jjhaz@ont.com Posted September 27, 2001 Share Posted September 27, 2001 I have cornwalls for the mains and matching klipsch classics all around. Power does not seen to be an issue. The loudest volume on average is 90 DB. I have 5 555's all bridged to mono. I'm thinking about changing to 565 mono blocks, less power but maybe better sound. I had adcoms 5500 @ 5503 but I found them a little muddy some might call it warmer, just personal taste i guess. Does anyone have in eperence with Musical Concepts, modifacations for the adcom amps? Any thoughts would be apprceiated, Jeff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Garrison Posted September 27, 2001 Share Posted September 27, 2001 You're using BRIDGED 555's for CORNWALLS??? Uh, yep, I would guess power's not a problem... Do you ever light the red clipping indicator LED's on the front of the 555s? I'm guessing not... the Cornwall is rated at 98dB / watt at one meter. Assuming that 90dB level you're referring to is some distance away from the speakers, I'd guess you're probably not pushing more than a couple watts on a continuous basis, and maybe 20 watts on peaks, into the speakers. Bridged 555's will put a continuous 600 watts or so into the Cornwall's nominal 8 ohm impedence, with peak levels a couple dBW above that. I was using bridged 555's back when I had B&W 801F's. I found that the bridged circuit in the Adcom hardened up the high end significantly. First thing I'd try, if you haven't done this already, is take two of the 555's, set them to unbridged stereo mode, and drive one channel of each amp to feed one speaker. That is, hook the preamp to one channel of one amp and connect that channel on that amp to one Cornwall, and then use another 555 for the other speaker the same way. This keeps the channel separation you get with the monoblocks, allows the 555 to operate in "normal" unbridged mode (which I found sounded a LOT less harsh), but frees up the power supply to devote full output current to one channel. I honestly think you might be better off by going with one of the much SMALLER Adcoms, the equivalent of what used to be their 535, whatever the model number is now. Adcoms lower powered amps had a reputation for sound much more musical (well, somewhat more musical) than their higher powered amps. ------------------ Music is art Audio is engineering Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjhaz@ont.com Posted September 27, 2001 Author Share Posted September 27, 2001 Ray, Thanks for your thoughts. What you suggested was exactly my next move. Have you had any experence with the 565 mono blocks? Jeff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rowooo Posted September 27, 2001 Share Posted September 27, 2001 jjhaz....I have heard great things about the Musical concepts upgrades. Although sending five amps in would be quite costly. When your talking "Warm" sound are you referring to two-channel listening or all five channels playing. I own the 5500 and it by no means is muddy/warm, in my opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjhaz@ont.com Posted September 27, 2001 Author Share Posted September 27, 2001 Rowooo, Muddy is not a good word. As I said it's personal preferences. I have an older McIntosh amp that I use, I've had 555's and 5500's(5503). I use a 68 tube fender deluxe for my guitar amp. I have falling in and out of love then back in love again with each of these amps. Today I'm in a bipolar amp mood. The 5500 is a great amp. What speakers do you use with your 5500? Jeff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myram Posted September 27, 2001 Share Posted September 27, 2001 I just recently sold an Adcom GFA-555 that had the Musical Concepts LX mod done to it. It was a great amp, really smooth sounding, and the high end was as soft as warm butter.....all in all a very musical amp. It costs $300 for the mod. per amp....so if you want all 5 of yours done that's $1500 plus the shipping charges. I can't honestly believe that a 555 running in stereo with Cornwalls isn't loud enough for you. I had mine running stereo with my Quartets and I hit 118 db at the "sweet spot" about 8 feet from each speaker. Now with your 600 watts per speaker.....that is just insane Why do you need so much power? Isn't a 555 running stereo enough power? How big is the room that you have them in? ------------------ Klipsch Quartets - fronts Klipsch Academy - center Klipsch KG 1.5's - rear surrounds Klipsch KG .5's - rear side surrounds Klipsch KSW12 subwoofer Denon AVR-4800 Denon POA-5200 THX Amp (fronts) Sony C-67ES CD Player JVC 36D201 36" TV JVC HR-S3600 SVHS Player JVC XV-M565BK DVD Player Scientific Atlanta Explorer 2100 Digital Cable box Playstation 2 Monster Power HTS-2000 Monster Cable M-series Speaker Cable and subwoofer cable Monster Component, S-Video, and Optical cables RS HT Gold Interconnects Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheEAR Posted September 28, 2001 Share Posted September 28, 2001 jjhaz congrats on your power play setup.I will never call you insane,as I am one of the few(if any here) to run my mains with 1200W RMS/channel ready to blast in the main music system! Its good to see another audiophile with heavy duty amps all around. The larger Adcoms have plenty of guts and bass control to take of about any speaker made.I had the 5500 and it was driving Mission 765 atthe time.BIG impact,great speed...bass articulation is the word,since then sold. TheEAR(s) Now theears Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjhaz@ont.com Posted September 28, 2001 Author Share Posted September 28, 2001 My quest is not power for power sake. I couldn't agree more that Cornwalls don't need a tremendous amount of power. In fact many, many years ago in land far away (before marriage and kids) My brother and a friend loaded my two Cornwalls into a van, hooked them up to a 50 watt car power amp and went skiing, Dallas to Crested Butte. Kids what are you going to do? Thanks Myram Anyway I'm looking for every watt going to my speakers to be clean and musical, not strained at all. Its nice to know that I have all the power that I will never need. Please tell me more about the mod? Did you get the LX or the signature upgrade? What do use now that's sound better to you? Thanks for the power support from TheEar Thanks, Jeff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rowooo Posted September 28, 2001 Share Posted September 28, 2001 jjhaz...My 5500 powers a pair of Epic CF-2's, and Yes I realize muddy is NOT good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drobo1 Posted September 28, 2001 Share Posted September 28, 2001 I have to agree with Ray Garrison. The Adcom 535 was their best sounding amplifier. I had a couple of 535's and a 555. A friend had 565's and another had the 5802. I still think the little Adcom sounded the most musical and least abrasive. Since going to tubes to drive my La Scalas, the huge solid state amps are in my distant past. Most Klipsch speakers are drawing .1 to less than 5 watts of power most all the time. These big amps don't perform too well at the low end of their power operating range and Klipsch owners never experience these amps where they operate best, the high watt end. drobo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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