I don't think power is your problem. Your speakers are rated at 89db with 1 watt which is about average. 150 watts should be plenty unless you are really cranking it up. It's more likely that you are amplifing crap up stream, so look there first.
I wouldn't give up quite yet on your Adcom combo. Adcom is usually near the top of the mid-fi range of gear. I am sure there are numberous reviews that should confirm/deny the quality of your gear.
Your DVD player and interconnects would be a better place to start than swapping amps. 100-200 bucks/pr for good interconnects might help a lot. Stay away from silver and go with a well reviewed smooth sounding copper interconnect. A decent digital cable may help as well. A new DVD player would be the next move. Look for something that is well reviewed for sound quality which is sometimes only brushed upon.
One thing you could be hearing is the compression inhearent on DVD recordings. The quality of DVD sound will become worse (compressed, muddy, flat, etched) as the complexity of material and channels in use increase. As you improve your system, the problems are magnified.(This is the death spiral of hi-fi) Use both multi-channel and simple 2-channel material for testing. Complex multi-channel material can hide problems and confuse your mind about what really is going on. Use material that you are really familiar with.
I found this quote on the net from another B&W NT9 speaker owner;
"I had to sell these speakers due their brash, hard and uncomfortable sound. i tried changing other components to see i could take some of it away, going to the length of buying o 300 watt krell, but they fundamentally stayed the same. there was alot i liked about them - presence, detail, soudstage focus to name a few, but they were not easy on the ear, especially at higher volumes.
i used a CDM-7Nt for a while, which was a much more balanced sound."
Sound familiar?
You might be fighting an up hill battle with these speakers. Armed with this bit of info, you might try swapping your rears to the front and see if you draw the same conclusion as above. Do an A/B test with music and movie content with front 2 or 3 speakers only. If they have the same mid-tweet combo there may be no difference save for the bottom end. If this does the trick, another pair of 7nt's might be the solution.
A few more easy tips:
Leave your amp on 24/7. Most amps sound better (more open) if they are on for more than an hour.
Speaker "break-in" may be an issue if they are new. Make sure you have lots of hours on them.
Plug your amp directly in the wall. Eliminate cheap power strips!!! Get a decent power conditioner for your DVD and pre-processer. These components need clean filtered power for SMOOTHNESS. Amps need current for dynamic power. You can always use a power conditioner even if you upgade components later.
Try this test. Plug-in only what you need to make the system work (eliminate power strips) and see if that makes any difference.
I wouldn't give up quite yet on your Adcom combo. Adcom is usually near the top of the mid-fi range of gear. I am sure there are numberous reviews that should confirm/deny the quality of your gear.
Your DVD player and interconnects would be a better place to start than swapping amps. 100-200 bucks/pr for good interconnects might help a lot. Stay away from silver and go with a well reviewed smooth sounding copper interconnect. A decent digital cable may help as well. A new DVD player would be the next move. Look for something that is well reviewed for sound quality which is sometimes only brushed upon.
One thing you could be hearing is the compression inhearent on DVD recordings. The quality of DVD sound will become worse (compressed, muddy, flat, etched) as the complexity of material and channels in use increase. As you improve your system, the problems are magnified.(This is the death spiral of hi-fi) Use both multi-channel and simple 2-channel material for testing. Complex multi-channel material can hide problems and confuse your mind about what really is going on. Use material that you are really familiar with.
I found this quote on the net from another B&W NT9 speaker owner;
"I had to sell these speakers due their brash, hard and uncomfortable sound. i tried changing other components to see i could take some of it away, going to the length of buying o 300 watt krell, but they fundamentally stayed the same. there was alot i liked about them - presence, detail, soudstage focus to name a few, but they were not easy on the ear, especially at higher volumes.
i used a CDM-7Nt for a while, which was a much more balanced sound."
Sound familiar?
You might be fighting an up hill battle with these speakers. Armed with this bit of info, you might try swapping your rears to the front and see if you draw the same conclusion as above. Do an A/B test with music and movie content with front 2 or 3 speakers only. If they have the same mid-tweet combo there may be no difference save for the bottom end. If this does the trick, another pair of 7nt's might be the solution.
A few more easy tips:
Leave your amp on 24/7. Most amps sound better (more open) if they are on for more than an hour.
Speaker "break-in" may be an issue if they are new. Make sure you have lots of hours on them.
Plug your amp directly in the wall. Eliminate cheap power strips!!! Get a decent power conditioner for your DVD and pre-processer. These components need clean filtered power for SMOOTHNESS. Amps need current for dynamic power. You can always use a power conditioner even if you upgade components later.
Try this test. Plug-in only what you need to make the system work (eliminate power strips) and see if that makes any difference.