Parasound A51 owners chime in..

[Atlas-Athena]

Picked up latest version due here this Thursday, adding to my system would love to hear some feedback on your thoughts/personal experience what you liked? Disliked etc thnx

 

[Hetfield]

Well I don't have the high end Parasound amps but I do have a old 5 channel HCA-1205A and it's a freaking beast. Parasound makes excellent power amps. This thing is a tank and just keeps on going. I think you are gonna be extremely happy and have fun with it, you are in for a treat.

Sent from my Pixel 4 XL using Tapatalk

 

[PENG]

I have the A21, that is basically a two channel version of the A51. If that counts, what sort of feedback would you like to hear?

 

[Atlas-Athena]

Thank you very much for replies gents! Ya I wouldn’t of bought it (pricey) but saw so many positive reviews off YouTube & the web etc..
Just wanted to ask you guys what you experienced/thought of it too.

I have the Emotiva Gen 3 - 5 channel now & felt it was tad bright vs integrated amplification on my Marantz receiver etc

I heard the Parasound a51 a21 a31 more closely emulates tube amps, due to closed circuitry & instills a bit of warmth/depth/weight? so here we are..

again thank you for replies..

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Thank you very much for replies gents! Ya I wouldn’t of bought it (pricey) but saw so many positive reviews off YouTube & the web etc..
Just wanted to ask you guys what you experienced/thought of it too.

I have the Emotiva Gen 3 - 5 channel now & felt it was tad bright vs integrated amplification on my Marantz receiver etc

I heard the Parasound a51 a21 a31 more closely emulates tube amps, due to closed circuitry & instills a bit of warmth/depth/weight? so here we are..

again thank you for replies..

I am sure we've heard things all over creation on YouTube and the web. Very biased, very subjective, very nonscientific, very inaccurate account.

Focus on the frequency response (FR) of the amps. If the FR is 20Hz-20kHz +/- 0.1dB, that means it's NOT going to be "bright" or "warm" or ANYTHING. It's going to be ACCURATE.

Some Tube amps might have a FR of +/-0.5dB, which is considered to be "colored" or "inaccurate" compared to the usual +/- 0.0dB or 0.1dB. But seriously, even if it's +/- 0.5dB, that's a lot more accurate than 100% of all loudspeakers out there, which are +/- 1.0dB or more.

 

[Atlas-Athena]

Appreciate your knowledgeable input, having said that the frequency range on my Emotiva is (from their site)
300 watts RMS/channel; 20 Hz – 20 kHz; THD<0.1%; 8 Ohms; one channel driven.
550 watts RMS/channel; 20 Hz – 20 kHz; THD<0.2%; 4 Ohms; one channel driven.
300 watts RMS/channel; THD<0.1%; 8 Ohms;
two channels driven.

• Power Bandwidth (at rated power; 8 Ohm load): 20 Hz to 20 kHz (+ / – 0.1 dB).
• Broad Band Frequency Response: 5 Hz to 80 kHz +0/-2 dB.
• THD + noise: < 0.005%; at 100 watts RMS; 1 kHz; 8 Ohms.
• 
  It’s definitely bright, not neutral.. But admittedly I’m a novice here so please edify me etc appreciated.. Sean

 

[Atlas-Athena]

PS running brand new SVS ultra towers & Ultra center + SVS pb4000 if this helps thnx

 

[Hetfield]

PS running brand new SVS ultra towers & Ultra center + SVS pb4000 if this helps thnx

Wow, great setup! That's gonna sound insane!

Sent from my Pixel 4 XL using Tapatalk

 

[Cos]

I still own both the A31&A51 and can say from personal experience, they are well built amps and you will be happy with the purchase. You can review the specs, but I would not describe them as "bright" or "Warm", AcuDefTechGuy described it best saying, accurate and do not color the sound. My only minor complaint, is I experienced minor tweeter hiss which I could hear about 1ft away from the speaker and my OCD would not let me live with LOL. The are so damn heavy, but built like a tank.

