Parasound sound comparisons A21+ vs Zonemaster2350

[avanti1960]

I have had the Parasound a21+ for about 6 months now and it is an excellent sounding amplifier in my "audiophile" system- Cary SLP-05 Preamp and Harbeth SHL5+ speakers.
The a21+ is a cut above the previous model, especially in transparency and refinement. I never yields a harsh note but has a high level of detail. It will let your system deliver based on the quality of the recording, source, preamp and speakers. It is as transparent as your best supporting component.

 

[enricoclaudio]

Unfortunately, these kinds of generalizations on the forums do more harm than good. It becomes more like Seagate vs WD debates depending on the last anecdotal experience of the individual for specific models.

I do rely on online forums to judge the vendor and equipment from user feedback and problem reports. With that you get to learn to filter out noise and individual gripes that could be anecdotal. Over a period of time, those do get normalized to what is likely to be the case. You learn to triangulate from multiple sources including this forum opinions and measurements.

You can say they are not as good as they used to be for almost any company. You buy one thing that lasts for a long time and because of that you buy a different one and it doesn't last as long and there you go.

One thing that has remained constant is praise for durability and Parasound customer service especially for currently selling equipment. One problem companies like Parasound with equipment that lasts for decades is the availability of service and parts. Like good cars. They also run into problems when out of necessity, they are forced to bring out different-tier equipment to meet lower price points. They also do well in some types of equipment and not others.

Discussions like this one are typical:

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/parasound-service-problems

But the OP of the Audiogon thread could very well paraphrase his anecdotal experience to Parasound sucks. But would that be valid?

I would say the quality and build of their Halo amps are the one of the best you can have for long term durability and service. You can nitpick on their design philosophy or the way they write their specs but not the quality. Analog pre-amps have also been decent but not without some issues. Things get a little murkier in their more complicated equipment like the Halo Integrated but as far as I know there are no endemic problems and service takes care of it.

In terms of accessibility, they are active and respond reasonably. The one time I corresponded with their team, the CEO Richard Schram himself took over the conversation and went to great pains to explain their design/build philosophy and rationale for what they had. So, they still have the boutique company flavor. I think they only produce in lots of hundreds or a thousand or so for the size of their market.

I would say some of the same things apply to Anthem as well. They have gone through their up and downs. There is a loyal following for their amps. The customer service, however good they might be can get overwhelmed by poorly released product like what has been happening with the AVP 70.

I have heard good things about Anthem in the past and poor things about them in the recent history.

So, I would say the two are really like Seagate vs WD in hard-drives. You get very reliable stuff for most, you get some bad anecdotal evidence. You get some "bad apple" models once in a while when they try something new, etc.

The difference between them is really the difference in their design and build philosophy as well as their pricing. Anthem would be more favorable in Canada and Parasound would be more favorable in the US for comparable equipment. Have always felt Anthem was bit overpriced for what they had.

People in HT (which includes Anthem Pre/Pro fans) are equally happy with the Monolith amps for multi-channel.

Bottom line: It is probably better to go with evaluations and feedback on specific models of any company than be brand loyal to any one. Reliability and service issues get factored into those discussions. Just like Seagate and WD.

Richard is a gentleman and such a nice guy. He personally took care of my Parasound P5 volume pot issue while under warranty. Turn around time for repair with both ways shipping transit time was less than 10 days. Sold my P5 back in 2018 then yesterday decided to order the Halo P6 which is on the way. Parasound electronics last forever and their customer service is one of the best in the industry.

 

[Randalljkrebs]

Thank you! Good to know...

 

[Standingstones]

I have been a Parasound owner for many years now. I currently use the JC5 amp in my system. I have nothing but good things to say about their customer service. Call their phone number and you might likely get owner Richard Schram on the line. You can’t do much better than that. I would take complaints about Parasound with a large grain of salt.

 

[Gyosa1]

I have a Parasound A21 driving Salk SuperCharged Songtowers .....
absolutely love it ....

for reference , I also have a B&K Ex-442 and a PS Audio S300 ....

all are good , but I prefer the A21 ...



bk

 

[DaveM]

I'd imagine the A21+ will have lower distortion, no idea if it would be audible or not. Those speakers have sensitivity of 99 dB at 2W. You could get by with 25 Watts I think unless you want to go deaf.

Yes, I agree that 25 watts with those speakers will be more than enough.

I owned an A21+ for a little over one year and just traded it in this week towards a Pass XA-30.8 which is a 30 WPC Class A amplifier. The A21+ sounded thin, veiled, and congested during crescendos in comparison to the Pass which only has about 10 hours on it so isn't even broken in yet. If 2 channel sound quality is your primary goal, you probably won't be satisfied with an AVR. Another less expensive option than Pass is Nelson's other company, First Watt.

https://www.firstwatt.com/

If you want something special, check out the SIT-3. Don't overly concern yourself with specifications and let your ears make the decision. Nelson Pass is one of the most famous designers of amplifiers going back to the 1970's with the Threshold brand. You may want to email him and ask for which First Watt amplifier he recommends for your speakers as they are nominally rated at 4 ohm so the SIT-3 might not be the best match. Good luck.

