Parasound & Definitive Stereo - in Silver

by steve9001 on Opinions Please

Description

This is my ultimate stereo setup.

It's designed to be highest value & quality a GIS Analyst with a wife and kids can afford without looking like a total jerk for spending too much money on a stereo. I plan to listen to music and TV/movies in stereo. I currently just use the speakers in my old 34"CRT Sony XBR. Or I just listen to FM radio on my Tivoli Model One.

All the my living room components are silver-faced, because that's what I like (except for my Monster power filter which is black & silver).

Right now, I'm planning to get 2 Parasound A23 amps and run them bridged as mono-blocks. However, I'm not sure if this will preserve its quality - if so, I might get a single A21, but I like not having any single super-heavy component.

I'm open to other attractive-looking, silver amps(in price & quality range), but I've been visiting the Definitive SuperTowers at the showroom for almost 2 years now. I'm going with pre-made speaker cables because they will be very visible. I'm looking at Cobalt cables because they are reviewed well and reasonably priced and look good.

Please DO comment.
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Components Toggle details

    • Definitive Technology Mythos ST SuperTower
    Dimensions
    • Parasound Halo A 23
    Continuous power output:
    125 watts RMS x 2, 20 Hz - 20 kHz, 8 Ω, both channels driven
    225 watts RMS x 2, 20 Hz - 20 kHz, 4 Ω, both channels driven
    400 watts RMS x 1, 20 Hz - 20 kHz, 8 Ω

    Current capacity:
    45 amperes peak per channel

    Power bandwidth:
    5 Hz - 100 kHz, +0/-3 dB at 1 watt

    Total harmonic distortion:
    [lessthansign] 0.06 % at full power

    IM distortion: balanced 16 V rms
    [lessthansign] 0.04 %

    Slew rate:
    [greaterthansign] 130 V/µsecond

    Dynamic headroom:
    [greaterthansign] 1.5 dB

    Interchannel crosstalk:
    [greaterthansign] 80 dB at 1 kHz;
    [greaterthansign] 63 dB at 20 kHz

    Input sensitivity:
    1 V for 28.28 V, THX Reference Level

    Input impedance:
    33 k Ω

    S/N ratio:
    112 dB, input shorted, IHF A-weighted

    Damping factor:
    [greaterthansign] 800 at 20 Hz

    Voltage:
    Switchable for 110V - 120V or 220V - 240V

    Dimensions:
    17-1/4
    • Cobalt Ultimate Speaker Cable
    * An all new proprietary two-conductor design with ultra high definition/low-loss.
    * A super-flexible pair of 10 AWG (Gauge), densely stranded OFC (Oxygen-Free Copper) conductors.
    * 10 AWG design keeps cable resistance to an absolute minimum (resistance is only 1.0 Ohm per 1000 ft.!) while maximizing the damping factor (the ability of an amplifier to control the movement of a speaker) resulting in an incredibly accurate and tight speaker performance even at high volume levels.
    * Excellent power handling for high-performance and high-power systems.
    * Terminate with Gold-Plated Locking Banana Plugs
    • Cobalt Ultimate Audio Interconnect Pair
    Overall Nominal Diameter:

    .25 Inch
    Conductor:

    Stranded 22 AWG Bare Copper
    Shield:

    95% Bare Copper Braid
    Nominal DC Resistance:

    [lessthansign]15.3 ohms/1000 ft.
    Nominal Impedance:

    75 ohms
    Velocity of Propagation:

    83%
    Capacitance:

    17 pF/ft
    * This cable is a super-flexible, ultra low capacitance, low-profile audio cable resulting in incredibly full and lush sound.
    * This cable offers unmatched signal purity and smoothness.
    * Our cable blocks out sources of interference and provides outstanding signal isolation and signal transfer, even in the longest cable runs.
    * A separated cable design provides excellent isolation between the two channels with incredible ease of use compared to traditional bundled cables.
    * Gold-plated Locking RCA Plug connectors provide an incredibly tight connection, yet are simple to use.

Comments 2

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Owner
Thanks, your reply is very helpful.
After hearing there really is a noticeable difference between double A23's and a single A21, from someone that has done both options, I'm leaning towards the A21.
I wish Parasound made a Halo monoblock the size of the A23, they could call it the "JC2".
Thanks again.

steve9001

I bet your system sounds great. I have run both Dual A23s and an A21 and much prefer running the A21. It is better in every regard with my speakers (Vandersteen 3#a sigs). It is my hunch that it would sound much better in yours as well and the increase in class a wattage should help, but who knows until you try it.

dhel

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