Totem Mani-2 and Adcom 555/2

I have owned the Adcom 565 monoblock amps and also, many, many years ago had a pair of Mani speakers in my system for about one month, but not both at the same time.

I can tell you that the Mani speakers are some of my favorite all time speakers! For their size, they are absolutely incredible. I also owned the Wilson Audio Witts (slightly larger than the Mani speakers), but other than a smoother tweeter, they did not have anything else on the Totems.

Personally, I find the Totem tweeters can become bright if the wrong upstream equipment is used. A more recent case was last year I had a pair of Forrest and a pair of Arro (2 different rooms). Both speakers were way, way, way too bright listening to Nora Jones via a B&K 507 S2 Receiver (which I put in about the same category as the Adcom on the general ladder). When I ran my pre-out to either a Pass Labs amp or a Mark Levinson amp, this glare disappeared and I could once again listen to Nora Jones. When I replaced the B&K, the sound improved dramatically even more.

Because it has been so many years since I owned Adcom, I cannot comment on whether this would be the case. I can tell you that if you are considering buying the Mani speakers (even the earliest versions) that they are truly wonderful speakers and if you are getting them at a good price, absolutely can recommend going for it - even if you find you need to replace this amp. The speakers do like a fair amount of power and the quality and amount of power is going to mean you are likely to spend $1,500 +/- on a decent used amp for them (not great, but decent).

That double woofer design requires the power.

I just got the Mani-2 and for a bargain price. My current (high current?) amp is the Adcom 545. Naturally the next upgrade is the amp. And naturally again, a high performance bargain is a good thing.
Someone PMed me suggesting the amp should cost the same as the speakers. I don't see how that would make them a good match.
Personally, I don't feel a component sounds good just because I paid a lot. A component also doesn't sound bad just because it's a bargain. "You get what you pay for" is rarely true.
So, I'm looking for a high current (not necessarily high wattage), overachieving, clean sounding amp that is a BARGAIN.
I'm not interested in status or snob appeal. Naturally, (living in Co., I'm into nature), the Adcom 555/2 is on the list. So is the C-J MF2500, Musical Fidelity M250 monos that are advertised today and a few others.
Please keep the thoughts and suggestions coming.

imo, your adcom amp does not do justice to your mani's. i use all classe gear with my mani's. i use the ca-200 amp. my plan is to purchase another ca-200 and run them in mono mode (700 watts each). the 200's have enough power and i love the sound of the classe amps. i took my mani's to my local mcintosh dealer and hooked them up to the 1000 watt mono's. the mani's came to life. i can live happily using 200 watts, but i know they can use quite a bit more to drive that double woofer.

Mani -2s are great speakers but they are very power hungry. Use what you have right now and scour the Internet for a pair of B&K M200 monos.

This is an older model from the 90s but is robust and provides plenty of power.

Good luck and enjoy your Mani's. I envy you. Unfortunately,Mani's would probably overpower my listening space. I have a pair of Totem Hawks.

I think the following amps would be good with the Mani's:

McCormick
Bryston

Both of these are likely to be the most affodable of my list

Pass Labs 250.5+
Mark Levinson 23.5 (which I think is a great old amp)
Krell FPB 200+

There are probably many, many others out there that will also do well, but I am sticking to amps I a more familiar with and/or owned.

You cannot base on amp or any component strictly on price and the idea that you should spend the same on an amp as on speakers is not a "Rule" one should plan to follow. However, you (probably, like most people) will set a budget and the max. of your budget is what you are willing to spend. If you can find a good deal at 1/2 or even 1/4 of your budget - great! Many Totem owners and threads, look for feedback on their general speakers and if referencing someting like the Hawk, you can assume to stick within the same amp family, but add a lot more power.

Personally, I found the Arro needed more power than the Forrest to really sing. The Mani needs way more than both.