Parasound Owners Thread - Page 43

Sorry it is late; "that can not be said of RCA cables." = should read = "that can not be said of XLR cables." Unlike RCA cables, I have never had one of our XLR cables work its way loose.

My understanding is that XLR would be preferred if you can maintain a fully balanced setup from source to amps. Or, on very long runs (say 15 feet or longer) you might reduce your chance of interference going with XLR. I am not sure but I don't think any of the Para's are fully balanced, except for maybe the JC1, but others may want to jump in and answer that more positively.

I can say I have never had RCA cables work loose. I've been using RCAs that have turbine connectors and they are always tight.

+1
Though I have been tempted into maybe trying a pair of XLRs, only to hook from my Oppo BDP95 to my C-2 controller. This would allow me to take full advantage of the stacked DACs in the 95 and feed them into a true bypassed audio path in the C-2, something that is not feasible with RCAs.
Edited by Torqdog - 1/15/13 at 7:30am

I've only got XLRs on the P7. So until such time I buy a bluray with XLRs I can not use them, even if I wanted to.
And/or replace my HCA2205A with Halo amp(s).

But I have read posts, maybe even on this thread, that some people have experienced more noise with XLRs instead of less, compared to using RCAs. Maybe the XLR in those cases were just inferior quality.
Edited by 4DHD - 1/15/13 at 11:22am

I use Blue Jeans balanced cables from my Oppo BDP-95 to my Parasound P7 and from the P7 to my Parasound A51. http://www.bluejeanscable.com/store/balancedaudio/index.htm The Blue Jeans balanced cables use Belden 1800F low capacitance cable and Neutrik XLR connectors with gold-plated contacts. These can be made to the exact length you need.

I cannot say that balanced is better than unbalanced cables for the short runs I have on my audio stand but it is generally recommended that balanced connections be used between your preamp and amp where possible. I also use balanced cables to my two Velodyne subwoofers. These are fairly long runs and I feel fortunate that the Velodyne DD subs have balanced inputs.

I already told this in this thread, but back in the day I tested my C2&A52 with Audioquest Copperhead RCA, and XLR's DIY from my cable company which had silver conducters.
First of all, the noise floor was the same, or at least I didn't encounter annomalies with XLR, second of all, the XLR was Miles better, the RCA was not even close. I understand, that this could be down to be the difference between the cables themself (copper vs silver), but it was a great choice, and I dont want to use anything else, this is why I ruled out a lot of preamps recently except the Marantz AV7005...

Question - I have CM9's and would like to know what your thoughts are on this deal/amp. I am trying to decide between A51 and A52 for my media room. Currently, I can get a new A52 for a $1000 cheaper than a demo A51. Which would you pick?

Would you get the demo A51 or new A52?

Would I hear a difference?

P.S. The dealer let me take home the demo Halo A51 to try...absolutely falling in love with this. My friend loaned me a Emo XPA-5, and I can definitely hear the difference.

e4

I would go for the A51 (especially if it's clean). It will function beautifully with your CM9's. Always nicer (to me) to have more power. I own an A51, I love it. Best amp I ever had.

What are your speakers, five CM9s or two CM9s, CMC2 and CM5 surrounds or what? Four or Five CM9s I'd go A51 but else I'd go A31 and A23. With Halo you can't go wrong but prefer more headroom up front unless you have setup for multichannel music.

How big is the media room? How loud do you intend on listening?

The CM9'S are 89 db sensitive, 8 ohm nominal speakers and should be fairly easy to drive. Unless your media room is the size of an auditorium, an A52 should be plenty pf power. I drive 4 Ohm nominal Vienna Acoustics with a Parasound 5125, same output as an A52, and can get to very high volumes without the amp breaking a sweat. My listening room is 14' x 19', approx 266 square feet. So, unless your in a much larger room, I would go for the new A52 and save the 1K.

My current B&W setup is:

Front L/R: CM9
Center: HTM61
Back: 602S2

My Center and back surrounds are part of my old system. I plan to eventually replace it with CM series Center and rears.

My room is about the same as yours...16x24.

E4

Thanks E4. Again, I think the A52 would do a fine job with 5 CMs all the way around, since you already know what your future upgrade in speakers will be. But this is me.

