Such hard decisions :D Anyone with some insight on Amp Selection?


Alright, so here's the lowdown, i have deftech BP-30's powered by  my adcom gfa-5500, center and surrounds powered by TX-NR838 onkyo receiver, i am upgrading my infinity center channel to the deftech CLR-2000 so the sound signatures match my BP-30s, i dont really want to power the center from my receiver anymore, so was looking into 3 channel amps, i stumbled across 2 local to me 

adcom GFA-5503 or the B&K Reference 4430 - both around 400-500$

seems the gfa-5503 will be basically the same thing i have now with a 3rd channel, and to be honest i am happy with the sound, but not sure if i am missing anything by not trying out the B&K, are they kinda the same class or is the B&K outclassing the adcom (does it sound better to MOST people, i know sound is subjective ;) ) 

i guess just searching for opinions/advice since i dont really mix/match amplifiers.  I did do a lot of research and its hard to pinpoint where my decision should go as there is no DIRECT comparison between the two i could find lol.  Thanks in advance, and if i am saying anything stupid be nice, new to audio forums ;) 

Full setup:
TX-NR838 receiver, also used as dac/preamp
Adcom GFA-5500 powering R/L speakers
Definitive Technology BP-30 FR/FL
Definitive Technology CLR-2000 Center
random monoprice RR/RL
Subwoofer - Sunfire TS EQ 10 Signature
Debut Carbon Turntable.
anthrax-vx
Welcome. Maybe the  best thing is to decide your goals. Is it just power you want? Or do you want good sound with it?

The biggest problem with trying to mix so much equipment together is that you generally end up with a mess. Too many pieces cause too many opportunities for bad results. More power does not necessarily make for better sound. The Deftech speakers are 8 ohm & 91 db efficient. Contrary to what you have heard, these speakers shouldn’t be power hungry. My Silverlines are 93.5 db and I run them with 35wpc no problem. AAMOF, They sound better now with 35 wpc tubes than they did with 250 wpc highly regarded Solid state. Your receiver has 7 channels @ 130 wpc and yet you have 2 outboard amps. Why? Power? What good is power which is unusable/. If you must use 2 outboard amps I’d want 2 of the same. But you are getting a system way out of balance. The preamp had a LOT to do with sound. But If its just power you want, get some Berringer PA amps with 800 wpc. They are usually less expensive. Enjoy

well, just going by specs is a funny thing, since i am very for "empirical" data, however there was a huge different in the sound quality moving from the 130wpc receiver, to just using the receiver as a preamp and going with the gfa-5500, and i am not using multiple outboard amps, i am using one, went to gfa-5500, wanted to power the center channel so wanted a 3 channel to replace the gfa-5500 with a gfa-5503 or the B&k 4300, hence my dilemma, however i solved it by buying both. and i am not going just for watts (not sure where you are interpreting that from) and you say why have watts that are unusable, why are they unusable watts? to be honest, i was asking a simple question as to which amp was better in opinion, not to tell me to replace my entire setup and go with soemthing you would go with lol. I have needs that you are not considering, this is my main living room that is also for movies, i dont want a separate audio rig, literally just deciding on 2 different amps that i saw available that have 3 channels (front cneter right). not sure how we went down this rabbit hole of random suggestions. and you can run your speakers at 35wpc awesome, we probably have different listening habbits, and different room sizes, this room im putting at is 12,000 cubic feet, so more watts is nice, and i like to listen to it loud, and sometimes outside with 30 people over bbqing etc, im sure headphones would suffice at 1/4 watt for some people :)
why have watts that are unusable, why are they unusable watts?

Because, if the first watt isn’t any good, why would you want 200 more of them?

The reality is even when listening quite loud the vast majority of the time you’re using only a very few watts- and only fractions of a watt when its not really loud. Because if you think about it, a 90dB speaker plays pretty loud with 1 just watt (90dB), real loud with 10 (100 dB), and crazy loud with 100 (110dB). Only 100 watts, and so loud its hearing damage.

And yeah, yeah I know: distance. Whatever. Its still loud.

The above by the way is in impotent solid state watts. In manly tube watt terms 30 watts is plenty. In multichannel home theater terms no amount of watts is enough to sound as good as 30 quality tube watts. Its kind of like, you can have a whole army of Ben Stillers, its never gonna amount to one Arnold. Or to misquote another famous actor: All your watt are unusable to us.
you say no amount of A/V watts is enough, yet you said i'd be fine with the watts it provided? and im not sure exactly where the first watt isnt any good is coming from, i'd agree, but not sure if that's really relevant as i haven't stated it sounded bad or said i thought they werent good at any level of volume, just kinda lost in this conversation now :D man we are so sideways off topic its insane hahaha
Buying both to audition was the best option, not always feasible to do but always the best way to know as you discovered.  

Having sold both brands back in the late 80s into the early 90s they both fell into roughly the same camp.  Each brand having a few winners in their line-up and some honest to goodness stinkers.  It is interesting and curious in regards to your sound results from the B&K.  If you find something off kilter in your bench testing it would be interesting to hear back.