Parasound A21+ vs Adcom GFA-585se

Being a happy owner of Parasound A23 and NC 2125, I second Parasound.  Their solid and agil bass in particular attracts me to move from Cambridge Azur 851A to Parasound.  However, I do agree with one of the comments that why do you limit yourself to these two brands while you have up to $4k to spend.  I value Parasound gives the most bang for my buck but that is primarily because I have limited budget.  For you, I won't say the sky is the limit but you do have plenty of room to work with.

I had the Adcom 585"LE" back in 92 powering my Klipschorns with the Adcom GTP/GCD 750 combo. I bought them at the American PX in Frankfurt with the optional fan kit(120$ then). In short, I loved that beast and I mean beast, bonus, made in the US. All Adcom from back then was top quality. But in all honesty I’d take the Parasound A21 over newer Adcom today. The older Adcom are good amps, 555, 545, 535. The 565 mono blocks were brutes! 

I found a little Adom amp on craigslist.  When I put it in my main system, I was appalled, but it works very well as a television system driving B&W's It is the replacement for the Bryston that has now joined my main system.  It too is a bit of a disappointment, but barely.  I destroyed my main system with a shorted test meter that touched the preamp A/C line to its transformer, sending 110 volts through every output.  I got one amp and the preamp repaired, but am playing around for a needed second amp.

I would submit that an old Adcom found on Craigslist may be no longer what they once were, parts having drifted out of spec and all.

I suppose one could say that of most amps built in the 90’s or earlier, but more so with Adcom as they used budget parts to meet their price points.

I bought a 5400 built in ‘98 a few years back and it had obviously been abused at some point, there was significant heat stress among other signs.

Notwithstanding other’s comments, I still hold the view that Parasound Halo amps have a somewhat warm house sound or presentation.  With the wrong speakers this will be a detriment.  YMMV.

@prebs and @jdub39   I would be very interested in hearing your impressions of the JC5 coming from the A21? I have an A21 and am thinking of upgrading to the JC5 to coincide with an upgrade to the Paradigm persona speakers. I've heard conflicting reports with most saying that it would be difficult to hear any difference in the JC5 from the A21 but some saying that the JC5 is in a whole different league and it is noticeable. What to believe :)