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August 31, 2008 - 2:05pm
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Adcom or Anthem?
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I've heard the Anthems casually listening and they seemed just fine.
I've been hearing the Adcoms for twenty year and I still love them.
I use a pair of 585 SE's for my Apogee speakers and they keep the current flowing, offer solid bass and delicate treble, and do it all without drawing attention to themselves.
That, I think is the main strength of the Adcoms - they don't get in the way. There is not much in the way of signature sound with the Adcom line, which may be the highest form of accomplishment an amp can offer.
The good news with either amp is that there is a reasonably good aftermarket.
One other good thing about the Adcom is that the 5500 has a solid 'evolutionary' heritage in their product line. It has been well hashed out in terms of performance and reliability.
Either way, I think you will do well.
By the way, what speakers and preamp are you going to be using?
I am using Paradigm's Signature S2's V2 with a Velodyne DD15 sub. My preamp is Anthem's AVM-50 with ARC room correction system.
Currently, I am using a Simaudio Titan 5 x 200 power amp for my fronts and surrounds. I have an older GFA-5500 to power my rear channels. My eventual goal is to get a Simaudio W5 to power my mains and switch the Titan to the remaining channels. In the meantime, I'm looking for something to carry me until I get the W5.
I know neither the Adcom or Anthem is in the league of the Simaudio, but still want the best of the two because when I get the W5, I will be moving the Anthem or Adcom to my other system.
While I have nothing negative to say about Anthem, I vote Adcom. Over the years I've six different Adcom products and couldn't complain about the performance of any of them. For many years I had an Adcom GFA-5802 which is a Nelson Pass design without the Nelson Pass price on the used market you should be able to get one for about $1,000. Mine drove Martin Logan CLS speakers happily which is extremely impressive because they are some of the most difficult to drive speakers ever made. Their impedance varies between 0.78 ohms all the way up to 16 ohms between 20Hz to 20kHz.
With respect to Nelson Pass. I've never heard even a mediocre sounding design from him. Everything he has any input into sounds great. When talking to a rival designer about Nelson's track record he said without a trace of irony, "He could make a toaster sound good." He also worked on the GFA-5800, which was the predecessor to the GFA-5802.
For years I've heard rumors that he was somewhat involved with the design of the GFA-555 as well, which was considered a giant killer in it's day. The level of involvement differs depending on the source, but listening to it tells me he had SOMETHING to do with it.