Looking for warmth


Hi,
I need some advice...I am looking for warmth in my system..I have Vandersteen 2ci's biamped with an Adcom 555mk2 for the bass and an Adcom 545 for the mids and high's..source is an Nad cd player running into an NAD 917 preamp. I'm using audioquest interconnects and "Anti-cable" speaker wire...I'm looking to spend about $500
Any suggestions would be appreciated....
tekoakid
- pair of pse studio v monoblocks or muse mono blocks or quick silver monos (lose the adcoms)
-audible illusions L1 preamp
-muse model 2 dac or marantz cd player
First of all I would like to thank everyone for their suggestions, from the most radical, "start all over" to the best one liner..(the link to stoves)LOL....
I have already taken a persian rug off the wall and placed it on the floor using onhwy61's advice and today I will try using only the 545.
I will start looking for a decent tube preamp, though I am currently stationed overseas...it will cost quite a bit to ship over, hence the lower price range that i can afford right now.
I am a bit hesitant to sell the Adcoms...I like them ! but, If I find a good McCormack at a good price, i'll just give them to my son...
The quest goes on....
I will disagree with most, and agree with Wadia150. First of all, it is hard to find an amp that is smoother in the mids and sweeter on the top than the "sleeper" (of a Pass amp), the Adcom 545. Ahhh.. read the ba-zillion consumer reviews in audioreview.com if you don't beleive me. The problem exists in your NAD pre-amp, the 555 and ~perhaps~ your cables. The 545 Adcom is not the Holy Grail for transparency, nor is it layered in it's depth,... BUT "open", "strong" and "sweetly detailed" it IS. I have reservations (imho) about the Adcom 555. It is nasty, dry and can bite little chunks out of you. I don't like it. It is mearly a 545 on cheap back alley steroids. It has enough of them in it to make itself sick and ill tempered. It has collapsed it's own soundstage, dropped it's depth into an burning abyss and pushed it's evil manables into a room full of hot coals. Whoever is left to suffer along with it will scratch at their ears like mite infested felines. Get rid of it. As someone else suggested, perhaps try the 545 by it's lonely ole' self for a short while. Think of crossing at a lower freq. and perhaps with another cheap, but "grip"-heavy amp... Parasound, lower-end Bryston.

My vote is for a ride out the window for the NAD followed by the 555 tied to a cinder block.

Tubby
I second the suggestion of a McCormack amplifier made by Usblues, Swampwalker, Fplanner2000 and Saygrr: I think McCormack is -among many good Solid State Amplifiers- one of the warmest ones, "tube-like" sound. I have the McCormack RLD-1 Pre Amplifier and the DNA-225 Power Amplifier, both of them upgraded to the Top "Platinum Level" by the Manufacturer Steve McCormack and I couldn't be happier, I think I am done with this combo, most probably for the rest of my life so I can focus my attention and financial resources on upgrading other areas of my Two-Channel System. Try McCormack gear, you won't regret it. Good luck, Best, Antonio Machado.