Convert Adcom 7707 to 3 Amps or Crazy?

[DoubleIPA]

I was wondering if it's possible to convert a 7 channel Adcom 7707 to two 2 channel amps and a 3 channel amp? I know I'll need chassis and whatnot, but I'm just curious if it's even possible or just crazy foolish?

Long of it (if it's crazy then just ignore what's below):

I moved from Colorado to New Zealand a year and a half ago to be close to my wife's family and brought my Adcom GFA-7707 with me. I was going to sell it before the moved, but didn't find any buyers on Craigslist, well I did, but they were low-ballers. I did have one guy at the end but the amp was already on the container.

I have since converted, with hand-holding from Adcom, the amp to 240V. I am planning to lend it to my father-in-law whom I just built a pair of Finalists. He does't have an amp and is financially strapped due to and illness my mother-in-law has.

Anyway, I don't have a home theater here, but I have 2 multi channel amps an no two channel amps. I have thought about selling the amp here, but then I'd still need to buy a couple 2 or 3 amps and things are not cheap in NZ. Then I started wondering if it's possible to split the amp into 3 where I can give one to my father-in-law and keep two for speakers I'm building myself.

I suppose the crazy part is thinking of taking apart a perfectly working amplifier or even thinking it's possible to turn it into three amplifiers. That being said, I know the amp consists of 7 modules and one large toroidal transformer. I know that I can buy toroidal transformers or smps's. I'm currently learning FreeCAD, for my speaker build, and have access to a CNC, so making a case isn't out of the realm of possibilities, in fact I'd enjoy the process. The biggest part is that I'd need quite a bit of direction and hand-holding as I do not have electronics background. I've soldered lots of crossovers and other types of household and professional wiring (college days) and built plenty of computers, but never dipped my toes into amplifier building.

 

[Old'n'Cranky]

Possible, Yes.
Worthwhile, Probably not.

By the time you organise a case, heatsinks, hardware, and power supply for the 'other' amp, it will most likely cost the same as, or more than, getting an entire second amp.

 

[DoubleIPA]

Possible, Yes.
Worthwhile, Probably not.

By the time you organise a case, heatsinks, hardware, and power supply for the 'other' amp, it will most likely cost the same as, or more than, getting an entire second amp.

Perhaps. Amps are quite expensive here. Everything I've looked at in the 100WPC range has been priced well over $1000.

 

[aspringv]

Time to build a couple of chipamps perhaps? Good enough for most purposes, and pretty decent in terms of sound. Not too expensive either...

That was my gateway drug into building amps.

 

[PRR]

> Tauranga, New Zealand..... Everything I've looked at in the 100WPC range has been priced well over $1000.

I was going to say: rock shop, where the musicians buy gear. In fact Tauranga HAS a RockShop

and several other music-gear outlets.

2X 175W @ 8 OHMS $499.00

Yes, it is a B-ringer, the brand people love to hate. No, a modern PA amp is NOT a piece of crap, and may in fact be more elegant internally than a 7-channel surround-sound amp. And while it may not last 5 years being dropped out of a van and then severely beaten with bad notes every night, it may last much longer in a nice home.

Oh, one thing: the fan. This is needed for hard rock in a tight rack. Very often it is multi-speed, and won't rev-up until it gets hot. But I do not know that specific model.

Go to the Rock Shop. They almost certainly have a rental program where you can rent for the weekend or a month, see if it fits your system(s), see if it sounds bad.

Not an endorsement, I have never been within 10,000 miles of your Rock Shop. However I suspect rock-shops are about the same all over ("No Stairway To Heaven!") except the accents.

 

[DoubleIPA]

If I were to do an amplifier build I'd probably do an nCore kit. The berhinger is a non-starter and I have two of them I use for my subs, so there's no hate.

Look guys, you've given me a few unsolicited alternatives and I appreciate you taking the time, but that's not what I asked or what i'm looking for. I was just thinking about re-purposing an amp I have and thought it could be fun exercise. I like the Adcom amp, but wont hesitate to let it go if this is an impossible mission or just too costly. If I'm going to buy an amp for myself, it's most likely going to be a D-Sonic or Nord and my father-in-law can use the Adcom until he has the funds to buy his own.

 

[stocktrader200]

you would have to add a analog switch box(s) to the 7.1 channel input and use that box to select the signals for each amp. There used to be stereo + rca video switch boxes which would switch 3 channels. then 2 external 4 input to 1 stereo switch boxes.

 

[DoubleIPA]

Okay.. I realize communication isn't my strong suit, even though in my younger years I thought I was great. I also tend to offend people unintentionally, so please keep that in mind.

So I was aiming to remove 4 of the modules and using them in 2 new chassis. Below is a picture of the inside of the amp and I suppose I should have taken one of the modules out and taken a few photo's of it. They have a molex connector from the transformer to the modules.

This picture if where the power comes in and to the transformer. I switched two of the jumpers and move a couple of the brown and black wires leading to the transformer to convert it to 240V.