Parasound 2250 Power Amp

Sherardp

I was wondering if anyone here is using this amp. I have some questions about installation before I decide to purchase it. I was reading the manual and understand that this amp can be bridged to output 600-700 watts with an 8 or 4 ohm load. My question is this once I set the amp up for bridge mode, can I install both RTi12s according to the manual or do I need two of these amps? I dont want to make this go up in smoke or damage the 12s during install, any help would prove useful before I order. Thanks.

dkg999

If you run it in bridged mode, then it becomes a single/mono channel amp ..... and you will need two of them if you want to run in the bridged mode. One running in bridged mode for the right channel, one running in bridged mode for the left channel. Unbridged it is a 2 ch stereo amplifier ...... and you would need only one of them to drive your right/left channels.

Sherardp

Dkg99 those were my thoughts as well. But the manual states how to setup the amp in bridged mode to include one speaker, then says to repeat the same steps to install another speaker on the same amp. Its kind of confusing, unless Im reading into this wrong.I was thinking you could set the amp up as a mono amp, have the amp output 600-700 watts per a pair of speakers, make sense. Kind of hard to explain this. Check out the manual and see page 8. Thanks for your help.

http://parasound.com/pdfs/OWNER_GUIDE_2250.pdf

dkg999

I think what it's trying to say is that you could run two speakers off of the bridged amp, in mono mode. So if you had 4 RTi12's, and for some reason wanted to run two of them for the right channel, you could connect both right channel speakers to the one 2250 in bridged mode, and then connect your two left channel speakers to another 2250 running in bridged mode. There's no way you can run stereo speakers off of a bridged amp.

Sherardp

Ahhh ok got ya, thanks allot for showing me the light. I was lost in space with that one. Any thoughts on this amp running my Rti12s? What are your thoughts on Parasound gear?

dkg999

I have the Parasound HCA-1500's powering my Magnepan 1.6QR's. They sound incredible. Parasound is good stuff!

Ethancf

My 2205 has been running my HT for years...still makes everyone's jaw drop when she's singing and she never breaks anything close to a sweat!

Sherardp

My last question is should I run one Parasound 2125 bridged per RTi12 or should I just buy the 2250 and power the fronts with that and put the Outlaws on the center and side surrounds?

Early B.

Sherardp wrote: »

My last question is should I run one Parasound 2125 bridged per RTi12 or should I just buy the 2250 and power the fronts with that and put the Outlaws on the center and side surrounds?

Be careful. Some amps sound worse when they are bridged.

You could purchase a pair of monoblocks or a killer 2-channel amp for the same amount of money you'd spend on two Parasound amps. If you want to stick with Parasound, consider buying a used Parasound 1500A.

Sherardp

What would you recommend, I was thinking of going just the 2250, but Im open for anything really. Also with the 2250 how do I install this thing? Is it one speaker per A or B channel or both speakers on side A or B. Audioadvisor is listing this amp for 1199, is that a good price?

G-2

Can't comment on that price but we can tell you that a Parasound 1500A powers our polk 10a's with plenty of room, we're really quite impressed with this amp! You're looking at the 2200? What are you driving with them, based on what you just described we'd recommend that you power the front 2 channels with 1 2200. It should be good depending what kind of speakers you're driving. What kind of speakers are you driving? ohm? power rating? Just curious.

Sherardp

polk Rti12s are what Im using. I wanted to use the Parasound to power the fronts alone, then use the outlaws for the rears. Im also thinking of trying something new from D-sonic, which would be the Magnum 1000S. Any thoughts on amps using ICE power technology?

dkg999

In my experience, many amps don't sound as good when run in bridged mode, and sometimes run a lot hotter (ie temperature wise!). I would use one 2250, using the speaker A terminals to connect your right/left RTi12's. The speaker B terminals are for if you wanted to connect a second set of speakers that you wanted to listen to in place of your main RTi12's. It is not usually recommended to have both speaker A and B on at the same time (even if the manual doesn't say that). Hope this helps! The Parasound amps are great for sound and build quality. I am not sure on the AA price, but the HCA-1500 that the 2250 replaced sold for about that same price unless you caught a sale on them.

wingnut4772

I have the 1500A also and it's pretty nice. A bit on the warm side with bass galore.

Sherardp

Thanks guys, very helpful info, that A and B setup was throwing me off a little. I now have to decide, either Parasound 2250 or D-Sonic Magnum 1000S. Im just doing some homework on both. Will post up once I decide, any thoughts on ICE power?

deseroner

ok , i was wondering this also, i read the manual to set 2-3 ohm when bridging a 4ohm load, also i did bridge my lsi15 on each side, they sound awesome so far, anyone has done this also.

deseroner

has anyone bridged there lsi15's with a parasound 2250

niente

Boatload of super clean headroom .. love my Para

deseroner

fastz28 wrote: »

the parasound 2250 has plenty of power for your speakers no need to bridge:biggrin:

they seem to shine when in bridged mode

deseroner

i actually , got told it can only be bridge with one speaker for separation, you can bridge two , but it will be the same, so if i want to bridge it with lsi15 i would need two amps. so 385watts x2 4ohm stereo is enough for lsi15 i suppose.

PrazVT

Hey Sherardp - I have both the NC2250 and the Halo A21. The 2250 ran my A7s before I got the A21, and I'd say you'll really like the 2250. The A21 is higher current and little warmer, but the 2250's no slouch. The A & B thing is just if you want to power 2 different sets of speakers (you figured that out by now). But I'd guess that two 2250s (in bridged mode) would maximize the 500w power handling on those 12s!

On a side note - I run an HCA1000A bi-amping my CSi A6. The one time I turned on bridge mode, there was an audible hum so I switched it back to stereo. Is that normal?

Lietuvis91

PrazVT wrote: »

On a side note - I run an HCA1000A bi-amping my CSi A6. The one time I turned on bridge mode, there was an audible hum so I switched it back to stereo. Is that normal?

I get that also in bridged mode on my hca1000a, it's a slight buzz/hum. Can't really hear it when watching a movie at loud volumes, but it's also anoying when nothing is playing... don't know if that's normal or not.

PrazVT

I get that also in bridged mode on my hca1000a, it's a slight buzz/hum. Can't really hear it when watching a movie at loud volumes, but it's also anoying when nothing is playing... don't know if that's normal or not.

Yes - exactly the same thing. You're right, it's more annoying when nothing is playing. But the amp works great if I bi-amp using both channels, so not a big deal I guess.