None for this price. It stages well but sounds TERRIBLE!

Transistorized sound, bright and grainy

This is a typical Burr Brown sounding player. Don't take my advise but listen to the similar priced CAL CL-15 and then comment. This player made me NOT LISTEN to my system. Thank god I have a Basis turntable system or I would have gone crazy. Stereophile must receive alot of dollars from Adcom, obviously, because this should never have been awarded the praise that it has received. It sounds shrill, confined and NOT musical. I purchased Adcoms top pre and amp and they are wonderful and were way less costly than my last setup (that was over $10,000 more!). Take my advise and listen to the CAL side by side, you will definately hear the difference or you should give up being an audiophile!

Similar Products Used:

EAD, California Audio Labs, CJ

Crisp Sound, Build Quality

Yes, the display REALLY IS that bad!

I'd have to agree with what most people have said so far. It would be hard to beat this unit in build quality or sound for under $2500. Solid reproduction of the entire sonic scale -- crisp highs & deep lows. HDCD decoding is a plus. Also allows another digital device to be plugged into the back via coax/optical input to use Adcom's superior D/A converter.

Display is horrible. When I saw the other reviews (before I bought the unit), I thought "how bad could it be?". It is that bad. Horrible engineering. But, with that being the only flaw in an otherwise outstanding unit, I wouldn't hesitate to buy it all over again.

Compared it to the Denon DCD-1650AR (which I could have bought for $149 less) and thought the Adcom was far superior.

Equipment List:
Adcom GFA-585 LE Amp
Adcom GFP-565 Pre-amp
Adcom GCD-750 CD
Mirage OM-7 Speakers
B&O Beogram 8000 Turntable
Denon CDR-W1500 CD Writer
Sony MDS-JE500 Minidisc Recorder
Adcom ACE-515 AC Enhancer
Proflex Interconnects
AudioQuest SA-30 Speaker Wire

Similar Products Used:

Nakamichi MB-2, Nakamichi OMS-5

After 4 years of so-so performance and reliability from an Adcom 5CD changer, I decided to return to a single disc CD player. The marginal build quality of my old Adcom changer made me decide to pass on their current offerings and I looked hard at the CAL CL-15, Meridian 506.20, and even a Sonic Frontiers tube player (tremendous sound, but too many bucks for a living room that has the sounds of two small kids, dishwasher, TV, etc. to compete with). After much cajoling from a salesman, I tried the new Adcom GCD-750, a new design from Nelson Pass and part of their new triad of amp, pre-amp and player. Suffice it to say, this is not your father's Adcom!
With HDCD filtering and both balanced and RCA type outputs (as well as digital input for use with its D/A stage) this player is very flexible in hook-up design. The sound is jaw-dropping, albeit a little forward in upper midrange. (This is tempered by using Audio Magic silver interconnect). My wife is a casual listener at best, and found herself flabbergasted at the difference in sound. At $1250/$1100 this player is a steal! Build quality seems quite good thus far, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. For anyone searching for a single play machine that is a distinct step up from mass-market and sonically competitive with some of the megabuck specialty players, the 750 deserves a serious look.

I have tried two units of this player in my system. The first had been an open box item. It was lacking bass impact and on the whole I was not happy with it.
The 2nd unit, after having been broken in, was significantly better. It had very good bass impact and definition (in fact, it had excellent impact in the mids as well). The image size was large and clearly deliniated. It had well nuanced upper octaves: not shy but neither overly aggressive. On HDCD encoded material, I found it to be a significant improvement over my non-HDCD player. On the whole, I found it to be an excellent player.

Never-the-less, I do have some reservations. First, it's output level is higher than the standard CD output. This could possible overload some preamp sections. I felt that my VTL preamp may have been affected by this. I detected some slight congestion at high levels that might be attributed to this phenomenon. Second, I thought that the remote had the look and quality of a TV remote, i.e., poor look and feel. I am all for spending money where it counts, but at this price range I expect better. Third, the unit I tested, was manufactured in Thailand, and I have some reservations about QC -- but nothing that I detected.

The unit has phase inversion, but I did not experiment much with it.

If you are in the market for a CD player in its price range, I highly recommend that you take one home to audition for yourself.

I have tried two units of this player in my system. The first had been an open box item. It was lacking bass impact and on the whole I was not happy with it.
The 2nd unit, after having been broken in, was significantly better. It had very good bass impact and definition (in fact, it had excellent impact in the mids as well). The image size was large and clearly deliniated. It had well nuanced upper octaves: not shy but neither overly aggressive. On HDCD encoded material, I found it to be a significant improvement over my non-HDCD player. On the whole, I found it to be an excellent player.

Never-the-less, I do have some reservations. First, it's output level is higher than the standard CD output. This could possible overload some preamp sections. I felt that my VTL preamp may have been affected by this. I detected some slight congestion at high levels that might be attributed to this phenomenon. Second, I thought that the remote had the look and quality of a TV remote, i.e., poor look and feel. I am all for spending money where it counts, but at this price range I expect better. Third, the unit I tested, was manufactured in Thailand, and I have some reservations about QC -- but nothing that I detected.

