mediumrare
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Parasound a21 V.S. Vincent sp-331
jackfish
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You sure you don't at least want to try an Emotiva XPR-2 or XPA-2 before you drop $2300 on a Parasound.

Kal Rubinson
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Four grand?  MSRP for the A21 is $2299.

jackfish
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Thanks.

mediumrare
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The XPA-2 is unavailable, and the XPR-2 interests me but it seems like overkill.  What is your opinion? I am not crazy about having to put in a 20amp circuit for the XPR-2.  I only started looking at the Parasound while at my local audio dealer.  I had the Vincent in mind and the salesman started pushing the a21. 

zfreiman
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Do you need the headroom to justify the A21? If not the A23 would be a good fit to get the Para-Sound... I've heard the A23 and P3 Pre-amp many times, driving Focal towers. Very impressive with good imaging, separation, and grip on the mid-bass drivers.

 

Another option would be the Odyssey Khartago built in Indiana by Klauss and crew.

30 day money back trial period and a 20 yr warranty.

 

http://www.odysseyaudio.com/products-khartago-stereo.html

Demondog
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Odyssey amps don't get mentioned enough around here. I have a friend bi-amping with a pair.

commsysman
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IMO the Vincent is a much better-sounding amplifier than the Parasound A21. It will be a perfect match for your speakers.

It has enough power to drive almost any speaker you can buy for under $10,000.

The Parasound A23 is a lousy amplifier. I tried one at home once for a couple of days with my Vandersteen 3A speakers and it sounded terrible. A NAD C326 is a better amplifier. (I suspect that the A23 could not handle the low impedances of the Vandersteens without distorting, which tells me that the power supply is an inadequate design)

I ended up buying a Bryston 3B-SST2 amplifier, which is absolutely wonderful!

The Vincent is almost as good, and was my second choice if I hadn't bought the Bryston.

 

mediumrare wrote:

Allright fellas, with your help, I've narrowed it down to either the Vincent sp-331, or the Parasound a21.  I will be using a Peachtree Decco as a preamp/DAC. and will be running all of this through Thiel CS2 speakers. I just installed a power conditioner and surge protector on the outlets in my listening room (my depression-era home has terrible wiring), and I am ready to pull the trigger on a power amp.  Please if you have an opinion or experience with either of these amplifiers set me straight. Thank you in advanced.

Bill B
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1.  I don't know.  2.  Given that, I've heard good things about both.  I lean towards Vincent since I'm already planning on getting that SP-331 - not right now, but this year.  I got a Vincent preamp and am very happy w/ it.  I've also heard good things about Parasound, and heard that just a few people find them a bit hard sounding.  I hasten to add that I haven't heard them myself (refer to #1).  Your Peachtree might be a little bit warm sounding (a good thing) and perhaps would mesh well w Parasound.  3.  On the other hand, I have a glove.

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