Thanks Ed, your opinion is one of the ones I value and was thinking of when I bought this amp, I have never listened to an Adcom amp and am anxious to hear it. I have heard that they are notorious for leaking caps, I plan on opening her up upon her arrival, depending on what I find, if there are leakers I will get a hold of Echowars to go through it, if not I will play it for a while then plan on having Echowars work some of his special magic on her.

Jim

I hope you're happy, and I appreciate your comments about me. Insofar as "leaky caps," I have to confess that in the over 10 years that I've owned my 5800, that's never been a problem. I think that's a fairly strong endorsement for the amp not having leaky caps, especially since, as the on/off switch is broken, the amp has been running practically continuously 24/7 for over 6 years!

I am hoping for no leaky caps but with any equipment it is better to check than to be blindsided, blindsided is usually because someone chose not to look.

For me a power switch would not be an issue as I turn my equipment on and off with use of a power conditioner which provides me with a means of turning preamp and power amp with delayed times with the push of one button, it has a delay for both on and off as well as conditioning and acting as a surge protector.

Jim

Well, the amp arrived, and it won't make a sound. It does power up, you hear click when it powers up, and the power light is on red, and then immediately after there is a second click like relay, I have checked the fuses on the back of the amp and they all check for continuity. I haven't opened it up yet to look around, I guess I should have. I have emailed the seller to see what he has to say, anybody have any ideas on this, this is my first Adcom.

Jim

After 20 minutes of playing nothing, it started making some terrible buzzing and distorted noises, that lasted for around 20 seconds and then that cleared up and it sounds fine now, I don't know if that is the normal warm up time or if the caps just needed time to reshape. I will watch it closely, next time I power it up I hope it doesn't go through that again.

Jim

I have no expertise in this at all, but I'd bet a good contact cleaning would solve a multitude of problems. The great temperature change it went through during shipment probably made and un-made a few connections.

Larry, you are in line with my thinking, however this is one time Deoxit won't help, this is a power amp and the only switch is the power on switch. I think possibly even though I let it sit over night before powering it up that the oil filled caps needed to reshape We shall see.

Time to go push some snow.

Jim

I was thinking more along the lines of internal plugs-connectors-etc. That freezing cold weather may have caused some "shrinkage", if you get my drift.

Jim, that just doesn't sound right. There has never been an Adcom amp that needs to warmup like that. I would discuss the issue with the seller if it was not disclosed in the item description on Ebay, and give them an opportunity to make amends. For example if they are willing to refund $200, you can use that for repair costs, and all is well. You definitely need to have a professional look at it if you are keeping it, because that just isn't right. It may sound OK now, but it might also DC current to one of your speakers, frying it before you can finish reading this post. Why take that chance?

If the seller will refund some money that you can use for reapir and maybe even some mods, you will probably have a great amp that will serve you well for years. However, if the seller won't budge I would consider filing a dispute. I like Ebay, I have had good luck there, and I find most people honest. However, if a seller has not dealt with you fairly, you do all of us Ebayers a favor when you don't backdown.

Good Luck with amp, and keep us informed.

Rob

I am going to power it back up tomorrow and see if it takes that long again to warm up, I have to wonder after being in the subzero temperatures for 5 days in transit, turned on its side and all if the caps didn't just need to reshape, I will know tomorrow when I power it up.

As far as the seller he insists he had listened to it right up to selling it I have no reason at this point to doubt hiim, he has 100% feed back and has sold other electronics,

Jim

I just tried to power the amp up again, after 100 minutes and no sound I turned it off for fear of what damage it may cause to my speakers. I have emailed the seller that this is not normal operation for an amplifier, I will see what he responds before attempting either to return it or whatever.

Jim

Damn!

that sucks. i'm of the same opinion as Rob, the seller should be interested in working with you on this one ... i would rather try and come to an agreement with him and invest that into repairs than to return it and have nothing to show for my shipping cost's.

Should have read 10 minutes.

Jim

Keeping my fingers crossed for you, Jim.

If the seller has a 100% positive feedback over a substantial number of sales, I´d think he will do his best to settle the issue with you.