I say McCormack all the way, personally. I own the DNA-1 with the TLC-1 preamp and A/Bed against the Bryston 3BST, 4BST, and BP-20 & BP25 preamps as well as the Bryston BP-60 integrated, and felt the McCormacks were more natural and pleasing to my ears. The McCormack has a quite different sound than the Adcoms you're used to--much in the same way as I felt it beat the Brystons. However, Bryston is a good match for Maggies and may be more like waht you're used to.With McCormack, I like MIT cables--much better than audioquest imho. good luck.
Bryston, McCormack, SimAudio or Plinius?
Current system: Adcom GTP 500, Adcom GFA 535, Rotel RCD 971, Magnepan SMGa. All but the Rotel are now 12+ years old. Still sound very pleasing but we are now in the process of upgrading. Planning to purchase the Maggie 1.6QR. Our listening room is a 12x20 living room. Primarily 2-channel (classical, jazz, world mostly). Some movies with Toshiba 2109 DVD (no center, surrounds or sub). After much reading on internet, magazines, etc. and visits to a number of stores, we have narrowed our amp/preamp list to the following, which fairly outlines our budget, too. We would greatly appreciate your suggestions on system/cable/IC matching, a sub(?), or other recommendations, especially since A-Bing this equipment is virtually impossible. Thank you! AMPS: the new McCormack DNA 125 (or the 0.5+), Bryston 3Bst, Aragon 8002, SimAudio Celeste 4070se PreAMPS: the new McCormack RLD1 (or ALD1+), Bryston BP25mc, Audio Research LS8mkII, Sim Audio Celeste P5003. Integrated Amps: Bryston B60, Plinius 8150i, SimAudio Celeste I5080 Cable/IC: Nordost Blue Heaven, Nordost Super Flatline, Cardas, AudioQuest.