Parasound HCA-1500A
- Thread starter highend64
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they are pretty reliable. In this era of Parasound they used not so great electrolytics, not by design but think they were dupped by the cap mfgrs. So you may need to recap some of the smaller values.
If you can find one, the 2200 MK2 delivers much more current at similar power level.
If you can find one, the 2200 MK2 delivers much more current at similar power level.
Had one, loved it.
Are you referring to caps in the signal path and not the PS?
These are a very nice amp with 200 WPC and 60 amps of current, so it will drive most speaker very well...the only problem is it is old (the last one was made in 2004) so may need a few capacitors replaced.
@highend64 , Both. The power supply caps would at least need to be tested for capacitance and ESR. Some of the front end power supply caps will likely need to be replaced. Have worked on a number of these amps. Don't think I have seen one where all the caps were still good. Once you get all the connections loose from the main board, the whole main PCB will lift out of the chassis, making it much easier to work on. The electrolytic caps Parasound used from this era, have a shorter life span than most. Not sure if it was a poor electrolytic or something else, but have seen more than normal that have reached the end of their life, prematurely or not. The main power supply caps should at least be tested. The smaller caps are relatively inexpensive, so anymore would just replace them to insure good reliability down the road. Same would also apply to the smaller brother of this amp, the HCA-1000. Pretty nice amp, but likely needs some attention. Not a plug and play unit.
There are no caps in the signal path, per the Parasound web site.
I am the original owner of a Parasound HCA-1000A, bought in the late 90s.
No issues with caps. YMMV.
The bad cap issue surfaced within a few years time since new.
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