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April 29, 2008 - 8:47am
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Just got a new amp and things sounds worse?
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Confused. You had no power amp before? You ran your main speakers using only the subwoofer amp?? How?
The Adcom gfa 5300 is a nice amp, with honest uncolored sound - so your choice of that is probably not the problem. Possibly since you bought it used for $100 it may be faulty/damaged. More info??
In the meantime - that's good you have connections from the preamp seperately to the main speakers, and to the sub. Turn the sub all the way down. Listen. If your speakers sound fine (altho with less bass volume than with subwoofer on), then that's good. Then gradually bring up the volume on the subwoofer to integrate well with the main speakers. Not too much - the subwoofer's location should not reveal itself as a separate sound source, if it is properly blended with the main speakers.
(turn off tone controls on the preamp for setting things up. use them later if you want)
The sub was from an old set of "Microworks" designed for use with computer etc. so it has 2 inputs and speaker outputs. its about 40 watts total, but always sounded good with the little wharfdales.
So it was designed to also power "outboard" speakers? That clarifies, thanks.
I would think that the adcom would be an improvement so I'm sort of stuck now. Other than having some suspicion that it may be damaged. Do you have a way of putting it into another stereo system to test it out?
Ya I think the Adcom is damaged. I'm sending it back.
Any other reccommendations?
In your other thread, you mentioned a Rotel 970BX as a possible option.
Given your tight budget, the Rotel would be near the top of my short list.
You also enquired about whether or not opting for a newer Rotel would
be worth the extra money. In my opinion, no.
Thanks for the suggestion.
Is there a difference between Rotel 800 series & 900 series that I should be aware of?
And how will the Rotel compare or be different from the Adcom?
Also would the Adcom 5300 (w/mosfet) be better than a 535?)
I'm a big fan of Adcom stuff. Much more so than Rotel. I find that Rotel equipment tends to be overly bright for my tastes. The 555 is an excellent amp. I'm not familiar with the 5300 series.
I haven't heard Rotel but have been very satisfied with my Adcom components. The 5300 is newer than the 535, if I recall correctly, and was introduced as the new/improved version. Can't vouch for it directly since I haven't heard it, but I'd expect good things.