Parasound A23 or BK ex-442

Gerres26

I've been running my 1c's for about a year now off of my Adcom gfa 555 and although i enjoy the sound, i have the itch to try something else.
So a couple amps locally have sparked my interest. Theres a A23 that has an asking price of $500 and another guy has the BK ex442 with the pro10 preamp for $550. What would you guys suggest? Mind you someday i may move up to some srs 2.3s or 1.2 (my dreams), so will these handle the big boys?
Thanks

zarrdoss

My opinion is neither are a significant step up over what you have now. I have no experience with Parasound but hear good things, its newer but not really enough power to run bigger SDA's if you get them in the future. It will power them but better off with 200 WPC or above. The Adcom and the B&K have the same power output and could run some Bigger SDA's in the future. I have had Adcom and B&K both and would have to go with B&K.
I would wait and save for a bigger step up if I were you, but if you are just itching to spend money my vote goes for the B&K.
There is also the issue if all these amps are common ground, which I do not know.


Good luck, Kevin

Gerres26

Ok, so this went faster than i thought. The guy selling the B&k ex442 with the pro 10 pre agreed to come down quite a bit if i agreed to meet up tomorrow morning. So looks like I'll be giving the B&k combo a try first. The way i see it, if it doesnt fit what im looking for i should be able to sell that combo for more than i will have in it.

Excited to try this different gear out. I'll report back tomorrow night on my thoughts.

zarrdoss

I don't think you can go wrong with B&K. I have never had that particular amp but have had a reference 4420 and an Adcom 555 and prefer the B&K sound over Adcom. Keep us posted.

halo

I've had quite a few different amps. I've had the Parasound A23 and it doesn't match well with the rest of the gear in my setup. I'm not saying that it's a bad amp, it just isn't for me. The B&K ST125.2 that I have now is a great amp. It's got a very warm, musical, and yet detailed sound signature that mates well with my setup. I also like that the B&K doesn't run as hot as the A23 (I'm speaking in terms of temperature here but the A23 is also more sterile / analytical)

Nightfall

Haven't heard Parasound but I'm very happy with my B&K

Gerres26

Awesome responses...excited to try it out after hearing such positive things about B&K.

halo

Gerres26 wrote: »

Awesome responses...excited to try it out after hearing such positive things about B&K.

Keep us posted and let us know your thoughts!

Gerres26

Ok guys, picked up the amp and pre this morning. Unhooked my rotel/adcom gear and put the B&K in its place to run the 1c's.
Let me tell you I am blown away by the difference in sound. My other setup was very punchy and strong bass although a little bright, but this B&K gear is so smooth and the bass is wonderful. Some of the music in the mids i never noticed before. I really didn't think I'd hear this much of a difference. Of course im far from an expert.

zarrdoss

That's the difference I got from Rotel Adcom to B&K as well.

tonyb

Gerres26 wrote: »

Ok guys, picked up the amp and pre this morning. Unhooked my rotel/adcom gear and put the B&K in its place to run the 1c's.
Let me tell you I am blown away by the difference in sound. My other setup was very punchy and strong bass although a little bright, but this B&K gear is so smooth and the bass is wonderful. Some of the music in the mids i never noticed before. I really didn't think I'd hear this much of a difference. Of course im far from an expert.

Atta boy, trying different stuff every now and then doesn't hurt the journey. Rock on and congrats.

halo

Fantabulous! Ya man, if it suits your equipment & your taste it is a very nice way to go.

I had a Rotel RC-972 preamp back in the day paired with the Parasound A23 and it just didn't make me happy (I didn't know that was the possible cause of my discontent at the time - I was fairly new to the audio hobby). FWIW, that combo was paired with some Polk Audio Monitor 11s, Monitor 10s, (both with peerless tweeters), R.T.A. 11Ts, R.T.A. 15TLs, & Von Schweikert VR2s.

Happy Listening!

Gerres26

Heres a pic just for fun

Nightfall

Another B&K fan in the bag.

halo

Gerres26 wrote: »

Heres a pic just for fun

Looks like they're in fine shape!

However, if it was me, I'd put some significant room in between the top of the amplifier and the bottom of the preamplifier.

Njoy!

halo

Gerres26 wrote: »

Ok guys, picked up the amp and pre this morning. Unhooked my rotel/adcom gear and put the B&K in its place to run the 1c's.
Let me tell you I am blown away by the difference in sound. My other setup was very punchy and strong bass although a little bright, but this B&K gear is so smooth and the bass is wonderful. Some of the music in the mids i never noticed before. I really didn't think I'd hear this much of a difference. Of course im far from an expert.

One more person who can attest to the fact that not all amps sound the same! lol.

Gerres26

halo wrote: »

Gerres26 wrote: »

Heres a pic just for fun

Looks like they're in fine shape!

However, if it was me, I'd put some significant room in between the top of the amplifier and the bottom of the preamplifier.

Njoy!

No worries! Thats the only place i could fit the new gear for the initial listening session. Will be getting a permanent spot soon enough.

halo

Gerres26 wrote: »

No worries! Thats the only place i could fit the new gear for the initial listening session. Will be getting a permanent spot soon enough.

Cool man. Side by side is better than one on top of the other until you get them permanently situated.