Parasound 2250 headed this way!

Tankman

snake1 how you like your 2250 for music?Right now I am looking at the A23 its 125 into 8 ohms or 200 into 4 ohm.I know watts are not everything.The A23 has 12 beta match 15 amp 60 MHz bipolar output transistors and a nice power supply 785 VA.I am all most sure it would do my LSi-15's justice over my upa-1's.I ordered an Onkyo NR818 from 1CALL Friday it should be in by wednesday.My son wants the EMO amps I have for his system.I am thinking of getting the A23 for the mains and letting the NR818 drive the center and the FX's it should do well the 818 thats is just for the center and the surrounds.

snake1

I don't have it yet... Should be delivered this coming week. After some burn in time and some critical listening I'll put up some pics and review it!

I will say this, Parasounds come highly reviewed around here and thats what helped make my decision.

Tankman

Oh what da hell! I just ordered the Parasound A23 amp from AudioAdvisor for $995.said 7 to 10 days.they do have a 30 day thing if I don't like it but I think I will.I will post on it with pic's when it comes in.

gce

I'll also be looking forward to your review snake1 because I'm just about ready to pull the trigger on one of these.

snake1

Tankman wrote: »

Oh what da hell! I just ordered the Parasound A23 amp from AudioAdvisor for $995.said 7 to 10 days.they do have a 30 day thing if I don't like it but I think I will.I will post on it with pic's when it comes in.

Dang man, just jump on the bandwagon then!! HAHA I don't think you can miss really and for sure your covered even if you don't like it. Looking forward to your post on it!! Also, driving your towers with the amp and letting the AVR handle center and surround duty is exactly what I'm planning for my system. The Onkyos are some really good receivers and should be good for just powering those few speakers. Rears especially don't use a whole lot of signal most of the time. Interested to hear your thoughts once you get it together!

gce wrote: »

I'll also be looking forward to your review snake1 because I'm just about ready to pull the trigger on one of these.

For sure! I'm ready to get it here and try it out!! BTW, what are your thoughts on those VR3 mods you did to your A7s??

gce

snake1 wrote: »

For sure! I'm ready to get it here and try it out!! BTW, what are your thoughts on those VR3 mods you did to your A7s??

Very happy with the VR3 mod's. Richer sound over all and tighter bass when using them in 2 channel. Not using the sub in 2 channel anymore. Looking forward to more improvement with a Parasound!

snake1

gce wrote: »

Very happy with the VR3 mod's. Richer sound over all and tighter bass when using them in 2 channel. Not using the sub in 2 channel anymore. Looking forward to more improvement with a Parasound!

Since its my thread and I'll hijack off the main topic if I want to for a min, what are your thoughs on the SVS sub? I'm also about decided on the ported cylinder variety as well and your model is the one I'm looking at.

gce

snake1 wrote: »

Since its my thread and I'll hijack off the main topic if I want to for a min, what are your thoughs on the SVS sub? I'm also about decided on the ported cylinder variety as well and your model is the one I'm looking at.

I can't say enough about my SVS. It has taken my bass to another level. Call or email SVS and tell them about your setup and room size, open to other rooms or closed and they recommend a Sub that will work for you.

niente

good luck with your new amp Snake1 !

I'm sure your Onk sounds great so the differnece with the Para will only be like comparing a good Frozen Dinner to Thanksgiving !

Agree with Cfrizz-don't sweat the Monoprice cables as youv'e already ordered- i upgraded to Blue Jeans from some best buy store brand ones i had and am very impressed though

as for ground loop hum -- i too immediately had one at hook up-- ground loop switch on amp did NOT help---and i have all my equip running on deicated AC lines and breakers and though a power conditioner to get common ground ---spent hours reconeecting and testing connects to find the culprit. Found my issue was the 75ohm line from the cable company--all AC was common grounded but the cable line itself is gounded to earth outside the house.... added a cable ground loop isolator and grounded the 75ohm cable to a water pipe as well --problem totally solved

Have fun blowing the paint off your walls!!

snake1

niente wrote: »

Have fun blowing the paint off your walls!!

I'm sure I will!! Btw, how do you like your 5250??


Well got my tracking number and it should be here Friday! Can't wait get it going! I've got the cables and everything ready for a quick hookup once it arrives!

niente

Love the Para 5250 !

After literaly decades using late 70's vintage Sansui separates ( which are now still running great in the basement ) i went surround with the Onk- really pleased with it, but when I added the LSI's i could tell they could do so much more. The 5250 really brings out a far more balanced sound from top to bottom. and as many have said - a good amps silence and transient response is a HUGE step above even a very good AVR

With all LSI's (and a score on it's price) i went with the 5250
your 809 should do great for center/surround with the 2250 driving the towers

I'll listen FRi for your grin and "Holy S&*t " when you wire up !!

Enjoy
Don

PrazVT

Congrats! I've had both the 2250 and Halo A21 - both great amps I moved on to a NAD M25, but some day I'll get another Parasound amp.

