B&K vs Adcom – opinions please

Infinite brings up a great point. So much of this stuff is system dependent and listener dependent that recommendations must be taken with a grain of salt. My fast and direct is his brittle and two dimensional, his musical and warm is my sluggish and glazed. One experience that I found with all of the inexpensive amps was that a tube preamp could really minimize some of the shortcomings of these budget perfomers.

What is your price range? There are better amps for sale here on Agon. For example, look at the Kinergetics KBA-75 amps for sale. I am also going to sell mine if interested. You can get two of these class A amps for $1200 or one for $600 from Katli Audio. I own the amp and it was equal to the Rowland M-112 and gave up nothing to the Specton Musician II amp. The amp was rated B by Stereophile but adding a better power cord really made the amp sing. It is much more musical and dynamic than the two amps you are considering and can drive anything.

I agree with Infinitebaffle (Great User Name!). Rx8man the B&K M series are a different animal than the B&K ST series. Many people prefer the older 3 digit B&K ST amps over the newer 4 digit B&K ST amps, and the original 70 watt ST-140 in particular. The Adcom's can handle lower impedance loads easier than the B&K ST series. The M series can handle almost anything thrown at them. I suggest you look in the archives on this matter. Amongst the many valued opinions you'll find some good advise from Sean.

Yes I did Unsound, your right about the older series vs. the newer & Sean's opinions, he's knowledgeable.

Thanks to everyone for all the replies - maybe I need to provide more information. I already have the Adcom 535 and the 500mkII preamp/tuner. I recently biwired my Linaeum model 8 speakers - an obscure discontinued US company that made quality ribbon speakers in the mid-90s ($3K) that are smooth with good bottom end - to the two sets of terminals on the 535 and found a big improvement. Thus I began to think of an amp/preamp upgrade with more power and definition to make my speakers and music really sing in our 25x15 living room. The speakers can likely handle a bit of brightness. On a sparse budget I figured I'd move up to more power in a 545 or 555, or go for the similar setup from B&K, which is presently being offered on Audiogon. I have also considered cheap used integrated amps, such as an Acurus DIA 100, Audiolab 8000, Onix 120 - the list keeps growing and I keep coming back to sticking with what I have. The Creek 5350 is too expensive, the 4330 is too underpowered. I also use the tuner in the GTP500, only really need a CD input, can forego a remote and everything other than a volume control, and have kids, pets, and a wood stove. I don't think I want to venture into tubes, but I do think I want to biwire, as it seems to make a difference. My source, cables, and interconnects are mediocre at best (Marantz, Tara, ?) - an audiophile's nightmare perhaps. I am open and curious to all opinions about whether I should move on from my Adcom gear, and what to - perhaps the B&K is only a sideways move. Thanks.