5 channel amp (1 Viewer)

[ChadLB]

The other day I was able to test my Pioneer 811 with a parasound HCA750A( 75 * 2).
We listened to a cd with alot of guitars and saxes and that had some bass. We tested it with the amp and without. I can say that there was improvement in overall clarity, depth and bass with the amp. Since I only run 5.1 right now and don't see myself stepping up anytime soon I would like to stick to a used/new 5 channel amp under $1000 if possible.
Any experience/suggestions would be great. Right now I am considering Parasound, Outlaw, and other suggestions. I am still considering the Parasound HCA855A but still question if there would be any benefits of going with the 1205a.

 

[Paul Clarke]

Chad,

I would say in the 1205 vs 855 vein, if you can find the 1205 then get it. You can always use more power than you may currently need. The 1205 will give a good measure of future-proofing to your setup. The increased headroom afforded by 45 amps vs 30 amps will be easy to appreciate.
If I had been trolling Ubid only a few months earlier last year, I would have snagged a 1205 on closeout instead of the 855. But any quality amp at chicken feed pricing is not easy to walk away from.

 

[ChadLB]

Do most people think $750 used for a 1205 is a good deal.
What is a good price on a used HCA855a? 400 or less?

 

[NickSP]

Chad, I am offering you a much less talked alternative of an amp that always stays under the radar so to speak. I purchased 2 AMC 2100-N amps rated at 150W per channel X 3. They start clipping over 160W and so far I am extremely pleased with them.
Of course Parasound, Rotel are very good brands too and you would not go wrong with any one of them.

 

[Thomas Monahan]

Chad,

I have two of the Carver AV-705x five channel amps that Alan mentioned. I am considering selling them to free up space in my av rack. I will decide this weekend to sell them or not. If I do, I will sell each for $450. Both are in like new condition. Let me know if you would be interested.

Thomas

 

[ChadLB]

Does anyone know how adcom compares with parasound? Just curious...since I have seen alot of adcom's for sale on ebay/audiogon.

 

[Daniel T]

I own the Parasound HCA-855a and love it. I was lucky to snag one last year for $300.00. I have the amp in a 18.5'x15.5' den with open walls to the dining room and kitchen and I am always being yelled at to turn it down. I don't think you will notice a difference between 85 watts and 100 watts. Hope this helps.

 

[VicQ]

Being an ower of the hca 85a I can vouch for it as well. As far as the specs, this amp was rated at 96 * 5 all channels driven on the June 2000 issue of sound and vision mag. So basically, it can be considered 100 *5 amp.

-Vic

 

[ChadLB]

Well hope I can snag one on ebay sooner than later....I missed a buy it now option on a couple of them lateley

 

[Ian Lascell]

Chad,
I own both the Parasound 855A and the 1205A. I bought the 855A first on Audiogon from a person that had bought two and never opened the second one. So it was a factory sealed at $425 including shipping if I recall correctly. I bought the 1205A about 6 months later from an authorized dealer for $750. It was new with the full warranty, but had been out of the box on display, not used. He was trying to make room for the HALO series that was coming in.

The reason I bought the 1205A was that I have been so happy with the 855A. I used the 855A initially to run a Klipsch 5.1 setup, which of course, it did without blinking. Klipsch don't take much power to drive. I have since upgraded my speaker set-up to B&W 600 series. The 855A does a fantastic job with the 602s and LCR 600. I made the decision to go with the 604s for the front speakers, which are a pretty hefty speaker with the 2 bass drivers in each of them. I also made the decision to biamp all of the speakers. So basically I needed 5 more amp channels and I wanted more Parasound. The larger front speakers made me decide to purchase a 1205A instead of another 855A just to give some more head room.

My immediate impression of the 1205A was that it sounded exactly like the 855A in terms of sound quality. It does have more power reserves to drive those 4 aluminum bass drivers, though, which is exactly what I wanted. If you do not listen at loud levels, I would not be surprised if you could not distinguish between the two models.

To wrap this up, I would say the 855A would be more than adequate for most applications, especially if you use a powered subwoofer. Step up to the 1205A if you have hungry full range speakers. Of course this assumes you are sold on Parasounds. The other amps mentioned are all highly regarded as well.

 

[ChadLB]

Thanks Ian...the amp will be on hold until either august or I will be selling my car in about a month so maybe then...

 

[ChadLB]

Does anyone out there use the same AR Hi Res series speakers with a seperate amp? If so which one?

 

[Brian Treinen]

I've got a Sherwood Newcastle 9080 I bought over a year ago. As has been mentioned, it's a great amp and you can regularly see them around $500. It's a beast at 70lbs. and it drives my 6ohm mains and the rest of the speakers effortlessly. The only reason I'd change is power, which I don't have any need for - I can easily reach reference levels now. On the power front, however, get as much power as you can afford. Sure the 85wpc Parasound may do the trick but if the 125wpc is available I'd jump on that, in fact I had the chance when Parasound was dumping the 855 on ubid last year when I was looking at the Sherwood and ended up going for the 120wpc over 85 and am glad I did.