The unit has phase inversion, but I did not experiment much with it.

If you are in the market for a CD player in its price range, I highly recommend that you take one home to audition for yourself.

I will have to admit that I too was quite impressed with this player. The sound was very pleasant overall. Highs are clean with high resolution that just borders on being bright but still had a non-fatiguing sound. Midrange and bass were both very dynamic and tuneful - very good resolution in the lower frequency registers.
What impressed me most was the overall sound presentation. Localization,width, and depth all presented a very realistic soundstage. In addition, sound imaging was first rate - on par with many players that are considerably more costly.

I do not however, currently have any HDCD's to comment on the HDCD performance but would imagine that the experience would rely heavily on the program material. Like many things my experience with HDCD has been that not all discs are created equal.

I did not experience any problems with input overload on my Bryston B60 or Krell KAV 250p, although I definately noticed that both preamps required very little gain to get the sound pressure levels up so the 3.0V input from the unbalanced outs is noticable. Using the balanced outputs with the Krell brought about a slight, but evident improvment in sound quality, most notably with respect to resolution.

I auditioned this player with ADCOM's own 750 preamp to see if any synergy existed between the two. Without going into any detail I will say that if aesthetics are important you and you don't currently have a preamp the ADCOM piece will not disappoint you. As far as the matching companion 5802 amplifier goes I was not as impressed with its performance as much as I was with the preamp and especially the CD player. If you like the sound BIG & LOUD you should check it out. I happen to think that the trio look pretty good together.
When the cost of this player is factored in - and for the bulk of us cost is an issue - I rate it 5 stars. Cost no object, I would give it a pretty solid 4 stars.

Sorry, but after spending all night and most of the morning with this unit, I am going to have to recend my review from earlier. Yes, this is absolutely the best $1000 CD player I have heard. The detail is outstanding. The new "Kind of Blue" 20bit remaster (in the right key) basically puts Davis and Coltrane in the room with you. I was going to try to point out a couple of select phrases on the disc, but there is no way to do that. If you don't own this recording (even if you're not a Jazz fan), you are missing out. Here are the problems I have had in the last 24 hours with this unit:
- Intermittent track skipping and general failure to work. The player will randomly "lose" it's mind and stop playing right in the middle of a track.

- What seems to be excessive heat. After playing a CD and removing it, it is actually hot to the touch. This doesn't seem right. Could this be the cause of the problem above?

- Inability to read a disc. At least 10 times, after changing discs, the player would not read and identify the new disc. The discs were mounted right, and it happened randomly on the same and different discs. Again the heat? Generally, a complete "cold boot" kicked it back into gear.

- Vibration and shuddering of the tray. When closing the tray, with or without a CD loaded, an annoying "shudder" occurs as if the tray is not following the track properly.

Granted, I am auditioning a floor unit that has been on the floor for only 3 or 4 months, but according to the dealer, has had very little use. Something just isn't right here.

I'm dropping back to 3 stars for these technical problems but when the unit works, sonically it's a 5 star.

Needless to say, it's going back to the dealer and I will audition a new model GCD-750 against the new CAL CL-20 HDCD/DVD machine.

Typical Adcom sound. Amusical, lean and mechanical. Bass is overdone and highs are very harsh and reticent. The mids simply are not musical. This player is easily outperfirmed by budget players like the Marantz 63. Not recommended even at half the price.

When auditioning new CD players I tries the Acurus ACD-11,Cal Labs Ikon mk2,and Adcom GCD-750.The system I listened on consisted of Adcom & Aragon amps,Adcom & Aragon pre-amps,Klipsch & Dunlavy speakers,& various types of Tara Labs cables.I ruled out the Acurus real quick(see review)but when it came time between this and the Cal Labs Icon mk2 it was tough.The Adcom sounds fantastic producing almost every sound in a very real manner.The thing that made the choice a tough one is that the Cal Labs sounded just as good.I really couldn't tell the difference between the two.Even though it was $100 more I ended up with The Adcom because it's looks appealed to me more.However,sonicaly either one would make a great player.Highly recommended.

I too auditioned this player against the CAL Icon MKII and the new Denon (I don't know the model). I could tell a difference between all three with the CAL and Denon being closer in my opinion and the Adcom standing out from these two uniquely. SPecifically, the cut Mary on Sarah McLauchlan's Freedom Sessions sounded as close to live as I've heard. A 20bit remastered AJA also contained more detail than I've heard before. I also tried a 24bit Santana III and concluded the the Adcom just gives more detail, presence and "air" to the sound. Even my girlfriend can't believe the difference between the Adcom and my DVD player playing music.
BTW, Jeff, did you happen to buy this piece from Kiefs in Lawrence? I got their last one today.

My System:
Denon AVR3600
Denon DVD 2000
Phase Tech PC3
Boston Acoustic HD-9

My only complaint, NO digital output, only (believe it or not) digital input so you could use the DACs on this things from another transport.

BTW, this thing also has the HDCD processor built in too!
HSU HRSW12Va subwoofer (250W amp)
Monster/TARA labs cables/interconnects