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Has anyone tried Parasound with Klipsch?


chuckears

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I'm looking at the Parasound HCA-2205AT. It has some pretty solid reviews, and I'm not as concerned about the HT performance as how it does on two-channel music: I am pleased with the sound from my McCormack setup, but want to go with a separate pre-processor and multi-channel amp.

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I use a Parasound HCA-1203A to power my fronts and an HCA-1000A for the rears. I like them a lot. They are clean and the high bamping factor controls the bass very well. I recommend them for use with Klipsch. Don't the 2205s have MOSFETS? They should sound a little different if they do. Some say better. I can't say either way.

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  • 4 weeks later...

I decided to go with a Rotel RMB-1095... I like the looks of the Parasound, but I do not have local dealer, and the advice I received from remote dealers, and even from Parasound, regarding the tight spacing of the speaker terminals on the 2205 would make it very difficult to use my Kimber Postmaster spades (and I refuse to re-terminate my cables... it's a factory termination).

The Rotel is a nice unit, but my next purchase needs to be a kick-*** processor. Anyone got $3K they want to give away to someone who's got it bad for the Anthem AVM-20?

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For my HT room (also known as "the living room": roughly 17'x17'), the RS-3's work great... but they didn't really start to sing until I ran them with the same power as my front speakers... I originally had them powered with my HK520 receiver, but since I hooked the Rotel 1095 to all speakers, there is more punch and realism in the upper-mids.

I have read several times about how it's that first watt that makes the difference, and it's the quality of the amplification that matters with sensitive speakers like Klipsch.

I will agree with the quality issue, but to my ears, the Klipsch speakers that do not rely solely on horns (Forte, Chorus, anything from the Legend, Reference, etc.) is well served with some serious balls; primarily for the sake of powering their big cone woofers.

I was amazed by the difference in bass slam when I went from a 120-watt Carver to the 185-watt McCormack... my subwoofer has taken a lot of that burden away from the Fortes in the last couple of years; but I would advise anyone who owns speakers with cones to supply them with plenty of good power.

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chuck - Interesting observation. I noticed the same thing when I doubled the power to my Forte's from 105 wpc to 200wpc. However, I also changed from using the on-board amps in my Denon 3300 receiver to an Acurus 200x3, so there is probably more at play here than just the power change.

But, it did make a difference in the low end, especially.

DD

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I run a Parasound pre/pro with a Carver Lightstar Reference powering the front channels. Ditto Chuck regarding the ability of a high wattage amp to drive 12" or 15" woofers. The trick, of course, is finding something that sounds equally good and distortion free at low wattage levels, where you wind up doing a whole of listening. Amps like the Lightstar, McCormack, and Acurus all fit this bill admirably.

C

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On 1/30/2003 10:24:53 AM dougdrake wrote:

chuck - Interesting observation. I noticed the same thing when I doubled the power to my Forte's from 105 wpc to 200wpc. However, I also changed from using the on-board amps in my Denon 3300 receiver to an Acurus 200x3, so there is probably more at play here than just the power change.

But, it did make a difference in the low end, especially.

DD

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Amps are funny things. I noticed the same thing when I changed from a Denon 4802 (125w/ch?) to an Anthem PVA-5 (125w/ch). Most likely the differences were based on quality not on wattage. Much more base and a lot tighter.

In fact I don't even use my sub for music anymore. I know that I have a couple of recording that go under the Forte's, the organ in Bach's Fugue in D, but for the most part my Forte's are now playing down to their rated 30hz which covers most music.

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chuckears: congrats on the rotel , i try'ed a parasound and a high priced krell, before buying my Rotel amps.

For the money they are great amps ( way under priced in comparision to the power and inners)

I run a Rotel RB-1090 ( 380 wpc ) for my mains and a Rotel RB-993 ( 200 X 3) for the rear lascalas and front cf-7 .

no complaints here .

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On 2/2/2003 5:29:56 AM marksdad wrote:

you mentioned you wanted a good processor? have you tried the rotel line, the 1066 is soooooo clean, never anything added no hiss hum, no nothing, very happy with mine
12.gif
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I was (financially) unfortunate enough to audition the Rotel amp with the Anthem AVM-20... there was a Rotel 1066 in the same store, but there was no comparison between the two.

It is now my goal to sell everything I possibly can and buy the Anthem. This is my quest....

(Just don't tell my wife...)

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On 2/2/2003 6:02:59 PM chuckears wrote:

I was (financially) unfortunate enough to audition the Rotel amp with the Anthem AVM-20... there was a Rotel 1066 in the same store, but there was no comparison between the two.

It is now my goal to sell everything I possibly can and buy the Anthem. This is my quest....

(Just don't tell my wife...)

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Welcome to the dark side.11.gif

Gotta love the +0.00/-0.031db 20-20khz. It does what it's supposed to do, get's out of the way of the music without coloring it.

I've been more than happy with mine.1.gif

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