Price Paid:  $1100.00 from distribuitor in sand

Summary:
This receiver is good easy to program and calibrate best hen youo use the with ampgfa-7607 by adcom

Strengths:
very powerfull

levir

Overall Rating
 1 of 5

Value Rating
 1 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
3.50 of 5, 4.00 votes

Price Paid:  $0.00 from Harveys

Summary:
I did not have a good experience with the Adcom GFA-830 pre-amp. If you are in the market for a preamp processor or moving into separates, please look somewhere else. This unit is over priced and does not offer audiophile sound. I would rather have stayed with a receiver and save my money for media. This is a very noisy pre-amp processor (hisss on all channels). If you are going to buy one, please get it from a dealer that has a return policy.

Strengths:
Looks good from the outside.

Weaknesses:
Garbage components.

Similar Products Used:
I never used anything as worse as this. Bryston SP1.7

Gary JZ

Overall Rating
 2 of 5

Value Rating
 2 of 5

Used product for
1 to 3 months

Price Paid:  $0.00 from ClarkMusic

Summary:
I originally had GTP-660 but within a year I dcided to upgrade to the GTP-740. It gave me a lot of control and it was just fun to listen to with all the speakers going and my house just FILLED with music it was great...but...after 1 year of owning the 740 it brokedown. I was with out it for 3-4 weeks and when I got it back all was well, for another year then back into the shop. The third time it happened Adcom installed the power unit from the GTP-760 along with DTS. That was fun for 1 year then back into the shop it went. When the 5th time came around I was told that it was out of warrenty and the Adcom wasn't going to do anything about it. So I sent an e-mail and got results very quickly. Adcom told me that they couln't fix the problems with the 740 and that they would offer me a couple of "B" line units for about half the price of a new one...it may have been even a bit less than that...anyway...not having a lot of cash to spend at the time I jumped at the chance. But I went for the GTP-860 instead of the 830. When I had the 830 on loan from Clark Music I found that for what it was supposed to be and for the price it left a lot of control out of my hands. Plus there was no 5 channel stereo like the 860 has. So I went for the 860 for the convenience of having more control over how I wanted to listen to whatever it was I was listening to. Well I was under the assumtion that even though they're "B" line models and I realize that they're not supposed to last forever I would at least expect them to last longer than a year. I mean a year to the day ! Then my 860 died. So now I have to send it back to Arizona now and be without it for about a month or so. With all fairness though, when it worked it did so very well and it was fun to listen to. Amazing with DVD's. But I'm tired of this 1 year thing then back into the shop. This'll be the sixth year that I've had to return their product back for repairs..and I've had it. Even though the GFA-7000 power amp is working flawlessly I'll never even think about owning ANYTHING from them and I would discourage anyone from buying anything from Adcom. But I won't be without a pre/pro for long. I went and bought an Outlaw Audio 950 pre/pro for less than half the price of a new GTP-860. The Outlaw gives you way more verasatility and from what I've read dependabilty which will be paramount for me. So here goes another attempt to satisfy my constant hunger for great sound and dependability. I'll let you know.

Strengths:
When it worked it did a great job with all if its functions and speration of sound with DVD's.

Weaknesses:
Recovery from changing functions was slow there was some hiss, oh and of course, it only lasted a year. Probably another power supply problem. And for what it is and what it does, it's WAY over priced !! It's on the big size and the connections in the back are all clumpted together directly behind the volume control (if you were to draw a line from front to back ) pretty much just a poorly designed unit inside and out. Try agin Adcom...some day you'll understand what it takes to make a REALLY good product !

Price Paid:  $500.00 from Audio King/Ultimate

Summary:
I bought this to replace my Denon AV Receiver. I already had a Rotel Amp handling the output from the Denon since the Denon's Amp is weak. I use MIT speaker cables and Audioquest interconnets. First, I must state that I have been leary about investing in Adcom equipment since I have never liked the sound of their preamps and the buttons on the Adcom preamps always seemed to be designed for economy instead of ease of use. After having listened to one of their newer preamps (the GFP-750), I knew that Adcom was working to change its image some. Still I was hesitant to buy. Adcom's price point is in the low middle of the pack, but still a little rich for what you get. Finally I walked into the store the other day when my dealer was trying to unload its few remaining Adcom pieces of equipment (Audo King/Ultimate Audio will no longer carry Adcom). The unit I saw for $800 a few months earlier was now marked down to just under $500. I couldn't apss it up. Yes, I am disappointed in the ease of use of this unit (a matter further complicated by the fact that the dealer didn't have the original remote and gave me a remote from another model of Adcom). I am also disappointed about its relatively unflexible on-screen system setup. But when you go to JC Penney's to buy a suit at K-mart prices, what can you expect: Pierre Cardin? Moving beyond the issues with setup and ease of use: Once I did have the system set-up correctly (a process that nearly had me re-integrating the Denon) I discovered that the sound was much improved. I had no excess hiss or crosstalk that others here have talked about. The sound was spacious and showed a hint of effortlessness (undoubtedly I was finally able to hear the Rotel amps showing the hint of world class sound that the reviewers have talked about). The bass notes were also much cleaner and clearer. I connected my CD players to the digital inputs on the back. Unfortunately, there share the five available video inputs (instead of being individually assignable to the input of the type of equipment it is). The digital processor did a fine job of delivering signal to the amps without a lot of coloration (here again Adcom's miserly approach to adding unnecessary extra paths..like switches..resulting this time in a benefit). This will truely be a love/hate relationship. As long as the eargasms persist, I'll be in love with this odd little jewel. I'm giving this a 3 star Value rating assuming that it was purchased for around $1000 (list according to Audio King was 1199, but I've seen it maiorder for under $1000). Since I bought it at under $500, I consider it a 5 star, but that won't be true unless you can find it for that price too. 4 star overall (price independant?). Sound quality is a five star. ease of use and set-up flexibility I would rate somewhere between a 1 and a 2 star. So 4 star is generous...but it really does sound good when it is finally set up.

Strengths:
Crisp, Clean, open sound.

Weaknesses:
Odd switching. Lack of flexibility in set-up. No component video. Too inexpensive to have features like the big boys: too insistent upon good sound to be priced with the less expensive units on the market..

Similar Products Used:
Denon, Rotel, Adcom, NAD, Sony

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
This is a followup to previous review. as i stated, i was concern with preamp origin of build. Well it died this afternoon, The surround stopped working. also noticed noise in volume control. have returned unit to dealer and went with different manufacturer.