Parasound A-21 vs. Adcom GFA-5802

[St@N]

Which amp is better? And why?

I want to replace my GFA-5500 and i have two alternatives: Parasound A-21 or Adcom GFA-5802.

On the one hand I`ve heard a lot claims about Adcom`s quality. I visited repairing shop twice with my Adcom GFA-5500 on the other hand Parasound has THX certificate I`m waiting for you advice

My current system includes:

Musical Fidelity A-308CD
Musical Fidelity A-308Pre
Adcom GFA-5500
Boston VRM-80

[basite]

I would think I'd choose the Parasound. They're a huge bargain for what they offer...

Keep them spinning,
Bert.

[St@N]

I would think I'd choose the Parasound. They're a huge bargain for what they offer...

Thanks for reply Have heard it? If you heard it how can you describe the sound?
I missed one thing in my previous post - i think this are two outstanding amps. Adcom GFA-5802 was designed with a help from N.Pass and Parasound A-21 was designed by J.Curl.

[cocopeep]

Hi, I currently have the parasound halo A21 amp and for the money, can compare to much more expensive amplifiers such as pass, mcintosh and AR. I use this to drive my martin logan quest electrostats and this 250 watt weighing in at 65 pounds doesn't quit. I know if I need more, i can run it mono and get another one of these for $2000 each and still would be cheaper than the Pass labs X250. Parasounds 10 year warranty doesn't hurt either..

[St@N]

Hi, I currently have the parasound halo A21 amp and for the money, can compare to much more expensive amplifiers such as pass, mcintosh and AR. I use this to drive my martin logan quest electrostats and this 250 watt weighing in at 65 pounds doesn't quit. I know if I need more, i can run it mono and get another one of these for $2000 each and still would be cheaper than the Pass labs X250. Parasounds 10 year warranty doesn't hurt either..

Thanks. Have you ever compared A-21 with Mcintosh? I think A-21 has more than enough power to drive my VRM-80.

[bobsticks]

Hey Stan,

Welcome to the forum. I too think that the Parasounds offer some good gear for the money. The Macs have a "darker background", if that makes any sense but you get a nice level of power and slam from the Parasound. I got a good deal on a Mac and went that way, but I could see myself being happy with the Halo.

Cheers

[St@N]

Hey Stan,

Welcome to the forum. I too think that the Parasounds offer some good gear for the money. The Macs have a "darker background", if that makes any sense but you get a nice level of power and slam from the Parasound. I got a good deal on a Mac and went that way, but I could see myself being happy with the Halo.

Cheers

Thank you for the invitation . What do you think about this audio triggers, gain controls? I think it`s absolutley useless things. It seems to me that Parasound was designed more for the home theater system than for real hi-fi. And don`t forget about THX certificate.

[basite]

Thank you for the invitation . What do you think about this audio triggers, gain controls? I think it`s absolutley useless things. It seems to me that Parasound was designed more for the home theater system than for real hi-fi. And don`t forget about THX certificate.

not really...

if you get a parasound (or any other amp with gain controls, like vintage Mc's) and you drive high sensetivity speakers with them (say, klipschhorns or so, or other big klipsches), you'll thank the designers they gave you the gain controls

The Parasounds are very good for their price, big power, good quality, nice sound...

Mcintosh is still in a different league though, it just gives that little extra (sound & quality wise), and a whole lot extra on looks IMHO

Keep them spinning,
Bert.

[emaidel]

I have an Adcom GFA-5800 which has given me outstanding service for over 10 years. Once, it required a repair as I inadvertently overwatered a plant on the piece of furniture under which I had placed the amp, and water ran into it while it was on resulting in horrendous noises from my system, and sparks from the amp itself. After a costly repair, the amp actually sounded better (an observation seconded by the folks at Adcom).

I did replace my Adcom GFP-565 with a Parasound PLD-1100, and found the improvement significant. While I miss the amount of controls the Adcom offered (the Parasound is very, very limited in this function), sound triumphs, and I use the Parasound for my main system.

It wouldn't surprise me, therefore, to find the same sort of differences between an Adcom amp and one from Parasound.

[St@N]

not really...

if you get a parasound (or any other amp with gain controls, like vintage Mc's) and you drive high sensetivity speakers with them (say, klipschhorns or so, or other big klipsches), you'll thank the designers they gave you the gain controls

The Parasounds are very good for their price, big power, good quality, nice sound...

Mcintosh is still in a different league though, it just gives that little extra (sound & quality wise), and a whole lot extra on looks IMHO

Keep them spinning,
Bert.

