Parasound Owners Thread - Page 32

well a few owners, just go through the posting's. Also one of the popular reviews (I forget which one) supposedly reveals more noise on the balanced outputs when comparing under diagnostic tests. Anyway I don't want to derail this thread with AV7005 talk (even though I am using a Parasound A51 with my AV7005). Actually I plan to use AudioQuest DiamondBack XLR (balanced) interconnects.

It was the review in Home Theater, I believe, which revealed that the XLR outputs are noisier than the RCA's on the AV7005.

I suspect that what you are experiencing is just par for the course. I won't even begin to tell you the trouble I've seen.

I got the same setup (also have a A23 for my rear channels). Pretty nice, isn't it?

I have never used balanced, although my P7 does have them. I've never had a noise problem using good quality rca, so never bothered to spend the money.

When I spoke with Richard, he explained the A21 is a clone of the A51 with only 2 channels. So yes it has 8 watts of pure Class A raging inferno. This little beast is one my list. I am thinking of adding another A51 or a 21. Then as the format wars add channels, I'm covered.

Richard also commented on RCA's vs XLR's. No differance at all unless very long runs. I was told to stay with my RCA's. PERIOD.

Or A31 which gives 3 of those sweet, raging, channels :-)

Im running Audiquest DiamondBack XLR's With my Integra 80.3 and Parasound A52 . Sounds very good and its a great looking XLR.

I'm using 2 units of Parasound HCA-1200 mkII THX to power(bi-amp) my front JBL LS40 speakers and they sound fantastic!!! :-)

Hi, I'm using pure silver XLR's between my Parasound C2 and A52, and I tested it against RCA Audioquest Diamondback. There was no comparison, the XLR's were much better, so I stuck with them.

Anyway, I would like to let you now, that there is a wonderful review on www.hometheater.com by Kris of our beloved brand. A P7 pre, A52, and two JC1 monoocks. A real porn for fans like us...

Ohh, and I forgot to mention that he liked them so much, He bought himself the package as a new reference system. I think thats the highest praise, a product being reviewed can get.

Whats the scoop on this amp? I now have it hooked up running 5 channels on my home theater with my HK receiver running the other two channels. this thing is a beast! I have yet to clip it! I got it at an estate sale. What are anyones thoughts on this piece? Thx!

The whole point of using a power amp is so you won't clip. I've had the 2205A for ten years, its a very good amp. Designed by John Curl, in 97~98. Sold from '98~'99. Then there was the HCA2205AT that came out in 2000. John would later design the Halo series JC1, JC2, JC3

I also have a HK Citation 19 amp, dates back to the late '70s. The Citation series was HK's top o line. I can not tell any difference between the 19 and the 2205A.

Hello,
The 2205 is what the current $4500 Parasound Halo A51 is heavily based off of. The differences are the 2205 uses a 2.0 kVA Toroidal Transformer. and 150,000uf Capacitance whereas the A51 2.2 kVA Toroidal Tramsformer and 164,000uf of Capacitance.

In addition, the A51 offers XLR Connectors and a fancier Industrial Design. Thus, they are almost identical and both were Designed by John Curl. Correspondingly, the flagship Halo JC-1 Monoblocks are heavily based off the HCA-3500. Long story short, the 2205 is an excellent Amplifier and I adore mine.
Cheers,
AD

Terrific review! Thank you.

I also have my P7 paired with the Oppo BDP-95 on the front end and the A51 on the back end. A very exciting triple play indeed.

After I got my 95 I found out it offers direct DSD to analog decoding as an option, without conversion to PCM. So of course I gave it a try.

Oh what a joy and revelation it is with my collection of SACDs, especially the better recorded ones. On classical music SACDs the strings are just palpable, like nothing else I have ever heard! Of course the downside is that none of the speaker configuration options you have come to expect in a player are available when decoding DSD direct to analog. Ideally you would have five identical full range speakers but who has that?

Now this is not much of an issue for 2-channel listening. You can even crossover to your sub for 2.1 in the analog domain as the Home Theater reviewer of the P7 mentions. However, the P7 assumes you do all configuration for multichannel listening in the player, even the trims for your whatever number of speakers (up to 7). On my rig, I made use of the two sets of outs (XLR and RCA) on the P7 (both of which are active) to high pass to my speakers (using the XLRs) and lo pass to my subs (using the RCAs). I then use a Rane SM26s mixer/splitter to combine the lo pass signals and the LFE channel and send the combined signal to my two subs. So I have got around part of the absence of processing in the player with an external crossover network.

I have yet to figure out an acceptable solution for the lack of trims because if you are going to add some kind of trim capability, it is going to have to be just as high quality as the P7 itself, probably some sort of passive attenuators. I have gotten around this problem for the time being because I am using a pair of summing amps to pass the center channel on to the front left and right speakers (I have a quad set up now) and these have trim controls that allow me to do that and also trim the front speakers to match my surrounds. But that is not the best arrangement.

 

(Edit: For 2-channel listening I use the dedicated stereo XLR outs on the 95 connected directly to the balanced inputs on the P7 so I get the purest possible signal to my front speakers.)

