I have recently upgraded to a pair of ls50s in my listening area and I’ve found that maybe I need a bit more powerful Amp then my current emotiva basx a100.
I want to keep the budget around 700 usd/ 1000cad or so. Some flexibility there. Need to be able to order to or get in Canada. Remote volume or included dac isn’t necessary as I run a D50s from the tvs optical.
Any suggestions would be great.
You could look for a used Anthem power amp which would be pretty sweet imo. You might be able to find a deal on an Axiom ADA1000. A used Bryston power amp would be awesome too. These are all Canadian brands so they might be more available to you
Any thoughts on Marantz MM7025?
So available used locally
Adcom GFA-555SE
Cambridge Audio 651W Amp
The Schiit Vidar would be good.
Adcom is my pick for sure
That would also be great imo
Which one? Referring to that would also be great. The marantz is available new for the same price as the used Adcom on Amazon prime. I will pull the trigger today if you meant the marantz. I can get the Adcom it’s just I would prefer new if there isn’t a large difference.
Sorry about the confusion lol
So I do like the marantz for sure, but my concern is that amp is really only rated down to 6 ohms minimum stable. You can throw a 4 ohm speaker on it and be somewhat fine if you crank it. The kef are 8 ohm, but can swing all the way down to 3 ohm, so I feel like there could potentially be issues in the future. Along with this I prefer the sound of the adcom, and for the same price I think the adcom is the way to go
OK thanks for the help. The Adcom is actually a little cheaper. It is used but very mint for 850 Canadian. I’ll contact them today.
Well. Big thanks for the help. I ended up with the Adcom. I managed to score a mint 555se in box only one year old for 750 Canadian about 580usd. Absolutely spotless. Now is it OK to run this directly off my D50s dac or should I be finding other means of sourcing this and controlling its output.
That’s a pretty good deal lol. You really should get a preamp in the future, but for now I think as long as you get a passive volume control you should be fine
Guessing the volume control on the D50s isn’t enough? Do I make a pre Amp forum thread next? 
Slippery slope.
It would be fine, I just prefer to have a physical dial I can turn just in case lol. You should be fine if you don’t feel like you need that. GFP-815 is pretty nice
Might be nice to have a physical limiter after my remote one. Guess I’m on the hunt!
Something like the schiit sys or mackie big knob passive works well
What do I gain sound wise adding a pre Amp. BTW someone has a Adcom GFP 555II available on Canuck audio mart for 350 Canadian. A little dirty but looks in good shape otherwise. The 815 fits within next month’s toy budget if it’s a better choice though.
So a good preamp will improve the sound by providing a better signal to the amp instead of straight from the dac. I can’t really explain this one well, but from my own experience a good preamp is beneficial the sound quality
The GFP 555II is pretty good, but I would say if you can go try for the 815 if you find a deal on one
Most power amps are pretty clinical, even the higher end tube stuff tends to err this way.
So if you use a passive pre-amp (read volume control) the sound you’ll get will tend to be on the harsh side. Some people with high end sources swear by passive pre-amps, I’ve done that, and I don’t anymore.
Pre amps basically condition the signal and usually provide somewhat better than unity gain, so if the Power amp needs more current, there is generally headroom. They can also pretty much set the tonality of a system, providing any color, I think it’s the best place to introduce tubes into a system.
There we go lol. Yeah I noticed that with a passive preamp I thought the sound was good, but then I tried a proper preamp and was surprised with the difference it made