choosing a receiver..

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  • snow
    snow Posts: 4,358
    edited August 2007
    thejck wrote: »
    Parasound Power Amplifier HCA 1500A any input is it worth going over to audition those?
    What did a search of reviews reveal for this amp?

    We cant possibly do all the work for you. :D


    REGARDS SNOW
    Well, I just pulled off the impossible by doing a double-blind comparison all by myself, purely by virtue of the fact that I completely and stupidly forgot what I did last. I guess that getting old does have its advantages after all :D
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  • thejck
    thejck Posts: 849
    edited August 2007
    i know snow. i am researching it as we speak bud. i am not lazy in that respect. it is 205watts stereo and can do bridged mono too. i just wanted to see if anyone had any experience with it. i have been glued to this laptop for the last 2-3 weeks researching this stuff.
    people on here talk good about parasound right??
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  • snow
    snow Posts: 4,358
    edited August 2007
    thejck wrote: »
    i know snow. i am researching it as we speak bud. i am not lazy in that respect. it is 205watts stereo and can do bridged mono too. i just wanted to see if anyone had any experience with it. i have been glued to this laptop for the last 2-3 weeks researching this stuff.
    people on here talk good about parasound right??
    hmmm... I guess that would depend on who you talk too lmaooo:p . But yes people talk good about parasound here.

    REGARDS SNOW
    Well, I just pulled off the impossible by doing a double-blind comparison all by myself, purely by virtue of the fact that I completely and stupidly forgot what I did last. I guess that getting old does have its advantages after all :D
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  • thejck
    thejck Posts: 849
    edited August 2007
    tell me i am curious. something i am missing
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  • snow
    snow Posts: 4,358
    edited August 2007
    thejck wrote: »
    tell me i am curious. something i am missing
    It was meant as a joke. Im sure there will be someone though who would say otherewise but as far as I know everyone likes parasound amps.

    REGARDS SNOW
    Well, I just pulled off the impossible by doing a double-blind comparison all by myself, purely by virtue of the fact that I completely and stupidly forgot what I did last. I guess that getting old does have its advantages after all :D
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  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,396
    edited August 2007
    thejck wrote: »
    are there any adcom amps that are comparable to the gfa-555 but newer
    i want about the was watts rms and the ability to do bridged mono

    Yes, the GFA 5400, GFA 5500, GFA 5800, GFA 5802. None of these are bridgeable and bridging is way over rated. I wouldn't worry about finding an amp that is bridgeable unless you need it for a sub amp (1 ch).
    "Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Puritan Audio PSM136 Pwr Condtioner & Classic PC's | Legend L600 | Roon Nucleus 1 w/LPS - Tubes add soul!
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  • dkg999
    dkg999 Posts: 5,647
    edited August 2007
    I run two Parasound HCA-1500A's to bi-amp my Magnepan 1.6QR's. It's one of the best dollar to performance values out there. Very musical with loads of reserve power and dynamics. Solid and reliable.
    DKG999
    HT System: LSi9, LSiCx2, LSiFX, LSi7, SVS 20-39 PC+, B&K 507.s2 AVR, B&K Ref 125.2, Tripplite LCR-2400, Cambridge 650BD, Signal Cable PC/SC, BJC IC, Samsung 55" LED

    Music System: Magnepan 1.6QR, SVS SB12+, ARC pre, Parasound HCA1500 vertically bi-amped, Jolida CDP, Pro-Ject RM5.1SE TT, Pro-Ject TubeBox SE phono pre, SBT, PS Audio DLIII DAC
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  • thejck
    thejck Posts: 849
    edited August 2007
    i went with the parasound hca1500a last night. went over to a guys house to check it out and bought it off him. the guy had some awesome equiment. I should have taken pictures. he had 3 different setups for 2 channel listening in his basement in different corners of the house. he had tubes and amps and preamps up the wazoo.
    he had a gtp-502 preamp that the top was scratched up and he had tried to cover it up with a black marker and had a parasound p3 halo preamp. i went with the halo. not really sure about the pre but i got it home hooked it up and it ssounds great. i need to rearrange the speakers cause they are in a spare room right now. i was happy just to be able to turn it on.

    sorry if i came across as a guy that was looking for other people to do his research. i have been going through this forum and searching and researching i just posted model numbers to see if i got a quick reply.

    i read some good reviews on that amp from a few people on this polk forum. the preamp reviews are so so. for the price i guess it will work but its not a waste of money. will be happy with this for a few years :)

    any thoughts comments??
    one thing that i wonder about it the pre amp is supposed to go from 0-80 as far as sound control and i had it up around 60 to get it loud. is this normal or am i doing something wrong? i was reading about other preamps with analog volume control saying that you should not have your volume past the 12 oclock mark and was concerened??? also as far as the L R balance is concerened when i switched from blacnced to L or R that speaker seemed to get louder but the other one still played is that normal or is somehting wrong?
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  • thejck
    thejck Posts: 849
    edited August 2007
    i figured out the balance thing. what the balance is doing is actully turning up one channel and leaving the other at the same volume setting. i guess thats different from what i am used to where the balance actully turns off one channel when turned all the way.

    i plugged a pair of headphones into the preamp with the amp off. i had to turn the preamp up to about 45+ before the sound became audible. is that normal.
    i am using an external dvd player with L+r outputs to the direct inputs of the pre.

    its been a long time since i have been exposed to the world of seperates so please bare with me if these questions seem stupid.
    i was less than 10 years old in the 80's running over to my neighbours house to listen to music and he had seperates then. so its been a while
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  • thejck
    thejck Posts: 849
    edited August 2007
    i emailed parasound support and they said the volume thing was normal. well i now need to get a dac. i already have the chaintech av-710 on the way. this will be my second one i use the other in the HT rig.

    H9 do you like the AMC dac you use in the Computer rig?
    can you tell me what I am looking for when i research a DAC.
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  • thejck
    thejck Posts: 849
    edited October 2007
    has anyone compared a parasound hca-1500 with a hca-3500.

    one is 205 watts per channel and the other is a 350 watts per channel amplifier. what can i expect if I made an upgrade like that. i searched this forum and a few people actully own the 3500. any thoughts about a possible upgrade
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  • cfrizz
    cfrizz Posts: 13,415
    edited October 2007
    I can tell you that I didn't hear a difference when I went from the parasound hca-1500 to the Sunfire 405wpc amp in my signature.

    But then again, I'm not pushing all those drivers of the 12's So in that case, I would probably go for it.
    Marantz AV-7705 PrePro, Classé 5 channel 200wpc Amp, Oppo 103 BluRay, Rotel RCD-1072 CDP, Sony XBR-49X800E TV, Polk S60 Main Speakers, Polk ES30 Center Channel, Polk S15 Surround Speakers SVS SB12-NSD x2
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