I use Cables made by James Schmitt. He’s out of Wisconsin. Great quality and I love them with my A21/P5 set up. The Balanced and RCA Interconnects are made with vintage Western Electric Wire from the 40’s&50’s! My Main Speaker Cables are 4x10AWG wire with Banana Plugs. He’s got a wide variety of options in both wire and connectors. Highly Recommend him! https://www.schmittcustomaudiocables.com/
Here's an earlier thread: Parasound A23 Hi Temp Light On After New Power Cable It's ostensibly about a short-term problem I had w/ the A23, but at the end there's discussion about the A23+. I'm using it now w/ a Vincent SA-T7 preamp, and am still enjoying it.
I've had an A23+ demo unit here for a few months. Granted, I've not been able to spend a ton of time with it, what I have heard I like. Seems like an excellent value to me.
thanks, i'm thinking about pairing it with a rogue rp-5 preamp as an upgrade to my rogue cronus mag II. the a23+ currently tests at 192 watta / channel 1% distortion @ 8 ohms, 274 WPC @ 4 ohms according to a canadian hifi mag, a huge bump from the old a23
My only current Parasound product is a Zphono USB. A couple of years ago, I sent an e-mail question to Parasound support around midnight on a Saturday, not expecting to get a response before Monday. Instead, Richard Schramm replied to me within thirty minutes. I can't imagine getting that level of service from any other company. Parasound is now at the top of my list for future purchases. (Hopefully, a JC3 Jr. Will be next.)
I currently own the A21 and i have the opportunity to get a 2nd A21 from a friend at no cost. I understand that bridging amps into mono is not ideal from an impedance and distortion perspective, however i'm wondering if there is 'any' scenario, circumstance or configuration under which (2) A21's is better than (1) in a stereo set up. Can i make any 'good' use of a 2nd A21? I have 4 Ohm, 86dB speakers, thank you for any advice.
If the speakers can do bi amp, I was told that doing vertical biamp would let the amps operate at the lowest distortion mode.
I've been a big fan of parasound for years. I have the halo P5 pre, the Jc3 Jr phono and the JC5 stereo power amp. Really happy with these units so far.
No need to do active crossover. Just passive crossover would still do the trick too. You can try it and see if you can actually hear a different. I know a member (doctor fine) is doing this. I heard this from Parasound customer support too.
Thanks for the info. I might give this a try although the more i read on the subject of 'passive' bi-amping, the more i notice there is a consensus among experts leaning towards the lack of audible difference since the same amount of voltage is applied to the drivers and high frequencies don't benefit/utilize the additional headroom of the extra amp - of course there is so much more to it than that and i certainly don't want to start a debate here on the matter. Suffice to say i am curious to try it out and reach my own conclusions.
Bi-Amped A21s here---two of them running a pair of Harbeth Monitor 30s. BIG improvement in how effortless and clear everything sounds. I run Mogami four conductor 12 gauge. I can report the amps are stable and the volume doesn't vary once you have them dialed in---even using those little volume pots to alter the gain stage of the A21. What I am saying is that if you experiment with how loud each piece of gear is running as it connects to the next piece you may find more clarity turning UP your preamp and turning DOWN the A21 amps or vice versa. I previously tried running TWO A23 Parasounds but the volume would NOT stay put and it would change all by itself---the amps did NOT like being "adjusted" which was a drag. The A21 amps are in a whole nother class ABOVE the A23 series as these A21s are the ones designed by John Curl unlike their little brothers---and the A21s are BEEFY. So the stability HELPS a LOT when you are looking around to bi-amp with a brand. You will WANT stability when bi-amping! By varying the individual volume controls you can also subtly alter the frequency response if this works better in your room---perhaps a BIT more treble would be nice? If so---just dial it in. Go for it is my suggestion. You'll soon find out how nice it sounds and if not there are TONS of folks that will snatch an A21 up when it comes on the market.
Big hi-5 to Richard Schram who has been helping me with some questions I had on the HINT bass management section, crossover questions for my sub integration. I had been running the Rega's full range and the sub at 50Hz, he suggested using both crossovers to hi pass the Rega's also. So now I am experimenting with different xover settings and really like what I hear, the options are almost endless what you can do with the HINT and a sub. Mr Schram is a super nice person....I'd like more Parasound gear. Somebody give me some!!
I am using a P6 and its DAC with Marten Duke 2 speakers and Audionet Amp amplifier with full Wireworld Platinum silver cables in my home studio, for nearfield listening (quality checking) of our My Reel Club DSD256 live studio recordings. The P6 is absolutely fantastic. Every potential way. The only thing I do not like as much is the input changing. Its knob is just too small for me (I am sitting close to it so using the remote instead of the knob would be a bit silly. If you want to make your Parasound gears' sound even better use a bFly Audio absorbers with them. I do and it is a significant upgrade in my system.
I like Parasound for one special reason, Richard Schram. I had a problem with my P23 amp. When I got it back there was no explanation of the problem or what was fixed. I emailed Parasound and I got an explanation almost immediately. There was a cold solder joint on one leg of an integrated circuit chip. I sure wasn’t expecting Richard to answer me personally. Great customer service.
I am using the P6 & A23 +. I am really very happy. I used to use a maranz receiver that was very bright for me and I was very upset. Now it sounds more natural and clear. I am waiting for my Audio Gold 300 5G Monitor to arrive. There I will be able to give you a better impression. Now I have the MA silver 2, which are good within a $ 700 line.
The plus versions are all coming out which should drive down the older used versions which is a nice thing if you don't need the latest and greatest. I have heard from others who have auditioned the plus versions that they do sound noticeably better than their previous version.
My Parasound A31 Halo drives my HT fronts Polk RTIA9's and CSIA6 with Authority. I love Parasound gear.
Thanks for sharing your experience. Have you considered bridging the A21s into mono? My understanding of passive bi-amping is that most of the power reserve from the additional amp only benefits the high frequencies and doesn't get utilized much, hence the question. Perhaps the extra power from bridging in mono would make a mores substantial audible difference - speaker impedance allowing? From my research: In passive bi-amp mode, the LF driver section is assigned a dedicated 250W amp channel and the HF driver section is assigned a dedicated 250W amp channel. There is (apparently) a misconception that 250W + 250W = 500W, when in fact the amp power is not 'additive' in passive bi-amp mode and 250W + 250W = 250W because the passive crossover network is 'after' the amps. Each amp channel sees the same signal and each driver section gets 250W. There is NOT a 3 dB gain involved with passive bi-amping (using identical amps), at least that's the consensus among genuine subject matter experts.
A little over 1 year with my Parasound HINT, love the sound and features! What is surprising is that I can listen a really low levels and enjoy the music. I do dream of buying a JC5, and a p6 pre, and maybe a good tube preamp for alternate sound. Maybe for my retirement. Of course, a retirement home away from civilization to be able to play it full volume.
When using it, it sometimes jumps over an input, so I have to turn it back and forth. Anybody else with this problem? Maybe I need to get it fixed, though it's on USB 90% of the time and I'm using the remote. For the topic, I'm very pleased with my P6, used with a NAD C 268 amp. I guess I will swap the NAD for a A21(+) some day, but I'm not in a hurry.
