Parasound A21+
Comments
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I have a PS Audio S300 and I am happy with it .... 130 or so watts into 8 ohms driving my Salks .
I think the downside to class D is that there is NO headroom for short bursts - the rated power is all you get. So if considering class D , you better get one with WAY more power than you would with class A/B.....
BkPS Audio S300 , WiiM Ultra , Yamaha wxc-50 , Salk SuperCharged Songtowers , Kimber Kable 4TC, Sony 42” - BEDROOM
B&K EX-442 ( it will go in my casket when I die ... ) , PS Audio 4.6 preamp ( old school , but it still jams on ... ) , Eversolo DMP-A6 , Boston Acoustic voyager 7’s - POOL
Parasound A21, Eversolo DMP-A8 , Kimber Kable 4vs , Ascend Acoustics ELX Ribbon Towers , Sony XBR-A8F 65” OLED - DEN , MAIN system
Onkyo TX-nr609 , Polk atrium 7 , Boston acoustic sound ware (4) , Boston acoustic sub , B&W center , Sharp 65” TV - PATIO -
I find it funny that when class D first started to gain ground, there was the promise that all the high prices of amps would come down because of the efficiency and not having the need for expensive heavy cases.
Instead the manufacturers have went for the money grab and now class D amps are just as or more expensive than the old heavy weights.Amplifiers: Norma IPA 140, MasterSound Compact 845, Ayre v6xe, Consonance Cyber 800
Preamp: deHavilland Ultraverve 3
Dac: Sonnet Morpheus 2, Musical Paradise mp-d2 mkIII
Transport: Jay's Audio CDT2 mk2, Lumin U1 mini
Speakers: Rosso Fiorentino Volterra II
Speaker Cables: Crystal Clear Magnum Opus 2, Organic Audio Organic Reference 2
Interconnects: Crystal Clear Magnum Opus 2, Argento Organic Reference 2, Argento Organic 2
Power Cables: Argento Organic Reference, Synergistic Research Foundation 10 and 12 ga.
Digital cables: Crystal Clear Magnum Opus 2 bnc, Tellurium Q aes, Silnote Audio Poseidon Signature 2 bnc
Puritan PSM156 -
I suspect part of the problem of cost for Class D amplification is that the numbers sold from the well known "High End" brands are still low so there's not a good economy of scale even though the core parts that go into them come from only a few manufacturers. Another thing would be that consumers still want rack width case work which is more expensive than it needs to be since the innards of a Class D amp are much smaller than for a Class A/AB or Tube amp. There is also some fancy engineering that has taken place over the last 20 years or so to get around the "on-off" harsh sound quality of a Class D amplification unit.
I'll stick to Class A/AB for the most part for stereo listening, with a tube amp thrown into the mix occasionally. It's nice to have options. Class D works great for home theater systems with 11.4.4 channels or whatever. Decent enough sound without massive electricity demands and heat buildup.
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Been quite busy and have not had time to prep for listening. Just catching it when able.
This means warming up the gear is not an option. I don’t know the specifics, but these amps have an “instant warm up” feature and I have been testing that (not intentionally) here. The amp still has the sonic characteristics of a fully warmed up system, just not as smooth at reference levels (95db+). Once warmed up though, it’s pure perfection. But not bad considering sometimes I just want to listen to one or two songs here and there as time allows.
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The amp may not need to warm up much because of its auto bias instant warm up feature to sound perfect, but the rest of the components in the system still might.
My two channel system usually sounds better after a half hour being on. I wouldn't know if the warm up bias feature on Parasound amps produces "perfect" sound at startup or not. -
The Vega G1 also keeps the analog output stage powered up even while the unit is in sleep mode, so that means it's ready to go as well upon waking from sleep. And I believe Joe leaves his P6 preamp on 24/7 but I could be wrong about that.
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The pre turns off but the G1 as you said is in standby.
