Connecting Denon 2802 to Parasound 855? (1 Viewer)

[Vlad D]

What type of cables do I need to connect the preamp out on the Denon receiver to the Parasound amp? This is my first venture into the world of separates so excuse me if the answer to my question is an obvious one.

 

[Daniel T]

Vlad,

For my connection of my H/K to my 855, I bought the AR audio cables from Best Buy. They seem to be a good product for the price. Some have used the Gold Series audio cables from Radio Shack. Type of Cables to use seems to be a touchy subject around here. I have used everything from what comes with equipment to some higher end cable. I have never really noticed enough change by my ear to justify spending more money on audio cables. The only difference I have found is with a higher quality cable they don't seem to break as easily when you move equipment around. That is my 2 cents.

Daniel T

 

[Greg Haynes]

So Vlad I guess you got your wife's approval for the new amp. Good job
I too just recently bought a new Parasound 1205A and waiting for it to arrive. I willing be hooking it up to my Denon 3802.
All you will need is 5 RCA cables to run from your Denon to your amp. I was shopping for interconnects for my new amp and I am not sure what your budget is but I went with the Outlaw PCA interconnects. I got 5 1.8M RCA's for around $147. The Outlaw cables have been highly praised.

 

[Michael Mathius]

I just used five audio video cables I had around the house to connect my 3802 to the 1205. It seems to be working fine to me.
My 1205 runs very hot. It seems to need a lot of ventilation. Is this normal?:frowning:
Also does anyone with this combo have the 12v trigger setup on amp? How did you do it?

 

[Daniel T]

Vlad,

I spent around $40 for my AR cables. That is still a little expensive for my taste. I wouldn't spend an obsene amount on money for cables because you could of used that same money to go on the larger Parasound 1205 amp over the 855. If I had another $200-$300 to blow on cables I would buy a laserdisc player with the Star Wars triology. I think you would even do fine with Radio Shack gold series cables.

Daniel T

 

[Vlad D]

Thanks guys. I think I'll just run out to Best Buy and pick up some AR cables. The UPS guy just delivered the amp. WooHoo!!!
Greg, Actually my wife gave the OK after I had already bought the amp. :wink: I told her what a great deal they had on Ubid and that I placed a bid but that I probably wouldn't win the auction. When actually I had already won.
Well, I off to buy some cables.
BTW Greg, you got a great deal on the 1205A.

 

[Greg Haynes]

Greg, Actually my wife gave the OK after I had already bought the amp.

Give us a review when you have everything setup. I don't think I can wait this long for my amp to come in. How long did it take for your amp to arrive? I used Ground Shipping.

 

[Vlad D]

Greg, it took 3 days for the initial delivery. I won the auction on Tuesday, and it shipped UPS Ground on Wednesday. It was delivered to my house on Friday but nobody was home to accept it, so I had to wait until today for them to re-deliver it. They wouldn't let me pick it up on Saturday. Which really sucked because I had this whole weekend plus today off. Anyway, its all hooked up now and sounds great. I'll post a detailed review once I've had more time listen to it.

 

[Daniel T]

Vlad,

I noticed you said you were going with the AR audio cables. What do you think of them? Do you believe they make a difference? I hope you enjoy your amp.

Daniel T

 

[Vlad D]

Daniel, I did buy the AR cable, 2 sets of RCA A/V cables for $40, just like you said. I bought the 1.8 m cables but I probably could of made do with the 0.9 m cables. My amp sits on the shelf right below the receiver, the distance isn't more than 2 feet. Maybe, I'll exchange them this weekend, and save a few bucks. Don't really know if they make a difference.

I am enjoying the amp, and so is my wife. We spent the whole night listening to music. My initial impressions: Much louder and clearer sound. The sound stage is immense. It goes past the plane of the speakers, Boston VR-M60's. It also has great depth and height. Some instruments seem further back and on different levels than others. On certain tracks, the vocals, which are dead center, seemed to be higher up than the instruments. There is also great separation of the instruments, you can pick out each individually. Its really nice. My wife, who didn't think she'd be able to hear a difference from the Denon, said it sounds much cleaner and live. We were listening to Norah Jones, and she said it felt like she was in the room. So far I've only listened to 2-channel stereo, I'll give multichannel a listen later and let you know what I think.

 

[Daniel T]

Vlad,

I don't know if you have calibrated your speakers for home theater but you will be surprised at what a difference that makes. My wife joked at me for buying a SPL sound meter and the Avia calibration DVD. After I calibrated the speakers, she immediately said she noticed a difference in the sound of the system. She is now hooked on home theater and now wants to watch only movies with great sound. Then when I purchased the 855 amp she said it wouldn't make a difference and boy did it prove her wrong. She commented on how much louder and cleaner the sound is. It is good to have a wife that doesn't matter upgrades.

Daniel T

 

[Vlad D]

Daniel,

I did calibrate my speakers with an SPL meter and the AVIA DVD prior to buying the amp. I'm wondering if I need to do it again now that I'm using a separate amp vs the Denon's amps. I figure I probably have to.

It is good to have a wife that doesn't matter upgrades.

I'll second that. My wife gave me some grief at first, but now that I have it she can appreciate the difference.

 

[Daniel T]

Vlad,

You want to recalibrate your speakers. With just my H/K I only calibrated to 75db because of the lack of power. With the 855 I calibrated to 85db.

Daniel T