Parasound A-23 or Parasound HCA 2200

power sucking little sticks

Hi George.  Magnepan 1.7s

Aslo I have chanced upon an HCA 2250.  Thoughts on this amp?

Hi Teo.  Thanks for the advice.  It did occur to me that an amp of that age might need some 'cap' work.  How would I  know (other than checking for capacitors that bulge like miniature soup cans infected with botulism) ? 

If I intended to keep this amp long-term, I might be inclined to have the caps replaced, just on the theory that they are too old not to have issues.  But since I only intend to keep it for a few months until I have enough $$ to buy what I want (a Newer Bryston 4B SST), I thought I would play that by ear -- literally.

Assuming I do need to have it re-capped.  (And maybe I would do that prior to selling it anyway.) Where would be a good place to send it.  It appears you do that work.  Perhaps you would provide an estimate.

Another thought:  Maybe I should settle for an Integrated amp with a bit less current but a decent preamp section for now.  My immediate plan is to connect my DAC directly to the amp. (I am not a fan of vinyl.  I had plenty of the required maintenance and penalty for lack of it when I was younger so I just need 1 input. I have been 100% digital for decades.  Lately, I have ditched the CDs in favor of TIDAL hifi)

Along the lines of the Integrated, there is a recently refurbished NAD 372 for $400 that I am considering

One more thing:  I love this site.  Everyone is so knowledgeable and helpful.  Thank you everyone for your comments so far.

I bought an HCA 2200 on ebay for $377.  The right channel sounds great.  The left channel, not so much.  That is when the left channel outputs anything at all, which is not the norm.  Removing the cover I see that the small capicators to the sides have leaked.  Both sides.  If I could get the thing up to spec for a couple hundred, I would still feel like I got a pretty good deal.  I don't have a clue as to what that would cost.   The folks in my area that do stereo repair are TV repair places.  I worry about the cost of sending it out as this beast weighs 65 pounds.

Although I like the way right channel sounds, I don't get much volume, which is unexpected with an amp that delivers 385wpc into 4 ohms.  But it could be because I am running my portable DAC (ifi nano with burr/brown - 32/384 async and 256 DSD)  directly to it without a preamp.

So my next question is:  Assuming I can get this thing repaired at a reasonable price, what is a good budget preamp to go with it.  By budget I mean around $300.

In case anyone is still following this thread:  I swapped out the interconnects and ran it some more and it seems to be OK now.  I don't know if the issue was actually the interconnects or if the unit just needed more warm up, but it has been working and sounding nice (even with no preamp) for about a week now.  

Wifey wants to go on vacation, so the preamp purchase is on hold for a month or two. 

I probably will have the unit looked at, and I bought some better interconnects.  (Oxygen Free Copper with crimped connections and specific resistance -- not real esoteric  but at $50 for .5 meter used, they are at a good price point for me)