Parasound HCA-2003 High Current 220w x3 Amp

Inspector 24

$550 obo +$75 shipping CONUS

This has been a great amp for me but the upgrade bug has hit me again.

The Amp is functionally perfect, sounds great has gobs of power in reserve. Used in my home theater for about a year powering A9's and CSi A6. All channels, all functions work. Never over driven, or abused, overload lights have never come on. Very clean and dust free as it was kept in a ventilated cabinet.

There are a few small dings which can all be seen in the pictures, none of which affect performance. Never rack mounted.

Will ship in bombproof box, amp in a bag, double boxed with solid foam insulation to prevent damage and prevent shifting during transit.

Paypal Gift or add 3%

Full specs from Parasound:
http://www.parasound.com/vintage/hca2003a.php
Continuous power, all channels driven
220 watts RMS x 3, 20 Hz - 20 kHz, 8 Ω,
300 watts RMS x 3, 20 Hz - 20 kHz, 4 Ω,
60 amperes peak, per channel
Total Harmonic Distortion:
< 0.05% at full power
< 0.006% typical levels
Damping Factor:
> 800 at 20 Hz
19" wide x 7" high x 16" deep (7 5/8" high
with feet)
54 lbs

kuntasensei

I hate you for posting this. Was just considering sending my Adcom GFA-5503 off for repair/upgrade... and now I'm wondering if I should just buy this instead, 'cause I hear Parasounds are a bit warmer than Adcoms. Hmmm...

cnh

I'm with Kunta! Would love to try out this Parasound. No cash available at the moment. Also want to keep my marriage in tact. lol

GLWTS! An excellent unit for your front three but also nice for just plain two channel. This is almost the perfect amp for a double duty system (2 channel and HT)!

cnh

kuntasensei

Ugh... I've seriously spent half my day at the office reading up on this amp, comparing the specs to my GFA-5503, trying to decide if I want to roll the dice on another used amp (my Adcom's right channel flaked out a month after I got it), searching for "Parasound vs Adcom" to see how the character of the amp differs.

Dammit, man! And I was being so productive before I saw this!

EndersShadow

Parasound = better IMHO (spec's are decently close though) :biggrin:. Problem solved, another created.

As I am sure your aware, wattage isnt everything and every Parasound I have heard punch above the belt compared to what I thought they would. YMMV

AsSiMiLaTeD

I like Parasound MUCH better than Adcom. The Parasound will have a warmer and more musical sound to it without giving up any detail to the Adcom.

Inspector 24

D

kuntasensei wrote: »

I hate you for posting this. Was just considering sending my Adcom GFA-5503 off for repair/upgrade... and now I'm wondering if I should just buy this instead, 'cause I hear Parasounds are a bit warmer than Adcoms. Hmmm...

He he, sorry for the dilemma! While I've never compared it to an Adcom I can tell you that before this amp I did not like the A9's. Too bright, too forward for my taste. It gave them a more mellow, laid back sound and made them sound as big as they look. Diana Krall is mellow and relaxing, but they make Daft Punk energetic and punchy.

And depending on the final price of my upgrade(s) I may be flexible. Plus I'd really like to see this go to a good home!

gwh

Nice amp, I've been debating for a while but I will roll with what I got.

Newbs/anyone with a passive sub that wants to add a second or third needs the adjustable gains on each channel this amp provides.

Rock on!

stretchl

I've been in the same "adcom v. parasound" boat as Kunta today.

A bit different as I currently have a GFA-555ii.

Maybe it's my tinnitus or maybe it's something else, but I find myself craving more midrange, more warmth. Sometimes the highs just grate on my ears.

At this moment I'm listening to Peter Gabriel "Security," but I need the Loudness punched in.

I have the DB840 subwoofers waiting to get into the LSi-15's, so maybe that will mitigate the issue somewhat, but I do wonder about the Adcom. One of the persistent criticisms I've read about their units is a harshness on the top end.

Thoughts, anyone?

Thanks!

Inspector 24

I have a thought. Buy my amp and try it out. :razz:

If you don't like it I bet Kunta would buy it from you.

samnor

I have the slightly lower powered hca-1500a (other than the watts, the specs, damping factor etc are quite similar to this unit) and I do have an adcom too (gfa 5400). From what I hear, its all about synergy. So yes, the parasound is lot warmer and the adcoms are reputed to be bright but with the right speakers, you can tame the brightness or on the flip side, it may become a little too warm overall. With my speakers, the adcom doesnt sound bright at all. But I will chime in and say that the parasound has a bit more refined sound than the adcom. Transients are really well captured. Cant go wrong with a parasound and a heck of a deal by the OP (based on what I paid for my 2 channel parasound).

