September 8, 2024

Complete Starter System

After a 400-mile+ motorcycle ride to South Carolina—just north of Columbia, I am now the proud owner of some vintage Accommodate equipment: a GTP-450 preamp and, more importantly, a GFA-5300 amplifier. Coupled with my Sonus Faber Sonetto IIs and my Eversolo DMP-A6 streamer, I now have a complete, entry-level system. The Adcom components were inexpensive, so I decided to go for it.

Giles and I left fairly early to hit the backroads in our usual caravan style. It was a lovely morning, a bit cool and overcast. The BMW R 1200 GS was running beautifully, and I enjoyed the 200 miles to South Carolina. I had found the Adcom components on Craigslist, then Facebook. I was looking for a GFA-545 or a GFA-555, but while there were a few available, the GFA-555 I did find that was about the price I wanted to pay, the guy in Atlanta decided he wanted to keep it. So, I found this pair of later-model Adcoms and decided to pick them up.

It turns out the guy selling them finds and repairs audio equipment, and he'd been doing it for most of his life. He had a sound shed packed with stuff. He had the Adcoms playing some Dire Straits when we came in, and after chatting for a bit, we had the stuff loaded and were headed to Augusta for some lunch. We arrived back in Macon late-afternoon, and in-all it was a productive and fun day. I had about 435 additional miles on the GS.

This week Giles and I will set up my system in his front room where it will live until I get my studio built. More on that soon.