 

[Stanny1]

The 2350 uses ICE Power modules.

 

[Stanny1]

Save yourself $1000 and just get an Anthem MCA amp. Top notch quality, reliability and a great company to deal with. I have to MCA amps going on 15-20 yrs old, both still work flawlessly.
I have had various Parasound equipment (decent in the past,, not so much these days), always seems to be something goes wrong. Company support used to be good, now not so much. They are good at saying there is no issue with a product, even though other people report the same issues. I would not trust their repair department one bit. I'll quit talking about Parasound because it probably sounds like i'm bashing them, i don't mean to. I just have zero faith in the company and products as of lately.

Just save yourself any headaches and money, go with Anthem. There are many fine amplifiers out in the market today. When i factor in quality, cost, reliability, customer service etc, Hands down Anthem gets my vote.

I have a Parasound 2100 Preamp. Almost every 2100 has a bad Balance pot. You would think that Parasound would replace the pot but no dice. I would even pay the shipping. But I'm stuck with paying the local Audio shop for the repair.

 

[Slayer]

I have a Parasound 2100 Preamp. Almost every 2100 has a bad Balance pot. You would think that Parasound would replace the pot but no dice. I would even pay the shipping. But I'm stuck with paying the local Audio shop for the repair.

Sorry to hear about your experience with the 2100 vol pot issue.
They have had what seems to be an issue with vol pots on various units, which i believe is why when the P6 designed, they went a completely different path with the vol pot, using a resistor ladder, which seems to be the answer to that common problem.

I had issue with the vol pot on the P5 and that's where my frustrations began with Parasound. Firstly denying the issue, until i pointed out numerous complaints on many forums. Which should have not been necessary to admit to a known problem. Eventually they replaced the unit, was not until the 3rd unit did i get one with a good pot. It actually tracks better than almost any analog pot i have had in the past 40 years. Yes, it was a pain and time consuming, but if you talk with Richard, he will get the ball rolling.

My previous post was not to bash Parasound as i am always willing to give the company a chance to resolve an issue, it's just one should not have to go through such pains to do so. I do think for the money, they make pretty good equipment and might even purchase the P6 because of the new pot being used.

I guess it's like a lot of companies, they can have good and bad products or bad batches as it may be.
My intent earlier was trying to convey my opinion that Anthem amps ( no comment on their av equip ) are a very good deal and measure well to boot. Prices may appear high when looking at the site, but you can always find a dealer to give you a good deal.

Anyhow I would try contacting Parasound again, ask for Richard or Phil Jackson. I can't see any reason they will not repair the unit.

 

[enricoclaudio]

I had volume pot issues with my P5 twice during my 3 years of ownership and Richard was always reachable and willing to walk the extra mile. I didn't even pay for any shipping when sending my P5 in for repair. The turn around time was less than 10 days including both ways shipping. After the second volume pot repair I decided to sell the P5 but I missed it since day one so beginning this year decided to give the P6 a chance so I got it and thanks God I did. The P5 was good, the P6 is great and no more volume pot issues.

 

[Slayer]

I had volume pot issues with my P5 twice during my 3 years of ownership and Richard was always reachable and willing to walk the extra mile. I didn't even pay for any shipping when sending my P5 in for repair. The turn around time was less than 10 days including both ways shipping. After the second volume pot repair I decided to sell the P5 but I missed it since day one so beginning this year decided to give the P6 a chance so I got it and thanks God I did. The P5 was good, the P6 is great and no more volume pot issues.

Good to hear.
I had tried a P6 and it was grainy, so i didn't keep it. Yet a buddy has one and it sounds great. So I may try another P6, just not sure when the appropriate time would be to do so. Seeing how their current shipment has not come in yet and sitting on a cargo-ship for many, many months. One would hope that all the time sitting out on the ocean would have been considered when packaged, but still leaves me with a slight hesitance.
If i end up getting the P6 i'm not even sure I will sell the P5, may want to keep for back-up or a secondary system.

I think with almost all products these days, there can be at times large variations in quality and specs. This 3rd unit is far above the other two returned units.
Analog or digital, it's a dead quiet noise floor. I've compared it's dac with various others and could tell no difference.
Nice to hear your enjoying the P6, the flexibility of these units is just hard to find and beat for a reasonable price.

