Parasound HCA 3500 question
Gerres26
Posts: 864
Like the title states, i came across a HCA 3500 for sale which looks to be in excellent shape. The current owner is the second owner of the amp and is under the impression that it is completely original. But he sent me a pic with the top off and it looks to my untrained eye that the caps have been upgraded possibly to Nichicon golds. I searched online but couldn't find matching pictures of stock HCA 3500's that look like this one. What do you guys think?
Comments
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I have a HCA-1500 and it has the Nichicon golds in it, and as far as I know they are original. That 3500 is a great amp.The best way to predict the future is to invent it.
It is imperative that we recognize that an opinion is not a fact. -
This may be of interest to you.
http://forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/108338/parasound-hca-3500-upgrades
Those are Nichicon Fine Gold caps, but I believe the amp came with them.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 -
Thanks Jesse, that link is the only other pic online that had those same gold caps that i could find. But that amp had a bunch of other stuff done to it that this one obviously didn't which is what made me scratch my head. Most other pictures i found, the 3500 had black caps. He's supposed to send me some more close ups of the inside later tonight.
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Ya know, I shouldn't have stated those were Fine Gold because Nichicon uses the gold wrapper on other series too.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 -
Here's a few more pics. I do notice the bottom of some of the gold caps have some brownish residue at the board, is this a sign of burnt/leaking caps or probably just flux residue?
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Those are good caps!!
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Not a deal breaker pending on price, because this is still a good amp
Jesse and Ivan, what do you think
2-channel: Modwright KWI-200 Integrated, Dynaudio C1-II Signatures
Desktop rig: LSi7, Polk 110sub, Dayens Ampino amp, W4S DAC/pre, Sonos, JRiver
Gear on standby: Melody 101 tube pre, Unison Research Simply Italy Integrated
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erat interfectorem cesar et **** dictatorem dicere a -
That's not flux residue, that would be on the bottom side of the board. It might be some sort of glue residue. Gluing caps to boards is not unusual, but I think it's leakage. In Ron's pic you can clearly see bulging tops, so I think it's safe to say the amp needs a recap.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 -
Personally I cannot tell they're bulging caps. I think from what i see is a reflection of the yellow wire that make it appear the tops are pushed up.
Either way I'd take and buy that sucker and if need be recap it myself if I had to.
Great amp worth the cost to keep going
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Heres a few more pictures. Ivan, it does kind of look like a reflection of the yellow wire in a couple of them(even the same caps on the opposite side of the amp if you look at that pic) but hard to tell not being able to see in person. Which leads to the problem being the amp is quite a distance away so between shipping costs and the amp already being priced high I'm not sure this is worth the investment right now unless he would come down on price... what would a fair price be for me do you think?
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I'd be more afraid of the shipping than bulging caps TBH
what is the price? -
Looks like around 1300 total shipped with original double boxes. On another note, i was looking at some of the older threads on this amp and there was a lot of talk about the BigSky audio upgrades but when i go to their site the Parasound amps are no longer listed for service/upgrades. When did they stop offering that i wonder?
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Call him up the guy is very up front and well respected. (bigSky) pick his brain on the amp then make your decision.
I'd be leaning towards it pretty good amps.
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I'll look into it, thanks
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Just a heads up to anyone interested, i just heard back from Rick at BigSky and they no longer service or upgrade Parasound products. Bummer, as I've heard nothing but great things on some of those amp upgrades.
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No, didn't go into detail. It was via email.
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Well fudgecicles
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Don't let that stop you from purchasing it. It is a mighty fine amp less the upgrades.The best way to predict the future is to invent it.
It is imperative that we recognize that an opinion is not a fact. -
That wouldnt stop me from purchasing, im more worried about the cross country shipping(even though it does have original packaging) and whether it would even be an upgrade from my Musical Fidelity A5 integrated after talking to some folks. The MF is just so damn smooth and musical.
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I'd just stick with the A5 if I were you, that thing looks like a beast!
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Just another option....there is a guy in NY who is selling a HCA 2200 II pretty cheap and supposedly amp was recently checked out and biased by a service center. Cant recall if this was Agon or USAudiomart.
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It's on USaudiomart. I inquired about that amp just before I bought my Musical fidelity A5 actually.
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What did you think about the amp?It's on USaudiomart. I inquired about that amp just before I bought my Musical fidelity A5 actually.
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The parasound? I didn't buy it so i can't say. It did look to be in good shape by the pictures he sent but I didn't get to see it in person. -
Wow. Glad I snagged a Big Sky upgraded 3500 when I did. I guess should it ever need service it’s back to Parasound.
2200 is also a beast. Should drive most speakers with glee.Up
LSi15 LSiC - RX-V3000
Down
LSiM707 - 706c - 702f/x - Dual HSU VTF-15H Mk2
Parasound HCA-3500 - HCA-2003A - Marantz SR7005
Sim2 D60 - Dragonfly 106" Panny 500 -
The new Parasound JC amp on Audio Advisor looks to be a beast.....with a price to match though.
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First of all that sucks that Big Sky no longer does Parasound upgrades.
Secondly, I’m not sure what speakers you have but as a former owner of a MF A308 (almost identical to the A5). I would recommend it over the Parasound for sure.
Sometimes more watts seem appealing, but I have learned through trial and error that quality is where it’s at.
The Parasound is nice, but the MF is primo...2 ChannelTurntable - VPI Classic 2/Ortofon 2M BlueAmplification - Rogue Audio Cronus Magnum II, Parks Audio Budgie PhonoSpeakers - GoldenEar Triton 17.2 Home TheaterDenon AVR-X3300W; Rotel RMB-1066; Klipsch RP-280F's, Klipsch RP-450C, Polk FXi3's, Polk RC60i; Dual SVS PB 2000's; BenQ HT2050; Elite Screens 120"Man CaveTurntable - Pro-Ject 2.9 Wood/Grado GoldAmplification - Dared SL2000a, McCormack DNA 0.5 DeluxeCD: Cambridge AudioSpeakers - Wharfedale Linton 85th Anniversary; LSiM 703; SDA 2A -
I’d take a few high quality watts over a thousand cheap ones every second of every minute of every hour of every day, and every day of the year.
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Gobs of current and iron that doubles down to 2ohm = $$$$$
