Anthem MCA A20 or Parasound 1500a

rburgess714
rburgess714 Posts: 616
in Electronics
I have found an anthem mca 20 and parasound 1500a on the used market. The anthem is over 300 dollars more but newer. I will be using a yamaha aventage 1060 as pre. I know there is a lot of love for parasound on this site but the anthem is newer. What are your thoughts? Note due to my console the units depth needs to be no more than 17". Budget is around $650.

Thanks,
RB
Living Room
Parasound HINT 6, Yamaha Aventage RX-A 1060, Oppo 103D, Cambridge Audio Azur 851N, KLH Model 5s, Polk CSi A6, Samsung 65" LED

Office
Yamaha A-S501, Auralic Aries Mini, LSiM 703s

Douglas Connection ICs and Cables
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Comments

  • steveinaz
    steveinaz Posts: 19,538
    edited January 2017
    My HCA-1500A is now 14yrs old and working great. It does require plenty of air space or IT WILL shut down on you. Minimum of 9" above clearance. I use a 4 fan cooler on top of mine, drawing air thru the bottom of the amp and exhausting out of the top; and it barely gets warm now.
    Source: Bluesound Node 2i - Preamp/DAC: Benchmark DAC2 DX - Amp: Parasound Halo A21 - Speakers: MartinLogan Motion 60XTi - Shop Rig: Yamaha A-S501 Integrated - Shop Spkrs: Elac Debut 2.0 B5.2
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  • Mr. Sharpe
    Mr. Sharpe Posts: 1,354
    I hear that parasound runs hot but mine doesnt. I ran polk sda 1a with it in a two car garage, now media room, and it got warm but didn't cut off. I have read much about this amp always running hot real easily but I've also read that some of them dont... so weird.

    The 1205 is another story, it gets hot... haha
    Home theater:
    43” Westinghouse Displayer
    Marantz UD-7007 Player
    Emotiva MC-700 Processor
    Adcom GFA-5006 Amplifier
    Parasound Zamp Amplifier
    Ethereal ESO-1 Power Conditioner
    Klipsch RC-10 Center
    Klipsch R34c Fronts
    Klipsch RB-41 Surrounds
    Polk audio PSW-505

    Stereo:
    Polk audio RTA-12c’s fully upgraded crossovers
    DIY 12tc braided speaker cables
    Denon DVD-5910ci Spinner
    Parasound P6 Preamplifer
    Parasound HCA -1500a Amplifier
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  • Grizzlybigripper
    Grizzlybigripper Posts: 2
    I'm running all anthem....MCA50, MCA30 , MCA20, and a PVA2 replaced my Adcom 5800's, and 555's and could not be happier.
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  • motorhead43026
    motorhead43026 Posts: 3,900
    edited August 2017
    Ok own both a Parasound 1500A and an Anthem 225 integrated. Both are good amps, with the Parasound a bit on the warmer side. I prefer the Anthem overall, but you can't go wrong with either
    The best way to predict the future is to invent it.

    It is imperative that we recognize that an opinion is not a fact.
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