Sherbourn 7/2100 vs. ATI 2007 vs. Adcom GFA-7807 amps

MikeAF · 02-11-2004, 05:32 PM

Hello all,

I'm in the process of simplifying my system for my wife so I'm getting rid of my 2 and 6 channel amps and buying a 7 channel amp, now that there are some good ones out there. The Sherbourn 7/2100 has been at the top of my list for awhile but looking around today I found the ATI 2007 and the Adcom GFA-7807. All are in my price range, around $3000, and the same 200 watts per channel and all have balanced inputs. What I need are comments from owners of these amps about how cool they run, are they noisy, whether they are neutral, bright or warm, how long the power cords are and any other daily useage items I should consider that pictures and websites don't tell. I do have local dealers for all three but will probably not be able to audition them in my home before I buy. It will be mated with the Anthem AVM20 and Diva Swan speakers. The speakers tend to be on the warm side in my room and in my opinion, so I wouldn't want an amp which tends to be on the warm side in the chain. Any comments from owners would be greatly appreciated.

Mike

Allan*C · 02-11-2004, 06:58 PM

Mike,

I recently purchased a Sherbourn 7/2100 which replaced a Rotel 985MkII. It's connected to an Anthem AVM20. I'm not a big believer in amps making a huge difference, but FWIW I would say the Rotel was warmer. Others have posted Rotel deliberately rolls off the highs and I could probably say I agree in comparison to the Sherbourn. It runs cool and is quiet. I looked at, but did not try the Adcom and ATI. From what I've read, they are good amps. In the end I went by price. I got the Sherbourn at significantly less than I could find either of the other two. It was in the $1600 range if I recall. Overall very happy with it. It is heavy though as I believe the others are as well. Had the others been less I probably would have bought them.

MikeAF · 02-12-2004, 08:37 AM

Allen,

Thanks for the info. The Sherbourn amps are the only ones I have had a chance to have in my previous system, the mono blocks, and was just curious how cool and quiet the new amps ran.

Anyone else care to comment, and yes Iam reading the Adcom amp thread.

Mike

Chas_T · 02-12-2004, 09:56 AM

Mike,

I also own the 7-2100 Sherbourn mated with the AVM-20. The amp runs VERY cool and quiet. The only other amps I can compare it to are the Sherbourn 5/1500A, Modial/Aragon 8002, Parasound 855A and a Sony STR-DA777ES receiver. The Sherbourn for my ears sounds pretty neutral.

When the 7/2100 was integrated in my system, I felt it had better soundstage and was a slight upgrade over the 5 channel model. I bought the 7 channel to passive bi-amp a pair of Paradigm Studio 100's, V2. My goal was to integrate seperate amps into one power source as rack space was/is limited. Another can of worms is using amps in mono blocks, 2 channel, 3 channel, etc. to power a 5.1, etc. system.

I am not familar with the ATI or Adcom product line.

Charles

David_h · 02-12-2004, 11:07 AM

My 7/2100 is my first separate amp. I have had it a few months now and can't imagine ever needing to upgrade. It sounds accurate and never gets too hot. I have a small computer fan in my rack that I used to turn on to help my old JVC reciever stay cool. I never use it anymore. The Sherbourn is terrific. I truley believe, one would have to spend thousands more to get anything much better.

**HTF Ads**

MikeAF · 02-12-2004, 01:37 PM

Thanks guys for the replies. I know there were a lot of Sherbourn users out there.

Charles and Allan:

Are you using the balanced connections between the AVM20 and the Sherbourn or the RCA connections? Did you have trouble hooking the cables up as the inputs are on the bottom of the amp and the speaker connections are on the top which means I would have the cross a lot of cables. Was this a problem for either of you? Do you also trigger the amp on with the Anthem or just turn the amp on separately? Thanks again!

Mike

Chas_T · 02-12-2004, 06:52 PM

Hey Mike,

I am using balanced connections between the amp/ssp. However, I don't think the Sherbourn is a true balanced amp.

I wrote this mail to Sherbourn on or about 2/3/03 about the 7/2100 being balanced and this is Mr. Tang's response.

Quote:

Dear Charles:

By definition a "Full" balanced amp truly consists of two identical amps from the input to output.

We called our 7/2100 "comes with Balanced Input," which is of course not a "Full Balanced" amp, but it'll sum balance input signal and provide good common mode rejection to some system noise.

In the real world, it is my opinion that the differential outputs of a full balanced amp will eventually get summed together at the speaker load anyway. It is a matter of where you sum the differential signals together, and in our case we do it at the power amplifier input. Why?

Because we feel you gain very little to drive a pair of speaker leads, which carry large signal, in a balanced fashion. A power amp with well designed balanced input in fact may give you better noise performance because every amp has one time of its internal noise contribution to a system and a full balanced amp contribute, technically speaking, a square root of two times noise output noise.

Another concern we have is for a HT amp, the heat is always something every engineer needs to deal with when designing it. I believe, with our amp design we outperform many others in delivering higher power/volume ratio, we are a lot better in terms of power efficiency is concerned if you compared our amp with a full balanced amp.

Best Regards,

E. Tang
Sherbourn

I did not have any problems connecting the cables, but as much as I tried to be organized, it's a bit of an pragmatic mess.

Also Mike, I do not use a trigger. I am a manual kind of guy.

Charles

Allan*C · 02-12-2004, 07:42 PM

Quote:

Are you using the balanced connections between the AVM20 and the Sherbourn or the RCA connections? Did you have trouble hooking the cables up as the inputs are on the bottom of the amp and the speaker connections are on the top which means I would have the cross a lot of cables. Was this a problem for either of you? Do you also trigger the amp on with the Anthem or just turn the amp on separately? Thanks again!

Balanced connections yes
No trouble hooking up cables, but a lot of wires!
No trigger, just leave it on auto

MikeAF · 02-13-2004, 04:56 PM

Charles and Allan,

Thanks for the replies.

I'm still waiting for ATI users to chime in here.

Mike

David_h · 02-13-2004, 09:23 PM

Mike,
I am running the Sherbourn 7/2100 with a B&K ref50 pre/pro ans Paradigm ref studio 100s for mains, studio 20s for surrounds and the studio CC in the center. The paradigms are accurate and nutural withe this amp. The monoblocks run cool, I guess you could call it cool. My old JVC reciever used to get so hot you could fry chicken on it so I installed rack of 4, 3" cooling fans in my rack but have yet to turn it on sense I got the Sherbourn. I would highly recommend the 7/2100 to anyone.
I listened to the Adcom and was going to buy it till the deal with the Sherbourn came along at $1900. I think it was worth every dime cause I will never need or want to upgrade.
I hope this helps.