Magnepan 1.6 vs. B&W 805N

If I were you I would keep the Maggies and upgrade your amp. I owned an adcom 555II 20 years ago. It drove my rear McIntosh ML1s in my first home theater complete with Laser Disc. When you upgrade you will be astonished as to the difference the change in amps will make. I have BW 801 and I am going to sell mine. Don’t buy the 805s the Maggies will be a better speaker.

I've owned several models of Magnepans,with the correct amplification they are stellar.Keep em.

If you do go with the B&W 805's then be SURE to at least get into the 805S's which is the last one that were produced before the recent swap to all diamond tweeters for the 800 series. The 805S's are superb speakers and in some ways can give the Maggies a run for their money especially
with a new amp that you are suggesting. Sometimes you just need to try things yourself to satisfy curiousity. You may end up coming back to the Maggies but at least you will have tried something else.

PS. The 804S's are even better and an often overlooked speaker in that line. They have to be the latest S version though, the older ones didn't cut it.

I recently tried a crusty old Perreaux PMF2000 SB which is about 30 years old and it blew a Rotel 1090 into the weeds!!! My 1.6's have never sounded so good and fantastic bass. I am going to try Xindak monos in the New Year. Keep the maggies they are stellar.

You mention 'the room'.....always a sticking point with panels. IF your room is not panel friendly you'll end up with some dynamic solution.

IF you can stick with panels and like the W4S solution, you can shop across the B&W ICE line. Many manufacturers source these modules so these amps have a LOT in common....perhaps more than big differences. For example, Bel Canto uses these same modules. My PSAudio makes good use of these modules, as well. The 'Gain Cell' technology changes the character a little.

Source First....cables last.

Panel setup is sometimes.....tedious. Space from the front wall must be 3 feet or more. Sometimes, in a very large space, much more. I toe my speakers in exactly 11 degrees so being about 65" apart...inside edges....they cross maybe 8 feet behind me.
Also, as a test, just rotate them in place. Listening to the mylar side is a drag. The pole piece side....the way Magnepan sold them until the mid-90s, is much better sounding to my ears. Better image and less strident highs. I was tempted to install that darn resistor for a while. I swapped the Chrome plated steel jumpers for some hand whittled #6 copper at about .41$/ foot.

What drew you to these in the first place? Try to reconstruct what you listened to and why you liked it.

Dump the Adcom. And don't consider Rotel, either, except perhaps at the very highest levels.