Parasound New Classic 2125 v2 vs. New Classic 2250 v2

[Psylocyb]

After three days of using Parasound 2125 v.2 I noticed, that amp only generate humming noise in tweeters, what I assume is normal for power amps (it's audible only when I'm sitting close to the speaker).

It seems that loud hissing is starting when I'm plugging Schiit Modi Multibit to the amp, even when Modi Multibit is disconnected from the power source (it's off and power cable is not connected).

I checked different RCA cables but there is still the same problem, as soon I'm plugging in Schiit DAC, the loud hissing starts.

Too bad I don't have other DAC to check if other DAC will behave differently. Maybe I will borrow some money from a friend and I will buy the Topping E30, to check if other DAC will also add this loud hissing noise.

I'm wondering if Input section of Parasound could be the problem (where I'm connecting RCA cables).

 

[Psylocyb]

UPDATE: I discovered what was the issue of the loud hissing noise!

The culprit is USB section in Modi Multibit DAC, as soon I'm connecting Modi Multibit with PC via USB, the hissing starts, but when I'm connecting Multibit with PC by optical cable, the hissing is not present and everything is playing smoothly.

I will buy new USB cable today or tomorrow, if this will not fix the issue, I guess that I will try to get a refund for Modi Multibit and I will look for other DAC.

I like how the Multibit sounds, but if USB is so poorly implemented, then I have no choice.

 

[kappclark]

I have a Parasound HCA500 and it is still rocking ... I also commend Parasound for responding promptly to emails etc.

 

[Okra]

I have a Parasound HCA500 and it is still rocking ... I also commend Parasound for responding promptly to emails etc.

Can you describe its signature sound?

 

[lokerola]

I've been rocking a Parasound 2125v2 for 4 years now with almost daily usage and it's been 100% rock solid. I'd call Parasound. I hear their support is great.

 

[kappclark]

effortless - plenty of reserve -- was driving pair of PSB Alphas, and now is being used as a sub amp for a NHT passive sub...

the tranny has started to vibrate a bit, and only service was replacing a flaky speaker relay ... considering re-capping, but it it works, why fix ..even the president of Parasound (who replied to my email a few years back) was really happy the amp was still going so well..

 

[Psylocyb]

Hi, I thought that I will share my impressions after using Parasound 2125 v2 for over 2 weeks (around 10 hours a day because I'm working from home and I have a lot of time to enjoy music).

I am using 2125 v2 with Schiit Multibit and Topping E30 DACs (usually with Multibit because E30 sound a bit too flat for me).

The first thing I noticed is that my Dali Oberon 7 speakers start to sound very bright with the 2125 v2. Oberon speakers have laid back, warm sound and big presentation (I would say that they can sound monumental, there is a lot of depth and space).
After hooking up 2125 v2, Dali kind of lost this typical warmer sound and they sound very sharp and bright now, there is definitely more clarity, crispiness but also sound become irritating and fatiguing, like if high frequencies are dominating over everything else and midrange is limited, low end is very subtle and hidden.

Maybe it's because of the Schiit Multibit DAC, or lack of a good preamp in my system, but I never experienced so predominant bright side that focuses mostly on high frequencies, like cymbals are in the foreground in the percussions and kick of the drum is hidden, this sounds very aggressive (in your face like), harsh but I guess there is more noticable details.

But maybe it's just the "neutral" sound and I'm not really used to it, on my previous Marantz and Cambridge Audio amps sound was definitely warmer, bass and vocals were more prominent, high freqencies were a bit subdued, they sounds more "musical" I would say and Parasound sound more "clinical".

I am thinking if buying 2125 v2 for over 1055 dollars (almost half the price was the shipping costs) was a good decision and maybe I should pick something like Marantz MM7025, that is cheaper and I guess it sounds warmer and more musical.
Maybe I need to buy warm sounding preamp.

I can add that few days ago I noticed that I can use my Marantz PM6006 as some sort a preamp, I am using Recorder out of PM6006 and this is giving me less fatiguing, slightly warmer sound that I like, and vocals, instruments sound much better, there is more separation and sense of "space" in music, but bass sounds like crap when I'm using this Recorder output.

I also noticed that 2125 v2 have a lot of audible hum, Cambridge Audio have less hum and Marantz have almost no hum at all, just the clean and clear silence (but it's maybe because of the power, not sure).

Overall I don't want to sound annoying, I know that I'm a complete audio noob just recently started my audio journey, so I shouldn't sound judgmental.

Maybe I just need a good preamp, currently I'm just using my old amp as a preamp or Schiit Vali 2 (that I see is very transparent, only adding volume control but adds almost nothing to the sound, maybe 5-10% more brightness but that's all).

In the worst case I will try to sell 2125 v2 in the UK in perfect condition, maybe somebody will be interested, or with a good preamp I will start to like the amp after time.

It's a very good amp with plenty of features but maybe I'm just a warm and airy sound fanatic, that likes more bass and prominent vocals and laid back characteristic, Parasound seems to be more detailed, clean and sharp type of amp (at least with Dali speakers).

 

[lokerola]

Hi, I thought that I will share my impressions after using Parasound 2125 v2 for over 2 weeks (around 10 hours a day because I'm working from home and I have a lot of time to enjoy music).

I am using 2125 v2 with Schiit Multibit and Topping E30 DACs (usually with Multibit because E30 sound a bit too flat for me).

The first thing I noticed is that my Dali Oberon 7 speakers start to sound very bright with the 2125 v2. Oberon speakers have laid back, warm sound and big presentation (I would say that they can sound monumental, there is a lot of depth and space).
After hooking up 2125 v2, Dali kind of lost this typical warmer sound and they sound very sharp and bright now, there is definitely more clarity, crispiness but also sound become irritating and fatiguing, like if high frequencies are dominating over everything else and midrange is limited, low end is very subtle and hidden.

