Parasound A52 & B&W Nautilus 805's?

[ti33er]

Hi all you Parasound fundi's! :twisted:

I just wanted to ask if anyone has tried the combination of a Parasound A52 Amplifier and B&W Nautilus 805 speakers?

...I know that 805's can do with up to 180W of power, even though they are rated at 120w, to get the best out of them(?)...and would this amp be good enough to drive them beautifully, for HT as well as music - the A52 is not actualy that pricey oddly enough (I thought it would be a lot more in the UK) and that bugs me a little. Don't get me wrong, I know it's not price that is always the be-all-and-end-all, but is Parasound actually primo gear like I have been led to believe? - I would have thought it a big step up from ROTEL, although that could also be personal preference now seeing as Parasound is not that much more costly? ...any thoughts (and no insults intended )

[DrBoom]

I can't comment on how the A52 sounds with 805's, but I can confirm that Parasound is a huge step up from Rotel.
I'm an ex-Rotel owner too, having owned the RMB1075 and the RSP1098 (still have it for the time being) but didn't bring out the best in my 805's and 804's.
Especially the poweramps, that was the largest difference.
I'm currently using an HCA2205AT and a C2, where the poweramp made a very large increase in midrange clarity and bass control.
The preamp change revealed a lot more detail, where the 1098 had a very forward midrange that seemed to drown out a lot of the smaller details and made it sound agressive at high volumes.
And again the bass issue, the 1098 made my sub sound horrible and sloppy, the C2 makes it sound really tight and controlled, go figure.
I'd think the A52 is a good match for the 805's, but as always more power is better, so if you can afford it get the A51.

And if you'd like to pay more for your Parasound, please come over to Belgium and buy everything here
So either Rotel is expensive in the UK, or Parasound is cheap.
Price for an A52 is €3450, or £2266.
Other prices include €5850 (£3842) for a C2, and €6950 (£4566) for an A51.
I think we are among the most expensive countries in all of europe or possibly the entire world for Hifi equipment.
Generally speaking, Parasound is about 2x as expensive as Rotel here.
Which makes the choice a bit harder and is why I bought my Parasounds used (amp was 2 years old, C2 only 8 months)

But I'm sure if you go out and listen to Parasound with Nautilus speakers, and compare that to Rotel amps, you'll be very quick to sell your Rotel stuff.
Not to badmouth Rotel, but it just isn't in the same league but neither is the price (over here anyway).
Before I bought my Rotel I had seen a lot of people going from Rotel to something else (Parasound, Vincent, TacT, ...) and all of them said almost the same things: much more clarity, and especially a huge improvement in the bass
I honestly don't know why Rotel amps have such a mushy bass (to my taste) with those huge power supplies and pretty high damping factor, but you really have to hear what difference a Parasound or other brand makes to you believe it.

[ti33er]

Thanks Dr. Boom! ...I have read a few of your posts where you have commented on some of my threads, hence the commencement looking to Parasound as an option - I have actually flogged my ROTEL gear, I don't like the ROTEL sound (mostly re: music) to be truthfull, but that is clearly my taste, as many others on here love ROTEL, which is perfectly fine..."Lucky for some, Unlucky for others" - I find ROTEL quite harsh & electronic, and cold sounding (that is with all the speaker combo's I have tried Mordaunt-short, B&W and Ruark - this was better though, but I didnt like the looks unfortunately )

I can get an A52 for £1150 vs a ROTEL 1075 for £845 (not much difference in the grande scheme of things - Processors are a LOT more, but so are most of the other options vs ROTEL! (perhaps that is where ROTEL is good value 'pound4sound'?)

...nice idea 250W p/c, but I might think that buying an A51 will be a bit overkill for 805's IMO - I could tell that my ex. TAG was way to beastly, i.e. suspected my speaker's eyeballs were about to pop out at times

One more question - Would you know if a 5 channel Parasound amp will sound much different to a 2 channel? - I know most people will say huge difference, but if an amp is constructed well (shielded/sturdy PSU) it shouldnt make that much of a difference? - TAG MCLAREN amps are well built like this, and even their monoblocks hardly sound any different, according to many people I have spoken to! :

[Chris D]

Wow, good comments, DrBoom.

[DrBoom]

Wow, next time I need something made by Parasound i'm going to the UK ! 8O
The Rotel RMB1075 goes for £990 over here, so that's not such a shocking difference.
But that £1150 vs my £2266 for an A52 is !
I'd never ever buy a new Parasound in Belgium, I'd at least take my business to Holland (just a 1 hour drive) where it's already 15% cheaper, or in the UK where they seem to be giving it away for free

Don't let the 805's size fool you, it does like power just like it's larger relatives
Regarding the difference between 2 and 5 ch amps from Parasound, I don't know if it's that big.
I find the 2205 already very good for stereo, but I could imagine a 2-ch version of the same thing sounding better because you have less channels to feed from one transformer (although it has separate secondary windings for each channel AND separate power supplies with 30.000 µF of capacitance per channel, not just 150.000 µF for the whole shabang)
The other thing that improves by putting less channels in one box is interchannel crosstalk.
With 5 channels, some stuff is bound to leak from one to another when all channels are playing.
With monoblocs this is obviously impossible, unless it happens in the preamp.
Not that I've ever heard sounds from the centerchannel seaping through to the rears or something like that, it's purely specs.
But to get to the point again, the A52 will probably be just fine, 125W is a hell of a lot of power to start with and you'd be surprised how little you actually use.

I could tell that my ex. TAG was way to beastly

Are you saying you had a TAG, but got rid of it, or what did you mean here ?
If that's the case, why did you get rid of it ?
I've never heard TAG, but i've heard and read good things about it.
Just not my cup of tea, though I could probably get a pretty good discount at it.

[ti33er]

LOL, my (ex) TAG MCLAREN was absolutely incredible sounding, but I didn't like the colour, it was black throughout --> A few of my colleagues did the old "eyes rolling back" stint but I am unfortunately very much one for aesthetics, and my HT is my showpiece in my living room!

PARASOUND HALO range is gorgeous looking, and that is why (second to the supposed awesome sonics) I am very much attracted to it! :W

...anyway we can't all be the same, and us pedantic folk make the world a more interesting place to live in!