Adcom 565 thumps speaker

Called Stereo Repair - In House Service Company of East Setauket NY.

Told that I probably had a problem with DC offset and that my boards that are connected to the heat syncs are clean. Their website claims "GFA - 565 Monoblock - These units develop a DC offset problem that leads to a loud turn on thump ... the cause is poor quality electrolytic caps on the driver board that lead onto the board and cause corrosion. We clean the board, replace all caps and reistors blah blah blah." $175.

They also claim that you speak with a well versed representative when you call them. I explained my problem to a woman who probably couldn't get a gig at Radio Shack; I was summarily put on hold and then a tech got on the phone and told me that he indeed was not interested in fixing my amp. At this point I prompted with "Isn't this your job? at which point Bartelby replied - "I would prefer not to." stereorepair@optonline.net is the url I went to. Seemed to be bogus site. My impression was that the place is a fly by night run by Dumb and Dumber.

Anyway - boards look clean and problem can be worked around for time being. I may need to get an interim amp and was thinking NAD C-162 but am driving a 4 ohm load rather large floor standing speakers. Any help appreciated. I live in the Metro NY area but have already dealt with two stores and Adcom who will happily purchase these babies back on a trade in for what I don't know (they don't have anything comparable anymore and have much competition in their price sector.) Any ideas are welcome - preferably something on the subject of the NAD C-162. As to my experiences with repair services, it is like mechanics. A real good one is hard to find.

I have Adcom 555II and upon power up they make a thump and you can watch the woofer move some. Nothing to be alarmed about these amps and probably yours do not have speaker relays therefore the "bump" It is not broke so don't fix it.
I am an Audio/Video Tech
some shops are known to rip off the poor customer and it hurts my feelings to hear some of the things I do especially from older clientel of horror story repair stations it is an absolute shame.:(

If I"m not mistaken, that repair shop is the same one that lists some ultra-terrific work they'll perform on Denon DCD-1500's for about the same price as that bogus Adcom GFP-565 "update." (I own a 565, and have never experienced such a problem.)

My DCD-1500 has a dead left channel and I thoght this "update" would be worthwhile. Unfortunately, after reading their fine print, and receiving an email to the same effect, no CD players will be shipped back anywhere: you must pick them up in the shop itself. I guess they never heard of what's been called, for ages, a "transit screw."

I think it's best we all avoid this place.

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Originally Posted by stereorepairlongisland

Called Stereo Repair - In House Service Company of East Setauket NY.

Told that I probably had a problem with DC offset and that my boards that are connected to the heat syncs are clean. Their website claims "GFA - 565 Monoblock - These units develop a DC offset problem that leads to a loud turn on thump ... the cause is poor quality electrolytic caps on the driver board that lead onto the board and cause corrosion. We clean the board, replace all caps and reistors blah blah blah." $175.

They also claim that you speak with a well versed representative when you call them. I explained my problem to a woman who probably couldn't get a gig at Radio Shack; I was summarily put on hold and then a tech got on the phone and told me that he indeed was not interested in fixing my amp. At this point I prompted with "Isn't this your job? at which point Bartelby replied - "I would prefer not to." stereorepair@optonline.net is the url I went to. Seemed to be bogus site. My impression was that the place is a fly by night run by Dumb and Dumber.

Anyway - boards look clean and problem can be worked around for time being. I may need to get an interim amp and was thinking NAD C-162 but am driving a 4 ohm load rather large floor standing speakers. Any help appreciated. I live in the Metro NY area but have already dealt with two stores and Adcom who will happily purchase these babies back on a trade in for what I don't know (they don't have anything comparable anymore and have much competition in their price sector.) Any ideas are welcome - preferably something on the subject of the NAD C-162. As to my experiences with repair services, it is like mechanics. A real good one is hard to find.

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...I've had a few things repaired by them, as well as friends. The job gets done, and it doesn't seem like they would rip someone off. For eg., a friend of mine wanted to refurb some old Dynaco amps, they told him "don't bother". They could have easily soaked him for a restoration, and he was willing to pay.

Find some good quality caps, and let them install!

