I just bought some B&W 803s speakers and so far am driving them with my old Adcom 555 amplifier and Adcom GFP 555 II pre-amp. Will I really derive a significant improvement in sound quality by upgrading to something higher end for these speakers? If so, should I replace both preamp and amp or just one of them? I am using for audio music only and not a/v. Thanks for the help.
MW, using those very nice B&W's, I would exhaust all options on speaker placement and room treatment before replacing anything else. After that, if still not completely happy, you might consider your source, which you do not mention.
. " Will I really derive a significant improvement in sound quality by upgrading to something higher end for these speakers?"
What's "significant"? There are better amplifiers out there that will make music more enjoyable to hear if that's what you're asking. But they will not provide much in the way of an improvement if you don't hear what the amplifier is capable of putting through your speakers. Music is a complex mix of qualities that some people hear one way while other hear another. Not just one person prefers classical while another likes rock but the structure of the music event. If you haven't identified what qualities are important to you when you listen to music, then you might sit tight on what you have until you know more about what you have and believe you want. You then have to begin whatever upgrade path you take with a goal in mind if you truly want to move to a more involving experience either when listening to live music performed or reproduced music played back in your home. What do you like about music?
The items Nuck has listed are certainly suggestions to follow. If you cannot place the speakers properly, you will never get many of the benefits of a high quality playback system. Put "loudspeaker placement" in a search engine and read a few entries to see what fits your situation. Room treatments are varied and run the gamut from low-priced-out-of-sight to high-priced-take-over-the-room. Certainly cables and other set up issues should be resolved before you dump hard cash on more electronics. With the speakers you have you'll need to tell us what you find lacking - if anything - and what you find attractive before we can suggest a path meant to improve your music.
Why'd you buy the speakers and what result did you gain by having new speakers with old equipment? Why are you asking about a new amplifer?
Adcom makes excellent equipment. Although, it is not quite the "bargain" it used to be, you can spend considerably more money and depending on what you purchase, the difference may or may not be "significant". You're just going to have to try some combinations. No one on this forum can tell you exactly how things will sound to you.