Teag. Tonight I think. For sure I will do a review. I was briefly distracted by a Rotel and vintage Yamaha, but the Parasound will likely be the one.
My brother has both my Sansui 9090 and Thorens TD 160 which he has had refurbished so they are as good as new. He has a modern system too. It is the modern equivalent to his 70's era system in terms of the level of equipment. He actually prefers to listen to the classic system from the 70's most times. I am glad to see my old electronic friends are still bringing someone pleasure like they did me. There is something about that big blue glowing dial that brings back pleasant memories, from the period where I got really serious about getting good gear and expanded my taste in music drastically.
still can't believe how literally perfect my parasound a21+ sounds in my system. it combines the best qualities of other amps i have owned and is the only one that does it all for me. it has become very transparent and insanely smooth. break in hours really matter as evidenced by the need early on to keep putting my speaker grilles on to tame the brightness. they have been off now for a few weeks and i cannot hear the slightest need to put them back on. a superb value of an amplifier.
Congratulations Avanti1960 Happy for you the A21+ has proven itself to be the one amp that addresses all of your requisites for an amp!! Happy listening Best wishes
Occasionally, in the past, people have posted about recordings that sound amazing on their Parasound gear. I've got one today that is about the most realistic jazz studio recording I have ever heard. That would be Cohearent Audio's first LP by saxophonist Kirsten Edkins - Shapes & Sound. Cohearent Audio is the name of Kevin Gray's company, which up until now has focussed on remastering. He has been working on a pet project for many, many years now involving an all tube recording and mastering studio. The studio starts with classic tube microphones, a vintage tube based Studer tape recorder, a tube based mastering console and a tube based Neuman lathe. There are no transistors or other solid state components in the entire mastering chain. KG wanted to recreate the sound of the Golden Age of tube based recording and mastering. He also built out a recording studio in his Living Room which he based loosely on RVGs Hackensack Studio. Kevin Gray jokingly calls it "Hackensack West". For the first recording he chose saxophonist Kirsten Adkins. She wrote most of the tracks and hand picked four other musicians for this instrumental quintet recording. Kirsten and the others were all on board with this unique recording and tailored the style to suit. This LP totally blew me away, from the first few seconds I knew it was special. The pressing was done by RTI and my copy was flawless. The packaging was first class all the way and included lots of info and photos about Kevin Gray's dream project. The recording itself was stunning in its realism. KG used 1 mic per musician, so you have a very accurate and precise sound stage with each player originating from one location. So no 9' wide piano and no 1 mic per every piece of the drum kit. What struck me right from the start was the sense of realism and illusion this record caused. I felt like I was listening to a real band performing. The piano sound like a real piano, unlike RVG who sometimes drew a lot of criticism for how pianos sounded on the LPs he produced. The sax was coming from the left speaker and the trombone from the right speaker. There was some faint traces of each in the opposite channel. The horns sounded realistic and not artificially hard panned. All of the instruments had great detail and realism. The horns had real a bite and sharpness to them as well as a soft and mellow sound when played softly. The upright bass had outstanding sound and a very realistic sound, not some indistinct muddy background rumble. It it seemed you could hear every nuance in the drumming, from the soft and subtle up to the very sharp percussive sounds when the drummer struck the drums or cymbals hard or clicked the drumstick to gather or struck the rims. This recording sounded simply beautiful on my system. You often had the feeling you were there in the studio listening to the performance. I have listened to this LP twice now, and I heard something different each time. This is about the best my JC3+, JC 2 BP and JC5 have sounded. Before I lead you astray, this is not a wild and bombastic performance. It is not a Living Stereo LP like Scheherazade with huge swings in dynamic range. This is more like what you would hear from a great jazz band playing in a great jazz bar. The band members are all in synch with one another and the music is slow to mid tempo jazz with some nice complexity to it. This is an amazing recording where the sound and performance are equally high quality. I can't wait to hear more LPs from Cohearent Records.
As I just mentioned on another post..........Effing amazing record, it's the new definition for musicians in my room!! Kevin hit a grand slam with his new venture, looking forward to more.
I totally agree.......and I am sure TMR will take an offer on these. I've been looking at them for 2 months..........
The truly amazing thing about this LP is it sounds this good and only cost $40.00 for all this audio goodness. Imagine when he makes his first Direct to Disc recording with this new rig. It is something he is considering. For those of you who want to learn more Steve Westman whose you tube channel is called "The Audiophiles - with Steve Westman -" will be conducting an interview with Kevin Gray that will be broadcast on Friday. He will discuss the LP and answer questions submitted by Steve's viewers. There are also some very good interviews with Kevin as well as other luminaries in this field, be sure to look at his other videos. Here is the URL for the YouTube channel: The Audiophiles with - Steve Westman -
That's what happens when folk are gathered around the table enjoying a topic and adding great experiences and share these eagerly...helps get an idea of how our systems may compare... But perhaps getting a bit off topic.. Best wishes all
Nice shot! But the cover….man remove that cover while playing records. Now concerning the record….I have to wait for the second pressing. First all sold out.
I don't want to ruffle feathers or crack open worm cans, but why do you feel removing the dustcover while listening is a must? I get that resonant feedback can be worsened by closed dustcovers, but in my house, with my rig, the dustcover is almost always closed when I listen (mainly to combat dust and lint settling on my records). Even w/ the volume cranked, the closed lid doesn't create resonant feedback, impede playback quality, or cause any harmonic interference. Again, just curious. I respect your opinions amongst these forums and am always open to being educated.
That's cool. I assumed it had to do w/ the potential for resonant feedback or "microphonic effects". I did hear a difference between lid open vs. closed on a previous turntable setup (and having the lid closed was not possible at high spl), but the one I enjoy these days is admirably immune to such environmental details. To each their own and all. We've got to trust our own ears! Cheers.
I don’t hear a difference either. But I do it any ways. With my turntable, I can beat on the plinth while playing a record and it won’t skip a beat! My plater and tone arm never touch the plinth, but are connected to each other under the plinth. This is a very well isolated turntable and yet I have it on a 3 inch maple block. Nothing is heard from this table but blissfully beautiful music. But I still remove or open the cover. Call be obsessively loyal to having the best sound I can….even when it’s sounding perfect, I want more. For some of us, music is living, thus the best quality of living possible.
I was only playing that one record.....long sessions I remove it. On this Xtension 10 it seems it makes a difference I have found. Yea the record sold out pretty quick.....
I spotted that new Kirsten Edkins album you have displayed on Qobuz and meant to circle back to it. Then read your guys' comments about it and tried looking it up on Qobuz for a listen this weekend and it seems to have been removed? Weird.
How's the music? Or is it just a great demo record? I'll take a look for it. Thanks! Edit- Pricey! $150 on Discogs. Is that regular sticker?
Likewise, I was hoping to give it a listen on Amazon Music prior to purchasing the LP, but it's not available.
I paid $40 for it. It is being sold by Acoustic Sounds, The 'In' Groove, Elusive Disc, and Music Direct only. If they are out of stock you are SOL till the second 1250 copies are pressed. Kevin Gray said on the podcast with Steve Westman that there will be no CDs except for promo copies. It sounded like it would not be available for normal streaming sites and eventually only available as HiRes downloads. KG is not in a huge hurry to do the HiRes files.
