What ever happened to Adcom?

[JerryDelColliano]

I got a returned email from them recently and haven't had the time to chase down the guy in Arizona who bought the brand.

In its day - Adcom had the world by a string. I sold Adcom at Sasafras Audio in Brwn Mawr (on the "main line") and we used to move a LOT of it. 565 monoblocks and even the small 535 amp. It was GREAT bang for the buck stuff and back then mainstream wealthy people bought audio gear more than today. It wasn't all about selling HDTVs.

I never could get Adcom to buy ads with the new owners and honestly they never really advertised anywhere. Everyone wants to create "dealer push" but in the end you need "consumer demand" which comes from ads, reviews and overall buzz. In the history of audiophila - I am not sure there was ever a brand that had more buzz than Adcom.

I guess the lesson is - no matter how INCREDIBLE your brand is (McIntosh, Luxman, Marantz, Adcom, Kef and many others) you can damage it if you take your eye off the ball. The good news for some of the aforementioned brands - the name can be saved.

[deacongreg]

I`m so glad you brought them up Jerry. I also sold ADCOM at Harveys. The 555 was a great seller!! Excellent power, good control, nice bass, good price. I actually won the 60 watt per channel ADCOM 535 power amp. Though, to be honest, it should have been a 555. But a dis honest salesman there, sold one of my customers on my day off, and I lost those points.
But, very very good reliable equipment. Hardly ever came back to the shop for repair.

Hopefully, the new owners your talking about, know what they have, and love music. Not just a bunch of lawyers or businessman!!

[Merton]

I owned a pair of 565's (the 300-watt monoblocks) for ~ 10 years. We mostly used them in our demo room for my laser light show company. A couple of years ago one of my trusty Denon 6600 monoblocks died in my home system. I brought the Adcoms home to use with my Kef 104.2's. While the Adcoms still had plenty of punch (gobs of current), they sounded like broken glass compared to the Denons. Maybe I had gotten spoiled, sharing office space with a 300B tube manufacturer, maybe the Adcoms' cap had dried out, maybe my ears had changed. Anyway I replaced them and my Adcom preamp with a Nad receiver for HT and an AES (Cary Audio's less expensive line) tube amp. I'm now having the Denon's repaired and recapped.

Jim

[JerryDelColliano]

Adcom 565's and Kef 104.2's - man you are bringing up gear from my past. I used to sell that exact system at Bryn Mawr Stereo and Sassafras back in Philly when I was a teenager.

The Adcoms were the only amp we had that could power Magnepans

[deacongreg]

Well Jerry, whenever you find this guy, please let us know the state of Adcom for today, and in te future.

[Merton]

Originally Posted by JerryDelColliano

Adcom 565's and Kef 104.2's - man you are bringing up gear from my past. I used to sell that exact system at Bryn Mawr Stereo and Sassafras back in Philly when I was a teenager.

The Adcoms were the only amp we had that could power Magnepans

Yeah, I had Maggies - Tympani I-D's - just before the Kefs, but my fiance hated the "dressing screens" so I got rid of them. We've been married 17 years now. Those were the last speakers I let her make me get rid of. My credibility is kind of shot now. I convinced her that once we bought a sailboat the cost of ownership would be nothing. It ran on air, which is free.....

Anyway I'm still happy with the 104.2's. I don't know of anything else I could replace them with for reasonable $$. Am I missing something here? I have a Sunfire True sub Mk II I use with them along with a Kef center and no-name rears.

I also have custody of a pair of Snell C speakers (being reconed) and a pair of AR-1's (with built-in Sunfire subs) living in pergatory in the basement. Both are way too big to pass the WAF to bring upstairs.

Jim