rynbiggz

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
this thing is great!!!!!

Strengths:
everthing

Weaknesses:
nothing

Price Paid:  $1000.00 from Harveys Electronics

Summary:
Adcom proves that it makes a solid component for its price range. I would consider this the training wheels for seperates. I have used this preamp for over 4 years and NEVER had any bumps in the road. It decodes Dolby Pro-Logic very accuratly and delivers clean stereo reproduction.

Strengths:
flexible, ease of use,5 channel stereo , excellent sound reproduction, great looking

Weaknesses:
No digital inputs, Does not support DTS or DD

Summary:
When considering this unit as a separate and in the price range it fills, I believe it is a good value. It's matched w/ the Adcom GFA-5400, HK8450 and Castle Harlechs and the sonic quality is very good. My only criticism is this bass button do-hickey, which seems cheesy to me, sort of like the bass boost you see on Wal-Mart boom boxes. On the positive side the bass button adds considerable bass at low volumes, but when the volume knob surpasses 4-5, the bass gets very muddled, at which time if you press the bass button all your bass disappears. You're then forced to play with their equalizer buttons to compensate for the lost bass. It's somewhat ridiculous. Other than that trifling annoyance, it pairs nicely w/ the 5400 amp.

Summary:
Very good unit. For the value, it is definitely above any receiver. It is a perfect way to get into seperates, but honestly it is not a Acurus Act3 ($2000). But, most reviews are biased and not judged at the price category they should. I will not do that. The adcom did not interfere with CD music. In other words it was allowing no change in music. If you have a cd player with a variable level out, you can plug it right into a amp. I suppose, that if it sound worse going through your preamp, the preamp sucks. The adcom did not degrade the sound. Also, the pro-logic is great. In true lies (bathroom scene), the shells from the automatic weapon firing at Schwarzenager was sweet sounding as they hit the ground. See it and you will know what I mean. Nice piece. Very good detail. Only gave it a 4 because it does not have upgradability for dolby digital.

Strengths:
Sweet pro-logic

Weaknesses:
no dolby digital upgrade

Similar Products Used:
Rotel

Summary:
This was an OK pre-amplifier for home theater use.
On the positive side the build quality seems to be extremely
good. It is a good looking unit.

The main problem with this pre-amplifier is that it just
never moved me. I tried using it with 3 different
amplifiers and I was never turned on. The midrange and
high end sounds blurry, a bit rough, and sterile. The
bass is muddy. Note that this could be a problem with
the amplifiers too. Ok, the GTP-550 sounds better than
a basic Pioneer VSX-501 receiver, but I enjoyed the music
more using my old Dynaco PAT-5 BiFet preamp (despite the
HUM, it sounded good to me).

I give it three stars. One because the build quality
is excellent and I never had any trouble with it.
Two because it does sound better than some other
equipment I own. Three because sonic attributes may
be due to the amplifiers or component matching problems.