Parasound New Classic Range: Any owners here?

[muralimmreddy]

thanks @raghupb for quick response

I love the 200PRE. Great value for money. Wonderful DAC section and lots of control options.
275v2 power amp is a mixed bag. It can handle any speaker, even difficult to drive category; 2 ohm stable.
Enough power under the hood 90/150W and clean delivery even at high volume.
I find it a bit mellow for certain genres of music with my KEFs.

Currently, 275v2 is driving a pair of Monitor Audio cubes that are inherently bright/harsh.
So it is a good match for them;

Cheers,
Raghu

I have Klipsch rp-600m which at time gets shouty/fatiguing so shold be good match. Did you try Lyrita DHT Tube Pre -> Parasound NC 275v.2 Pwr?

As alternative I am also looking at Lyrita DHT Tube Pre/swara tube pre so it's supposed to go best with klipsch horns.

Sorry for asking this I can not make out from the integrated spec. Would i be able to use seperate preamp with integrated as amp?

 

[raghupb]

Yes I tried the tube pre and parasound power amp. The results were the same.
A bit too polite. I have listened to this with other speakers too.
A pair of PSBs, very difficult to drive. Did a good job driving them.
But the HF sparkle was missing.
It may match some Klipsch models which are known to be "shouty/harsh" to some ears.
But until you hear it out, it'll be second guessing.

Cheers,
Raghu

 

[raghupb]

To FMs in the US:
Has anyone heard the Parasound NC200INT?
Any feedback will be appreciated.

Cheers,
Raghu

 

[raghupb]

To FMs in the US:
Has anyone heard the Parasound NC200INT?
Any feedback will be appreciated.

Cheers,
Raghu

Nobody in US has heard this out?
Covid lockdown effect?
Cheers,
Raghu

 

[raghupb]

1 year update

For anyone who had tuned into this thread, I thought I'll share some of my more recent findings.
This is regarding Parasound NC200pre + NC275v2 combination on KEF R300 speakers.

Since June/July 2020 I've been listening to the above chain pretty regularly.
Added a streamer/player/transport coax version from Allo (Digione).
One thing that immediately popped was a bit more detail in the HF/treble.
Referring to post #71 (on this thread), I had felt that the power amp was aggressively rolling off the highs.
This made me feel that it was a very laid back amp and I had left it at that.

The addition of Digione made me realize that there is ample liveliness.
So I investigated deeper. Even the laptop/USB that I used last year sounded lively.
Was scratching my head as to what happened.
The only thing was, this amp has been playing a lot more music and movie content in the last one year.

A few days ago a fellow FM asked to borrow my preamp to pair with a recently acquired power amp.
He has PSB Synchrony towers. Very honest speakers; if something is given to it, it will render faithfully.
So I gave him the pre/pwr combo, the IC and speaker wire in my home to hear out on his speakers and confirm my finding.
When he heard it, the first thing he asked was "What did you do to this amp? It is not the same one I heard last year"

Today, I hopped over to his place and heard the combo out on PSBs. I am quite familiar with what the PSBs can do.
It was definitely more revealing sound wise and to my brain that the amp has somehow magically opened up.
The bass is good and controlled (it was before too)
The mids/vocals have become a wee bit smoother.
The highs are clean, crisp and "airy" (more than I remember, but not over the top).

So, yeah .... there it is. The $400 amp is making me smile these days.

Cheers,
Raghu

 

[himadri]

1 year update

For anyone who had tuned into this thread, I thought I'll share some of my more recent findings.
This is regarding Parasound NC200pre + NC275v2 combination on KEF R300 speakers.

Since June/July 2020 I've been listening to the above chain pretty regularly.
Added a streamer/player/transport coax version from Allo (Digione).
One thing that immediately popped was a bit more detail in the HF/treble.
Referring to post #71 (on this thread), I had felt that the power amp was aggressively rolling off the highs.
This made me feel that it was a very laid back amp and I had left it at that.

The addition of Digione made me realize that there is ample liveliness.
So I investigated deeper. Even the laptop/USB that I used last year sounded lively.
Was scratching my head as to what happened.
The only thing was, this amp has been playing a lot more music and movie content in the last one year.

A few days ago a fellow FM asked to borrow my preamp to pair with a recently acquired power amp.
He has PSB Synchrony towers. Very honest speakers; if something is given to it, it will render faithfully.
So I gave him the pre/pwr combo, the IC and speaker wire in my home to hear out on his speakers and confirm my finding.
When he heard it, the first thing he asked was "What did you do to this amp? It is not the same one I heard last year"

Today, I hopped over to his place and heard the combo out on PSBs. I am quite familiar with what the PSBs can do.
It was definitely more revealing sound wise and to my brain that the amp has somehow magically opened up.
The bass is good and controlled (it was before too)
The mids/vocals have become a wee bit smoother.
The highs are clean, crisp and "airy" (more than I remember, but not over the top).

So, yeah .... there it is. The $400 amp is making me smile these days.

Cheers,
Raghu

I have been using a parasound z pre 3 preamp with my first watt F5 harbeth p3esr with nice results for the last one year or so.The best thing , remote volume control.

 

[noblejose]

1 year update

For anyone who had tuned into this thread, I thought I'll share some of my more recent findings.
This is regarding Parasound NC200pre + NC275v2 combination on KEF R300 speakers.

Since June/July 2020 I've been listening to the above chain pretty regularly.
Added a streamer/player/transport coax version from Allo (Digione).
One thing that immediately popped was a bit more detail in the HF/treble.
Referring to post #71 (on this thread), I had felt that the power amp was aggressively rolling off the highs.
This made me feel that it was a very laid back amp and I had left it at that.

