“Newish” 90’s Parasound separate system

cortico
cortico Posts: 587
edited January 2019 in 2 Channel Audio
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...

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Comments

  • EndersShadow
    EndersShadow Posts: 17,517
    Looks elegant and clean.

    Well done sir!
    "....not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." William Bruce Cameron, Informal Sociology: A Casual Introduction to Sociological Thinking (1963)
  • Clipdat
    Clipdat Posts: 12,557
    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
    cortico Posts: 587
    edited January 2019
    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
    cortico Posts: 587
    Any other suggestions?
  • motorhead43026
    motorhead43026 Posts: 3,892
    edited January 2019
    ^^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.
    2 channel: Anthem 225 Integrated amp; Parasound Ztuner; TechnicsTT SL1350; Vincent PHO-8 phono pre; Marantz CD6005 spinner; Polk SDA2BTL's; LAT International speaker cables, ZU Mission IC's and power cables all into a PS Audio Dectet Power center.

    Other; M10 series II, M7C's, Hafler XL600 amp, RB-980BX, Parasound HCA-1500 amp , P5 preamp, all in storage. All vintage Polk have had crossover rebuilds and tweeter 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.

    Imagine making politics your entire personality.
  • steveinaz
    steveinaz Posts: 19,521
    Very cool. You might want to let the amp breathe a little more.
    Source: Bluesound Node 2i - Preamp/DAC: Benchmark DAC2 DX - Amp: Parasound Halo A21 - Speakers: MartinLogan Motion 60XTi - Shop Rig: Yamaha A-S501 Integrated - Shop Spkrs: Elac Debut 2.0 B5.2
  • cortico
    cortico Posts: 587
    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.

    x0l90fsl9zit.jpg
    ^^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 :smile: ... 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
    motorhead43026 Posts: 3,892
    edited January 2019
    That HCA2200II, is s very good amp. Other than the 3500 probably the best of the HCA series.
    2 channel: Anthem 225 Integrated amp; Parasound Ztuner; TechnicsTT SL1350; Vincent PHO-8 phono pre; Marantz CD6005 spinner; Polk SDA2BTL's; LAT International speaker cables, ZU Mission IC's and power cables all into a PS Audio Dectet Power center.

    Other; M10 series II, M7C's, Hafler XL600 amp, RB-980BX, Parasound HCA-1500 amp , P5 preamp, all in storage. All vintage Polk have had crossover rebuilds and tweeter 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.

    Imagine making politics your entire personality.
  • 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
    cortico Posts: 587
    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
    pglbook Posts: 2,163
    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.