Musical SS Amp Under $350 w/ Adcom GFP 565 Pre Amp

Search ebay for Nikko amps. They have an exceptional built quality and excellent sound and plenty of power for the money you seek.

B&K ST140. Tubelike sound, excellent build quality. Great factory support. ~$200-250 on audiogon.

I looked at some of your recent posts and something seems to be getting to you about your current set-up. Have you been able to quantify that there is something missing from your system's sound or are you just torturing yourself thinking that there must be something that you can upgrade (like so many of us here)? Your set-up really seems OK (Adcom pre & power; Onkyo/PS Audio transport/DAC; Monitor Audio speakers) and I don't think that $350 will provide you with the "heads & shoulders" next level type of upgrade.

Regards, Rich

Maybe trade the pre and power amp in for tubes? A tube integrated might work. I think you should take Rich's comments seriously. Make sure you are upgrading for a reason. B&K or Acurus have some amps in that price range that are somewhat musical. You might also investigate making the jump to a better $1k used integrated amp. The Krell 300i would be 'more forgiving' than you adcom stack, based on the adcom I've heard.

Aaron

Agree with Marakanetz. On E-bay Nikko is often found very resaonably. And they (were) are excellent amps.

Are you talking about the Nikko amps from the '80s? I could never afford one, but I always wondered what they sounded like.

Gunbei,
Firstly I used Nikko Alpha 125Wpc for bottom end.
Then I tried them just by themselves. The sound was much larger than this thing costs used and yes they're of 80's and produced no more.
I guess for the used price of Nikko you get a performance of near new Bryston as an example.

I believe i had the same one. it was Alpha 220, with led displays and if i can remember plug for headphones? I regret selling it.

I've been checking prices on them. There some great deals out there on Ebay.

Your amp and preamp are fine IMO. You'd have to spend a lot more change to do significantly better. I'd stick with copper wire only and look into getting another speaker. I think the Monitor speaker is decent, but I'd recommend looking into a nice British monitor like the Epos 12 or 14. They are quite smooth and can be found for a good price on this site. That change alone my offer you a more musical and less analytical result.

Rob