Questions for A21 owners...

[SoundMeister]

Hello all...
I am about to purchase a used A21, YAAYYYY (less than 1 year old, 1 owner, originally from an authorized dealer) from a private individual locally, but my gut tells me that I am not getting all my questions answered properly ....So, with your help I would like to double check on some of the things he had told me...I don't know, perhaps the guy is correct, and I am just paranoid ops:

1) The power cord he showed me is a rather flimsy generic 3 prong cable with the following writing on it: 18 AWGx3, FT2, VW-1, CSA, TYPE LL81924, SJT 60 Degrees Celsius, 10Amp, 125V. Is this the correct, original Parasound Halo A21 cable? I recall that even my lowly (in terms of power demand :W ) Denon DVD 3910 had a much thicker cable, which says 14 AWGx2, 105 Degrees Celsius, 15Amp, 125V.

2) As I was flipping through the owners manual, there was mention that the A21 comes from the factory with rack mounts (not mounted, just inside the box) and a control wire with 2.5mm sub-mini plugs cable. I couldn't find these items in the box, but I did not ask about them either, so I am not sure if he just misplaced them or that he does not have them at all. Should I incquire about them?

Other than those 2 points above this A21 looks absolutely spotless !!! It also has the 2 original boxes and foam packaging.

Thanks for all the help guys/gals :T

[NMyTree]

Mine reads as follows:


E90156..105 Celsius..Well Shin CSA.....Type SJT....VW1......14AWGX3C...FT2.....LL57855


It's not thin at all. It measures 1 1/8 inches.........in circumference(I wrapped a piece of paper around it and marked where the end meets).

Certainly not the thickest power cable in audio, but not thin.

My A21 came with all the things you mentioned, in the second part of your question.

[Peter Nielsen]

1) The power cord he showed me is a rather flimsy generic 3 prong cable with the following writing on it: 18 AWGx3

The A21 comes standard with a 14 AWG power cord.

The cable you have is totally the wrong cable. That cable is not appropriate for the A21. You need a thicker cable! (18 AWG is too thin and can't handle the max amperage!)

I would recommend getting a 12 AWG third party cable, for instance one of those nice PS Audio cables with unscrewable ground pin that is pictured in this thread. That way, you have a great solution at hand should you ever run into the infamous ground loop problem.

2) As I was flipping through the owners manual, there was mention that the A21 comes from the factory with rack mounts (not mounted, just inside the box) and a control wire with 2.5mm sub-mini plugs cable. I couldn't find these items in the box, but I did not ask about them either, so I am not sure if he just misplaced them or that he does not have them at all. Should I incquire about them?

I guess that depends on whether you plan on rack-mounting the unit or not. If you plan on rack mounting it, you need the RM hardware that comes standard with the unit. (Plan on spending $50 or more for replacement hardware).

You probably don't need the 2.5mm cable. (If you get a C1 or C2, it comes with the 3.5mm=>2.5mm you need. If you get an A51/A52 it comes with the 2.5mm cable you need for interconnection).

Peter

[SoundMeister]

Tony...Thanks for taking the time to measure the cable. I reckoned it should be at least a 16AWG if not 14AWG cable.


Peter...I do not need to rack mount this A21 or the 2.5 mm trigger cable but I would like to get all the accessories that come with it, in case I decide to sell it in the future, that's all. Am I too anal about this, or should I just go ahead and buy the thing as it is (without the rackmounts, 2.5mm trigger cable, and proper power cord) ????

A friend has a spare power cable that came with his Sony 60'' plasma display. It has written on it " Jet Hewtech (UL) E35496 TYPE SJT 3x16AWG VW-1 Shielded Hirakawa-FP JAPAN" and the end which plugs into the A21 has embossed in the plastic: "13A, 125V, 1625W". Also there is this plastic cylinder, which it seems is snapped around the cable, right where it ends into the plastic terminal which gets plugged into the A21. Could I use this cable?

My other alternative would be to use a Monster Cable PowerLine 300 cable which I acquired on Ebay a while ago for $25.00. This cable is REALLY thick, but they do not say what AWG it is. The only things written are " Ultra-High Current AC Power Cable With High Density Double Shielding E194701".

Which one should I use?

I would love to be able to get a PS Audio xStream Plus cable, but at upwards of $250.00, it just isn't an option for me. :cry:

Thanks a lot for all your help guys :T

[Peter Nielsen]

Hmmm... With all your worries, I really think it sounds like you should go for a brand new unit instead of a used one. The new unit will give you piece of mind... (Also, don't forget that the warranty is non-transferrable! If the unit develops a fault, the private individual you buy it from needs to deal with Parasound, unless the authorized dealer will help you of course. If he won't help you, then you will probably end up paying for the repairs out of your own pocket).

Peter