The addition of Digione made me realize that there is ample liveliness.
So I investigated deeper. Even the laptop/USB that I used last year sounded lively.
Was scratching my head as to what happened.
The only thing was, this amp has been playing a lot more music and movie content in the last one year.

A few days ago a fellow FM asked to borrow my preamp to pair with a recently acquired power amp.
He has PSB Synchrony towers. Very honest speakers; if something is given to it, it will render faithfully.
So I gave him the pre/pwr combo, the IC and speaker wire in my home to hear out on his speakers and confirm my finding.
When he heard it, the first thing he asked was "What did you do to this amp? It is not the same one I heard last year"

Today, I hopped over to his place and heard the combo out on PSBs. I am quite familiar with what the PSBs can do.
It was definitely more revealing sound wise and to my brain that the amp has somehow magically opened up.
The bass is good and controlled (it was before too)
The mids/vocals have become a wee bit smoother.
The highs are clean, crisp and "airy" (more than I remember, but not over the top).

So, yeah .... there it is. The $400 amp is making me smile these days.

Cheers,
Raghu

Awesome writeup. Thank you for sharing your experience.
I'm also with R300 (rest chain in the sig.); and thinking between NC275v2 VS AKSA55 Pwr / FirstWatt etc. Basically I'm always thinking adding a dedicated PowerAmp should definitely help the R300s ..

I listen mostly on low to moderate volume.. my Exposure 2010S2 never goes beyond 9 O'Clock level. Do you think adding a dedicated power will help here? (Btw; I used a more powerful Exposure 3010S2, and a Luxman L-505ux, but i like the current Exposure 2010S2!
Thanks,
Noble

 

[raghupb]

Awesome writeup. Thank you for sharing your experience.
I'm also with R300 (rest chain in the sig.); and thinking between NC275v2 VS AKSA55 Pwr / FirstWatt etc. Basically I'm always thinking adding a dedicated PowerAmp should definitely help the R300s ..

I listen mostly on low to moderate volume.. my Exposure 2010S2 never goes beyond 9 O'Clock level. Do you think adding a dedicated power will help here? (Btw; I used a more powerful Exposure 3010S2, and a Luxman L-505ux, but i like the current Exposure 2010S2!
Thanks,
Noble

Parasound NC275v2 can be procured from US. It is not a very big or heavy component.
Can be carried in a suitcase quite easily.

AKSA55 is a very old amp. Don't know if there are kits/amps floating around in this community.
If you can land a kit/amp, it is well worth the trouble

I have not heard the other amps you have listed.
As long as the power amp can sustain a good/clean 50W of power delivery, it should be OK.
The rest comes down to what the sound signature of the amp.

Cheers,
Raghu

 

[noblejose]

Parasound NC275v2 can be procured from US. It is not a very big or heavy component.
Can be carried in a suitcase quite easily.

AKSA55 is a very old amp. Don't know if there are kits/amps floating around in this community.
If you can land a kit/amp, it is well worth the trouble

I have not heard the other amps you have listed.
As long as the power amp can sustain a good/clean 50W of power delivery, it should be OK.
The rest comes down to what the sound signature of the amp.

Cheers,
Raghu

Thank you. Getting something from abroad may not be an easy affair these days.. I'm seeing some good discussions on our own local brands such as InDiQ etc.. will try to do a test sometime. https://www.indiqaudio.com/platinum-saptak-monoblock-stereo-power-amp

 

[raghupb]

Reviving this thread after a long time.
This question is for Parasound Hint users.
Did sub/bass-control work as effectively on analog input vs digital input?

Cheers,
Raghu

 

[raghupb]

Reviving this thread after a long time.
This question is for Parasound Hint users.
Did sub/bass-control work as effectively on analog input vs digital input?

Cheers,
Raghu

Tagging @drkrack and @Yelamanchili manohar
AFAIK you two have owned the HINT. Can you share your experience on this behavior.

Scenario 1:
Streamer (coax out) --> (coax in) Parasound (pre + power) --> speakers + subwoofer (via sub 1 out on preamp)
This has the digital signal processed by the Parasound DAC
I can control the subwwofer output (on/off and level when on)

Scenario 2:
Streamer (coax out) --> Soekris DAC --> (analog in) Parasound (pre + power) --> speakers + subwoofer (via sub 1 out on preamp)
The digital signal is processed by an external DAC and the pre/power is analog line input.
The subwoofer controls don't kick in.

In both the cases above, using the full range sub output.
Is it true that the subwoofer controls or bass management works only when the DAC/digital-side is in play on preamp section?

Cheers,
Raghu

 

[Yelamanchili manohar]

HI raghu

The parasound hint sub woofer outputs are tapped at the preamp outputs. So the sub woofer output + gain + crossover settings should work on both digital and analogue inputs. That is when being used in a 2 channel or 2.1 channel system.

Only when run in HT bypass mode, the preamp section gets by-passed completely. So the above mentioned sub woofer settings at the back are not applied anymore. The sub woofer output will feed the full sub input signal coming from a AVR.

Hope the above clarifies the hints sub integration. Though iam not familiar with the implementation of the same in the NC200pre.

 

[raghupb]

Let me clarify what I'm observing.
The subwoofer controls are effective when using internal DAC, no issues.
When fed through analog input via external DAC, I can switch on/off the sub, but level control does not make any difference.
And there is no discernable bass output from sub. So it is not getting anything.
Maybe it is an implementation artifact in 200Pre.

I have been trying out things in my complicated (and incestuous) rig.
Observed this behavior so was wondering about how it was implemented and when it makes a difference.

Cheers,
Raghu

 

[Yelamanchili manohar]

If the subs work on the digital input, then should also work on the analog inputs. Strange that it is not so. Even iam thinking what might be at play here. Will revert if I can figure out why