Still I think the 540ml has sounded fine on other Parasound owners preamps. It has a natural rise between 5k-10k anyway as noted in TAS and Stereophile reviews. Depends on your taste I think.
I found it too. Was actually just looking at the ZPhono XRM. 150pf is kinda borderline for AT carts. Prob push past 200pf 95% of the time. Not that a vm540ml will suddenly start sounding crappy though.
Ok...I had an A23 originally bought new. After 2 years I had the opportunity to buy an A21 2nd hand which I did and moved the A23 into storage (didn't really bother at the time to compare both critically, I only noted they sounded somewhat different when I moved the A21 into the system). Recently I thought about selling the A23 so just to be sure I put it back into my system and I am doing some comparisons at the moment....still early but I'm quite shocked...seems I prefer the A23 . The A21 seems to sound 'thicker', the A23 more 'open'. Could this be an 'age issue', with the A23 having a lot less hours than the A21 which is a few years older (and I don't really know how the previous owner used it)? Any other thoughts? This is probably like swearing in the church but I'm only relating what I hear in my system and looking for a reason why I seem to prefer the less expensive one at the moment . I use a Parasound P5 preamp and Monitor Audio PL100II standmounts. Have listened with and without my sub in the system, same outcome...
never heard the a23 but the 21 has tendencies to sound darker and slightly thick. many really like the sound. the a21+ sounds similar but a touch more transparent. unless the a23 had very low hours it is not burn in related but it may need some warm up. run it for a few days and re evaluate. more power is not always equal to better sound.
Yeah I will keep it on for the next few days, not going to jump to early conclusions here (but I had the a23 playing every day for nearly 2 years before I packed it up). I wouldn't call it darker but thick seems to describe it best. What I still need to do is put the a23 in place of the a21, on top of the isolation platform. Now I just put it on top of the a21 for easy switching at the back (but I do get the a23 off the a21 when I listen to the a21).
hoo boy … hard to say of course, but interconnects can make a difference. At least at this moment I think so. Had AP Micro Copper Oval-In XLRs, tried some Synergistic Research Foundation XLR ICs between P 7 and A 21. Seemed to be more resolving and increased soundstage depth “palpability” to the best I’ve heard in my system. Of course it could also be expectation bias or any number of things. I don’t know that TheCableCo loans cables other than in the US but it might be worth a few tests with ICs if there are ways to do them. I’m returning the SR ICs today after the loan so need to decide whether to buy. Haven’t put the APs back in yet. PS the SRs are silver and indeed do sound more resolving to me without having brightness.
I kniow ic cables make a difference. But I am swapping the same Mogami 2947 between amps (and also use same speaker cable and power cable with both). Not willing to go on an endless search for the right ic when I can clearly hear the difference with neutral and open Mogami's. The difference is definitely in the bass, sounding thicker, less open and less transparant on the A21 compared to the A23. The difference can be compared to having the crossover on a Rel subwoofer slightly too high, this has the same effect, creating a 'thicker' bass.
Got the wife 'out' yesterday evening and told her to 'sit down and listen' . She didn't know which amp was playing and I just asked her to listen for a difference and which she preferred and why, played 'Rhiannon' (Fleetwood Mac) which she knows well. Came to the same conclusion as I did before, first she said 'first amp (A23) sounds more open and vocals are more clear' (both of them would be a consequence of the thicker sounding bass/midbass on the A21 imo). 2nd time I told her to listen for the bass specifically...'first amp (A23) has a more natural bas, I can hear all notes being played better'. What gives? Could this be a room issue causing the supposedly extra bass/midbass from the A21 to muddy and 'thicken' the sound? @avanti1960 looked up one of your earlier posts in this thread and noticed you mention exactly the same 'issue'. What baffles me though is that one of their cheaper amps is able to expose this 'issue' of the 3x more expensive amp.
he means the number of transistors in the output stage -- lower powered amp would have fewer transistors. hypothesis is that a "simpler" circuit might sound better.
