mhardy6647
Lunatic Member
OK, maybe not quite vintage... but I have a friend at work who is selling his Parasound HCA-1000A stereo power amp. He knows I like this stuff and gave me right of first refusal. He's not keen on eBay'ing it 'cause he doesn't like packing & shipping.
I said I might be interested in it as a subwoofer amp. I asked him if I could try it out and he said sure. Mrs. H has a church council meeting tonight, so it's a good night to play hi-fi.
First, just to get an idea of what it sounded like, I hooked it to my TQWT's and gingerly played some things I know very well. The midrange wasn't unpleasant, but it was unremarkable. HF extension, definition, and clarity (as HF as my aging ears go!) was actually quite good, and it was clear that the bass weight and extension was better than the EICO HF-81 does on these modest floorstanders.
Well, let's give a try with speakers that are a little more appropriate to a monster amp (by my standards) like this. All the "New England" speakers are in the basement, but there's a pair of AR-14's that are reasonably accessible and not too heavy. AR-14's are two-ways with 10" woofers and dome tweeters (this pair is Teledyne-era); grotesquely inefficient and capable of very extended and damped bass. I lugged them upstairs, sat 'em on a couple of milk crates
and hooked up the amp. Source is my Marantz CDP, btw.
Listened to the same tracks as before. Sounded nice; foot tappin' music. Pulled out the Blue Man Group Audio CD and put it on, for fun. This is quite percussive, broad-band, and dynamic "music". Started with track 4 -- and I think I caught a glimpse of the infinite. My goodness, this thing does incredible bass. Also listened to Jennifer Warnes' "Way Down Deep" and Clapton/King's "Three O'Clock Blues". Stuff was resonating all over the first floor of the house!
EDIT: Removed "dollars and sense" reference
I said I might be interested in it as a subwoofer amp. I asked him if I could try it out and he said sure. Mrs. H has a church council meeting tonight, so it's a good night to play hi-fi.
First, just to get an idea of what it sounded like, I hooked it to my TQWT's and gingerly played some things I know very well. The midrange wasn't unpleasant, but it was unremarkable. HF extension, definition, and clarity (as HF as my aging ears go!) was actually quite good, and it was clear that the bass weight and extension was better than the EICO HF-81 does on these modest floorstanders.
Well, let's give a try with speakers that are a little more appropriate to a monster amp (by my standards) like this. All the "New England" speakers are in the basement, but there's a pair of AR-14's that are reasonably accessible and not too heavy. AR-14's are two-ways with 10" woofers and dome tweeters (this pair is Teledyne-era); grotesquely inefficient and capable of very extended and damped bass. I lugged them upstairs, sat 'em on a couple of milk crates
and hooked up the amp. Source is my Marantz CDP, btw.Listened to the same tracks as before. Sounded nice; foot tappin' music. Pulled out the Blue Man Group Audio CD and put it on, for fun. This is quite percussive, broad-band, and dynamic "music". Started with track 4 -- and I think I caught a glimpse of the infinite. My goodness, this thing does incredible bass. Also listened to Jennifer Warnes' "Way Down Deep" and Clapton/King's "Three O'Clock Blues". Stuff was resonating all over the first floor of the house!
EDIT: Removed "dollars and sense" reference
