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My speakers came alive with Parasound

runnin' said:
Well, the first thing he's got to do is decide how much he's willing to spend. That will limit how much amp he can get right off the bat.
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True in many cases, but for the fellow shopping the used market for a quality amp, that's not a very consistent barometer. There's a lot of amplifiers out there within a few bucks of each other with significant differences. There's also going to be (less significant) differences between amps in the new market at similar price points.

In the OPs case, he had a dealer who let him check out the Parasound at home. Very fortunate for him. I bought my Acurus off the auction site based on reputation, and was happy with the result, much more so than with the B&K I bought the same way. The prices were within $50 of each other.

The only indicator of available current I'm aware of is the ability to handle low impedance loads. Are there other specs or indicators?
 
Congrats - I have the A23 and it's plenty of amp for my purposes. Can't imagine what the A21 would do in my small room.
 
one of adcom's claims to fame is that AHC from tas needed an amp to drive apogee scintillas (1 ohm impedance) and the adcom 555 was about the only one that wouldn't shut down during the attempt.
 
steve p said:
Finally picked up my amps let the fun begin.
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Right on, let us know your impressions. For me the A21 showed that all amps are not the same. Better detail, imaging and bass control than my old amp. But I suspect good speakers helped reveal what the A21 could do.
 
I'll be moving from the P3 to the P5 once availability settles down. It's got a lot of features that I want. Balanced, sub out, onboard dac. I'm pretty sold on Halo preamps...
 
"my speakers came alive with Parasound"- you should email that to Parasound, they would love to hear that. You never know, they may even donate something to AK.
 
I've been a very satisfied owner of the little Parasound Zamp amplifier for some years now and and I completely agree with the OP. This little amp truly brings out the best in my Tannoy "V" series bookshelf speakers. Parasound makes very musical gear.
 
Parasound 2100

I wish I could afford a P5, but a Classic 2100 does the job quite nicely. It is one hell of pre-amp for under 1k. It is a great match with my Hafler GFA-555.
 
I got what I considered a good deal on the P5. I got a deal on the A21 but that was the one I was nervous spending all that money on.
 
steve p said:
Finally picked up my amps let the fun begin.
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Congratulations on picking up your Parasound amp/preamp. I have a Parasound A-21 amp and the Parasound JC-2 preamp driving a pair of Infinity RS-IIB speakers currently. Could not be happier with their performance.
 
steve p said:
So I was able to audition the Parasound A21 power amp and the P5 preamp this weekend. My local hifi shop let me take them home for the weekend. I will be having them order me these this week. I could't believe how much my Cambridge Soundworks t500 speakers opened up. I have never heard them sound so good and have taken them off my upgrade list. I have had these speakers for 12 years connected to a Marantz sr7500 receiver and always thought they sounded ok but they weren't great. I have read a lot of stuff about how speakers make the most significant improvement but you could have speakers just waiting to have good electronics to power them. Sadly I need to return the amps today, hopefully when they are ordered they don't take to long to come in.

Steve
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That was exactly the same experience I had when I replaced my already decent NAD Preamp/Tuner & Audio Design power amp with a Bryston Integrated amp. I too was quite happy with the NAD/Audio Design combo, but somehow my Energy Pro-22 monitors never sounded as good as suggested by other users.

Since connecting them up to the Bryston Amp they are so much more transparent than the NAD/Audio Design combo its in a whole different league. So much for the theory all amps sound the same. It seems that the amp is just as important as speakers for overall sq.

To be fair though, it is very important that each part of the system be up to the task. When using my Energy RC-30 towers with the bryston, while they too improved considerably, they didn't improve near to the degree the Pro-22's did.
 
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"Real stereo equipment vs. a device with more than 70 RCA jacks on the back. Nuff said."

gogofast said:
lol. and at 10x the cost.

i think this kind of experience just fuels our hobby :thmbsp:
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You know; after he stated this, I had to actually go and count the RCA's on the back of my SX-780. There is 12 total.
Wildly exaggerating the facts really ruins your credibility, does'nt it? :sigh:

Do you remember the 2004-2006 Pontiac GTO? It was an extremely capable very well-built high performance car that could spank 99% of the competition.

And... it looked like a f*cking Camry. Parasound OWNS that. Good sound, and all of the beauty of a beige brick. Keep it!
 
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Congratulations.

I'm not surprised that your speakers sound much better with separates than with a HT receiver. I think the preamp is at least as responsible for the improvement in sound quality as the amp.
 
I recently added a P5 to my second system and really like how my Vienna Acoustic speakers responded to the change from an older Rotel.

The Vtuner, however, not so much. I may have to swap that one out.
 
909Hemi said:
"Real stereo equipment vs. a device with more than 70 RCA jacks on the back. Nuff said."



You know; after he stated this, I had to actually go and count the RCA's on the back of my SX-780. There is 12 total.
Wildly exaggerating the facts really ruins your credibility, does'nt it? :sigh:

Do you remember the 2004-2006 Pontiac GTO? It was an extremely capable very well-built high performance car that could spank 99% of the competition.

And... it looked like a f*cking Camry. Parasound OWNS that. Good sound, and all of the beauty of a beige brick. Keep it!
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lol, dude, what are you talking about?

he was talking about op's marantz, which does have more than 70 rca's actually (not that it's an indication of anything really). he wasn't talking about your sx780.... just take it as a no-harm-intended smart comment which i did...
 
I've finally made the upgrade, I had the P5 in my sights, but ending up with a slightly used P7. It's for my 2 channel system, and the A21 has never sounded so good. Parasound is really hitting the sweet spot of performance/sonics for the price points they are at. Last system I'll ever need.
 
My son bought an A21 new also... He really enjoys it

The louder you crank it the more you'll appreciate it
 
gogofast said:
lol, dude, what are you talking about?

he was talking about op's marantz, which does have more than 70 rca's actually (not that it's an indication of anything really). he wasn't talking about your sx780.... just take it as a no-harm-intended smart comment which i did...
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I know, man ... no big deal, but for many of us, new state-of-the-art audio just looks like a turd. :thumbsdn:
 
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