racer--i purchased a 565/555II combo in about 1991 on the basis of a review by gary galo in stereophile. he likened it to the sp10 arc, he was wrong. its good enough, i paid the $800 minus 20%. subliminally i felt that something was missing though i couldnt put my finger on it. then one day i was in the right place at the right time and came home with an sp3a-1 arc for $160. of course i wasted no time hooking it up and voila! everything opened up dynamically and spatially. the 565 is a good item, i liked being able to play one thing and record another. the multitude of inputs and dual outputs are a benefit too. for $400 it is just fine, but putting tubes in the front end, ss at the amp is a good idea i think. my friend uses a counterpoint sa3000 pre and an adcom 5800 to drive his ML requests. ive been warned aboout the adcom ML combo as being too bright by a ML dealer who also sells adcom. he also sells classe and mc intosh. i suppose i would recommend against the 1000 dollar amp if i sold $3k amps too. right now im having the arc restored and im not hurt by the adcom sound.
