Anthem STR Power Amp vs Parasound JC5

I just upgraded from the A21+ to the JC5.  The JC5 is phenomenal.  A clear step up from the A21+, which is a great amp. I was expecting a difference with the cost being almost double, but it's more than I thought.  Paired with the Fritz Carreras.

^^^^No it won't sound warm/dry at all ! How long you had one again?

If you're thinking of buying new, at that price range, any dealer should let you try it at home for a while, and you can make up your own mind which you prefer.

@jgdill thanks for the feedback. That's great to hear that you can hear the difference coming from a A21+. I know several people who said they couldn't hear a difference coming from a base A21. I guess it depends on their speakers and other gear?

@mike_in_nc you would think but you'd be surprised. Many dealers have flat out told me they don't do in auditions. Best case is you buy it outright and use their "return policy" to return it if you don't like it. That's typically only 1-2 weeks IMO which may or may not be enough time to break in and evaluate.

@listru - I don't know where you're located, but in the USA, Crutchfield sells the STR amp and offers a 45-day return policy. I think that will cost you $10. But yes, you have to pay first, then get a refund when it's returned.

I think they sell Parasound, also.

My local Anthem dealer was willing to match Crutchfield's terms when I asked them to do so.

@mike_in_nc Yes I've purchase from Crutchfield before and they are great. One of the best online dealers I've worked with. I will definitely consider them for purchase of the amp

Of course, everything is out of stock currently on Crutchfield due to chip shortages 😒

I had the the persona 7f. A local dealer had them in his main listening room for a year and I got to hear them with the str int, no dice. the separates are much better, my hegel did amazing things with the bass but put to much energy into the mids. We tried lumin and it was good if not special, a couple others also. My favorite and the reason I finally bought the persona was a Pathos Logos mk2. The persona unmasked everything they plugged into it and the str seperate was pretty cool in the way it soundstaged but the ultra tight imaging made the musicians seem like mi iatures. The pathos sweetened up the mids and gave the music a lifelike presentation.

We are a persona dealer

We also sell the anthem and parasound 

As well as hegel coda and krell

The coda and krell arereally spectacular 

With the personnas

Dave ane Troy

AUDIO INTELLECT NJ

^^^^No it won't sound warm/dry at all ! How long you had one again?

I had a pair of JC1s and an A21 for several months.  They do indeed sound dry in comparison to other amps.

@auxinput 

What preamp and speakers did you use with the Parasounds?

@auxinput What other amps do you think are not as dry as the Parasound A21. I recently had a Parasound A21+ and I thought it was rather warm sounding. I liked it and traded it in for a KRELL XD which is also a slightly warm amp from my frame of reference.

@jdaniel - preamp was Krell S1200.  Speakers were B&W 805 D3.

@yyzsantabarbara  - I had directly compared the Parasound with Emotiva XPR-1, Bryston 7b3 and Classe M300 monoblocks.  Many other amps are not as dry/warm.  I think the Krell XD could be described as warm but more of a smooth/lush type of signature.  The Parasound amps are warm/dry sounding.  Parasoiund has incredibly clean midrange, but the highs are somewhat dry and etched sounding.

I’m also puzzled as to the description of the A21 as dry.  I think as audiophiles, we get locked into mindsets about sonics and characteristics that we come to value or loathe.  As do amp manufacturers, and lets face it, none of them are perfect and neither are we.

So what one person may decide sounds dry, is really hard to prove or quantify.  So we trot out our resumes, and how many high end amps we’ve owned, and how many decades we’ve been in the hobby, all done in order to win a debate, that we are right, and all others are wrong.

The truth is probably somewhere in the middle.  And there are probably 20 to 30 or more top shelf amp manufacturers.  Parasound is one of them.  Just like all the rest, they tailor the sonics to achieve whatever their goals are.  Either you like them, or Pass, or Krell, or you don’t.  And many people will come up with a different favorite.