Guest Bret Posted November 27, 2003 Report Share Posted November 27, 2003 I need you guys to help me. I can't audition everything but want "it all."I am in the market for a new preamplifier. I have an Adcom GTP-740, broken at the moment, that's "okay sounding" but just. I have a Carver CT-17 I intended to use in a compromise home- theater setup, but it's not really my cup-of-tea and doesn't sound as good as the Adcom when it works. I also own an aged SAE-2900 which, of the three, sounds best to me.I'm looking for something I can pick-up used because I can't handle the $3,000 and up price tags for new high-end gear. But I have some prerequisites or "demands." A) I don't want tube gear so an old Audio Research preamp might sound terrific, but no. It needs a good DAC because I plan to use fiber optic inputs, I do not share the consensus view that the digital coax cables sound better and have no interest in spending $500 on interconnects.C) I want a remote control for the volume.D) It has to have at least two digital source inputs.Modest demands, right? I don't need, but am not opposed to having, a surround processor built in as long as I can turn it off.Suggestions?Bret Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Bret Posted February 16, 2004 Report Share Posted February 16, 2004 >I need you guys to help me. I can't audition everything but want "it all."<I retract the question.After looking around and deciding that my room simply doesn't justify big dollars I saw the deal on the Sunfire Symphonic Reference preamp and amplifier and have gone that way. It was so cheap that I have ordered a good (not great) DAC to try and make my changer sound reasonable and the whole shebang is cheaper than a "good" preamp.The Sunfire amplifier solves a big problem I was having with space with an Adcom GFA-555 Mk II. (I still think that's a great amplifier, not merely good, but great.) Ultimately I'll end-up with 500w/channel into 4 ohms, no heat, a relatively short cabinet for an amp of that size, and at least decent sound.I've also had my Adcom preamplifier repaired. It ought to be in transit for delivery in the next few days. The Carver CT-17 has been sold. In my second setup the Adcom is going to have to do whether I love it or not. I have an older SAE MOSFET amplifier I'll be using with it for a while, then I plan to completely rebuild a rather old and strange ESS amplifier I have, use it (for nostalgic reasons), and get rid of the SAE, or perhaps fuse the 2ax's I gave to my son and give the SAE amplifier to him.BTW - I have no idea if the following is true, I'm just reporting what I was told:The Adcom GTP-740s seem to be notorious for having a list of symptoms they exhibit. Mine was doing those things. After shipping my unit to an authorized Adcom repair center the tech called me and said that in each case he had seen this before, the culprit was that the soldier joints on the main-most board (on the bottom) were bad. Several or all of the joints, not just one or two. The only way to repair this, I was told, was to pretty-well completely disassemble the preamp from the top down (it can't be done bottom up) and then to remove all old soldier by hand and resoldier the entire board. This is a relatively expensive proposition because it is so labor-intensive. Total cost was about $275 including freight. I have seen these sell in the $350 range on ebay over and over, so we're talking a goodly portion of the value of the preamplifier.IF anyone cares about the outcome of the repair I'll be happy to report once I get the piece back in service. I only offer because there has been such frustration with repairs that didn't work.Bret Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Sean Posted February 28, 2004 Report Share Posted February 28, 2004 Bret: I work in the electronics industry for a living and make most of my money doing repairs and modifications to existing designs. The service tech is making things sound a lot more difficult than they really are. In doing so, he tries to make the customer feel that a higher price for repair is "more justified" than if he told you that he had to re-flow the existing joints to repair the problem. I would bet you a million dollars that he's NOT pulling everything from the board, sucking out the old solder and then re-installing everything piece by piece, solder joint by solder joint. If he did that, he is an incompetent idiot to say the least. Given the date of your post, it is probably too late to stop this type of transaction, but for future reference, i would avoid this person for this type of work. Sean> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Bret Posted February 28, 2004 Report Share Posted February 28, 2004 >I would bet you a million dollars that he's NOT pulling everything from the board, sucking out the old solder and then re-installing everything piece by piece, solder joint by solder joint. If he did that, he is an incompetent idiot to say the least.