My speakers have sensevity of 90db (or something like that ) so i don`t think that i need this feature Nice thats what i need
McIntosh is out of my budget, but i have been dreaming about Mc`s more than 10 years.

[St@N]

I did replace my Adcom GFP-565 with a Parasound PLD-1100, and found the improvement significant. While I miss the amount of controls the Adcom offered (the Parasound is very, very limited in this function), sound triumphs, and I use the Parasound for my main system.

It wouldn't surprise me, therefore, to find the same sort of differences between an Adcom amp and one from Parasound.

In other words you prefer Parasound? CONTROL what does it mean?

[emaidel]

In other words you prefer Parasound? CONTROL what does it mean?

Not necessarily. Given the fact I prefer the sound of my Parasound preamp over that of my Adcom, I thought such a difference might also be just as prevalent between amps from the two companies, though I haven't had the opportunity to try each of them out to be sure.

Insofar as controls, the Parasound is a "line-drive" preamp with no tone controls, no phono input (all have to be high level inputs so as to define "line-drive") and (to me, inexcuseably) no tape monitor. The Adcom, on the other hand, has tone controls (which provide sublte and pleasing effects), a "contour" (which also provides pleasant effects, and not the tubby sound so often associated with contour or loudness settings), two tape monitors, a record selector (to allow you to listen to one source while recording from another) and a tone defeat. That which it lacks is a remote, and given how lazy I've become in my old age, I find that annoying.

So, do I "prefer" Parasound to Adcom? In one instance, yes. In another, I'm not sure. Either way, both are superb, and you can't go wrong with either.

[emaidel]

Forgot to state: The Adcom also has a phono input, and a fine one at that.

[basite]

McIntosh is out of my budget, but i have been dreaming about Mc`s more than 10 years.

I lucky enough to find one for a reasonable price just a few months ago, for a 17 year old like me, it definately was a dream come through, and that dream became heaven a few weeks ago when I bought a pair of secondhand Thiel CS2.3's.
A match made in heaven, and I couldn't be happier

Keep them spinning,
Bert.

[St@N]

Not necessarily. Given the fact I prefer the sound of my Parasound preamp over that of my Adcom, I thought such a difference might also be just as prevalent between amps from the two companies, though I haven't had the opportunity to try each of them out to be sure.

Insofar as controls, the Parasound is a "line-drive" preamp with no tone controls, no phono input (all have to be high level inputs so as to define "line-drive") and (to me, inexcuseably) no tape monitor. The Adcom, on the other hand, has tone controls (which provide sublte and pleasing effects), a "contour" (which also provides pleasant effects, and not the tubby sound so often associated with contour or loudness settings), two tape monitors, a record selector (to allow you to listen to one source while recording from another) and a tone defeat. That which it lacks is a remote, and given how lazy I've become in my old age, I find that annoying.

So, do I "prefer" Parasound to Adcom? In one instance, yes. In another, I'm not sure. Either way, both are superb, and you can't go wrong with either.

I understand you wrote about pre-amps, in this case i prefer ADCOM GFA-750 but it`s out of production and i have pre amp Anyway i like "line-drive" pre amps like my MF 308 because i find tone controls absolutly useless.

[St@N]

I lucky enough to find one for a reasonable price just a few months ago, for a 17 year old like me, it definately was a dream come through, and that dream became heaven a few weeks ago when I bought a pair of secondhand Thiel CS2.3's.
A match made in heaven, and I couldn't be happier

Keep them spinning,
Bert.

My congratulations to you I`ve never heard Mc`s amps, but it was love from the first sight Maybe one day i can afford Mc`s and some other things from my wishing list

[basite]

My congratulations to you I`ve never heard Mc`s amps, but it was love from the first sight Maybe one day i can afford Mc`s and some other things from my wishing list

yeah, I hear ya

when I first saw them I was in love too

Then there comes that moment when you actually hear them , in my case it was a C2200 preamp, driving a pair of MC501 monoblocks, driving a pair of Wilson Audio Maxx's, with $25K cables inbetween them. I tell ya, then you're in love for real

Keep them spinning,
Bert.

[St@N]

yeah, I hear ya

when I first saw them I was in love too

Then there comes that moment when you actually hear them , in my case it was a C2200 preamp, driving a pair of MC501 monoblocks, driving a pair of Wilson Audio Maxx's, with $25K cables inbetween them. I tell ya, then you're in love for real

Keep them spinning,
Bert.

It`s realy hard to listen to the Mc`s for me. I don`t like all this pathos Hi-Fi shops where you can`t to collect one's thoughts.