom.com/pdfs/gfa2535manual.pdf)

[Ken Pachkowsky]

I to am curious about the adcom multichannel amps. I would be interested in a more detailed description of the sound qualities etc?

Ken

[edgewound]

The Adcom amps sound very good...until you hit clipping for any reason. Has a very, I mean VERY raspy, clickety sound if you overdrive it with a transient. Other than that, pretty clean.

[hjames]

4 years, 4 months on - do you still like it?


Any opinions out there on the Adcom GFA 2535 4 channel power amps? My office is in a purge mode, and is throwing out every old thing in sight. Don't worry, I put in dibs for anything with a JBL logo on it, so far that's gotten me a t-shirt. I dumpster-dove and grabbed a 2535 today, to go with another one a customer gave me recently. Should I plan a room with these in mind, or should they hit E-Bay? I also have an Adcom GTP 600 preamp, it's only pro-logic surround, but a nice preamp. I also grabbed a Marantz digital surround decoder for AC3 and Dolby 5.1, so I could make all that work together.

Any experience with these?

Thanks,

je

[Fred Sanford]

4 years, 4 months on - do you still like it?

Yeah, I do. The best short answer is that I don't think about them at all...they just work & never bring attention to themselves. You have a line on one? Wanna borrow one to test?

The one with the toggling power switch has been more reliable than the one with the push/push power switch, though. Shouldn't be much of an issue for me, as these will ultimately be powered on & off externally/sequentially, once all is in place and the control system is fully programmed.

I fully agree with edgewound's statement- if you see the overload lights coming on, back off. They get ugly quickly after that.

Currently still set up with only one running bi-amp (Ashly active 800Hz low-pass to 60WPC to the 4333A's 2231As, 60WPC full-range signal to the passive X-over & mids + highs). This is the version you all heard when you were over here last. Most of the time I also have a 100Hz low-pass to feed a sub, which means the low-channel amps are only seeing ~100 Hz-800 Hz signal. Easier on my tired 2231As, easier on the 60WPC amps. Unfortunately the mids + highs amp sees full-range line level, so it's not running as efficiently as it could at this point.

I've tested it with two 2535s, bridged, Ashly active bi-amp- this gives 200 WPC to the 15"s, and 60 WPC to the mids + highs, and two channels idle. More better, and I'll go with this eventually, but I'm not happy with how it sounds with the basic Ashly crossover interacting with the passive in line with the mids + highs- when I get an active x-over with more adjustments I'll fire up the whole mess.

I've been much more absorbed in the control room, learning ProTools & mixing the audio for a concert DVD...the living room system has been pretty stagnant. We did get a nice wall hanging to kill some of the room reverb, but haven't hung it yet.

I've got woofers on the way for my L50s (proper replacements) & LX600s (refoamed), so there's going to be a 10" 3-way shootout coming some time soon (against the L110s, which I'm confident will win). Winner stays, runner-up might replace my pair of mutant L100s, loser probably gets sold along with the L100s. We'll see.

je

[hjames]

Yeah, I do. The best short answer is that I don't think about them at all...they just work & never bring attention to themselves. You have a line on one?
je

Well, I was impressed with that aspect of your adcom amp too - just seemed like an seamless gain block, quiet and solid performance.

I did win a 2535 this morning. The A channels work great, B channels don't - seller wasn't sure why. Figured it was worth a $69 bid as is, and I got it for $61 ...

Also won a GFA-555 (early style) last week - due in tomorrow. Already has rack ears, thank goodness. Basic plan is to swap it into the biamp rack in place of the 6260, see how that changes things.

[SEAWOLF97]

Also won a GFA-555 (early style) last week - due in tomorrow. Already has rack ears, thank goodness. Basic plan is to swap it into the biamp rack in place of the 6260, see how that changes things.

:applaud: I really like my GFA-555 (series 1) ..nice purchase....its touted as a Nelson Pass design

got it free...had blown internal fuses...seems a common problem.

[Fred Sanford]

Well, I was impressed with that aspect of your adcom amp too - just seemed like an seamless gain block, quiet and solid performance.

I did win a 2535 this morning. The A channels work great, B channels don't - seller wasn't sure why. Figured it was worth a $69 bid as is, and I got it for $61 ...

Also won a GFA-555 (early style) last week - due in tomorrow. Already has rack ears, thank goodness. Basic plan is to swap it into the biamp rack in place of the 6260, see how that changes things.

A number of the freebie Adcom amps that have passed through here have only needed fuses to fix 'em, but some have needed repair (liquid damage, used into outdoor speakers that shorted, etc.). Lots of them were removed 'cause they'd often shut down or went into protection...I found that most of those were simply poorly vented (CATV box sitting right on top, closed shelves/door, that kind of thing). I generally put muffin fans between them if I rack-mounted multiples. I don't think any have ever been tossed in the bin, in fact I'd bet all of them are still in use in my friend Jimmy's system (pictured below).

Good luck...post pics!

je

[Art J.]

Hi gang, haven't been active with the hobby but the Adcom is still
in service with almost daily use for 5 years. With a TV in between,
it made a great instant home theater. It was "set and forget" and
like Fred said, "they just work & never bring attention to themselves"
(knock on wood) Art







:)