Thanks for the replies. You are welcome to bring your Dynaco's there. I wouldn't let those people touch a 30 year old Lafayette receiver. As to ripping me off. They saved me the trouble by not accepting the work order and I use a workaround for now. I power up the preamp and peripherals and then turn on the monos and unplug the speaker terminals to the right channel. Then I shut it down, connect and voila - it works. When it doesn't I buy a new amp from a reputable dealer instead of a "Moe Larry and Curly's Mother" Operation like this schmuck runs. I ain't paying someone to "Find some Good Quality caps" - Any TV repair man could fill that order. By the by - IMHO - Dynaco is tube. I wouldn't dream of sending anything valuable to this bum. If he thinks he can turn a dime on you he will. Otherwise, you will be summarily dismissed. Don't waste your time. Take to a reputable Adcom Service Center (Try finding one - Adcom ain't what they used to be). I won't be buying another and the NAD Stereo Amp for $1200 or so will do the job in a pinch if it has to. In the meantime, if it works don't let these guys fix it and if you do let Sonny and Mama's Boy work on your baby - "Good Nite and Good Luck." FWIW

I looked into the mods site recommended but I am not dropping a grand on a pair of 20 year old amps that are not tube and wired (no or little board circuitry). I also e-mailed another one of these "so-called" repair sites "atlasaudiorepair" of Philadelphia. I am waiting to hear back from them but expect nothing. When you tell these guys you actually can bring the amp there to their shop, they suddenly have no interest in your order. Now I could bring this amp to any one of a number of audio or even tv repair places that would take a crack at it or tell me yeh or nay. I am going to try a place nearby with a tech my friend has worked with on his Class A tube amps. IMHO - THESE INTERNET SEND ME YOUR WEARY AMPLIFIER and we will resurrect it for you is nothing more than an effort in futility and possibly worse. I would steer way clear of any sites like these because they are obviously IMHO (and I have a few of them) BS! Thanks for the replies and I did look into those mods but that would be the cadillac engine in the volkswagon though that dates me no doubt as today a volkswagon engine may be in a cadillac or you would prefer one. Anyhoo. The saga ends with several lessons learned yet again. Lesson 1, 2, and 3 summarized - if it seems to good to be true - it is!!!! Be careful who you entrust your equipment to. Generally, if it is not a super high end or classic item, you are probably better off buying something new which is what I did. I will get the other fixed or do myself as I am obtaining the schematics and electrolytic caps. It isn't rocket science though they would like you to believe it so. Happy listening to all and look before you ship that package to HomeboyAudioFixers.com. By-the-by - picked up the Rotel 1070 Stereo Amp. Nice little amp for the price - does the job with little loss in sound quality. May bi-wire my speakers if and when I ever get the Monos going again. All the best and happy listening. By the by - if you need an amp and your budget is around $700, you could do a lot worse than this Rotel. I am surprised how decent it is for the money. Peace!:17:

I did hear back from atlasaudio in NJ. They are in fact a shop and hopefully can actually fix the aforementioned problem. I am hoping to talk to their tech and see if he can or will do the job or whether it's worth doing. The Rotel is nice but just doesn't have the finnesse and polish of the monos and is a bit bright with a lot of bass and mids are good but nothing like the adcom. Anyway - maybe if fixed I can run the monos on top and the Rotel on the bottom. Might make a good combo. I'll let all know if I ever get these amps fixed.:12:

Still waiting for Charles Atlas and Co. to take the weight of the world from my shoulders and fix my amp. Might be time to play let's make an audio deal and cut my losses. Any interest in a pair of 565s (one with the aforementioned DC offset problem.) They both work and the one has been refurbished by Adcom when knew. One of the Big Caps was replaced and has a (resistor?) soldered onto it to match the other cap perfectly. I used for 10 years and never had a problem until recently. Problem is not huge; just no one to fix it and it isn't worth my time. If you can DIY the boards and transistors on this and would like to purchase either one or both of these - jot me a line. dollyrocker2004@yahoo.com

I did in fact hear from Atlasaudio and they are a legit place working out of Philly. When I factored in the cost of shipping and not knowing what all the repairs will cost plus age of equipment, I will live with my Rotel 1070 until I can replace it with a Bryston or better. However, I have spent months finding someone to even get back to me on fixing these amps. I can say that Mike at atlasaudio.com out of Philly came through. I probably will hold on to the amps and fix at a later date; like next time I go to Philly. If you are near philly and need work done on your baby(s), I can tell you that you will speak to a knowledgable human being at atlasaudio.com which will save you the month and $200 it took me to find a legitimate site and that includes the whole NYC metro area. Got hosed for $200 from Cosmophonic Sound on the Upper East Side. Send your equipment to Mike - don't even think of Cosmo as they used to be okay for a pair of headphones but are a rip off now and will jerk you for repairs. My amp has a huge discharge on startup that sets off the instantaneous distortion alert but Cosmo assured me it was fine and that they bench tested it and that it was probably my preamp which they then told me was the problem and that they would repair for $125. $200 and a broken amp and a cleaned preamp that had nothing wrong wtih it. Think twice and then again before taking a repair there. Peace all. Happy listening and kudos to atlasaudio.