 

[enricoclaudio]

Good to hear.
I had tried a P6 and it was grainy, so i didn't keep it. Yet a buddy has one and it sounds great. So I may try another P6, just not sure when the appropriate time would be to do so. Seeing how their current shipment has not come in yet and sitting on a cargo-ship for many, many months. One would hope that all the time sitting out on the ocean would have been considered when packaged, but still leaves me with a slight hesitance.
If i end up getting the P6 i'm not even sure I will sell the P5, may want to keep for back-up or a secondary system.

I think with almost all products these days, there can be at times large variations in quality and specs. This 3rd unit is far above the other two returned units.
Analog or digital, it's a dead quiet noise floor. I've compared it's dac with various others and could tell no difference.
Nice to hear your enjoying the P6, the flexibility of these units is just hard to find and beat for a reasonable price.

Yep, I hear they have inventory issues. We at Rythmik Audio went from paying $3500 per container to $28000. But the demand is so high that from 4 containers a year we are now up to 12 containers a year. I got my P6 back in April this year from AV Science. They had this one in stock and ready to ship. I wanted the silver but that one was not in stock and most likely is inside the container you just mentioned

 

[peng]

The a21+ is a cut above the previous model, especially in transparency and refinement. I never yields a harsh note but has a high level of detail. It will let your system deliver based on the quality of the recording, source, preamp and speakers. It is as transparent as your best supporting component.

I doubt the difference between the + and the one it replaced would be noticeable by most under most conditions. Yes the specs indicate a few dB difference in S/N and cross talk (at 20 kHz?) but that's about it, though some people may hear the difference. Can @Kal Rubinson tell the two apart, I am curious to know what he would say.. The power output difference of 50 W into 8 ohms is surprising as the increase in transformer VA rating is only about 8%, and filter cap increase is almost 23%. I guess their output for the original A21 likely can get close to 300 W too, may be 275 W, not an issue anyway as we all know 2X output means only 3 dB gain in spl. The + loss its THX logo for some reason, not that it matters though, in fact may as well spend the saving on something that actually matter. With the slightly better specs, the A21+ seems like a real competitor with Bryston's SST(X) amps, finally, and for much less money.

 

[Kal Rubinson]

Can @Kal Rubinson tell the two apart, I am curious to know what he would say..

I would say that it is doubtful. I compared the A21+ only with the A31.

 

[peng]

I would say that it is doubtful. I compared the A21+ only with the A31.

Thank you very much, I have to ask because I have, or had the A21. Just replaced it with a Hypex amp. Hard to let the A21 go though and I listened to it a lot for a few days before I was ready to put it in the box, it sounded so sweet...

 

[avanti1960]

I doubt the difference between the + and the one it replaced would be noticeable by most under most conditions. Yes the specs indicate a few dB difference in S/N and cross talk (at 20 kHz?) but that's about it, though some people may hear the difference. Can @Kal Rubinson tell the two apart, I am curious to know what he would say.. The power output difference of 50 W into 8 ohms is surprising as the increase in transformer VA rating is only about 8%, and filter cap increase is almost 23%. I guess their output for the original A21 likely can get close to 300 W too, may be 275 W, not an issue anyway as we all know 2X output means only 3 dB gain in spl. The + loss its THX logo for some reason, not that it matters though, in fact may as well spend the saving on something that actually matter. With the slightly better specs, the A21+ seems like a real competitor with Bryston's SST(X) amps, finally, and for much less money.

I have heard the differences and the a21+ has a slightly more clear, coherent voicing than the a21. The a21 sounded slightly foggy and slow by comparison.

 

[tyreman]

Been running a Parasound A23+ here for a couple years all good so far, since just after its intro.

Much like anything else one can have good/bad experiences with hi fi gear, cars or just about any product.
If you had an issue or issues you will remember it

I can think of a couple hi fi companies gear that would garner camps of neigh or yeah right now(isn't that always the case?) and a particular companies that I had a issues with

 

[peng]

I have heard the differences and the a21+ has a slightly more clear, coherent voicing than the a21. The a21 sounded slightly foggy and slow by comparison.

Of course, I understand people do hear differences when they switch amps but I am also aware of the fact such differences heard between amps that are in theory, transparent as their specs would indicate and if verified in bench tests, would disappear. I experienced this myself more than once.

 

[12Many]

I have had the Parasound a21+ for about 6 months now and it is an excellent sounding amplifier in my "audiophile" system- Cary SLP-05 Preamp and Harbeth SHL5+ speakers.
The a21+ is a cut above the previous model, especially in transparency and refinement. I never yields a harsh note but has a high level of detail. It will let your system deliver based on the quality of the recording, source, preamp and speakers. It is as transparent as your best supporting component.

Old thread . . . Avanti, how did you like the SLP-05 with your SS amp? What sound characteristics do you feel that the SLP-05 imparted? Did you ever compare the SLP-05 to a SS preamp or a DAC/preamp combo? Thank you.