What kind of amp do you like?

[Ian Mackenzie]

I recently bought a Parasound A21+

Its very good. I would describe it as a neutral power amp as far as mid range goes with plenty of inner detail and depth.

I am preferring it over some of the Pass Labs amps which have a warmth to the highs that are not necessarily accurate.

The Pass range has moved to a more mellow, lush presentation in recent years. Its a bit too obvious on an accurate monitor.

The Parasound scores favourably on bass lines. There is more definition.

The power is effortless with 160 watts a side on tap.

These John Curl designs keep getting better and better.

[Mr. Widget]

I recently bought a Parasound A21+

Its very good...

These John Curl designs keep getting better and better.

+1

I had a Parasound Halo A52 for a while, it was good, solid and clean, but didn't quite do it for me. My original Halo JC1s on the other hand are wonderful. A couple of years ago I had a pair of Halcro DM68s and did a series of shoot outs over a few weeks. I preferred the JC1s. I was using both sets of mono blocks full spectrum on my Everests. Both sets of amps were very, very good, but I thought the DM68s were just a bit too dry.

Today I am using the little Pass Labs XA25 up top on my tri-amped system and it is a marvelously smooth and detailed amp. I have the JC1s doing mid bass duty below the tiny Pass Labs... the JC1s are overkill for sure, but what the heck.

Regarding tubes, I have had 845 SETs, all manner of push pull amps from McIntosh and obscure boutique brands, I even had some OTL room heaters at one point. Every one of them had something going for them, but I prefer a well designed solid state design for day in and day out consistency and honest sound quality.


Widget

[Chas]

Widget, first world problems using a JC1 for woofers? Geez, I thought I was bad using a Bryston 4BSST2 for subs...

[rusty jefferson]

I recently bought a Parasound A21+...

..The power is effortless with 160 watts a side on tap...

That model is 300 watts per channel @ 8ohms. I recently picked up an A 21(sans "+" that's 250 per channel) for running the woofers in a furure 3 way active project.