Comparative Parasound & Rotel Amp Volume
mufsoman
Posts: 631
To keep a long story short, lets just accept the fact that I now have 3 amps vs. just one. I have set my Rotel 1095 to rear and side surround duty and have both a Parasound 1500A and 2003A for the fronts. I have noticed that when I changed from the Rotel for the front 5 channels to the Parasound 1500A for the L&R, I needed to turn the volume up slightly more for the same sound level. Now installing the 2003A in place of the 1500A, I need to turn up the volume even more for the same sound level. I know volume doesn't equal quality, but is this change in volume level between the amps typical? The gain adjustment for the individual channels on the Parasound amps are all set at the THX level. The Parasound amps are more powerful than the Rotel, at least from a spec standpoint, so why is the output volume lower?
Parasound HCA-2003A & 2205A
Front: Rti12's
Center: Csi A6
Side surrounds: Polk Rti A1's
Atmos: Mirage Nanosats
APC H15
Power cords by Pepster, Morrow MA4 IC's, AQ Midnight, AQ Chocolate HDMI's[/SIZE]
The rest is TBD.
Front: Rti12's
Center: Csi A6
Side surrounds: Polk Rti A1's
Atmos: Mirage Nanosats
APC H15
Power cords by Pepster, Morrow MA4 IC's, AQ Midnight, AQ Chocolate HDMI's[/SIZE]
The rest is TBD.
Post edited by mufsoman on
Comments
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Without digging around for info I'm thinking the Rotel has a fixed gain. Therefore, I would say the THX gain setting on the Parasound amps is lower than the fixed gain of the Rotel.Political Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk -
Gain does not equal power. You need to level set and recalibrate anytime you switch amps.2-Channel: PC > Schiit Eitr > Audio Research DAC-8 > Audio Research LS-26 > Pass Labs X-250.5 > Magnepan 3.7's
Living Room: PC > Marantz AV-7703 > Emotiva XPA-5 > Sonus Faber Liuto Towers, Sonus Faber Liuto Center, Sonus Faber Liuto Bookshelves > Dual SVS PC12-Pluses
Office: Phone/Tablet > AudioEngine B1 > McIntosh D100 > Bryston 4B-ST > Polk Audio LSiM-703's -
That is correct that the Rotel has fixed gain vs. The Parasound adjustable/THX setting. I know I need to run calibration again with the installation of the 2003A, but just thought it odd that the volume level changed much. ThanksParasound HCA-2003A & 2205A
Front: Rti12's
Center: Csi A6
Side surrounds: Polk Rti A1's
Atmos: Mirage Nanosats
APC H15
Power cords by Pepster, Morrow MA4 IC's, AQ Midnight, AQ Chocolate HDMI's[/SIZE]
The rest is TBD. -
I went from 200wpc in my HT to 400wpc and the higher powered amp at equivalent volumes below -25db on my RX-A1000 *seems* quieter but you can actually hear more detail. Where it really shines over my old amps though is from that -25db on up to and past reference...where my old amps just ran out of steam, the new amp just keeps going and going and going."Some people find it easier to be conceited rather than correct."
"Unwad those panties and have a good time man. We're all here to help each other, no matter how it might appear." DSkip -
+100 Run your big dogs upfront (Parasound amp) On the AVR, go into your menu for settings for adjusting levels to individual channels . Use your db meter to adjust front channels settings to 75dbs or whatever all the rest of your channels are set to. (I use 75 dbs on all my channels) . Some have found adjusting by ear works better for them. ymmvfalconcry72 wrote: »Gain does not equal power. You need to level set and recalibrate anytime you switch amps.
