Anthony Goldie Posted February 20, 2021 Share Posted February 20, 2021 I bought an Adcom 555se yesteerday to replace my dead Rotel rb 1080 was wondering if anyone owned one or had in the past and what they thought-what gear they had with it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al.M Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 (edited) On 20/02/2021 at 8:12 AM, Audio Adrenaline said: I bought an Adcom 555se yesteerday to replace my dead Rotel rb 1080 was wondering if anyone owned one or had in the past and what they thought-what gear they had with it I used to have the old 555, which with the 2000 year mark 2 version (last pic) apparently sold about 100,000 units world wide regarded as one the best amps price wise. Reviews are saying the SE versions is basically a tweaked up version of the Mk2 and pictures below look that way, decent build quality. It was a powerful generally even handed sound. What preamp and speaker do you have. Edited February 21, 2021 by Al.M 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon Macfarlane Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 On 20/02/2021 at 8:12 AM, Audio Adrenaline said: I bought an Adcom 555se yesteerday to replace my dead Rotel rb 1080 was wondering if anyone owned one or had in the past and what they thought-what gear they had with it I have the 555mk 2. The Rotel was to me the better all round amp as the 555 can be bright and forward. That being said there is loads of info online on long established upgrades for the input signal board that improves the problems. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony Goldie Posted February 21, 2021 Author Share Posted February 21, 2021 Nice thanks for showing me that- I'm using it in a computer audio setup with Jriver media centre as the hub on pc and output to a NAD c510 preamp dac and im running a set of Acoustat spectra 11s Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon Macfarlane Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 How does it sound to you? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony Goldie Posted February 21, 2021 Author Share Posted February 21, 2021 well having had the two amps back to back within 2 weeks I thought that the Adcom has a much wider soundstage and is clearer on vocals than the rotel rb 1080 I had. not to mention tons more power but i guess it probably works different in every system also my speakers are electostatic which are not at all efficient..... so probably the adcoms extra current helps 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al.M Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 4 hours ago, Audio Adrenaline said: well having had the two amps back to back within 2 weeks I thought that the Adcom has a much wider soundstage and is clearer on vocals than the rotel rb 1080 I had. not to mention tons more power but i guess it probably works different in every system also my speakers are electostatic which are not at all efficient..... so probably the adcoms extra current helps I’ve had the Acoustat Spectra 11 hybrid ESL panel and woofer system, which are quite nice. I had the 555 amp another time before the Spectra. The Spectra should be quite forgiving and work well on the 555se amp. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter_F Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 On 20/02/2021 at 8:12 AM, Audio Adrenaline said: I bought an Adcom 555se yesteerday to replace my dead Rotel rb 1080 was wondering if anyone owned one or had in the past and what they thought-what gear they had with it I'm really impressed with them. They're fantastic amps to run Gale 401's, which they seem to do quite effortlessly. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony Goldie Posted February 22, 2021 Author Share Posted February 22, 2021 I think that Nelson Pass of Pass Labs fame designed the first 555-dont know what happened after that but hey its a good foundation to start from 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon Macfarlane Posted February 22, 2021 Share Posted February 22, 2021 16 hours ago, Audio Adrenaline said: well having had the two amps back to back within 2 weeks I thought that the Adcom has a much wider soundstage and is clearer on vocals than the rotel rb 1080 I had. not to mention tons more power but i guess it probably works different in every system also my speakers are electostatic which are not at all efficient..... so probably the adcoms extra current helps I missed that you have the much newer SE variant of which I have no experience. I would have thought that the 1080 and 555se would have been pretty close in power and current output given the similar size of their respective power supplies. 12 hours ago, Peter_F said: I'm really impressed with them. They're fantastic amps to run Gale 401's, which they seem to do quite effortlessly. Didn't like the sound with my Gales given the amps aforementioned character. It did do a great job of driving my passive Isobarki subs though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony Goldie Posted February 22, 2021 Author Share Posted February 22, 2021 maybe the output difference was because my 1080 was dying lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon Macfarlane Posted February 22, 2021 Share Posted February 22, 2021 I suspect so. do you know what the problem was? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony Goldie Posted February 22, 2021 Author Share Posted February 22, 2021 the tech said it was transistors and the bias was out he wanted 500 to fix it and id heard of the glue on the circuit boards melting and it happening again to people so when this came up i grabbed it instead Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wimbo Posted February 22, 2021 Share Posted February 22, 2021 I used to sell them in the early 90's. I thought the bigger Adcom power amps were good value for money. I also thought that Rotel rested on the Laurel's of the RA820 and 840BX integrateds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZEN MISTER Posted February 22, 2021 Share Posted February 22, 2021 I had an Anniversary edition of the top of the line model, forget the model number. It was dual mono circuitry and very powerful, but great tonal properties, huge soundstage, tall, deep and wide. I always placed it with minimum 12 inches of ventilation all round. Re-homed it with a mate, with due warning about the need to breath. He ignored my advice and bunged it in a case with minimal circulation. First hot day of summer, belting out some tunes, you can guess the rest. It was an awesome amp. Much missed. Billy. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony Goldie Posted February 22, 2021 Author Share Posted February 22, 2021 thats a very sad story-people just dont get the ventilation concept sometimes -I keep my gear on an open stand my wife keeps trying to talk me into putting it in a cabinet-but thats one area I WILL disobey mine seems to run hot on one of the channels heatsinks when pushed but is ok again when at normal listening levels. Normal behaviour I gues.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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