Halo A21

[urlawyer]

Thinking of replacing my old SAE 2500 (300/450 w rms at 8/4 ohm) power amp with a Parasound Halo A21 for my front channels. I have a Parasound HCL 2003 (200/300 w rms at 8/4) for my Center, and sides.

What say you!

[Peter Nielsen]

Go for it! :T

[Chris D]

Yeah, that!!!!

[urlawyer]

Will the A21 compare sonically with my HCA 2003?

[Peter Nielsen]

Are your center and surround speakers the exact same model/type/size as the fronts? If not, then it won't be an issue. However, if all your speakers are exactly identical you might want to go with the A51...

[urlawyer]

Will be joining the Parasound Halo A-21 Club. Ordered mine today. Will get it next week. I think it will make a good substitute for my SAE 2500 and will complement my old HCA 2003.

[Vince Helm]

Congrats! I hope you enjoy yours as much as I have enjoyed mine!!
Vince

[Chris D]

Sweet, that definitely deserves a banana! :banana: Me, I'm sending mine in for some service right now.

[Vince Helm]

Me, I'm sending mine in for some service right now.

Hey Chris, what's up with your A21?
VH

[Chris D]

Ehhhh, I got a channel that's fading in and out. Will see what the Parasound boys think about it.

[Peter Nielsen]

Ehhhh, I got a channel that's fading in and out. Will see what the Parasound boys think about it.

Probably just a bad solder joint.. Easy fix and no parts required. Let us know what it was!

You've had the unit for quite some time, so it's probably a good idea to get it looked over. Parasound will probably make a few minor improvements and adjust the bias while they're at it... :T

[urlawyer]

Got my A21 today. Made my speakers disappear. The sound stage appears to be larger. My SAE 2500 and my Parasound HCA 2003 never did that. And its not even broken in.

One thing, I can't control the on off with my Monster Power system and the sound trigger is flakky. When I say flakky, I mean that sometimes it comes on but will turn off when I switch inputs because there is delay before the sound comes back on and the A21 will not trigger back on.

I talked with Tony at Parasound and he said that some pre-amps do not trigger the remote on-off. He said to use the DC trigger option. However, the A21 came with sub-mini connectors on the cable and my Rotel RS 1560 has mini connector outputs on the 12v dc triggers. He will be sending me the correct sub-mini to mini cables. I asked him to send me two cables because I will have to trigger the A21 with the Rotel RS 1560 and the A21 will than trigger my Monster power to turn on my other amps and input units.

He went on to say that using the manual turn on will not stay on when you lose power because the A21 has a latch which will not allow it to turn on by applying power. You have to use the manual on/off, the automatic on-off or the DC trigger to turn it on which in my case will have to be manual turn on/off or the DC trigger.

Manual on-off will be a minor inconvenience at least until Tony sends me the external DC trigger cables.

[Chris D]

Huh... I don't have any trigger problems with either my A21 or A51.

Congrats on the new amp! Just imagine how they're going to improve as they get the infamous Halo break-in! :banana:

Got my A21 today. Made my speakers disappear.

Oh, now that's no good... can I get an amp that makes my fat stomach disappear?

[Peter Nielsen]

can I get an amp that makes my fat stomach disappear?

You already have amps like that: Strap your A51 to your back and go for a 5 mile walk. The amp will help your stomach disappear in no time :B :T

For lighter exercise, use the A21 :

[Mike_Schmidt]

What is this trigger talk about? Sorry I have had the JC2 and A21 for a few months now and dont understand what the trigger does and how it works.

Secondly reading this guide for sometime I confused is this amp for home theater or 2 channel stereo playback? Im a two channel guy.

[Chris D]

Mike, your A21 works just fine for either home theater or 2-channel use. I use mine for both.

As for your JC2, you need to send it to me for a couple years, so I can check out your trigger operation.

[Peter Nielsen]

What is this trigger talk about? Sorry I have had the JC2 and A21 for a few months now and dont understand what the trigger does and how it works.

The trigger input on the A21 lets you automatically turn on the A21 with a trigger voltage. Alternatively, you can have the trigger turn on the A21 when a signal (sound) is sent to it. The 3-position switch on the rear panel of the A21 determines how the trigger works (off/12V/music)

The JC2 and other parasound pre/pro have a trigger output that is used for this purpose.

You need the 3.5mm<=>2.5 mm cable that is included with your Parasound pre/pro. You connect this cable between the JC2 trigger output and the A21 trigger input. This way the A21 will automatically power up when you power on your JC2. This way you can power up all your Parasound gear simply with a push on the JC2 remote.

Peter

[Peter Nielsen]

One thing, I can't control the on off with my Monster Power system and the sound trigger is flakky. When I say flakky, I mean that sometimes it comes on but will turn off when I switch inputs because there is delay before the sound comes back on and the A21 will not trigger back on.

