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Has anyone actually heard a Parasound D200 player? I'm looking for a good-quality SACD/CD player for a 2-channel system. Since I'll be using analog outputs, the quality of the DAC's is important. I can't find even a single review of this machine anywhere...
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I haven't heard the D200, but I recently purchased the Halo D3. I would assume that the two units are very similar with the exception of the Halo having balanced audio outputs. If you are thinking of purchasing this player for audio; based on what I hear with the D3, it will probably be an excellent audio player on both CD and SACD. However, if you are thinking of purchasing this player for video; based on what I see with the D3, you are better off with an Oppo or Denon.
I'm in the middle of testing my D3 and comparing it to other audio and video players my friends and I have. So far, the audio is excellent, but the video is mediocre at best. My guess for the reason there are no published reviews of either the D3 or D200, is that the video section, while probably acceptable in 2002, was already obsolete and woefully inadequate in 2006 when these units were finally released. I am using the HQV Benchmark DVD for the video testing. Even though both the Parasound and Oppo units use a Faroudja DCDi chip for de-interlacing and scaling, there is a world of difference in the results between the D3 and Oppo DV-981HD.
On audio, the results are reversed, with the Oppo sounding veiled, constricted, and un-musical. Oppo's performance on SACD is little different from CD. But the Halo D3 sounds open, detailed, smooth, and extended. You can really hear the superiority of SACD over CD.
I hope this helps. I'll be posting my complete testing results in a week or two. -
RJ, I agree, this is what I'm finding with my D3 so far, too.
CHRIS
Well, we're safe for now. Thank goodness we're in a bowling alley.
- PleasantvilleComment
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Thanks to both of you who responded concerning your experiences with the D3. I think I'll hold off purchasing a new CD player at this time. I have another system on which I listen to SACD's, so that capability isn't much of deal-maker for me.Comment
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pbarach: I just want to clarify, reinforce, and expand on the specific comments I made about the D3 players audio performance, since you said in your original post that you were looking for "a good-quality SACD/CD player for a 2-channel system." The Parasound Halo D3, and presumably the Parasound D200, has an excellent audio section. At the new reduced clearance prices at Audio Advisor, I believe these products are a tremendous value. On CD, the D3 is the best player I have heard to date. I have not heard many of the other newer CD players so far, such as the CD-only Cambridge Audio 840C, which currently sells for $600 more than the D3, nor other very-high-end and expensive universal players such as the Esoteric, Krell, Wadia or Thetas (although I will be testing the D3 against some older Meridian and Conrad Johnson players this weekend, with results to follow).
But on SACD, DVD-A, and especially CD reproduction, the D3 blows me away. My previous impression of CD sound was that it was two dimensional, grainy, and very non-musical when compared to vinyl or SACD. And this was on positively-reviewed, fairly expensive players. The D3 has changed my impression of what is possible with standard "CD sound." Good recordings sound amazingly close to SACD. There now appears to be "life and realism" contained within the pits of standard Red Book CDs. In my opinion, the "life-likeness" of an excellent CD recording on this player is about 80% of an excellent SACD recording and 75% of excellent vinyl pressing. Of course, the other important characteristics of noise, rumble, clicks & pops, and convenience are well advanced compared to vinyl. This player has brought me back to enjoying CD-playback, which I have previously shunned in favor of SACD and vinyl.
On both 2-channel and especially multi-channel SACDs, the player is at least the match for my older high-end, Stereophile class A+ rated, Sony XA777ES SACD player. And, this player also does DVD-Audio, which although not a format poised to persist, still has many strong suits and adherents; and the proof is in the hearing. DVD-Audio sounds to me like an improvement on the best of CD, without most of the common, previously mentioned disadvantages. It has dimension, body, and dynamics to die for. Yet, it has a differently nuanced sound than the equally excellent SACD format. I believe it is a testament to this players accuracy, that it has an ability to sonically distinguish the strengths of the various and multiple formats; CD, DVD-A, and SACD. Each format conveys it's distinct and unique signature. Yet they all sound musically convincing.
So, if you are still looking for a good-quality CD\SACD player for a 2-channel system, the D3 (and presumably the unbalanced connector D200) is an excellent choice, and now also a great value.Comment
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Thanks for RJ Kuzma for posting impressions of the D3 as an audio player, but I am also aware of the thread in which he recounts problems with three D3's in a row:
Did you get the problems resolved?