Obsession18

PrazVT wrote: »

Congrats! I've had both the 2250 and Halo A21 - both great amps I moved on to a NAD M25, but some day I'll get another Parasound amp.

How did the 2250 compare to the Halo A21?

PrazVT

Obsession18 wrote: »

How did the 2250 compare to the Halo A21?

The 2250 - practically speaking - sounds very similar to the A21; the difference between the two is less than the difference between either and say..an A/V receiver. I used these amps on a pair of RTi A7s with modded crossovers.

A21 - little bit more dynamic, little bit better bass, little bit quieter background. Very close.

snake1

PrazVT wrote: »

The 2250 - practically speaking - sounds very similar to the A21; the difference between the two is less than the difference between either and say..an A/V receiver. I used these amps on a pair of RTi A7s with modded crossovers.

A21 - little bit more dynamic, little bit better bass, little bit quieter background. Very close.

Good to know theres not too much difference between the 2!

snake1

Just as a cool story to take up time between now and Friday, thought I'd share this with y'all. I sent a message to tech support at Parasound and asked a question or 2 about their amps and my setup. The suggestions made confirmed what I already thought, but you know its good to get affirmation on things. The main suggestion was to look at buying a 2250 (which I bought of course) and that it'd be a great combo for me. Well, what I didn't notice at first was who was making the suggestions. The signature was from Richard Schram (President and Founder of Parasound).

I must say I was very impressed by the fact that the president would take a technical question and be accomodating enough to answer it personally! It shows me a that he takes personal concern, even for potential customers. While I don't see the need to upgrade amps very often at all, they def have a customer who will come back in the future! Just thought I'd share.

gce

Very cool snake1...can't wait till you get that thing and gives us a review. :cool:

PrazVT

snake1 wrote: »

Just as a cool story to take up time between now and Friday, thought I'd share this with y'all. I sent a message to tech support at Parasound and asked a question or 2 about their amps and my setup. The suggestions made confirmed what I already thought, but you know its good to get affirmation on things. The main suggestion was to look at buying a 2250 (which I bought of course) and that it'd be a great combo for me. Well, what I didn't notice at first was who was making the suggestions. The signature was from Richard Schram (President and Founder of Parasound).

I must say I was very impressed by the fact that the president would take a technical question and be accomodating enough to answer it personally! It shows me a that he takes personal concern, even for potential customers. While I don't see the need to upgrade amps very often at all, they def have a customer who will come back in the future! Just thought I'd share.

Yeah he replies to alot of the tech support emails himself. I actually live 20 min or so away from parasound HQ (hidden away in a nondescript building in the Industrial part of South San Francisco), and he was there when I took a used 2200ii in for repairs. They do take care of you - he offered to sell me a new A21 at a discount after the 2200II died after 2 rounds of repairs, as a courtesy. All I had asked them was "what do should I do?" regarding repairs. So totally above and beyond.

Anyway - looking forward to your thoughts on the 2250! I think you'll really like it

snake1

Ok fellas,
Got it in today and got it all hooked up! Been playing some familiar songs through it and have a couple of initial thoughts. I will say first that I'm NOT blown away. I will also say that I am impressed but may have had too high of expectations.

Initial things I've noticed: Improved bass (still not what I expected however at lower volumes). Improved clarity all throughout the range though at any volume!! There is a considerable amount of detail I'm getting that I even wasn't getting through the Onkyo!

I'll post more later when i have more time and more battery on my laptop! :cheesygrin:

EndersShadow

snake1 wrote: »

Ok fellas,
Got it in today and got it all hooked up! Been playing some familiar songs through it and have a couple of initial thoughts. I will say first that I'm NOT blown away. I will also say that I am impressed but may have had too high of expectations.

Initial things I've noticed: Improved bass (still not what I expected however at lower volumes). Improved clarity all throughout the range though at any volume!! There is a considerable amount of detail I'm getting that I even wasn't getting through the Onkyo!

I'll post more later when i have more time and more battery on my laptop! :cheesygrin:

Did you re-run Audyssey too? If not do that.

Drenis

snake1 wrote: »

Ok fellas,
Got it in today and got it all hooked up! Been playing some familiar songs through it and have a couple of initial thoughts. I will say first that I'm NOT blown away. I will also say that I am impressed but may have had too high of expectations.

Initial things I've noticed: Improved bass (still not what I expected however at lower volumes). Improved clarity all throughout the range though at any volume!! There is a considerable amount of detail I'm getting that I even wasn't getting through the Onkyo!

I'll post more later when i have more time and more battery on my laptop! :cheesygrin:

Parasound recommends some play time to let components burn in. Let it play for a week or two before you give it a fair evaluation.

EndersShadow wrote: »

Did you re-run Audyssey too? If not do that.

or turn it off and run pure direct.

Re-run for HT purposes.

snake1

EndersShadow wrote: »

Did you re-run Audyssey too? If not do that.

