“Newish” 90’s Parasound separate system

cortico

Greetings!
Junt wanted to share and receiving some comments on this r90’s “mainly” separate system using the following equipment I have been collecting, replacing...

HCA2200II power amp,
PLD2000 pre,
DAC1100,
CDC 1500 cd changer,

In addition the set is hooked up to a vintage Pioneer PL530 turntable, Cambridge phono pre and an old 70’s Jennings research contrata pedestal speaker pair.

I am quite please with the way it sounds, could I get better bang for less than $2000?

Please let me know your thoughts, feel free to comment, critique, etc...

EndersShadow

Looks elegant and clean.

Well done sir!

Clipdat

What ICs and SCs did you end up going with? I recall you asked for advice on that for this system in another thread.

cortico

Thanks EnderShadow!

@Clipdat I am using Blue Jean interconnect and speaker cables, I haven’t tried any other options yet... but I am curious to do so, also I want to try XLR interconnects as well.

Forgot to mention, got 12awg power cords from “mercury magnetics” they do pretty good guitar amp transformers and suggest these cord as an upgrade for guitar tube amps...

Pretty cheap and they’re great quality and an obvious upgrade...

https://www.mercurymagnetics.com/product-category/accessories/

cortico

Any other suggestions?

motorhead43026

^^Zu cables on eBay. Bid on their Mission series SC, IC's and PC's. You can score some excellent deals if on a budget. There are also other series, just take a look.

steveinaz

Very cool. You might want to let the amp breathe a little more.

cortico

steveinaz wrote: »

Very cool. You might want to let the amp breathe a little more.

Thanks, I friend of mine also mentioned that I was going to bake the turntable. I noticed that there's a fan mount on the back and installed a low noise fan, I think it does a good job keeping the heat tolerable, the heat sinks run around 115f.

motorhead43026 wrote: »

^^Zu cables on eBay. Bid on their Mission series SC, IC's and PC's. You can score some excellent deals if on a budget. There are also other series, just take a look.

I'm on a budget, for sure! I am a poor type of audiophile ... maybe "poor" is too strong but the priority at this point in life are kids and plan the future.

Thanks for the Zu cables reference, this is definitely a subject of my interest and I would like to experiment. I'm convinced I will be able to pick up the differences with this rig. I can clearly hear the differences between normal and direct inputs and outputs

For the first time, I have a system without tone controls and think they aren't necessary...

motorhead43026

That HCA2200II, is s very good amp. Other than the 3500 probably the best of the HCA series.

honestaquarian

I would say move the turntable off of the amp. Not just because of heat, but noise pickup potential. Other than that it looks good to me!

cortico

The 2200II was sounding flawlessly, although status LEDs weren't working. Pretty frustrating that the previous owner didn't disclose it.

I thought about attempt fixing it my self, but Parasound technician, "Tony" was super responsive and mentioned it's an easy fix should have it back in a few days!!!!

pglbook

That Parasound P/LD 2000 pre amp is a great pre and a very rare beast. I have the P/LD 1500 pre amp (also a quite rare piece) and love it but that P/LD 2000 is one of John Curl's masterpieces. I would just recommend moving the tt off of the amp, as others have mentioned. Other than that, great system. I am sure it sounds fantastic. Congrats.