Maybe it's because of the Schiit Multibit DAC, or lack of a good preamp in my system, but I never experienced so predominant bright side that focuses mostly on high frequencies, like cymbals are in the foreground in the percussions and kick of the drum is hidden, this sounds very aggressive (in your face like), harsh but I guess there is more noticable details.

But maybe it's just the "neutral" sound and I'm not really used to it, on my previous Marantz and Cambridge Audio amps sound was definitely warmer, bass and vocals were more prominent, high freqencies were a bit subdued, they sounds more "musical" I would say and Parasound sound more "clinical".

I am thinking if buying 2125 v2 for over 1055 dollars (almost half the price was the shipping costs) was a good decision and maybe I should pick something like Marantz MM7025, that is cheaper and I guess it sounds warmer and more musical.
Maybe I need to buy warm sounding preamp.

I can add that few days ago I noticed that I can use my Marantz PM6006 as some sort a preamp, I am using Recorder out of PM6006 and this is giving me less fatiguing, slightly warmer sound that I like, and vocals, instruments sound much better, there is more separation and sense of "space" in music, but bass sounds like crap when I'm using this Recorder output.

I also noticed that 2125 v2 have a lot of audible hum, Cambridge Audio have less hum and Marantz have almost no hum at all, just the clean and clear silence (but it's maybe because of the power, not sure).

Overall I don't want to sound annoying, I know that I'm a complete audio noob just recently started my audio journey, so I shouldn't sound judgmental.

Maybe I just need a good preamp, currently I'm just using my old amp as a preamp or Schiit Vali 2 (that I see is very transparent, only adding volume control but adds almost nothing to the sound, maybe 5-10% more brightness but that's all).

In the worst case I will try to sell 2125 v2 in the UK in perfect condition, maybe somebody will be interested, or with a good preamp I will start to like the amp after time.

It's a very good amp with plenty of features but maybe I'm just a warm and airy sound fanatic, that likes more bass and prominent vocals and laid back characteristic, Parasound seems to be more detailed, clean and sharp type of amp (at least with Dali speakers).

Interesting about the hum you're hearing. Both my 2125 and my 2250 are dead silent. It could be something wrong with the unit itself, or perhaps there's a ground loop? Have you tried swapping power cables and outlets in your house? Also, you might have a bad speaker connection. I know the 2125/2250 have A and B speaker connections, have you tried connecting to both sets of speaker terminals? And swapping speaker cables is always a good test to try.

I would note that I never warmed up to the sound of the Topping D30 through my 2125. It was always too bright and clinical. I ended up with another DAC that sounds warm. I think these amp will present as pretty clinical and dry if fed an input that sounds that way from the source.

But there is a synergy thing going on with system components, and maybe the 2125 just isn't a good fit in your system? Good luck!

 

[Psylocyb]

Thanks for your answer and for the ideas to try.

I think that maybe hum is coming from my PC or DAC (when I connected Schiit Multibit via USB I heard a loud hiss, so now I connected Multibit by long optical cable and at least hiss is gone for good). But fortunately hum is very quiet and not audible from my listening position.

I tried swapping power cables and plugging Parasound to a wall socket directly as Parasound employee recommended during a call, but it didn't change anything.

Previously I plug my speakers only to A left and right, and now I plug left speaker to A left and right speaker to B right, strangely I think that I hear slight improvement, but it's probably a placebo (not sure if I should hear any difference, maybe not).

For an experiment, I plug red speaker cable to black input and black speaker cable to red input (I plugged them incorrectly to try what will happen), I was expecting that it will sound very bad, but surprisingly it sounds very similar to the correct connection.


Anyway I agree that Topping sound bright and clinical, even after plugging to my Marantz or Cambridge Audio. What's surprising for me that Modi Multibit have even more brightness, Multibit that I ordered month ago have thick midrange and meaty bass, but it's also boosting high frequencies a lot what sound very bright and harsh. It's strange because I purchased Multibit based on opinions that it have rolled off high frequencies and gentle hi hats (and it's the opposite, cymbals are very dominant and irritating).


Maybe my Dali Oberon 7 speakers are just strange and hard to drive. I purchased these speakers after trying around 6-7 different speakers in this price range (around 1000 dollars) in Richer Sounds demo room in UK. When the employee plug Dali Oberon 7 and I play my compilation on a CD I was blown away by how they sound.
Sound from Oberon was filling the room, so I cannot locate speakers with closed eyes, sounds were everywhere around me, wrapping me like a warm blanket, there was a lot of depth, scene was wide, everything sounds very musical, gentle and laid back but also incredibly satisfying.

Unfortunately I didn't ask what amplifier they used to drive Dali Oberon 7 speakers in that demo room back then and I never achieved that sound at home.
I guess that they have perfect acoustic in these demo rooms, and I purchased thick carpet, wood furniture, a lot of plants and 96 acoustic panels that I stick to 3 walls (acoustic panels are covering around 40% of my wall space now).

I really wish to achieve that airy, monumental, warm and detailed sound that I heard in the demo room before buying the speakers 1 year ago, but for now I fail miserably, maybe I should request another visit and ask to plug few different amps to check if maybe these Dali speakers sound better with different amps signature sound. (for now I ordered Parasound because I thought that power will be the answer and demo room was closed due to the covid situation).


Anyway I will be still trying to improve my system, maybe I will look for warm sounding preamp and this will improve my listening experience.

For now, it's not really that bad, everything sounds clean and okay with Parasound, but maybe I have too high hopes and I expect too much from the gear.

But I will try to achieve that warm, detailed and holographic sound one day, I guess it needs time, patience and trying dozens of different gear.

Thanks for help anyway!