I have not re-run it yet. I do have access to a tripod so I'll get that done early next week! Between now and then I'll use the pure audio and see what that does. Thanks for the suggestions!

gce

snake1 wrote: »

Ok fellas,
Got it in today and got it all hooked up! Been playing some familiar songs through it and have a couple of initial thoughts. I will say first that I'm NOT blown away. I will also say that I am impressed but may have had too high of expectations.

Initial things I've noticed: Improved bass (still not what I expected however at lower volumes). Improved clarity all throughout the range though at any volume!! There is a considerable amount of detail I'm getting that I even wasn't getting through the Onkyo!

I'll post more later when i have more time and more battery on my laptop! :cheesygrin:

So you're saying you are hearing improved bass even at lower volumes. What kind of improvement, tighter, deeper bass? And you say you're hearing more detail and clarity, that's cool. Would you say that overall it's warmer, meaning that the amp has taken some of the brightness out of the speakers? You know they say that the biggest improvment is the speakers in this hobby and from there you'll hear only subtle changes in the sound as you fall further down the wabbit hole!

snake1

gce wrote: »

So you're saying you are hearing improved bass even at lower volumes. What kind of improvement, tighter, deeper bass? And you say you're hearing more detail and clarity, that's cool. Would you say that overall it's warmer, meaning that the amp has taken some of the brightness out of the speakers? You know they say that the biggest improvment is the speakers in this hobby and from there you'll hear only subtle changes in the sound as you fall further down the wabbit hole!

Yes, bass is improved low in the volume. It is definately clearer through the whole range! I'll comment more after a while to 'burn-in' and also early next week I'm going to re-run Audyssey as well.

gp4jesus

Dan, ya beat me to the punch. That amp should lift your LR off the ground!

EndersShadow wrote: »

A cheater plug is just a cheap 3 prong to 2 prong adaptor, or 2 prong to 3 prong (maybe). I forget which as its Friday and my brain is FRIED! They are like 1 buck at walmart.

Ooo! That's a big no no! That 3rd prong is a safety thing. Those 3-2 prong adapters disconnect the chassis ground. Every manual on pro gear I've read says do NOT use those to fix a ground loop problem. Find the bad cable!

Tony

snake1

gp4jesus wrote: »

Dan, ya beat me to the punch. That amp should lift your LR off the ground!
Ooo! That's a big no no! That 3rd prong is a safety thing. Those 3-2 prong adapters disconnect the chassis ground. Every manual on pro gear I've read says do NOT use those to fix a ground loop problem. Find the bad cable!

Tony

I didn't even post about that! Mine is completely quiet. No groud lift, no cheater plug, just awesome quiet when nothings playing. I did end up having to use a computer power cord cause it didn't come with one. Although I bought it used, is it normal to not come with a power cord???

snake1

Starting some tweaking today. Going to run Audyssey when I can (when my little ones take a nap). Below I'm going to number changes and observations just to help keep things straight and maybe you guys can chime with ideas and suggestions.

1. At first I did notice an improvement in bass but it didn't seem to be as 'profound' as some describe.
2. Also, noticed an improvement in clarity mid to hi ranges. Just clearer it seems.
3. Considering the above, it still doesn't seem like the change that most describe when an amp is added to the system. It doesn't seem to have the 'authority' over the 12s that I thought it would and it sure isn't $800 worth of improvement.

4. This morning I switched it over to 2-3ohm mode which the manual says can be done to run as cool as possible. Well when I did that I noticed a Marked difference in the bass response. This may be indicative of another possible issue??? Speaker wires?? The ones I have are walmart spool speaker wires (sacrilage to y'all I'm sure) or maybe it doesn't matter. I must say that this switch however has def moved my feelings about the amp in a good direction!!

5. Been adjusting the EQ to no great effect really... I've got it at the settings I usually enjoy... (Lows turned up +5 to +6, mids turned down around 0 or -1, highs around +3 to +5.

6. Bass tone adjuster is on 8 out of 10. I'm really trying to get some thump going and it wasn't really working well til this morning but still seems like I shouldn't have to have it turned up that hi but possibly so because I love bass but I also don't like turning up the volume hi because I have little ones around most of the time.

7. The plan is to re-run audyssey and see what differences that brings and also just let it play for about a month for the 'burn in'.

I just want these speakers to sound like they look.... HUGE and I think they can and will when I get everything set right. I'd even be open to one of you audio veterans, if you live close by, to come take a look if things don't get better. This mornings adjustment though has been a BIG improvement!
That being said let me know what y'alls thoughts are on what I'm doing and some of my settings. Btw, I don't have a sub yet and my speakers are already set to full range and the amp low pass filter is set to flat (no bass freq filtering going on. Full range basically to the towers I assume)

leroyjr1

I think you'll notice a bigger difference in the 12's if you add a pre amp to the mist.

snake1

leroyjr1 wrote: »

I think you'll notice a bigger difference in the 12's if you add a pre amp to the mist.

Is that not the role my Onkyo is playing?

Irrenhaus

Hey I got the same feelings when I installed the Adcom 585 until I ran the audessey again and that made a big difference.