TL;DR: Should I replace the blown Pascal amp module in my integrated amp or just use an outboard power amp, and if the latter, which one?
In what amounted to very strange timing, my Parasound NewClassic 200 Integrated’s Pascal amp module burned out yesterday. My teenage son was using it at the time, and apparently cranking up the bass (hopefully not the volume, gave him a talking to on hearing damage just in case), but in any case, the thing is definitely dead. You can see where it burned out on the amp board. All other pre-amp functions seem to work, and in fact the NewClassic 200 has a preamp version that sells for a little less than the Integrated version, just without the Pascal and speaker terminals.
I say it was strange timing because earlier that day I decided to jump on board with the Fosi V3 Mono Kickstarter. The timing isn’t completely fortuitous, though, as those amps won’t ship until June. I’m not totally dead in the water as I have a budget Yamaha AVR, but it doesn’t seem to power my Kef LS50 Metas as well as the Parasound did.
I bought the Parasound second-hand, so while I may reach out to them Monday, I don’t think they will help me, especially with what I have heard about the new ownership’s changes.
All of that leads to my question, which is, is it worth trying to source a new Pascal amp module to get me by for the next couple of months? It’s the U-PRO2S, and it appears like a pretty simple drop-in - just a ribbon cable and a couple of Molex connectors. You can’t buy them directly through any normal channels, though, and the only source I can find is a seller on AliExpress, which gives me pause.
One part of my thinking is, it would be nice to have all of the Parasound functions intact if and when I sell it. On the other hand, I’d be spending around $180 on the module via AliExpress - I could probably buy another external Class D amp for less and then sell it when the mono blocks arrive. Parasound has also discounted both the preamp and Integrated versions of the 200 for awhile - they used to be $900 and $1200 respectively, now $750, and $900. I’m not sure if they’re being phased out or perhaps they decided to make them loss-leaders for the brand. Resale value might not be great even fully-repaired.
If replacing the Pascal is ill-advised, what would be a good cheap amp to use to hook up to the pre-outs while I wait for the (good, cheap) Fosi amps to arrive? Thanks for any advice!
In what amounted to very strange timing, my Parasound NewClassic 200 Integrated’s Pascal amp module burned out yesterday. My teenage son was using it at the time, and apparently cranking up the bass (hopefully not the volume, gave him a talking to on hearing damage just in case), but in any case, the thing is definitely dead. You can see where it burned out on the amp board. All other pre-amp functions seem to work, and in fact the NewClassic 200 has a preamp version that sells for a little less than the Integrated version, just without the Pascal and speaker terminals.
I say it was strange timing because earlier that day I decided to jump on board with the Fosi V3 Mono Kickstarter. The timing isn’t completely fortuitous, though, as those amps won’t ship until June. I’m not totally dead in the water as I have a budget Yamaha AVR, but it doesn’t seem to power my Kef LS50 Metas as well as the Parasound did.
I bought the Parasound second-hand, so while I may reach out to them Monday, I don’t think they will help me, especially with what I have heard about the new ownership’s changes.
All of that leads to my question, which is, is it worth trying to source a new Pascal amp module to get me by for the next couple of months? It’s the U-PRO2S, and it appears like a pretty simple drop-in - just a ribbon cable and a couple of Molex connectors. You can’t buy them directly through any normal channels, though, and the only source I can find is a seller on AliExpress, which gives me pause.
One part of my thinking is, it would be nice to have all of the Parasound functions intact if and when I sell it. On the other hand, I’d be spending around $180 on the module via AliExpress - I could probably buy another external Class D amp for less and then sell it when the mono blocks arrive. Parasound has also discounted both the preamp and Integrated versions of the 200 for awhile - they used to be $900 and $1200 respectively, now $750, and $900. I’m not sure if they’re being phased out or perhaps they decided to make them loss-leaders for the brand. Resale value might not be great even fully-repaired.
If replacing the Pascal is ill-advised, what would be a good cheap amp to use to hook up to the pre-outs while I wait for the (good, cheap) Fosi amps to arrive? Thanks for any advice!
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