Parasound Halo or Outlaw (1 Viewer)

[Shane Martin]

Chris,
Balanced outputs are a controversial thing. SOme folks believe there is a difference, some don't.

The theory is that balanced outputs have a lower noise floor and are less suseptible(sp?) to noise. THe longer the run, the better. The way I look at it, if it has a chance to reduce the noise, why not? It's just a little more $$ for the interconnects and that is worth the peace of mind.

As far as wire goes, 12g is normallly good. I use 8 guage on my mains.

 

[John H]

it is now offical, the c2 and a52 are on there way. i'm sure i'll be happy. anything would be better than what i'm sporting now. now i'll have to learn how to use the damn thing. seperates is a whole new world to me.

Chris,

Congratulations on your purchase. You might go to the Parasound site and download the C2 and A52 owners manuals. While waiting for your equipment to arrive you can read through them a couple of times.
It is not much different than setting up a receiver other than having 2 separate components. Setting up the C2 is very straight forward.

Good luck,
John

 

[Ricky T]

Chris,

Congrats on the Halo separates!

On the interconnects, I think short runs of less than 2M between prepro and amps would be more than fine for RCAs. You can start with something inexpensive like Acoustic Research PROs that cost ~ $20/pair and had a good writeup in the current Stereophile.

On speaker cables, you can get 12 guage at good prices at Home Depot or Partsexpress.com Gold banana plugs at Radio Shack or parts express are nice too.

 

[Chris_Bald]

So I'm assuming that I will need 5 single rca interconnects? Can you by three pair and just split them instead? I hate to sound ignorant, but I am! What else am I going to need. I'm dialed on the video end. I just need to know audio wise.

 

[Shane Martin]

To wire the amp up to the preamp you'll need 5 or 6 or 7 depending on how many channels you are wiring up worth of interconnects. Most places will sell them in pairs though you might be able to get them in singles or buy all 5,6,7 in bulk from one of the custom cable houses like Bettercables, AVcable or Zucable just to name a few.

You'll then wire up your speakers to the amp much like you would your former receiver. The rest of the setup is easy.

 

[Parker Clack]

Chris:

The only difference you will have is that you have another step in the setup. You run all your equipment into the pre amp. Then from the pre amp you will run single RCA connectors to the power amp. If you go with 5.1 you will need 5 cables from the pre amp out to the power amp. If you go 7.1 then you will need 7 cables. The LFE will be taken off the pre amp to your sub woofer.

Once you have the pre amp connected to the power amp you connect your speaker wire to each of the corresponding outputs off the power amp. Each one of the outputs on the power amp will be labeled so you know which one is going to which output off your pre amp and which one is going to which speaker.

Once you have a chance to see it in front of you setup will be become quite obvious.

Parker

 

[VincentY]

I'd be very grateful if someone can suggest a reliable, well priced source for B&K receivers/amps, Revel Performa line speakers, and JM Labs/Focal speakers. it does not have to be the same source, of course.

i'm trying to buy this equipment but i am not sure if my source will really come through for me or not.

please email me via the email icon next to my profile icon.

many thanks.

 

[Ricky T]

Boy, the A23 is sure one purty amp! Supersize the bottom picture. Seller has 68 positive reviews and set the minimum bid at a low $525, which is ~ 61% of the $850 retail. Two stereo amps would be nice in a 5.1 setup for say the front 3 speakers and one passive sub, with the receiver driving the rears. Or use one A23 per main speaker and get full reserves and no crosstalk in stereo. (One open channel if no passive sub). Later, if you add a 6.1 prepro, add a third Halo stereo amp

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...category=39783

 

[Pamela]

I actually saw that on Ebay. Was thinking about going for it and then bridging the amps to power each speaker. But then, I don't know how great of an idea that is!

 

[Ricky T]

Pamela,

You're looking at ebay

You don't need to bridge, I would suggest this hookup:

1st A23 = left main and center
2nd A23 = right main and one rear (so your receiver would be driving just one speaker, the other rear)

In 2 channel mode, the two amps behave like monoblocks with full reserves from each amps' single power transformer and no crosstalk between channels. In 5.1, you can get the benefit of Halo amplification for the center speaker (and one rear). And two A23s would be cheaper than getting a new A52. I use a similiar setup with two Parasound 2200II 250x2 amps and one 806 80x6 bridgeable amp to drive my nine passive speakers (two passive subs).

 

[Richard Burzynski]

Vincent:

For Revel speaks, check out AVI Electronics in Little Falls, NJ. Ask for Elias.

Rich B.

 

[Ricky T]

Pamela,

According to the Parasound website, some of the classic models also have MOSFET driver stages (like the Halo amps): 1500A, 2205A, 3500. I wonder if other models do also, but the website does not label them as such? I don't recall many people having "sonic matching" issues when using a mixture of various parasound models in their systems.

