Pre Klipsch Aragon vs Parasound amps

James W. Johnson · 07-14-2004, 09:32 PM

Alright , I have a Parasound HCA-1500A and love it but I am having some amp envy problems with the pre-Klipsch Aragon amps...mostly due to their monsterous specs and weight.

I am seriously considering selling my fairly new HCA-1500A and concentrate on getting all Aragon amps instead.

Has anyone owned both amps? If so tell me about your experience.

thanks

Kevin T · 07-14-2004, 09:57 PM

can't speak for the parasound, but i know for a fact that the aragon is a stellar performer. i've owned an 8008x3b, 8008bb, and a pair of palladium ii monos. i sold the 8008bb to purchase the palladium ii monos. i recently sold the 8008x3b to free up some $$$ to focus on two channel performance. and i'm currently trying to sell the palladium ii monos to finance a purchase of a plinius sa-102.

kevin t

Ricky T · 07-15-2004, 06:37 AM

James,

Nice HT room. What speakers are you using? Mean looking Aragon Soundstage in the rack :wink:

I've owned several Parasound amps, with the 1500A being the first and a pair of bigger 2200II being the last. Great amps, great value. I am now using three Aragon PalladiumIIs and an 8002 (betcha this 45lb amp rated at 125x2 does about 200 wpc like the 1500A). IMO, the current used prices for classic Aragon amps is one of the best deals going right now.

A couple of friends helped me put together a quick data sheet of amps. Does anyone know if I can attach an Excel file to my post?

James W. Johnson · 07-15-2004, 08:47 AM

I'd love to see that data sheet, you could just snap a pic of your desktop with the Excel file displayed...otherwise send it to me in an email and I'll host it on my website.

James W. Johnson · 07-15-2004, 08:58 AM

Quote:

betcha this 45lb amp rated at 125x2 does about 200 wpc like the 1500A

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James W. Johnson · 07-15-2004, 09:21 AM

Oh and I better put on my flame suit but I cannot understand what all the Hype is about that new Gemstone amp..1.6Kva transformer and 125K uF for 7 channels? I am not that impressed and the guts of the Gemstone are even less impressive. I am not looking for trouble , just help me understand. Basic math says my HCA-1500A with a 1kva transformer and 60k uF that is rated at 205/315 will walk all over the Gemstone per channel.

The Gemstone has heatsinks built into the chasis like the Aragons and many esoteric amps for that matter but that is about it. The cheap stick on name tag is also another red flag in my book.

I dont mean to pick on Gemstone either but I just happen to run into the 'rave' about them over at AVS yesterday.

Parasound 1500A on top , Gemstone on the bottom..

The Parasound uses Nichicon Great Caps capacitors and other high quality parts.
Also the Parasound is a pure class A amp up to 15 watts..there is no way the Gemstone is class A up to much more than a few watts per channel with that dinky PSU.

Now this is a 7 channel amp....

,

James W. Johnson · 07-15-2004, 09:25 AM

I'll tell you ..after researching amps again I think I just sold myself on Parasound again.

I think I'll start shopping for more Parasounds to finish my amplification for my HT.

Ricky T · 07-15-2004, 10:58 AM

James,

I'll email you the file tonight.
The Gemstone is Class A to 5 watts.

Yogi · 07-15-2004, 05:48 PM

I have listened to Parasound and Aragon (pre Klipsch) with the same set of speakers (but not a truly level matched DBT) and to my ears I like the warm laidback tonality of Parasound better than the analytical presentation of Aragon...YMMV

Parasound, IMHO is great value in amps and unless you can't sleep at night due to your Aragon lust don't even bother changing amps.

Ricky T · 07-15-2004, 07:17 PM

James,

YGM.

Is the 1500A your only current amp? So you need 3 more amp channels for a 5.1 setup? Your DIY speakers are 99dB sensitive?