Parasound vs. Mccormack, Bryston,Classe

agree with above comments,so let me add that for home theater,the Bryston 9B is awesome. I have toured the factory and listened to approximately 20 amplifiers in the past 18 months. All presented some compromises,but the Bryston provided the least. Great for music as well. again all the above mentioned amps are good,the Bryston 9b in my opinion is just a liitle better that the rest of the pack.

Afraid I can't offer much in the way of comparitive input as I've not heard the Bryston or Parasound, but I am a very happy owner of a McCormack DNA 125. I have a Denon 4800 AV Receiver in use as a preamp and to drive my center and rear speaker. all the speakers are Mirage with OM 6's in the front pair to a Frx 12 sub. The mcCormack may not be as easy to audition but do give it a try. also see the current, december, issue of Stereophile. good luck.

At the moment I am using Bryston 7B monos for my L/R and a Parasound HCA-2205 for the center and surrounds. For the price difference the Parasound is a remarkable sounding amp. I thought there would be a larger disparity between it and the 7Bs. The Parasound isn't quite as even across the frequency spectrum, has a little more sparkle (coloring) in the treble, and isn't quite as transparent as the Bryston. But in terms of power and ability to involve its very good, and great for HT.

I own a Classe CA-100 and a Bryston 9B-ST, and have heard the 3-channel Parasound. The Parasound amp was very "exciting", sounded great for HT. I think the Bryston has the edge for music however. The low end on the Bryston seems a little more solid and well controlled than the Classe. I'm using Thiel 1.5 speakers.

I assume you mean you haven't selected a center and sub. You really need to have a center channel speaker. Most of the acoustic energy comes from the center channel. And even if your main speakers go down low (and I don't think Maggies do), the special effects info is in the sub channel, even in Prologic and esp. for DD or DTS.

I recently bought the AVC2500 processor and 105 140/ch amp from Parasound and have been please with the sound. However, I am driving the Monitor Silver 7i Series speaker that are very efficient. With Maggies you might try listening to the 2205 amp that's 220/ch x5. I have heard the Bryston 5 channel amp is superb, but have not had a chance to hear it yet. A friend has the 3B-ST stereo amp and it sounds okay. Associated equipment is important with Bryston as it can sound Bright. In CAnada they sometimes refer to Bryston as Brightston.