Thinking of Upgrading....

[mitch57]

Hi all,

I'm thinking of upgrading my Rotel RMB 1095 amp to the Parasound Halo A51. Do you think I will notice a sonic difference between the two? Is it a worthy upgrade or should I save my money and purchase something even more substantial like the Anthem Statement P5?

Any thoughts?

[mitch57]

Come on guys! No one has any input on this? You guys aren't worried about the Rotel forum jumping down your throat are you?

[nicholtl]

Rotel doesn't scare us. Bring it!

You'll notice quite a difference, I feel. Do a search and there was one LONG thread comparing Rotel to Halo amps, and there were pros and cons to each.

By the way, what is your budget? Just how much could you potentially save up to? If the sky's the limit, hell, go for something by Pass Labs or Classe Omega, perhaps.

[mitch57]

Some where under $5000.00 if at all possible. I know the Anthem P5 retails for $5000.00 and I can get the Parasound Halo A51 for under $3400.00.

The wife factor is my biggest hurdle with this upgraditis bug. But isn't that almost always the case?

[nicholtl]

The wife factor is my biggest hurdle with this upgraditis bug. But isn't that almost always the case?

Not if you don't have a wife!

You should go audition both the Anthem P5 and the Halo A51 (which you're clearly able to get at a great price, btw). The choice probably won't be that hard once you hear them both.

In that general price range, you could also look into Sunfire, Aragon, as well as PS Audio's GCA digital amps.

OR...perhaps used Classe, Theta, or Lexicon stuff on audiogon.

[Kingdaddy]

In-home audition is the only way to go IMO. Speaker/Amp marriage is very specific with passive crossovers and planer speakers that use a transformer.

In my experience, the processor makes far more audible difference then amps ever will, a good amp is a good amp. However, there are cretin speakers that have very difficult or reactive loads that give cretin amplifiers trouble if their current capability isn’t enough.

One of the nice things about going active is that you find out just how much evil a passive network does to the amp output, with active you rarely care about the amp at all, just need a good quality one. Pretty much all cone speaker drivers sound the same on any decent amp.

[Peter Nielsen]

In my experience, the processor makes far more audible difference then amps ever will, a good amp is a good amp.

:agree: with the assumption that the "good amp" is an amp that is adequately powerful for the speakers. Some amps have problems with "difficult" loads such as electrostatic speakers which are capacitive in nature. However, we all know that Parasound amps work extremely well with 'stats and other difficult loads :T

Peter

[Brian]

Only way to tell for sure is in your home, with both amps there at the same time.

I had 6 guys over and we did a side by side with the A51 and a Crown XLS402 (a $220 pro amp). The results were shocking. Very hard to tell any difference at all. Every single person in attendance said there is no way they'd ever spend the money on the Halo after hearing how close the Crown was (test was informal but done blind, equipment is in a different room than the speakers, levels were matched and double checked). 3 people said they couldn't hear a difference, the others thought they could but said it was very, very close.

My point is simply that hearing them side by side is a must in order to determine whether there are truly differences and whether it's worth the money to you to pay for any differences.

Btw, I use the crown for my subs only, even after the test.

[Chris D]

Heheheee, Brian... great qualification.

Mitch, I just got back from another flight trip, sorry. You're going to love my answer--IT DEPENDS, and rests highly on your personal preferences. Here's my input:

1. Yes, I consider the A51 a step up from the Rotel 1095. I think you'll notice a measurable difference. HOWEVER...

2. If you read my postings about upgrade theory around the guide, you'll find that I'm all about upgrading when you'll receive a QUANTUM increase in performance, giving you your money's worth for the new purchase. Otherwise, you end up paying thousands and thousands of dollars for the newest equipment, which may give you small improvements in performance and a few new technology features. On the other hand, if you save up your funds and slow down between upgrades, you'll be able to buy something that will give you huge improvements.

3. Soooo... that being said, if I were facing the same decision for my setup, I would not upgrade from the 1095 to the A51, UNLESS YOU COULD SELL THE ROTEL FOR A MINIMUM LOSS. And I say that as a Parasound lover. If it were a new purchase deciding between the two, I'd say A51. If you can upgrade without losing much money, then go for it. But if not, and you can save your money, after some time you might be able to afford something much better than either the 1095 or A51. One word of caution--both Rotel and Parasound already give great performance for their money, so you're going to have to spend a LOT of money to get a big increase in performance.

4. Bottom line, it's going to come down to your personal assessment of cost vs. benefit. If you're okay for money, you might be willing to spend the $$$ to get the benefit of the A51 over the 1095. If you're tight, you might decide to wait to buy something a step up from either one. If you can sell the 1095 for close to what you paid, then the A51 would be a great way to go.

That's as straightforward as I can make it!

[mitch57]

Chris,

Great answer! My reasoning for considering an upgrade is more on the basis of the mechanical buzz I've been getting from my Rotel amp which I am sure is related to the transformer.

Just yesterday my 1095 was dead silent. I couldn't hear even the slightest buzz coming from it even with my ear right up to it. But every other day of the week it buzzes with varying degrees of loudness.

I can't help but think that some of the buzzing is related to the power coming into my house even though I have two dedicated 20 amp breakers serving my home theater system. Plus I have the amp connected to a Richard Gray 400 Pro!

I have a sneaking suspicion that when I take the Rotel to the dealer and they hook it up it will be dead silent. Hence my theory that it's power related. On the other hand... maybe there is something wrong with my 1095.

At any rate, Parasound is attempting to make arrangements to have one delivered to a store near me where I can pick up the A51 and bring it home for a two week demo with no obligation to purchase. And they will pick up the shipping costs both ways. So I figured I would coordinate it so that I get the A51 about the same time I take the Rotel into the dealer for service.

That should give me sufficient time to evaluate the performance of the Parasound.

Does that sound like a logical approach to my situation?

[nicholtl]

At any rate, Parasound is attempting to make arrangements to have one delivered to a store near me where I can pick up the A51 and bring it home for a two week demo with no obligation to purchase. And they will pick up the shipping costs both ways. So I figured I would coordinate it so that I get the A51 about the same time I take the Rotel into the dealer for service.

Now THAT'S customer service!

[Chris D]

Logical on your part? Heck yeah! You'd be hard pressed to find a reason NOT to take up an offer like that.

[Drewbert]

EDIT.......

sorry Ill make a new thread...... ops:

Here it is