Need help choosing a power amp

Another option is to modify your existing Adcom. www.musicaldesign.com does just this. I have had a modified original 555 Adcom in my system going on 20 years now and trust me it does not sound like the stock unit. For under a grand it would be brought to a new level of performance. In fact I'm thinking of sending mine in for the Blackgate caps everyone is singing praises about. If you do modify you always want to go with the top level mods because you will sit there listening to music going wonder what it would have sounded like if I had the Blackgates or schotsky diodes put in it.
Trust your ears...

Well put Qdrone, it may be interesting to note that I lived with with the GFA-555 MKII longer than any other power amp since. Everyone that heard it liked it a great deal. At the time I thought this amp was the best, regardless of price. Only when I started to upgrade did I realize that the 555 MKII lacked in refinements and a large 3D soundstage. (This equation could be improved upon with the addition of a good tube preamp). It will always be a part of my past where I enjoyed listening to my music a great deal. I agree that this power amp could benefit tremendously from upgrades. Anyhow, jgreene is correct in regards to the ARC 100.2, a superp amplifier!

If you like the Adcom sound, the 5802 would be a nice upgrade. There are usually some for sale here. And you won't get hurt if you decide to sell it.
Good Luck!

Autre:

If you track down the November 2005 copy of The Absolute Sound, their review of the Revel Concerta M12 speakers was done using a NAD C320BEE integrated amplifier ($400 list) as the power source.

Regards, Rich

Wow! Thanks for all the responses! I certainly do have a lot of choices to ponder now. Please keep the ideas coming. In answer to Rich, I am pretty satisfied with my pre-amp; it was a big upgrade in sound than the GTP-500 II that preceeded it. In fact, that improvement has now given me the upgrade bug for the amp. Also, thanks so much for the reference for the M12 review, I've been searching for one!

On another note, I know I said I wanted to stick to solid-state, but I got offered a Audio Research D-76 recently, and I wondered what the thoughts are on that amp, since I can find precious little online.

Thanks!