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(More customer reviews)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.
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