However, if you are the type that will always ask yourself, "what if I went with the A51" everytime you listen, then do it now. Buyers remorse can get very expensive as you get caught in an upgrade spiral. So avoid it and get the A51 right away. Only you can make that decision - either way you win though because you are dealing with two outstanding amplifiers. Best of luck to you.

With those speakers in particular i think you would be just as happy with the New Classic Series.

e4chan

What kind of warranty will you get if you purchase the demo? If that's not an issue, I would seriously consider going with the A51. It's not just about speaker sensitivity and how hard you can drive your speakers, it's also about what class of operation you will be listening to when listening at lower volumes. You will get more class A operation with the A51 than with the A52.

Since I am getting the demo from an authorized reseller, I would get the full 5 year warranty with the demo. She would issue me a recceipt.

I appreciate the comments. I know the A52 would probably be sufficient for my speakers, however, I guess I am wondering if I should pass up this opportunity to get a prestine condition A51 amp for only $1000 more. I am sure people on this forum could appreciate what it feels like, when you pass up a good deal.

But the "good" angel in me says....deals come and go, and I could spend the $1k else where; but the "bad" angel in me, says....you only live once and you may regret not purchasing this demo now.

e4.

+1

The A-51 falls into that "50 to 100% more power" than you speakers are rated at category. Simply put, it gives you more headroom. Don't worry about overdriving your speakers.

I also agree with Paraneer's point of always wondering if you shoulda gotten the A-51. You already have heard the amp and apparently like the sound.

If you don't buy it, maybe I will. Been lookin at getting one for my four surround speakers. How much are they asking? Do you think they'll ship?

Amplifiers have no moving parts and rarely fail. I'm sure that if it's indeed a demo, it's probably seen spartan use. Probably doesn't get played very often, only when someone is interested. If you're getting a full warranty and the amp itself is in "like new" condition, a month after it's been in your system, you will have long forgotten about the "demo" factor.

Go for it. Like you said, "you only live once"!

Unfortunately, the owner of the retail shop is also a friend, and they are selling to me at a "friend" price. I don't believe they would have ever thought of selling the unit. So, more than likely, not for sale to other people. I probably shouldn't post the exact price, but it is roughly $1500 below MSRP.

e4

In that case get the A51 and don't look back.

if i get a a31 now then later on get a a21 is there any difference then going straight to a a51

thanks

Just two boxes instead of one: All are designed by John Curl, all are 250w >8Ω, all THX Ultra2.
But at full msrp, the combo will be $799 more compared to the A51.
But you would be spending less @ the time of each purchase, w/ the A31, A21.
But then you might have some physical placement reason to need two separate amps.

^^^^Anyone else seeing this happen: post a reply and end up with 2, 3 duplicates of the same post as the ones^^^^^?
Its the second time this week I've had duplicate posts added.

It's happened to me 2 or 3 times.

I have an XPA-5 and an A51. Took less than 3 days for the A51 to become the main AMP in my setup. Now looking to sell that XPA-5 and replace it with either another Halo or that new 7-channel amp Marantz released. The 5+7 should take care of my 11.1 needs.

The A51 is a beast and will always be there if you upgrade your speakers. The A-52 while it will suit your needs today......

How did you end up with the 2 amps? Did you have the XPA-5 first? Then decided to try the A51?

e4

I started with a Denon 3808CI. Came here and read about emo amps being so cheap. Bought one and added an XPA-3 later. Nice improvement over the amps in the 3808. Swapped the 3808 out for a Marantz 7005, liked what I heard. So if the head unit can sound better lets try an amp. Bought the A51, took a couple of days running, but no comparison. I would never go back to the emotiva, for the price they really are a value amp. If you want quality of sound and build, the A51 is a beast on all levels. But you pay for that too.
But the issue I had was 7.1, need more amps for my system. Now I am running 11.1

That's funny, because I am using the Denon 3808 as my amp and have a Marantz AV7701 as the pre/pro...I would have potentially gone down the same route.

Thanks for your insight. I might have gone through a deep spiral of upgrades again.

E4

That's not all......... posting replies in the reply box is at times tricky, especially when you insert an emoticon. It's gotten so bad that I just physically do it myself.

There IS one notable difference. On the A-31 you have a "balanced/unbalanced" switch for each channel but it has no ground loop switch. The 3 "balanced/unbalanced" switches on the A-31 give you better options if you wanna run balanced to the FL/FR and leave the center hooked up with an RCA single-ended cable.

Soundwise, no differences.