That's why I love this hobby. There's always more to do.

Edited by davee70 - 6/8/12 at 5:24pm

I recently purchased a Parasound A 52 To go with my Integra 80.3 DHC and my system wows me now . I couldn't be happier ! Parasound makes some great amps im a believer now

Thanks for the info! I'm trying to figure out how to get this amp to trigger on since my HK doesn't have a 12 volt trigger output. Parasound recommended that i get a low output power supply (Cordless phone type etc) and plug it into the switched AC outlet on the back of the HK. i can just strip the end of the cord and put it on the positive and ground terminals. I'm hoping this works. it should

I was wondering about the HK citation amps. I'm assuming because of their age, they don't have a remote trigger right?

One thing I found strange is Parasound uses 2.5 mm trigger plugs and most are 3.5 .. I had to splice some cable to work with my trigger on my integra 80.3.

Right, no trigger. Only the 2205A has a trigger. Put not a big deal, the Citation is on the bottom shelf and I can press the button with my toe. LOL
The P7 has the new type of trigger connection, but the decade old 2205A does not. It has the +/- screws, so I just use a pair of short jumpers to connect the end of the P7 cable to the 2205A screws.

Hey Just an FYI for anybody that may not be using the trigger on their HCA 2205a parasound. I have a harman kardon AVR-3600 which doesn't have a trigger output, so i contacted parasound and they recommended me getting a small power supply 9 volt and plugging it into the switched power outlet on the back of the receiver. i cut the end off and hooked it up to the parasound trigger and it works great! it comes on immediately, but it takes it a few minutes to turn off due to the power supply still putting out a little voltage for a few minutes. This may be old news, but I just thought I'd pass it along.

Hello,

This reply is probably late, but I also have the Marantz AV7005 and a Parasound 5125 amplifier, 125 wpc into 8 ohms and 185 into 4 ohms, no gain controls. Same at 1.2v and full 1.6 v. for full rated output. My DIY tower speakers are around 6 ohms and I am extremely happy with the power going to them. great bass, midrange. so you won't have to worry about your purchase with the 5250 if you have not already bought one. you will have enough power with that puppy, believe me.

Just recieved the A21 yesterday and have been putting it through its paces. It's running a pair of Paradigm Signature S6 using an Oppo 95 as source and pre amp(volume) for now. This amp is significantly better than the Emotiva XPA-3 it replaces. Superior bass, more defined sound stage and everything just sounds a little more defined in my system. Also, the amp is visually stunning compared to the plain black square box of the Emo. I'm trying out all kinds of music and the recording quality or lack there of is clearly apparent.

Some people still believe there is no differences between all amps. My thoughts are many amps will sound the same, especially cookie cutter amps, as I like to call them. But if any given amp has significantly different designed circuits, ie. better design, better components, there has to be at least some difference.
That clown who says he will put up $10k for anyone to grab, if that person can consistently pick the same amp in a blind 3 amp A/B/C test. Lets get real, you know he picked 3 amps that do sound the same. Which is why, if the challenger wants to pick the amps, then he also has to put up $10k, cos he knows the challenger will have done his homework too, and picked one amp that does sound different enough to the other two, enabling him to pick it every time.
As for emo, I think their industrial design is butt ugly, I hate all those blue lights and the aluminum corner strips. Talk about looking cheap..I thought the first generation Outlaw gear was cheap looking, Emo managed to out do them on that count. My old HCA2205A certainly does not look as good as my Halo P7 pre-amp, but its much better looking than anything emo sells.

I found my A-21 to reach it's best after a lot of burn in. I think it was somewhere around 100 hrs. to where it lost it's somewhat steely edge and smoothed out. I am quite pleased with this amp.

I had a xpa-2 and xpa-3 I switched to the A 52 .I couldnt be happier starting with the whisper quiet floor noise amd parasounds signature sound very detailed and clean.With my ears there was a big difference but I did notice it sounded better and better the more hours I used it so there must be a burn in time frame.The only regret I have is waiting this long to pick up a Parasound!

Thanks for your comments, it was recommended to burn in the Oppo somewhat as well with it's fantastic analog stage. So far I've got maybe 6 hours on the Parasound, I'll burn it in too, but what a wonderful amp already! That high bias class A operation is probably all I'll need most of the time as 85-90 db starts to reach the threshold of discomfort for me as my speakers are 91db efficient at 1 watt.

PS The Emo amp really does look ugly and cheap by comparison.

I don't know if this means anything, but my amp before the A21 was a Levinson 332. As much as I liked the 332, I'm not missing it based on the music through the A21.

HALOs are hard to beat in the amp department!

Touché! I had an old Integra 890 stereo receiver and a Denon 2900 player, both of which I picked up on eBay. First I upgraded the player to the Oppo 95, then added the Parasound P7 pre, then the A51. At every point along the way I heard a big improvement but the A51 is what made my setup really shine. And, yes, it does seem to get even better with time. Honestly, I never thought it could sound this good.