I am down to two amplifiers either a Parasound Halo 21+ or a Bryston 3b3. The less powerful Bryston 2b3 is on sale for $3865.50 which still more than $400 than the A21+. Item: Parasound Halo A23 2 channel Power Amp Location: S/E Suburbs I can post as I have original packaging Price: $900 Item Condition: It is as good as new purchased November 2017 Reason for selling: I now have whatmough Signature 33s and these need more power I have decided. This review is written just to show my appreciation of Halo A21, which has served my demands. Nonetheless, it is still very much a Curl design, with his customary J-FET input stage, MOSFET driver stage, and beta-matched bipolar-transistor output stage—each arrayed in a complementary configuration, making for a more linear and lower distortion circuit. Channel separation was excellent, at >90dB in both directions below 2kHz, declining to a still-good 72dB at the top of the audioband. Fig.7 Parasound A21+, 1kHz waveform at 25W into 8 ohms, 0.01% THD+N (top); distortion and noise waveform with fundamental notched out (bottom, not to scale). http://rogueaudio.com/Products_Atlas_Magnum.htm Fig.2 Parasound A21+, small-signal 10kHz squarewave into 8 ohms. I am running on a pair of Focal Aria 926 but plan on upgrading to a set of Paradigm Persona 3f's as soon as finances allow. Selected the A21+ based on Kal’s review of the F228Be’s. "", https://www.stereophile.com/content/rogue-audio-stereo-100-power-amplifier, http://www.rogueaudio.com/Products_100.htm. You are correct. Greetings, excellent review. Halo products have consistently been praised by Stereophile and, over the years, their circuits and technologies have migrated into other Parasound products. The change in sound (for me) was very pronounced. Similar power and price. well done. Me, personally? With the e38 directly connected to the A 21+, there was no audible noise from the system unless my ear was practically touching the tweeter of one of the Revel Ultima Studio2 loudspeakers. Thanks for posting that, I have not seen this A21+ review yet. If this amp is 10% "better," that number is not worth testing the waters of diminishing returns. Oh, one other thing- Regarding the Audio Research MP-1: The IC's that are in the unit can be replaced with more modern ones for much less hiss and self-noise. The price is nearly identical, about $400 more on the Bryston. • The automatic turn-on circuit was improved. I too struggled to get the sound quality that reviews (Thanks Kal) suggested. It’s a motto I apply to just about everything I do in my daily life, and when I received the Parasound Halo P 7 multichannel preamplifier ($2,000) for review, it appeared that Parasound sticks to the same philosophy. They have performed the modification in the past for customers as well. I no longer have the Revel Performa F228Be but I bought a pair of the Revel Performa3 F206 speakers for surround channels, primarily. The THD+N was very low in the midrange into 8, 4, and 2 ohms (fig.6) but rose at higher frequencies. I currently own 4 x parasound amplifiers, a21, a31, a23 x2. Parasound needs to promote the designer that put the gold trim strip in the faceplate. Tell me if I'm wrong... How much does my sound "suffer" by using a $2000 Marantz integrated amp/receiver or an Emotiva amp? This is evident with the release of the new Parasound A 21+ stereo power amp ($3150), the successor to the A 21, which was originally launched in 2003. = 27 kg)--especially if you … The performance-related improvements—power output, S/N ratio, THD, and channel separation—are not huge, but they are appreciated; the increase in weight not so much. The amplifier preserved absolute polarity (ie, was noninverting) with both balanced and unbalanced input signals and with the right channel used as the input in bridged-mono mode, with the outputs taken from the two positive loudspeaker terminals as described in the manual. Thanks, looks interesting...can't find any reviews. Audio Science Review July 2020. When I had an Emotiva (https://www.stereophile.com/content/music-round-51), it did not satisfy me. They offer a list: • The power has been increased from 250W to 300W into 8 ohms, with comparable changes into smaller impedances. I split my listening between the 35dB gain setting, using the output of the exaSound e38 multichannel DAC to drive the Parasound amp, and the 26dB gain setting, with the Audio Research MP1 multichannel preamplifier intervening. I find that the sound is not powerful enough. The Benchmark HPA4 preamp, the sister to the LA4, is fantastic on every level and I am so grateful for the review which led to my satisfied purchase! • Signal/Noise is up from 112dB to 115dB. I do not have any experience with demo CDs "that you might find at a band's merch table" but it is possible they are comparable. Sidebar 3: Measurements I tested the Parasound Halo A 21+ with my Audio Precision SYS2722 system (see the January 2008 "As We See It"). I recently upgraded from Marantz 7702 and their MM7025. How does it compare with the Parasound 21+. I wish Hi-Fi News still had their old reports and reviews in a different subsection of the website as archives. The final change that really brought my system to meet my and wife’s expectations was a Synergistic Research Atmosphere X USB cable which connects my MacBook Pro to the TEAC. Stereophile has also reviewed the PS Audio Stellar M700. - Anthem MCA225 Gen2 It would be neat to understand what it's doing under various loads, as it could speak to a bit to the prospect of Class H or G amplification from an industry-wide standpoint, namely regarding the advent digital power supply. "The new JC 5 is a remarkable amplifier that creates a new sweet spot in our Halo product family," said Richard Schram, the president and founder of Parasound. Again, the levels of the distortion harmonics didn't rise when I kept the output voltage the same but reduced the load impedance to 4 ohms. The sister site has Hi-Fi News used to have other measurements for the AHB2 amp that showed the amps performance under dynamic conditions vs. continuous conditions. See my Parasound Halo P3 preamplifier review for comments on how the A23s work in a vertical bi-amp with the P3 and differences between the RCA and XLR inputs. Thanks, Great review. I cannot fix that but I will notify someone who can. Which one to you keep connected to the speakers, and why ? The modulation of the amplifier's frequency response, due to the Ohm's law interaction between this source impedance and the impedance of our standard simulated loudspeaker, was therefore minuscule, at ±0.1dB (fig.1, gray trace). I suspect that you have put your finger on the reason for these mismatches. Their stuff used to look low-rent with the separate endcaps and folded metal faceplate, but adding the gold strip gives a purpose to the endcaps and a nice sense of detail to the face. Maybe larger soundstage, fuller/richer mids. One of each, please, in those mono days. If this amp is 10% "better," that number is not worth testing the waters of diminishing returns. Thank you! The Benchmarks live in the city where, so far, they have not disappointed. heck, forget that conditional: I am greatly impressed with the Emotiva XPA-5.". Me, personally? The combo sounds excellent! 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