No matter what gear you have (amps, subwoofer, etc) the sound trigger usually is very flakey. It never works really well. Avoid!

The voltage trigger should work fine. You may have reversed polarity. Cut the cable, and splice the wires reversed. That should take care of it.

I don't understand why manufacturers require the trigger poliarity to be correct. By spendig a few cent extra and installing a bridge on the trigger input, they could make it bipolar and people would have a lot less trouble to get it to work... 8)

Peter

[urlawyer]

Tony at Parasound sent me the correct trigger cables and the Triggers work great.

My Rotel RSX 1560 triggers the A21 and the A21 triggers the Monster Power unit which turns on the Parasound HCA 2003, the internal amps of the Velodyne DD10 sub and the Velodyne F 1200 sub, and the rest of the input devices.

[r100gs]

What is this trigger talk about? Sorry I have had the JC2 and A21 for a few months now and dont understand what the trigger does and how it works.

Secondly reading this guide for sometime I confused is this amp for home theater or 2 channel stereo playback? Im a two channel guy.

Nice little system you have there Mike. :T How do those D28's sound? I'm a two channel guys also.

[Mike_Schmidt]

My Proac's sound very sweet thank you. A little about myself Im not a rich man in fact Im a corrections officer in my town so that will tell you about my income. I saved and upgraded through the years always doing good on the resale and having a really nice dealer helps to!!! Musically speaking Im a metal head and majority of my vinyl floats around Metallica, Megadeth to Tori Amos and BB King. But for the goods, they sound terrific with not matter what you play, and most importantly how you play them. Though Im a metal head Im not a volume junkie by any means and I cut out when my woofers start to move ever so slightly. I had someone over who was playing a vinyl and of course with the gain being much much lower than my audio CD he had the pre up to 1130 on the dial so I had a brief stroke and stroked out. After coming to I turned it down I had a critical listen to make sure every thing was tuck. So now that you know what I do and how I work Im very regimented and anal, so I emailed Proac and told them what happened and they pretty much laughed at me and said even though there rated at 5W to 250W good luck hurting them. When they replied back Mr. Tyler just sniffled at the fact that Im a metal head and never play loud enough to make the woofers move.

So what Im trying to say in a summary here, lov em. they do everything right and nothing wrong no matter how there placed what you partner them with they just sound right.

Sorry for rambling

[r100gs]

My Proac's sound very sweet thank you. A little about myself Im not a rich man in fact Im a corrections officer in my town so that will tell you about my income. I saved and upgraded through the years always doing good on the resale and having a really nice dealer helps to!!! Musically speaking Im a metal head and majority of my vinyl floats around Metallica, Megadeth to Tori Amos and BB King. But for the goods, they sound terrific with not matter what you play, and most importantly how you play them. Though Im a metal head Im not a volume junkie by any means and I cut out when my woofers start to move ever so slightly. I had someone over who was playing a vinyl and of course with the gain being much much lower than my audio CD he had the pre up to 1130 on the dial so I had a brief stroke and stroked out. After coming to I turned it down I had a critical listen to make sure every thing was tuck. So now that you know what I do and how I work Im very regimented and anal, so I emailed Proac and told them what happened and they pretty much laughed at me and said even though there rated at 5W to 250W good luck hurting them. When they replied back Mr. Tyler just sniffled at the fact that Im a metal head and never play loud enough to make the woofers move.

So what Im trying to say in a summary here, lov em. they do everything right and nothing wrong no matter how there placed what you partner them with they just sound right.

Sorry for rambling

No Mike ramble on. I have a pair Joseph Audio RM25 mkii. I listen mainly to smooth jazz and my bass drivers dance 8) . I wish I had that JC2 intead of a P3. I've been very happy with A21.

[lofi-ear]

What wattage was the A21 amp running in pure Class A mode? I can't find any information in the specifications.

[mitch57]

can I get an amp that makes my fat stomach disappear?

Wait a minute here... You can't have a fat stomach! The military doesn't allow fat stomachs! Actually, they do but I'm sure you're meeting the body fat standards or you won't be in for much longer.

Sorry about getting off topic but I couldn't resist the comment! :B

[Peter Nielsen]

What wattage was the A21 amp running in pure Class A mode? I can't find any information in the specifications.

5 watts @ 8 ohms, 2.5 watts @ 4 ohms

[lofi-ear]

5 watts @ 8 ohms, 2.5 watts @ 4 ohms

Thanks, that should be pretty sufficient for class A late-night listening sessions with my 91dB/1W/1m speakers.

[milpai]

Reviving an older thread here. But has anyone compared the A21 to Odyssey Stratos Monos? The amp specs for A21 seems to suite my Promitheus TVC. I need a power amp strictly for 2-channel stereo. Sensitivity of <= 1V is very important.