Opinions requested

gillatgh ...

How attached are you to those B&W speakers? I know they can sound wonderful, but they're hard to drive and take a lot of (expensive) power, right?  Why not opt for a much more efficient speaker and drive them with 30 - 60 watts of really good tube power? How about a used pair of Legacy Signature III's, an ARC Classic 60 or Classic 30 (if you can find one) and a good tube preamp? 

A nice pair of Signature III's go for under 2k on the used market. An ARC Classic 60 goes for under 2k. Couple it with, say, an ARC REF-3 for @ $4500.  

I'm not using the Classic 60 anymore but have one as a spare. I hooked it up and wow, very musically involving. Not as articulate as the REF-75-se, but knocks your socks off from a musical standpoint.

Click on my icon, then double click on the lower picture to see what I'm talking about. 

Take care ...

Frank

Georgehifi, Funny you should mention Krell. Yes they were previously driven via a KAV-2250 which gave up the ghost therefor the Adcom now.

That Krell should have been special when it was working?
 
What about the Parasound Halo A21, similar to Krells power delivery, designed by John Curl. And from what I've read come with a very solid warranty plan and backup.

Cheers George   

I used that same amp with a Sonic Frontiers hybrid preamp and I thought it sounded pretty good.  I upgraded to Bel Canto Ref 500 monoblocks and a CJ classic preamp.  The Adcom/Sonic Frontiers sounded like a cheap a.m. radio by comparison.  I also used a CJ PV 10 and PV 12, they were excellent with these amps as well.  Both the CJ preamps and the Bel Canto amps can be acquired at very good prices used.