Inspector 24

Pending Sale to Kunta. If he buys it everybody pray to the audio gods this amp I'm checking out tomorrow is a good one, otherwise I'm without tunes for a while!

kuntasensei

samnor wrote: »

I have the slightly lower powered hca-1500a (other than the watts, the specs, damping factor etc are quite similar to this unit) and I do have an adcom too (gfa 5400). From what I hear, its all about synergy. So yes, the parasound is lot warmer and the adcoms are reputed to be bright but with the right speakers, you can tame the brightness or on the flip side, it may become a little too warm overall. With my speakers, the adcom doesnt sound bright at all. But I will chime in and say that the parasound has a bit more refined sound than the adcom. Transients are really well captured. Cant go wrong with a parasound and a heck of a deal by the OP (based on what I paid for my 2 channel parasound).

I'm running RTi70/CSi40 up front, and the RTi70s are kinda' sterile on their own, with a slight shrillness to highs with stringed instruments. The Adcom brought them to life on the low end but I had to use Audyssey to tame the bit of "honk" with highs for movies, which doesn't help me with 2-channel listening where I usually go direct. The combo is pretty nice, but I'm hoping that the Parasound is a better match for their sound and will bring out midrange detail a bit more. And it will be nice to get more power to my center channel again in the process.

samnor

Sounds like the Parasound should be a perfect match. You should get the bass while taming the high end as well... Congrats on the purchase.

stretchl

Congrats on the sale and purchase.

Looking forward to hearing how it works out for u.

Inspector 24

Sold to Kunta!!

You're gonna love it!

ken brydson

Thank God, I've been digging through the couch cushions and ashtrays trying to come up with the coin to buy this. Congrats!

kuntasensei

Looking forward to hearing it in action with some SACDs (and having clean power to my CSi40 again for movies)! Guess I gotta figure out what the hell to do with my Adcom though. Kinda' hard to move one with a bad channel. Found a guy about an hour away who believes he can fix it for less than $100, so maybe in the future I'll get it working again to pass on to someone else.

dekuda

If you hesitate on this older Parasound HCA equipment it will be gone. I had the HCA1500A and loved it more than any of my Carver or Adcom amps. If you watch Ebay this stuff goes fast. Same with AGon.The word is out about John Curl designed amps. They are warm with plenty of current to drive almost anything. Congrats to the buyer on a fine amp. You will enjoy it. And with Polk RTi speakers they are a great match.They were when I had my RTi12's.To those who hesitated you will be sorry just like I was when I sold my 1500A. My search continues for a HCA2205AT.:frown:

kuntasensei

The joke today: Looked behind my equipment stand... and because the Parasound has the inputs spread across the rear panel but the Adcom has them all on one side, my interconnects are going to be about 4-6" too short. Guess I'll be hitting Blue Jeans Cable for some slightly longer ones! (Crap! Why do upgrades always end up being more expensive than you first thought?)

Inspector 24

Oh No!! Well, time to demo new cables right?

On the plus side I've got my replacement amp ordered. Not what I thought I was going to end up with, but meh, take things as they come. Until I asked the seller how they planned to ship it to make sure the amp arrived undamaged. My stomach instantly twisted when they said 'Several layers of bubble wrap with a double first layer to prevent popping." AAAARRRGH!!! :evil:

I've received amps like that before...they don't survive! I sternly replied back advising the use of foam insulation board, thick cardboard and lots of tape. I also said if there were any signs of damage due to improper packaging I would refuse delivery and immediately request a refund.

On that note, here's the supplies for packing Kunta's new amp!

Yep, 2" thick foam board insulation! Amp will be wrapped in a garbage bag to prevent debris from entering, minimum 2" foam on all sides and LOTS of tape. Yep. Bombproof.

chumlie

What are you replacing the Parasound with ? That had to be hard to give up.

Inspector 24

Undetermined as of yet. Some financial surprises this weekend changed my plans last minute. Fortunately I've got a brandy new Marantz SR-7005 to play with until I find a suitable upgrade. Or I may take the money and grab some LSi-15's that popped up locally for a good deal.

Either way it looks like the amp is going to a deserving home which I feel great about.

What I'd really like is a HCA-3500...just a bit out of my reach at the moment....

chumlie

That 3500 is a beast. I use a 1500a on my A7's. All thanks to CP. This place will burn through a wallet. Good deals everywhere now on the LSi-15's. Maybe one day i can get a set for 2 channel. Nice setup you have there.

dekuda

chumlie wrote: »

That 3500 is a beast. I use a 1500a on my A7's. All thanks to CP. This place will burn through a wallet. Good deals everywhere now on the LSi-15's. Maybe one day i can get a set for 2 channel. Nice setup you have there.

Even when your wallet thin it is still tempting to burn a hole through it. That 1500A is a nice amp. I had it and if I did not go to a 5 channel amp I still would have it. The 3500 is a beast and I bet would drive my Martin Logans nicely. That said, I have the 5250 now which is doing fine and on my wish list is the Halo A51 though I would be happy if I could find a good condition HCA2205AT but they are getting hardrer and harder to find. Of course talking about beast there are a couple Cinenova Grande 5 channels on Agon. But just too big!

