Tjtrout20:
Of course, all responses are going to be personal opinion, but like you I have many fond memories of auditioning the 3.3s (ended up with 2.9s for the moment). I have heard them on approximately 4 different occasions. Two times with Bryston gear, another with Levinson, and another with CJ solid state. My PERSONAL opinion is that the Adcom equipment is not a good match. Won't go into details, but suffice to say there is a reason why many of the dealers selling NHT used Bryston gear. I don't own a Bryston amp, but as much as I admire CJ and Levinson, the Bryston just seemed to match ever so much better, and like you, made me sit back and listen for what seemed to be a few minutes, but turned out to be almost an hour!!! That told me something. Everyone will tell you the 3.3s need plenty of power, but there is more to it than that. If you can get your hands on a high power Bryston, or ML if you can afford it, then do so and see if you don't find that "good feeling" return, and that you don't need the sub after all.
As for the front end gear, well, it sounds like you already know the answer to that. You can not expect to recreate the audition experience with a Yamaha carousel. I am no snob, and am currently using a cheap 1990 Philips player, but when I threw in a Cary 303 just for fun - let's just say "WOW" was an understatement. If you do the above audition, you MUST use at least a decent player. Otherwise it is not a total waste of time, but the weak link will make itself obvious.
Best of luck, and congrats on a great pair of speakers!!
Of course, all responses are going to be personal opinion, but like you I have many fond memories of auditioning the 3.3s (ended up with 2.9s for the moment). I have heard them on approximately 4 different occasions. Two times with Bryston gear, another with Levinson, and another with CJ solid state. My PERSONAL opinion is that the Adcom equipment is not a good match. Won't go into details, but suffice to say there is a reason why many of the dealers selling NHT used Bryston gear. I don't own a Bryston amp, but as much as I admire CJ and Levinson, the Bryston just seemed to match ever so much better, and like you, made me sit back and listen for what seemed to be a few minutes, but turned out to be almost an hour!!! That told me something. Everyone will tell you the 3.3s need plenty of power, but there is more to it than that. If you can get your hands on a high power Bryston, or ML if you can afford it, then do so and see if you don't find that "good feeling" return, and that you don't need the sub after all.
As for the front end gear, well, it sounds like you already know the answer to that. You can not expect to recreate the audition experience with a Yamaha carousel. I am no snob, and am currently using a cheap 1990 Philips player, but when I threw in a Cary 303 just for fun - let's just say "WOW" was an understatement. If you do the above audition, you MUST use at least a decent player. Otherwise it is not a total waste of time, but the weak link will make itself obvious.
Best of luck, and congrats on a great pair of speakers!!