Canuck Audio Mart

Well known as the amplifier killer, the Infinity Kappa 8 that I bought a few weeks ago were too hard to drive for my little Sansui AU-7500 so I decided to buy a "Muscle amp" like the Adcom GFA-555.
I try them together at normal volume and was satisfied.

Yesterday, my wife went out with my little girl for shopping and my neighbour was out for vacation so... I sit with my beer and my funny tobaco and I decided to push the amp a bit .....let's say the volume at 4....that was pretty loud and very good sounding actually great sound for listening to Jonnie Lang live on DVD.

After one hour, the sound stopped on the right side

The heatsink was burning hot.

So, even the Adcom GFA-555 200 watts R.M.S per channel can't hold properly the Kappa's.
Adcom GFA-555 Description: Output Power: 200W into 8 ohms (23dBW); 325W into 4 ohms (22.1dBW), all continuous power, 20Hz-20kHz, with 0.09% THD. Input impedance: 22k ohms. Sensitivity: 130mV.

Conclusion, I am still shopping for the right amplifier that could hold properly my speakers.

Not an Adcom fan at all, but thats bad amp manegement.
One side?

Both, fine, but one side is a dead old amp.

something newer is in order...

Classe.

This amp was very little used according to my tech when he did the check-up and service on it............

What part of 'old' did I leave out, bud?

If its mine, I remount the output transistors and wave over the high power connections.
Your tech didn't do a bong/Floyd combo, and neither would I, for a checkup.

No harm, no foul, but I have heard a nice Classe ca200 that I sold a chap on those. Nice.

AND it saved you a hassle if you sold it and the next guy had a prob.

The dude from whom I purchased an Adcom 5500 last week was running these same speakers on an old Macintosh 240. He found the Adcom's higher register too up front. Same observations here on my Kef 105/2... I still prefer my Quads or Hafler 500.

Speaking of Hafler, they have the reputation to handle any load. The DH500 is 2 x 255w under 8 ohms.

Industrial equipment does that.

It was the 555 MK2 that they made the changes to handle stats and hard loads
easier. As reflected by previous post it is older and can be prone to fail with
hard loads.


All the best Les

BTW. From Adcom's own litterature about the 5500.

"Each channel uses 10 Power Mosfet output devices. These devices are each rated to handle 20 amps of output current. This output capacity is adequate to deliver full power into 2 ohm loads, and the amplifier is completely stable driving 1 ohm or less."

Sorry to hear about your troubles. I had to buy something bigger and badder when my Thiel CS2.3's arrived last year, and after a little research I bought a Sunfire 300 Load Invariant stereo amplifier:

http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volume_2_1/productr.html

I honestly can't find anything to complain about with this amplifier: it's smooth & grain free, will run any load, seems to have endless power, and can be found used for around $800. If you really hate your neighbors you can buy the "Signature" version which has double the power @ 600 watts RMS x 2

OB156 told me that Carver amp are good for the Kappa's.....they are expensive too.
My budget is around 500.00$......any suggestion for this money ?

-- 28 Jul 2010 16:19 --


Wow !
Super nice amplifier .........I want it !

Hi Lee that was for the 5500? Or the GFA555.

I wonder if an older Bryston 4B (pre-NRB) would do the trick? I used one for a short time that did a fine job with my Thiels, and I think they're closer to your price range.

I will go for a definitive solution because everything that I bought I sent it directly to my tech for service before using.
That will be too costy to do many experience trying to find the right one.....I will try to buy the Sunfire 300 that you suggest me.

Big thanks to you!

Please guy's tell me if you see one !

That was for the 5500. I purchased a mint one to drive subwoofers for $400 in Montreal.

The sound is not bad at all, but I prefer the smoothness of my other amps. I guess it is only a matter of taste at this point. I nitially found it was grainy, but it was the result of the Cambridge CD player that sometimes has problems...

Good luck with your search. FYI: there's actually three different versions of the Sunfire Stereo 300 amplfier, and you can find an explanation of the differences in this thread from the Carveraudio Forum:

http://www.carveraudio.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=11430

I think they're all equally capable, but the later ones may sell for slightly more. You should be able to determine the age of any Sunfire amp by the first two digits of the serial number, which indicate the year of production.