mark1101 Posted January 18, 2007 Share Posted January 18, 2007 Has anyone heard this or any other Parasound amps with Heritage speakers? Comments? Comments on Parasound in general? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted January 18, 2007 Share Posted January 18, 2007 Part of new Classic Series, designed by John Curl -- just like the old ones. John Albright has been running Parasound on his LaScalas for years and loves it. http://www.hometheaterspot.com/htsthreads/tech-review.php?rev=16 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbflash Posted January 18, 2007 Share Posted January 18, 2007 I have one hooked up to my bedroom system. I first bought it for my HT system. I was using a Denon with KLF20's. The Denon was so bright it hurt my ears. I bought the HCA1500 and used it to power my front speakers. Between the amp and new speaker wire I could listen to it for hours with no problem. I then sold the HT and used the HCA1500 with heresy's, lascala's and now B3's. Great sounding amp. As everyone sez "Built like a tank". I have left it on 24x7 for the last 4 years. I only turn it off if I'm going to be out of town for more than a day. I like it so much I'm trying to find another one to try SS with my Khorns. I really liked the sound when using a tube pre and the HCA1500. I am using a parasound SS pre and tuner in my bedroom system. If anyone ever asks me about an amp I always tell them to look for a HCA1500. The darn thing can handle anything. I hope if you get it you enjoy it as much as I have. Of all of my equipment its one of the few things I won't get rid of. Danny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark1101 Posted January 18, 2007 Author Share Posted January 18, 2007 I see you have VRDs. So do I. Can you compare the two in bass output, warmness, top end accuracy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbflash Posted January 18, 2007 Share Posted January 18, 2007 Mark, Very good question that I can't answer right now. I have had the Parasound hooked up in my bedroom for over 5 years now. 95% of the time I am listening to a radio station that half the time I can't get in stereo and the other 5% I have my iPod hooked up. The speakers are on a nightstand on each side of the bed, pushed in a corner. Not exactly the best setup, but for what I want it works. I have been listening to tube amps on my main system (first Wrights 2A3 and for the last couple years VRD's). I have been wondering about SS with my Khorns, but kept putting it off. This will give me a good reason to try the Parasound out this weekend. I will pull the VRD's out and install the HCA1500A. I will leave Audible preamp in and give it a listen over the weekend. I will report back. Danny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Posted January 18, 2007 Share Posted January 18, 2007 I had a 1205a and consider it one of the better amps I've owned.It benched for about 17 watts per ch across 5 channels more than rated for.Top was smooth and bottom was robust,power on 7's endless,just a really good amp for the money,and built very solid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnA Posted January 18, 2007 Share Posted January 18, 2007 Has anyone heard this or any other Parasound amps with Heritage speakers? Comments? Comments on Parasound in general? Thanks I ran a 1203A on the front 3 and a 1000A for the rear. Deep solid bass, warm smooth sound. The massive damping factor exerts rigid control on the woofer and I trulely loved that. I thought they were quite accurate, mostly because of the bass control. I had trouble with the relays in the 1203A and sent it back twice. After the second time I ebayed it. The 1000A was flawless. ` Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickB Posted January 19, 2007 Share Posted January 19, 2007 I've been using a 1500A amp with my Forte's for a couple years, and I think they match up nice. I also use a Parasound Halo A 21 on my RF7s in my surround setup with an HCA 2205A driving the other 5 speakers. I would have to agree with the last poster about the deep bass and how smooth they sound. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark1101 Posted January 19, 2007 Author Share Posted January 19, 2007 Thanks for the info everyone. Danny, I'll be waiting to hear your VRD comparison. Obviously, not an apples to apples comparison. But the info will be useful to me and I appreciate your time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbflash Posted January 19, 2007 Share Posted January 19, 2007 Mark, I am going to swap it out tonight. Just don't tell me you know where one is for sale. I am so going to miss listening to my NPR station at night. They play blues (Blues Before Sunrise) Saturday night and Echo's From Space is on Sunday night. Danny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark1101 Posted January 20, 2007 Author Share Posted January 20, 2007 Danny, Any word yet? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbflash Posted January 20, 2007 Share Posted January 20, 2007 I have more of an answer now than I did 2 days ago. First of all remember I have been listening to tubes amps for the last 5 years and have only had time so far to listen to 5 CD's and 3 albums. I hooked up the amp, powered everything up, had a shot of Jim Beam and drank a beer. I then put in Keb Mo "Suitcase" on CD. The first thing I noticed was the bass. I didn't know the Khorns had such tight, solid bass. I was just so excited, but by the end of the 2nd song I was thinking something was missing. The mids and hi's were there, very clean and solid, but they sounded so clean and sterile. It took me back to the first time I heard a CD. It sounded good, but where was the warmth and soul? I then put on Steely Dan Aja on vinyl. Sounded really good, but again it was were was the soul of the music. My nephew is staying with me and he has only heard my system for a couple months and he was listening with me and he loves the sound. He said he could be happy with either the tubes or the SS. I'm listening to Donna With Buffalos right now as I type. It sounds really good. I think I have to give this more time and get used to SS again. I don't know all the technical terms, but right now I think I am missing the warmth, soul and "coloration" of tubes. I still say that the Parasound is a great amp. I have been thinking about getting another one and trying to use them as mono blocks. If I blow off the SS experiment I may start trying to find another pair of tube amps that give me the bass control of a SS amp and the mids and hi's of a tube amp. This is the first report. I will report back later. With the playoffs tomorrow I don't know how much listening I will be doing. I will leave the Parasound amp in all week and continue listening. Danny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark1101 Posted January 21, 2007 Author Share Posted January 21, 2007 If I blow off the SS experiment I may start trying to find another pair of tube amps that give me the bass control of a SS amp and the mids and hi's of a tube amp. Danny, Thanks for spending the time on this. It's about what I expected. I have s/s amps here as well as several tube amps. I have found similar to you. The s/s amps will give you the bass but some are a little too analytical/sterile in the mids and top end.....at least the Denon stuff I have I would classify that way. The VRDs are fine amps but can't make bass like a good s/s amp, and I wonder if any tube amp really can. My Scott LK-72 makes some serious bass, but it's just a tad sloppy. I had heard that that particular Parasound amp had a warm sound and I just wanted to hear someone's opinion who had been listening to VRDs. I have found that s/s works great in my HT setup. For some reason that type of sound just seems right to me for TV and movies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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