 

[Atlas-Athena]

What are you running w/your 1205A?

 

[lovinthehd]

How did you determine it is the amp that is "bright" as opposed to the source, the speakers, your room/setup, etc?

 

[Atlas-Athena]

I still own both the A31&A51 and can say from personal experience, they are well built amps and you will be happy with the purchase. You can review the specs, but I would not describe them as "bright" or "Warm", AcuDefTechGuy described it best saying, accurate and do not color the sound. My only minor complaint, is I experienced minor tweeter hiss which I could hear about 1ft away from the speaker and my OCD would not let me live with LOL. The are so damn heavy, but built like a tank.

Ya… The 90 lb dry weight raised my brows, but the built in submarine door handles for moving gave me the full speed ahead! Lol

 

[Atlas-Athena]

How did you determine it is the amp that is "bright" as opposed to the source, the speakers, your room/setup, etc?

Was notable difference vs my internal amplification from Marantz running same setup.. IE I reversed it more than few times OCD as well lol..

Not dramatic mind you just notably brighter.. I’m keeping the Emotiva for rear surrounds & heights..

 

[lovinthehd]

Was notable difference vs my internal amplification from Marantz running same setup.. IE I reversed it more than few times OCD as well lol..

Not dramatic mind you just notably brighter.. I’m keeping the Emotiva for rear surrounds & heights..

How did you conduct the comparison?

 

[Atlas-Athena]

Re-ran Audessy/level matched etc etc 3 x same Audioquest cables etc setup same everything ONLY difference was Marantz internal vs Emotiva

 

[Atlas-Athena]

Crossovers set to 80hz etc etc nothing different

 

[Atlas-Athena]

I reckon I’ll see what the Parasound does Thursday after install/setup etc

 

[lovinthehd]

Re-ran Audessy/level matched etc etc 3 x same Audioquest cables etc setup same everything ONLY difference was Marantz internal vs Emotiva

So how did you level match and compare at the same time? Maybe its the Fraudioquest cabling

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Appreciate your knowledgeable input, having said that the frequency range on my Emotiva is (from their site)
300 watts RMS/channel; 20 Hz – 20 kHz; THD<0.1%; 8 Ohms; one channel driven.
550 watts RMS/channel; 20 Hz – 20 kHz; THD<0.2%; 4 Ohms; one channel driven.
300 watts RMS/channel; THD<0.1%; 8 Ohms;
two channels driven.

• Power Bandwidth (at rated power; 8 Ohm load): 20 Hz to 20 kHz (+ / – 0.1 dB).
• Broad Band Frequency Response: 5 Hz to 80 kHz +0/-2 dB.
• THD + noise: < 0.005%; at 100 watts RMS; 1 kHz; 8 Ohms.
• 
  It’s definitely bright, not neutral.. But admittedly I’m a novice here so please edify me etc appreciated.. Sean

1. Our auditory spectrum is usually 25Hz-18kHz, some probably closer to 30Hz-15kHz. So it's not even 20Hz-20kHz, much less 5Hz and 80kHz.

2. If the Processor/AVR or amp itself is using some kind of DSP or EQ to alter the FR, it will change the sound.

3. If the AVP/AVR/Amp is NOT doing EQ/DSP to alter the sound, it is often the SPEAKERS and Room Acoustics that will be "Bright" or "Warm", etc.

 

[Atlas-Athena]

1. Our auditory spectrum is usually 25Hz-18kHz, some probably closer to 30Hz-15kHz. So it's not even 20Hz-20kHz, much less 5Hz and 80kHz.

2. If the Processor/AVR or amp itself is using some kind of DSP or EQ to alter the FR, it will change the sound.

3. If the AVP/AVR/Amp is it doing EQ/DSP to alter the sound, it is often the SPEAKERS and Room Acoustics that will be "Bright" or "Warm", etc.

Ran PureDirect mode zero tuning or sound altering