I think he may be referring to more output transistors in the A21. I am about to build one of the Nelson Pass designs which use as few components as possible, only 2 output transistors per channel. I’m curious to test this against my A21 for the same reasons you seem to prefer the A23.
there are many instances where more expensive solid state amplifiers with more power do not sound as good as those with lower power- depending on preferences, speakers and room. some people believe a warmer thicker richer sound is preferred and amplifier and preamplifier makers often voice their more expensive products to do this. the flip side is many do not prefer this type of sound. also higher powered amps do yield more dynamics, drive problem speaker loads and ability to play louder and cleaner. pick what sounds best and do not be concerned with the idea that higher cost always = better sound.
Just bought an AT-OC9XML but with concern for it syncing to the phono stage of my Parasound P6. The cart specs indicate 100 ohm min. And that’s the only thing the Parasound delivers. Seems concern was misplaced, since the cart runs very well.
As @jcn3 , @okc_craft , and @avanti1960 said, fewer output transistors mean less distortion. Less power, but potentially better sound from a cleaner & simpler design. This is similar to what SET & Flea Watt Amp fans are after. Just as an example, I still have a Dynaco ST-150 from the 1970's. It's an affordable early solid state design that on paper should be easily bettered by any modern amp, yet it still sounds rather pleasant. I think the secret to its sound is having only two output transistors per channel backed up by a stout power supply.
Thanks for explaining, interesting theory (less transistors...)! Just tested for some dynamic difference today and the A23 sounds just as dynamic, if anything maybe even better (to me) because the dynamics sound cleaner. Also tried 'Caramel' by Suzanne Vega (a dark,warm and very bass heavy production) which sounded real muddy before and the difference is quite shocking. It comes a bit as a surprise/shock to me what you say about the voicing of more expensive amps, didn't know at all, but then I'm quite new at this. I know some amps sound 'warmer' than others but this thick sound is not what I would call warm (or maybe I have the wrong idea of 'warm' sound).
I never found the A21 muddy, thick or on the warm side of neutral. It could just be exposing a sound trait else where in the chain as it is very responsive to any changes else where in the signal which in my book = transparency to the source . If you want more from it pay attention to the supporting cast in the setup.
heard the a21 in many systems for 10 years and it sounds consistent. subtly warm and slightly thick, very good amp on its own and not deal breakers for most but these traits show up during direct comparisons to other amps.
Love that Suzanne Vega album. My favorite. Definitely good for checking bass tightness on speaker/room set up. If you bought the A21 used, how old is it really? Hard to believe the amps would sound so different. Maybe the A21 needs servicing/recap? I'm no expert but I have read that when capacitors get older they start to alter frequency response.
Yes a lot of people seem to dislike how that album sounds, I love it! Just checked the original invoice. It was bought new in 2015. It would surprise me if it needs a servicing/recap after only 6 yrs.
Right. Unless maybe the former owner pushed it really hard into some current hungry speakers...?? Yeah, Nine Objects of Desire is a must have for Vega fans. Love the recording..super deep bass, vocals right in the room. Not friendly to a bass hump on speakers!
Fuse rolled mine when I had it with a HiFi Tuning Silver Star and it went up in refinement extension in the top end mids remained full bodied and bass gained tautness definition and slam. I use a PS Audio AC12 power cable and was running Morrow Audio SP3 bi-wire (silver coated copper version) kept me happy for some years.
I also have the HiFi Tuning Silver Star in my A 21, a Shunyata Venom 3 PC, now a Synergistic Research Foundation XLR IC, and Morrow SP4 biwire speaker cable to the Silver 8s. I don’t know exactly what does what, but the combo seems very good. I’m not arguing with bever70 or anyone about the 23 vs. 21 etc. but the P 7 + A 21 sounds amazing now in my system. The P 7 has a Shunyata Venom 15 PC as well.