The only audio component I've ever owned that gave me any trouble was a 20 year old Carver amp that was fixed as good as new last year for $200 (well, there was the poorly designed remote on a Denon AVR3510, but they replaced it with an improved model for fre). So I don't want to start with components that are showing unusualy frequent problems.Comment
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Note that the two first D3s were burned out by the MultiWave power output of PS Audio's Powerplant. This is not really Parasound's fault. Most products are only designed to work with regular 50/60Hz power. If you feed the unit with "power on steroids" things like this may happen. Now that the problem is known, Parasound will probably address the issue. Still, it is not a design fault with the D3 IMHO.Originally posted by pbarach
The third one, I don't know...
My take on this is whole thing is that it's PSAudio's Power Plant that is the "immature" product. I'm just glad I got a Quintessence for my system. I would have hated to burn out my TacT power supplies like that 8)
PeterComment
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Yes, it seems the first two units were damaged by the PS Audio Power Plant Premier when using the Multiwave setting. I do not think it was due to poor quality control at Parasound as I first surmised. As Peter postulated in his response on the other thread, I may have been the lucky person to discover this rare incompatibility between the Premier and the D3. My Parasound C1 controller, which also has a switched mode power supply, worked properly for five years on both the Premier, and an earlier PS Audio P600 power regenerator with Multiwave. For some reason, the SMPS in the D3 doesn’t seem to cope well with the irregular sine wave produced by the Multiwave setting. Please note that this is still only my theory, as I didn’t (and will not) test my third D3 to see if it would malfunction if fed a Multiwave waveform. I’m now feeding it with a normal sine wave only from the Premier. Both PS Audio and Parasound were informed of this issue, and PS Audio is looking into this potential rare incompatibility. They certainly don’t want their power conditioners to be causing electrical failures in any component. And, I have to add that I was very impressed that Paul McGowan, the founder and President of PS Audio, personally responded to my complaint, and made sure that his staff followed up on the concern. Through follow-ups, I know that PS Audio and Parasound were communicating with each other about this issue. Parasound service should have both of these damaged units in their possession by now, so hopefully they will report their findings on this forum to ameliorate any concerns. For my part, I informed Tony Pointes, Technical Service Manager at Parasound, of this thread on this forum, so he could be aware of the discussion, and perhaps gain some insight as to why this incompatibility may exist.
As to the issue of the third D3 muting itself on the analog outputs when switching from SACD mode to CD mode; it still sometimes does this, but is inconsequential during normal listening. And, it doesn’t do this with all hybrid discs, only some. It always works properly when I start the disc from CD mode. I chose not to send it in for service simply because it is not a nagging issue and that in my experience, certain hybrid SACD discs seem to cause problems with certain SACD players. I don’t know if the encoding on the disc itself is causing this, but I’ve experienced as well as read of various problems that others have had with hybrid discs on other brands of players as well. In my own experience, my six year old Sony XA777ES will not read the SACD layer on certain hybrid discs at all; which is why I purchased the D3 in the first place. My other Sony AVD-S50ES SACD receiver properly plays most hybrid discs, but just doesn’t have the sonic attributes of my older Sony, and certainly can’t compare sonically to the D3. And, my Oppo DV-981HD, while an excellent video player, is a rather poor SACD player, and mediocre CD player. This may be due to the fact that the Oppo converts the DSD bit stream to PCM for digital manipulation. Or, it simply may not use such high quality parts necessary to obtain the best sonics from SACD. At $249, you get a great video player; but don’t buy it for its audio.
My point of posting the review was simply to let you know that the D3 (and by extension, presumably the D200), are worth auditioning specifically because of their excellent sound quality. No one else reported similar issues with their D3s. Parasound’s warranty is in full effect, and Audio Advisor also has been exemplary with their customer service. So, my bottom line is that I don’t think you should use my unique issues as a reason not to try a truly excellent sounding universal disc player, especially now that it has a clearance price reduction. As I suggested in my earlier post, don’t buy this player for its video capabilities, but do at least audition it for it audio capabilities. Audio is apparently where Parasound spent their R&D dollars on these units.Comment
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