Nice! May have to checkout the SR foundation's And no arguments as well, if the A23 ticked all my boxes the A21 would be up for sale!
the SR was recommended by a sales guy at TheCableCo, I was thinking I wanted a warmer sound, was asking about Cardas ICs. He recommended the Foundation … Synergistic Research Foundation Interconnect I was skeptical, it’s $600 vs. the $400 for the Cardas … Audio's Parsec Interconnect Cable – The Cable Company Anyway, there’s probably 100 ICs … but this one seemed to do some amazing things. He said not to try too much “tuning” or tone controlling with cables, just what’s the best match. I guess I could try 10 cables, but this one did things I really like.
Wow, just another 4367 owner here considering the jc5 as my next upgrade. Which are your thoughts about this combination? Now they sound a bit lifeless to my taste: Node2 + Chord Hugo 2 + pro 1000w class d. I was considering the bryston 4b3 also, which is similar priced. Help much appreciated.
So I really enjoyed the Jc5 with the 4367. At that time I had a Lumin T2 into the Jc2 to the Jc5. It was darn good. Not lifeless at all. The 4367 need a lot of current and the Jc5 is upto the task. I've since moved from the Jc5 to the Primaluna ev400 to my current luxman 590axii. I want to make sure that I'm clear in what I say next. And that is, in my room, with my other audio gear, I feel that the 4367 really had great syerngy with Primaluna tubes and the class A lux. But this is a personal experience and the Jc5 is a great amp. Keep in mind that the room plays a part in what you hear also. And Greg Timbers, the designer of the 4367 recommends lifting the speakers up about 6 inches or so. Try that if you haven't already. You could look at the lansing heritage forum and the Jbl areas to find posts from Greg Timbers. I don't want to derail this thread anymore then I already have, so I'll just say the Jc5 is an excellent amp that will give you years of reliability. I enjoyed it for the two years I owned it and I would definitely recommend it.
So many thanks for the info... It's gold for me! A bit surprised about the use of really low wattages as you do. My dealer is leading me to a single mc275 also. Confusing, I thought a 15" driver needs a lot of current to control it. Thanks again.
I am toying with the idea of selling the HINT6 in my basement system, and just using my trusty Audiolab 8000A for the time being. For whatever reason, the Audiolab is more engaging to me, even though it's woefully underpowered (60 wpc) with the Magnepan .7's. I don't need the volume loud in this small space (i call it the dungeon, and it's only about 8x10, with the rear being open to the rest of the basement), so I don't need much power in there. Not lost on me is the fact that the amount I could probably get for the HINT6 (~$2000) is just about what a new pair of KLH Model 5's would be. (And the Audiolab would probably play really nicely with the KLH's.) But then I have a pair of Maggies I need to deal with! Why do we do these things?
A21 has been sold and I'm back to enjoying my A23. A21 has only been online for a few hours before it was sold and picked up! But they hardly come up for sale over here which is probably why it was picked up so fast. Have been doing amp swaps for weeks/months between the 2 just to make sure I made the right decision.
Wow, hearty congratulations on reaching the next level of performance with your system! You must have a very understanding spouse, I cannot imagine the level of derision I would have to endure in order to do something like that. I just bought the A 21 a year ago, at $2150 for an open box unit, it’s the second most expensive component I’ve ever purchased. Hauling it upstairs and putting it in my rack was enough of a chore that I think it’s just going to stay there. But if I wanted to sell it and buy another amplifier at a similar price, I think my wife would give the most extreme eye roll ever produced … All is not lost though, I’m getting an Innuos ZENmini for Christmas, going to add the LPSU for my birthday in April (or maybe together if I can get away with it), and trying to sneak in a new high-end DAC in the meantime (before or likely after). The DAC will need to be well under $1000, there are a few serious contenders around the $800 mark … it may sound like a battle with my wife but likely like many others here, my spouse does not share my hobby/obsession with audio. So I have to put up with some sarcasm and approach new purchases with some planning in mind. Also it’s something of a quid pro quo exercise at times, my wife wants a new iMac (convenient for Christmas, YES!), and the price is about the same or close enough to the Zen mini and possibly plus the LPSU. So it’s a good opportunity for me to add something to my system. I’ve been looking at streamers, cd rippers, and music storage systems for a little while now. The ZENmini seems to be the answer for me, I want an all in one unit with convenience features.