 

[Lewis Besze]

Amps have better resale values then A/V Pre/Pros,which being "compared" to PCs.After a few years they become "obsolite",and they won't command much "attraction" anymore.
Just see the price on the used Lex MC-1.

 

[Ricky T]

HALO A51 FEATURES & SPECS
http://www.parasound.com/halonew/A51details.asp

A 51 Features:
Circuitry designed by legendary John Curl
THX Ultra2 certified
High bias Class A/AB operation
Balanced inputs with discrete circuits and XLR connectors
Direct Coupled - no capacitors or inductors in signal path
Complementary MOSFET driver stage and JFET input stage
40 beta-matched 15 amp, 60 MHz bipolar output transistors
2.2 kVA encapsulated toroid power transformer with
independent secondary windings for each channel
164,000 µF power supply filter capacitance
DC Servo and relay protection circuits
AC present, channel status, high temperature indicators
Heavy-duty 24k gold-plated 5-way speaker terminals
Gold-plated RCA input jacks; ground lift switch
Auto turn-on by 12v trigger or audio signal
4u Chassis, carry handles, rack mounting adapter included
Parasound’s 10 years parts, 5 years labor warranty

A 51 Specs:
Continuous power output:
250 watts RMS x 5, 20 Hz - 20 kHz, 8 ohm, all channels driven
400 watts RMS x 5, 20 Hz - 20 kHz, 4 ohm, all channels driven
Current capacity: 60 amperes peak per channel
Power bandwidth: 5 Hz - 100 kHz, +0/-3 dB at 1 watt
Total harmonic distortion: < 0.2 % at full power
IM distortion: < 0.04 %
Slew rate: > 130 V/µsecond
Dynamic headroom: > 1.5 dB
Interchannel crosstalk: > 78 dB at 1 kHz; > 63 dB at 20 kHz
Input sensitivity: 1 V for 28.28 V, THX Reference Level
Input impedance: 47 k ohm unbalanced; 94 k ohm balanced
S/N ratio: > 112 dB, input shorted, IHF A-weighted
Damping factor: > 1100 at 20 Hz
Voltage: 110V – 120V
Dimensions: 17-1/4" w x 7-5/8" h x 20" d, 7" h without feet
Net weight: 80 lbs.


PARASOUND 2205AT FEATURES & SPECS
http://www.parasound.com/products/am...05atspecs.html

Features
Circuitry designed by John Curl
THX Ultra-certified
Direct Coupled -- no capacitors or inductors in signal path
DC Servo and relay protection circuits
High bias Class A/AB operation
2 kVA Toroid power transformer with independent secondary windings for each channel, 150,000 µF power supply filter capacitance
Independent power supplies for each channel
Hand matched complementary JFET input stages and MOSFET driver stages
40 beta-matched 15 amp, 60 MHz bipolar output transistors
AC present, standby/normal, current overload, temperature indicators
Rear mounted gain controls and rear handles
12 volt DC automatic turn-on circuitry; ground lift switch
Tiffany-style RCA input jacks
Gold-plated 5 way speaker binding posts
Color coded, gold plated brass banana plugs included
4 rack space height front panel

Specifications
Continuous Power Output - Each Channel: 220 watts RMS x 5, 20 Hz - 20 kHz, 8 ohms, all channels driven; 300 watts RMS x 5, 20 Hz - 20 kHz, 4 ohms, all channels driven
Current Capacity: 60 amperes peak per channel
Slew Rate: 130 V/µsecond
Power Bandwith: 5 Hz - 100 kHz, +0/-3 dB at 1 watt
Total Harmonic Distortion: < 0.03 % at full power
IM Distortion: < 0.03 %
TIM: unmeasurable
Dynamic Headroom: > 1.5 dB
Interchannel Crosstalk: > 80 dB at 1 kHz; > 60 dB at 20 kHz
Input Sensitivity: 1 V for 28.28 V, THX Reference Level; 1.5 V for full output
Input Impedance: 33 k ohms
S/N Ratio: > 118 dB, full power; > 96 dB, THX Reference
Level Damping Factor: > 1000 at 20 Hz
Power Consumption: 1500 watts
Dimensions: w 19" x h 7" x d 19 1/2", h 7 5/8" with feet
Net Weight: 85 lb.

The 2205AT 220x5(and 2205A, slightly difference faceplate) original retailed at $2500 before Parasound dropped it to $2000, and is arguably the predecessor for the $4000 retail A51 225x5. The A51 seems to have some improvements like 10% bigger power transformer and 10% more capacitance, however the amps definitely are related.

Pamela,

Given the two amps are close, and you lust after the A51, you might want to consider a single amp...a used 2205 for ~ $1250.