Parasound Halo JC-1 for Thiel CS 5i

The current was what caught my eye on the JC1's as they listed something like 135 amps for instantaneous peaks.

The W4S is rated at 40 amps. I also see that an older Krell FPB 300c was rated less than that.

Now , of course, I am not sure how to read and understand all this technical data and be able to compare continuous versus peak outputs.

However, you cannot have current without watts, so I suspect that alternatives to the W4S will be different in the higher frequency and not so much in the bass, which gets at one of the perceptions about class D.

Any thoughts on that?

Thanks,

Dsper

Hi,

My local stereo store has loaned me an A21 for an in home trial so I will get a listen and see what comes of it.

Here is the interesting thing. It was suggested to consider the A31, which is three channel because, in a two channel setup, the third unused channel would add to the two channels in use, like give more power to the two channels being used in stereo mode. 

I am having trouble understanding this and am thinking that it might not be correct.

Is there anyone who has the technical expertise to comment on this?

Thanks,

Dsper

Ok...I borrowed a Mark Levinson 433 from my dealer who had let me try the Parasound A21.

The ML 433 is very good - better texture to the bass and more refined treble compared to the W4S ST1000. And was able to play at high volume without clipping like the A21.

My question is now why would the A21 clip and the ML 433 would not given the same speakers and set up? Is this due to the power transformers and capacitance of the amps?

One day I may actually know something about this stuff!

Dsper

A point I failed to make in my earlier post is that I am now understanding that I do not need to have a 500 watt amp to power the Thiels so this opens up a host of choices, I think.

But how do I go about eliminating those where the specs would indicate that they are probably not a good match?

Lugging 100 pound plus amps to my home is not fun. The dealer has used Krell and Pass amps that I could try.....

I use a micro fiber cloth to remove finger prints on the black baffle and expect any good paste wax will be good fro the wood sides and back.

I had a tweeter cap fall off and ordered speaker glue from Simply Speakers. It cost $10 and I probably used 17 cents worth. It is white, rubber based, and will flex. I suspect Elmers rubber cement at a third of the cost for 4 times as much would work just as well, although the thin spigot on the Simply Speakers bottle was a way to not over apply.

One other thing I forgot to mention about the ML 433 is that it felt like it was at room temperature at the 12 o clock position after a couple of hours which makes it a viable candidate for a cabinet install.

WAF will create problems with a big amp sitting on the floor with exposed wires, etc.

Here is my latest critique of my in home auditions of stereo amps with Thiel CS5's. I use a Prima Luna Dialogue Premium Preamp, Cullen interconnects, and a Rich Schultz modified Oppo105. Not running vinyl right now.

The Thiels are three feet from the facing wall, ten feet apart, two feet plus and four feet plus from side walls. I am sitting 10 - 11 feet away from the speakers with 15 feet behind me.

Pass X350 - most weight but not the best bass. Detailed and nuanced but slightly polite. Sweet high end

Krell Evolution 302 - Compared to Pass - slightly less weight with more forward/presence, tighter bass, just as detailed but with less nuance, Sweet midrange. BUT Hiss through speakers. I could live with the Krell except for the speaker hiss.

Hegel H20 - less weight compared to the first two but good bass. Lots of detail but slightly congested. Warm but not sweet. less presence than the Krell

Proceed HPA2 - Less weight than the first two, in your face, edgy treble, pretty good bass, misses some of the detail

Still have not heard one, but am thinking about pulling the trigger on a McCormack amp. Would cost less than the Pass or Krell.

Any further comments?

Dsper
.