Parasound HCA- Do you crank the volume levels in the Back?
imsjry
Posts: 120
I have an HCA 1200ii and there are right and left level knobs on the back. Do you guys recommend just having them all the way up? Or 12:00? Something else? I’ve had them all the way up for a long time but honestly forgot about them. Now I’m curious what the preferred setting would be for power amps with output gains.
Thanks!
Thanks!
Comments
Got it. And i do notice that my Preamp doesn't need much volume at all to shake the walls. So is there any sonic advantage to finding a particular balance between the two to give the ability to open up the Preamp volume more?
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk
Denon DVD 2910
Quad 12L Active Monitors
Marin Logan Dynamo 700W
Parasound HCA1500(indoor sound) and HCA1000(outdoor sound), Dynaco PAS4, Denon DP1200 w/Shure V15 Type V and Jico SAS stylus, Oppo BDP93, Marantz UD7007, modded Polk SDA 2B.
On any source, the Preamp gives some hiss starting around 9/10 o’clock. I should add I have a small living room and have never once had the Preamp volume come close to that high. That’s why I’m wondering if I should lower the Parasound gains to allow me to use more volume control on the Preamp (Yamaha CX-1).
An example of the usefulness is this. I have a tube preamp that can be adjusted internally for either 12, 16, or 20 dB output gain. The lowest setting is too low with an HCA-1500 set to max gain and I would have to crank the volume knob on the preamp in increments that are too broad. It'll work but it takes too long to adjust the volume using the remote control without it being annoying. The 20 dB output is too high and produces a noise floor that is too high with the amp set to maximum gain as well as making the volume control on the preamp too sensitive to remote control inputs. I could attenuate the amp to get around the problem. But, the 16 dB setting is just right. If I only had the choice of the 20 dB output on the preamp, I would have no choice but to lower the gain on the amp to get both better sound quality and more precise control on the volume knob.
2. JM Labs Electra 920.1; Sonic Frontiers Line 3 Preamp; Classe Model 25 amp; Sony HAP-Z1ES; Oppo 105D; Music Hall MMF7 and Acoustech phono pre; PS Audio Power Director; MIT S1 Cables
3. Polk LSiM703; Parasound JC2BP and A23; Sony 48" 4K TV; Wyred4Sound DAC 2; Oppo 203; Squeezebox Touch; MIT S3 cables
Try dialing back the gain a bit to see if you get more use out of the volume control before the hiss becomes audible.
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk
Main 2ch:
Polk LSi15 (DB840 upgrade), Parasound: P/LD-1100, HCA-1000A; Denon: DVD-2910, DRM-800A; Monster HTS3600-MKII, Grado SR-225i; Technics SL-J2, Parasound PPH-100.
HT:
Marantz SR7010, Polk: RTA11TL (RDO198-1, XO and Damping Upgrades), S4, CS250, PSW10 (DXi104 upgrade), Marantz UD5005, Pioneer PL-530, Panasonic TC-P42S60
Other stuff:
Denon: DRA-835R, AVR-888, DCD-660, DRM-700A, DRR-780; Polk: S8, Monitor 5A, 5B, TSi100, RM7; Pioneer: CT-6R; Onkyo CP-1046F; Ortofon OM5E, Marantz: PM5004, CD5004, CDR-615; Parasound C/PT-600, HCA-800ii, Sony CDP-650ESD, Technics SA 5070, B&W DM601
Oh no, not to 11!
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk
Main 2ch:
Polk LSi15 (DB840 upgrade), Parasound: P/LD-1100, HCA-1000A; Denon: DVD-2910, DRM-800A; Monster HTS3600-MKII, Grado SR-225i; Technics SL-J2, Parasound PPH-100.
HT:
Marantz SR7010, Polk: RTA11TL (RDO198-1, XO and Damping Upgrades), S4, CS250, PSW10 (DXi104 upgrade), Marantz UD5005, Pioneer PL-530, Panasonic TC-P42S60
Other stuff:
Denon: DRA-835R, AVR-888, DCD-660, DRM-700A, DRR-780; Polk: S8, Monitor 5A, 5B, TSi100, RM7; Pioneer: CT-6R; Onkyo CP-1046F; Ortofon OM5E, Marantz: PM5004, CD5004, CDR-615; Parasound C/PT-600, HCA-800ii, Sony CDP-650ESD, Technics SA 5070, B&W DM601
11? that's for newbs, Pitdogg2 knows where it's at. an OG of the volume knob