________________________________
Setup:
Parasound 7170 Preamp
Parasound 5250 Amp
Rotel RCC-1055 Cd Player
Pioneer BD320 Blue Ray
PNF Symphony Speaker Cables
PNF Icon IC/DH Labs IC/Cardas
Analysis Plus Oval Sub cables
PS Audio xStream Power Cable
Fronts:Martin Logan Aeon i"s
Center: Martin Logan Motiff
Surrounds Definitive Technology BP2X
Subs: Martin Logan Depth, Def Tech Reference
DSPeaker Anti-Mode 8033C

Inspector 24

Amp is ready to go! Though I'd share the pics of how I packed it to survive the trip.
2" insulation foam board, a moving box from Home Depot, a garbage bag and lots of tape!
There's two types of foamboard insulation at Home Depot. The white stuff and the Pink stuff. The white stuff seems to have a bit more give and thus a little more cushion, but cutting it apart sure makes a mess! I think next time I'll try the pink stuff.

Luckily their biggest moving box is perfectly sized for the amp and 2" of insulation on all sides. First, Amp in the garbage bag. Layer of foam on the bottom, and start cutting to fit the panels on the sides. This stuff is easy to cut, score it with a knife, apply pressure and 9/10 times you get a split as straight as your score line was...or wasn't. :redface: Score out some slots for the handles and edges of the amp for a snug secure fit. Cut down the sides, fold over to enclose and start taping! I hit every seam, every corner to make sure this puppy can't come apart. When dealing with a $600, 70lb package it can't hurt to spend a few more cents on extra tape. :biggrin:

Ship and enjoy!

kuntasensei

Wow... Now, that's one hell of a packing job! Let's hope UPS doesn't treat it like delivery is an Olympic shotput event.

kuntasensei

Got the amp in. When I took it out of the box, one of the screws that held on one of the back handles had come loose inside the amp. I cracked open the top of the amp, turned it upside down and the screw fell right out. However, I couldn't see an easy way to put the screw back in, so I just removed the other one and took the handle off. While I had it open, I double-checked all of the screws I could see to make sure they were secured, and a few seemed to have loosened during shipping. Problem solved! Great packing job, but it seems like UPS vibrated the hell out of it! They also left it on my front porch without asking for a signature, despite the fact that someone was at my house and I had put a note on the door to make sure they brought it inside. Going to call to complain to UPS today, because that's ridiculous.

Hooked it up... Works great! Dropped the crossovers for my front three channels to 50Hz (tried 40Hz, but there seemed to be more of a gap as it transitioned to my SVS with that setting - could just be these RTi70s aren't really great with lower bass). Since I had my AIX sampler/calibration disc, I listened to that in 7.1... and DAMN. Clarity of voices was instantly improved, even over my memory of the Adcom. One particular track that normally gets a little harsh with a female vocal sounded rock solid at a way higher level than I usually listen. There is also a definite gravity to the mid-range now that wasn't there before... and more authority with mid-bass (kick drums, upright bass, etc.). Since I got home, I've thrown some interesting torture tests at it - Nickel Creek SACD, John Meyer, Alison Krauss, and even Brian McKnight's Your Song (which I highly recommend for judging bass, guitar and voices). The Parasound has a very warm and pleasing sound with my speakers. Not that the Adcom didn't... but there was a slight harshness to highs with the Adcom that just isn't there anymore. I guess it's just about finding the right amp/speaker synergy... and I can't imagine my older Polks sounding better than this.

Gotta wait until this weekend to re-run MultEQ XT on my system... but even without changing that, it already has an instantly more pleasing sound. It also doesn't THUMP when my system powers up the way the Adcom did (using a Belkin PF60 to turn it on when my cable box comes on, since my AVR doesn't have a trigger), which is nice. So far, I couldn't be happier. Smooth transaction and fast SECURE shipping. Definitely feel safe buying from Inspector 24 in the future.

Inspector 24

Doh! Sorry about the handle. Shoot an email to Tony@Parasound.com for the parts you need, let me know the cost and I'll refund that amount and pursue UPS for the damage. Unlike other packages I've received that amp should have been packaged good enough to not get damaged. In the mean time if you could grab some pictures of the amp as it arrived that would help.

Glad you like the sound!!! And especially good to hear the comparison to the Adcom. There's a couple local ones I've considered picking up just to compare to Parasound, but I keep reading experiences like yours and so I never bother.

Thanks for the good feedback! I'll certainly post up next time I upgrade.

kuntasensei

No no... the screw had just wiggled out of the bottom part of the handle. I have all the parts. It was just too much of a pain in the **** to get to the bottom part of the handle, and I was itching to hook it up! I retrieved the screw from inside so that it didn't short anything then I removed the other screw so the handle on the back would just come off completely, so it's all good. :cheesygrin:

Inspector 24

Aaah, got it. I'm relieved it's not much of a problem! If you ever do need anything for either amp I've been pretty impressed with Parasound's customer service. Tony has helped me on a couple things before and I hear their tech guy is quite knowledgeable too!

So, you get that 1206??