<Okay, Sean, you have a great point. He did the work, charged me too much, I got the preamp back not double-boxed as I had sent it, and it now has different problems than it had when it left - well, mostly. One of the problems is simply the same.Got tweaks for GTP-740?Bret Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Sean Posted February 28, 2004 Report Share Posted February 28, 2004 Boy, you're fast : )Let me clarify that i don't work in the field of audio electronics for a living. I do communications and audio is strictly a hobby at this point in time ( although that might change ). Having said that, why not contact "Dufus" ( rhymes with "Rufus") and have him correct the problem(s) that you've already paid to have taken care of? If he is a man of honour and you made him aware of the problems upon arrival, he should stand behind his work unconditionally. Having said that, i can understand that you might not want to send it back to him if he supposedly did his best to begin with.What kind of problems are you having with it? Sean> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Bret Posted March 1, 2004 Report Share Posted March 1, 2004 When I sent my GTP-740 for repair it:1) would play for 30 seconds or more commonly 3 hours, then buzz, then play, then buzz then burp and buzzz(loudly), then go silent. Turning it off and back on immediately had no effect. Turning it off for a minute sometimes did. Turning it off for an hour always did. There was no difference if playing the tuner or using the internal DAC or using analog inputs.2) it was necessary to turn the volume control to 10-11 o'clock to get output.3) it got hotter than it should haveWhen I got it back after a $70 "look-see" and $187 worth of labor time plus $50 in shipping (both, not each, direction) the burping and heat seems to be fixed, but1) When using the onboard DAC with a digital source, there is a "ssst" every time a digital signal stops or a new one starts (between tracks of a CD, for instance).2) there is still no output until 10-11 o'clock3) the "surround mode" indicators indicate "Dolby Digital" even when they also indicate "2-channel audio."And I'll just mention that the unit doesn't sound very good. I can't imagine Adcom letting a design out the door with their name on it that sounds this muted, veiled, and compressed. Honestly I can't say if it sounded this way before it was worked-on. (auditory memory being what it is)What I can say, absolutely, is that a used GTP-740 can be purchased in the $300-350 range, that Adcom itself didn't seem to have much luck repairing them, that some parts (if they can be had) are very expensive, that I have something on the order of $600 in this one, and that I'm honestly afraid of throwing more good money after bad.Oh, and Adcom will not respond to voice-mail, fax, or email regarding sending this unit to them for repair. That alone means I'll never buy a piece of new Adcom gear, and neither will my friends who know my frustrations.And you hit the nail on the head re:sending the unit back to the Authorized Adcom Service Center. I can't imagine letting a piece out of the shop that still didn't work and had new problems, so I'm not inclined to give them a second whack at it even if all I had to pay was the $50 shipping.Bret Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest dogmeninreno Posted March 3, 2004 Report Share Posted March 3, 2004 Bret, My GTP 750 has very little output under 10:00 position either. Does the 740 display the DB output? I bought it new a few months ago and am very pleased with it. I have had some trouble in the past with adcom's response time to e-mails so now I call them and they get back very quickly. If you bought this GTP 740 from a authorized cealer, I believe Adcom will repair it free for life! I have heard that the 740 was somewhat of a problem for Adcom and they surely should help you out. their phone # in Scottsdale Az is: Telephone: (480) 607-2277There is a trick getting through their voice mail but I forget how I did it. Good luck!! Dale PS: I received your shipment on Monday. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Bret Posted March 4, 2004 Report Share Posted March 4, 2004 >If you bought this GTP 740 from a authorized cealer, I believe Adcom will repair it free for life!<Ah, no, someone unloaded it on me second-hand. Maybe that's not fair, maybe they didn't know it was a piece of junk. I took Adcom's general reputation and my limited exposure to the GFA-555MkII and one of their early amps and just believed that it would "all be okay."If I'd bothered reading about the GTP-740 first, I would have skipped it and bought something else.I have heard that the 740 was somewhat of a problem for Adcom and they surely should help you out.<I understand that they can't warranty second-hand gear, and I don't even want them to. But what I would have liked was a response. Even a "drop dead" response would have been better than silence.What I wanted them to do was take it in and fix it. You'd think they have experience.Fortunately, I'm not in a hurry anymore. The Sunfire preamp I got seems to be very nice, far beyond the price I paid for it. It sounds like. . . nothing as far as I can tell.>their phone # in Scottsdale Az is: Telephone: (480) 607-2277<I'll see if that's the number I've been calling.Bret Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest computerpulse Posted August 3, 2006 Report Share Posted August 3, 2006 I would buy the broken 740 off of you. I can use it for parts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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