Parasound HCA- Do you crank the volume levels in the Back?

imsjry · October 1

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!

DSkip · October 1

They aren’t volume knobs and are used to set gain adjustments. I usually run them at full unless there is serious gain in front of the amp.

Consider gain as a tool to allow you to use more or less of the volume control as needed.

imsjry · October 1

DSkip wrote: »

They aren’t volume knobs and are used to set gain adjustments. I usually run them at full unless there is serious gain in front of the amp.

Consider gain as a tool to allow you to use more or less of the volume control as needed.

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?

F1nut · October 1

Yes, the noise floor. With nothing playing, amp gain at max turn the volume control up while listening to the tweeters. Note the volume control position when you hear noticeable hiss from the tweeters. Report back the position.

imsjry · October 1

I start hearing hiss with the dial around 9 or 10 O’Clock but that’s with my ear right against the speaker.

chumlie · October 1

Mine are all the way up.

aiconn · October 2

Mine too.

muncybob · October 2

Would you get different results between different ouputs?...such as phono vs. cd?

imsjry · October 2

muncybob wrote: »

Would you get different results between different ouputs?...such as phono vs. cd?

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).

Emlyn · October 2

It's really just a convenience feature intended originally for custom installers back in the 1990s but it's been continued because it's useful in some situations. Parasound recommends running their amps at full gain under normal conditions. The adjustable gain function is there in case the amp output and preamp output don't match well in a system. It's perfectly acceptable to reduce the gain on the amp to get more precise control on the preamp's volume control. There's really no right or wrong way to use the functionality. There is one consistent truth though, and that is the amp does not produce any more or less power capability if the gain controls are adjusted.

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.

F1nut · October 2

imsjry wrote: »

I start hearing hiss with the dial around 9 or 10 O’Clock but that’s with my ear right against the speaker.

Try dialing back the gain a bit to see if you get more use out of the volume control before the hiss becomes audible.

imsjry · October 9

I ended up scaling back the gain on the Parasound to be able to have more headroom with the volume on my Pre. Can't say there is any audible difference but just seems like you would ideally want to be able to open up the Preamp volume a bit more.

cortico · October 25

I used to set it so could get a normal listening sound level with preamp volume dial set at 11 o’clock. This would give nice adjustability range on the preamp side.

skrol · October 25

I had set mine fairly low because my young kids would occasionally mess with the stereo and scare the hell out of everyone, including themselves.

butterbean · October 26

Lol 😂 Kids are fun! My daughter once pulled the fire alarm at her Dr’s office, I’ll never forget her reaction, or my walk of shame to retrieve her blanket! Good times! My gains are all the way up.

Willow · October 29

The manual says something like... most cases turn them all the way up. That's how I have mine.

F1nut · October 29

Willow wrote: »

The manual says something like... most cases turn them all the way up. That's how I have mine.

Oh no, not to 11!

pitdogg2 · October 29

skrol · October 29

Just bypass them with a jumper and take one more component out of the sound signal path.

Willow · October 30

F1nut wrote: »

Willow wrote: »

The manual says something like... most cases turn them all the way up. That's how I have mine.

Oh no, not to 11!

11? that's for newbs, Pitdogg2 knows where it's at. an OG of the volume knob

Parasound HCA- Do you crank the volume levels in the Back?

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Parasound HCA- Do you crank the volume levels in the Back?

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