Looking to upgrade Adcom GFA555: Parasound?

I second or third the idea of keeping the Adcom.

I recently reached out to Chris Hoppe to refurb my 565’s and he put me in touch with Jon Morris. Jon did a great job overhauling my mono blocks using Chris’s new designed cards and all of the best components.

altonbtc@gmail.com Is Jon’s email address.

Much cheaper than the alternatives. And should sound as good or better.

Why not a Classe CA-300/400. Can you ever over power a Wilson Audio loudspeaker?

I recently received the Magnepan LRS+ for my bedroom/home theater 2.1 system.

I assumed I would have to get a new amp for this system but discovered that my old Adcom 545 II drove the LRS+ so well that I don’t know what else I would want in an amp in this context.

@reubent ..."The two techs that I’m familiar with who upgrade the GFA-555 are John Hillig at Musical Concepts and Chris Hoppe at Hoppe’s Brain. Both are well respected and get great reviews/feedback. ..."

OP @bobbydd +1 to @reubent’s posts above. Definitely worth serious consideration. Also worth identifying if yours is a MKI or MKII original GFA-555. In any case, these type of techs know what to replace for aging and upgrades where it matters.

I took a chance on investing and fully upgrading one of Nelson’s other designs on the Pass/Forte amp side, not exact - but some of the same lineage. Give those folks a call listed above and ask them more about what they replace, upgrade, and the expected differences and outcome. You might be surprised. Super happy with mine, and really like how it sounds.

I have a Parasound JC5, new it’s a little more expensive than the A21+, but really close in watts per channel at 300 for the A21+ and 400 for the JC5. You can get a JC5 used between $4-$5K. I had may choice narrowed down between the Adcom 585SE, JC5 and the A21+. I don’t think you can go wrong with any of these. I’d think the A21+ is an upgrade to your Adcom GFA-555. I love my JC5, has a warm sound in the mids, highs are not bright, great control over the bass. If it’s budget to stay under $5K and you want new, get the Adcom 585SE though, it’s comparable to the Parasound JC5 at 400 a ch. I choose the JC5 because it has some class A functionality on the low settings then switches to class A/B, but I can’t hear the transition of course.