Adcom GFR-700HD 7.1-Channel 145-Watt High Definition A/V Receiver

by Adcom

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 22 x 21 x 11 inches ; 48.6 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 49 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• Shipping Advisory: This item must be shipped separately from other items in your order. Additional shipping charges will not apply.
• ASIN: B001CT83LG
• Item model number: GFR-700HD
• Average Customer Review: 1.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #102,040 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)

Product Description

ADCOM GFR-700HD 7.1-Channel, 145-Watt High Definition A/V Receiver

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars UPDATE REVIEW: Not worth it., December 29, 2010

By 

Andrew Sweet (Boston, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Adcom GFR-700HD 7.1-Channel 145-Watt High Definition A/V Receiver (Electronics)

UPDATED REVIEW 1/3/2012: This amplifier sounded great and was a delight, until it failed, about 10 months after purchase. Though I knew this going in, the first thing to beware of with Adcom and other "high-end" audio companies is the highly questionable and anticompetitive practice of only honoring warranties for gear purchased from "authorized" dealers. Of course nothing bought here on Amazon qualifies, so NO warranty coverage is available. I took the risk because the massive discount made it seem worth it, but no longer. After the DSP board failed only the 7.1 analog inputs would work. Finding competent service for this unit is far from easy. Adcom provides virtually no assistance to their repair outlets, and they take forever to turn around requests for information etc. Long story short, I'm looking at a risky $1000 repair job, or using the unit strictly as a power amp. To say I am disappointed in this outcome would be a colossal understatement. I will certainly never purchase anything made by Adcom ever EVER again, and I would advise all others to beware this company. They may have been great once, but those days are gone. For breaking before you're a year old and Adcom's horrible service, 1 star, despite how great you sounded before that. (I thought of bestowing a 2nd star for the functioning power amp, but no.) Customer very unhappy. It shouldn't have to be this way.

ORIGINAL REVIEW:
I had been coveting this receiver/amplifier for some time, knowing the Adcom reputation and that this unit would be a perfect fit for my system, so when I saw it drop below $1K I knew I had to finally get one. Originally released in 2005, and a bit long in the tooth now, it nevertheless sports 2 HDMI inputs and one output (all rated to 60Hz) along with optical and coaxial digital inputs (3 each) and the usual complement of component, composite, s-video and RCA inputs/outputs. The user manual can be downloaded at Adcom's website for full technical details.

I've had this amp for just under a month now. Initial setup was somewhat difficult (I consider myself experienced) and took a few tries before I got everything right. It took time to get used to the unit's remote and menu system, though once you get the hang of it, it's fairly straightforward. One tip hidden in the manual that is vital to know early on: there is a button on the remote called "Main" that needs to be pressed if/when the amp seems to be ignoring the remote's commands (I have not yet started exploring the remote's 'multi-remote' programmability).

My primary concern for this amplifier is stereo sound reproduction. The surround/home theater side of things is secondary to my needs, though still important. Adcom is well known to audiophiles as a maker of top quality amps, and this unit is no exception. Once I got everything set up correctly, the sound quality was spine-tingling from the get-go and continues to impress as the amp 'breaks in'. In true audiophile fashion, there are no tone controls available (bass/treble) unless and until you instruct the amp to go into bypass mode, which routes the signal through the circuits that perform those functions. Otherwise, those circuits are avoided. In a similar vein, the R/L front 7.1 inputs can be employed as a straight "pure analog" input, completely bypassing the amp's A/D converter (I'm using this for my turntable-preamp input with spectacular results). The bass delivered by this amp is especially impressive, very full and natural. I have as yet no complaints about the sound. Surround performance is awesome also.

There are a few quirks, some of which may be fixable, I just may not yet have found the appropriate function or menu choices yet. For instance, the amp resets the volume to -40dB whenever you change inputs, or whenever it comes out of the setup menu. This has gotten a bit tiresome on occasion, as I've been frequently adjusting the setup in these first few weeks. And why do you have to reset the volume if I'm just making a video adjustment? Then there's the one major design quirk: though this is a 7.1 amplifier, you only get 5 speaker terminals plus a sub output, essentially 5.1 output. To get 7.1 sound, you have to hook up a SECOND AMP to the rear surround channels via the Adcom's 7.1 outputs, and power those two rearmost speakers with the second amp. The Adcom will not power those last two speakers by itself. I knew this limitation going in and it was not a deal-killer for me. As I said I'm most interested in stereo music, home theater is secondary.

But on the surround front, the Adcom provides a number of surround options (most of which will be familiar to those who have used surround amps before, see the Adcom manual for details on all the different modes) and I must give a particular thumbs-up to the "5 Stereo" mode, which simply sends right and left to their appropriate speakers (front and rear) and a combined (mono) signal to the center. The processing employed by most amps/modes to translate stereo into a 5.1 setup is typically abhorrent to audiophile sensibilities, but the Adcom's 5-Stereo mode achieves a more-than-tolerable stereo surround with commonsense simplicity.

The 700HD is a multi-room amp capable of managing a "room 2", though an additional amp is required to power those speakers, the Adcom will just act as the input source. I have not set any of that functionality up yet.

The video upconversion & processing abilities are impressive as well, but here I think is where this model is starting to show its age. Though I have not yet been able to perform all the testing I want on this yet, it does seem that there is a bit more video artifacting at 1080i going through the amp, as opposed to a straight cable-to-TV HDMI hookup. But from what I read no cable system dishes 120Hz HD, so the 60Hz limitation of the amp shouldn't be a factor there. More testing on my part is required to confirm the artifacting differences. Soon I will have a BD and will be able to check how a true 1080p 120Hz source looks through the amp (I suspect I'll be hooking the BD straight to the TV for video). I will update this review if I discover anything remarkable.

In conclusion, this amazing audiophile HD receiver is an absolute steal at any price point under $1000, despite being a five year old design. I am very happy to own one and would recommend it to anyone who cares about good sound.

1.0 out of 5 stars ADCOM GFR-700HD, November 25, 2011

By 

JGaines - See all my reviews

This review is from: Adcom GFR-700HD 7.1-Channel 145-Watt High Definition A/V Receiver (Electronics)

Run away from this company, its products are low quality. I purchased my first Adcom system approximately 23 years ago and still have the components which work well. I upgraded my system to include a surround sound next and was happy with the upgrade until I found out the system didn't support digital input. After doing the research I found I was sold the outdated model by an unscrupulous company (Circuit City) who were getting rid of the components since Adcom upgraded with the advent of digital ( I know, I'm old and have been around a bit). So I needed a new surround sound and didn't blame Adcom so I bought another Adcom (GFR-700HD) and have regretted it ever since.

The system is extremely difficult to set up and finicky at best. Currently I cannot get the unit to stop turning on by itself and automatically switching to video 3. I've tried everything in the poorly written manual and getting a hold of Adcom support is a nightmare. I'm only working so hard because I paid $3,000.00 for the unit when it was new but I'm close to using it for target practice and getting a Bose system which is easy plug and play and sounds much better.

I'm certain the poor quality is a result of selling out the company and moving overseas. Pity, really like my Adcom stereo system.
Again, run away from Adcom. You've been warned.

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Adcom Horrible, April 28, 2011

By 

Dan (aka THXkid) (Phoenix, Az United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Adcom GFR-700HD 7.1-Channel 145-Watt High Definition A/V Receiver (Electronics)

own one went bad in one year never in my life of owning any receiver over 25 years had I ever had one go bad, shows me not to go with this POS, customer service is POS and their service centers are POS, stay with Onkyo at least they never wear out, still made in japan, at least they one I bought that runs circles around this POS system.