Well the A23 was mine allready and I have used it about 2 years before I got the A21 2nd hand. I pretty much got my money back selling the A21 so no harm was done . To be fair, when I first told her that I probaby was going to sell the big A21 because I liked my 'small' amp better she burst out into laughter .
Well, I shipped my HINT6 today to a buyer off USAM. Gonna live with the Audiolab stuff for a while. (I don't listen too too often down here, and when I do it's not too loud or for hours on end. So the Audiolab stuff can handle it just fine. And I honestly prefer the sound of the Audiolab. Warmer, yet still detailed. It's a great little amp.) Might look for some other Magnepan-appropriate options at some point, and who knows, I might consider the KLH Model 5's. But for now, this'll do.
I’m starting to look around at buying a used A21. Is there a way to determine date of manufacture based on the serial number?
Sleepless in LA, I’m looking for a power amplifier for my new 702 signatures. Interested in the JC5, but all retailers are out of stock. There is an eBay seller offering a new model with a $1000 discount and a 3 year warranty. Anyone have the scoop on this seller?
SoCal, this is a smart thing to do, the JC5 is superb sounding and Parasound's support is one of the best in the business. I hope you enjoy your JC5 as much as I enjoyed it when it was in my system.
I’m borrowing a friend’s A21 currently and have been quite impressed. Definitely a better match for my speakers than was the Benchmark AHB2. The power reserve just feels bottomless. It really makes a difference even at lower volume listening. I also think the A21 is arguably preferable to the Pass XA25 I bought recently. Both rank as the best amps I’ve owned, either tube or SS. I have an A21+ arriving at the end of this week. Hopefully it will be my last amplifier for a while.
High praise here for the A21...liked more than Benchmark or Pass. @SoCalUser, did your JC5 ever arrive?
Oooo yea!! Keep us posted on the A21+. I am seriously considering buying one and use my HINT as a preamp with the premise it could be a long lasting power amp. It's very hard to ignore all the rave reviews the A21+ gets, for sure it will be over kill for my Rega RX5 speakers. Although Rega does state depending on quality of power amp you can go up to 500 wpc, the RX5 are nominal 6 ohms, I doubt I ever attain anything close to that so the huge headroom is more than welcomed!
with the big changes to my recent setup I'm going to be checking out a pair of Wireworld Eclipse 8 rca's between source and preamp need to see how they fair against my Morrow MA4 rca's with the Pure harmony ends. If tey tick my boxes I'll snag the xlr's for preamp to amp if not I'll be headed for the Morrow MA5 or MA6 rca's. should be fun.
I purchased an A21+ a little over a year ago. It was a dramatic improvement over the A23+ it replaced. Really does a nice job effortlessly driving my speakers. It does get a little hot - mounted a thermostat controlled quiet fan on top.
It has a huge PSU and operates what first 12 watts in class A, so yea gonna get a tad warm........If I get one it will sit on the floor so plenty of ventilation.
Interesting. I did a back to back between my a21+ and XA25 while I had the two and there was no comparison. The XA25 organized the musical elements and timing so much better than the a21+ it sounded stuck in mud and blurred by comparison. And I liked the a21+ !
I think its 6wpc class a on the A21+. Regardless, most of one’s listening will be in class a unless you like it super loud or have very demanding speakers.
Is it possible you had a preamp mismatch with your A21+? Just pondering reasons for why they sounded so drastically different in your system. The two amps sound more alike than different in mine. The XA25 does some things slightly better, but I feel the headroom and ease of the A21 make up for that. The XA25 is more resolving but only in quick A/Bs, and is a tad grainy on occasion. I’d like to keep both but that’s probably not feasible for me at the moment. I have to get my daughter her first car next year. Also, I wonder if the standard A21 is possibly the better amp than the 21+. Not likely but sometimes a revision turns out to be a regression in reality. It’s been known to happen with other brands.
