This amp is impressive. Just had a few hours with it after bringing home so decided to look up some info on it. I try not to do that beforehand so I don't set expectations. I'm somewhat inexperienced but I am not sure I'd call this completely neutral. It's a bit warm, but in the best sense possible. Smooth. I'll say that's the biggest takeaway so far. It's smooth and you can sense its massive power without it being obnoxious and brash about it. It also handles complex passages with ease. Something my less expensive amps get shown up with regularly. This amp sings in all the right ways. Looking forward to more pre amp combos and speaker matchings to come. Great work on this piece! I can't wait to go listen more
Great Amplifier! It also has good looks. And the loop in /Loop out advantage it has is amazing too! By the way, I successfully feed my 4Way JBL Monitors (Refrigerator-sized clones of the 4341s ) with vertical Bi-Amping for more than 4 years now, and it works great! OK, I am a DIY Audiophile with a small pension for income, but even my cheaper A/B Poweramps that are fed by an affordable Tube Preamp can let one hear the advantages of vertical bi-amping for sure. So, the fact that the company that built up their amps for vertical bi-amping, truly is amazing and IMHO shows a lot of thoughtful research for what audio equipment can be used for in a sophisticated way! In my eyes, it´s a great thing Parasound gives to the customers! Your technicians are truly blessed by the God of Sound!
Hey Bernhard. Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts and opinions with us. Parasound makes great equipment and we are glad your are enjoying it.
Well, Joe is about the only person I have not spoken with at Parasound, funny that. Anyway, I have the A23+ only because I could not afford the A21+, but other than the power, those two are the same in sound. I run a pair of Paradigm Studio 100 v5 towers and love their no nonsense detail and revealing nature. The Parasound Halo line from John Curl (master designer) are a perfect match for such speakers. I love the natural balance and cleanliness these amps bring. Seeing the builds it reminded me of such things as the Sansui 8080db and other vintage amps and I love that sound for the same reasons. The A23+ and 21+ deliver that great sound. I don't understand the dismissal or blow off I hear from audiophiles and others directed at Parasound gear and they can never explain why it is that the dealers who carry the Parasound gear can't keep them on the shelves very long. By the by, I also run the P6 preamp and the JC3 Jr phono preamp (which I would put up against any $5k or more phono amp on the market now) and while I am not an absolute adherent to "must run same brand of everything" it just so happens I ended up doing so and the sound is stunning to me every time. I think even if one where to pair up any piece of Parasound kit in this line to whatever they have one hand, they would notice the same.
I'm thinking of getting the A23+ for my system----I may be getting the new Klipsch Heresy IVs. I'm glad you're enjoying the A23. Does it get very warm?
@@Drackleyrva No, it doesn't get very warm, even after 2 hours, but I still would not set anything on top of it as you want ventilation with any amp. I had a class A AVR that got rocket hot without a cooling system, the A23+ doesn't come anywhere near that. If you are paranoid like me, you might want to pick up a cooler like an AC Infinity unit, but unless you are putting it in a closed space (which I do not recommend for any amp), you probably won't need a cooling rig at all. Among the things I like about the Parasound JC stuff is that it tends to be more towards the neutral side, kind of gets out of it's own way.
This audiophile would never dis’ Parasound!! The A21, P5 and JC3+ in my system aren’t going anywhere. The Parasound sound is extremely good and revealing. It is vanishingly quiet and details abound. It’s priced ridiculously, insanely affordable considering the quality you get. The P5 and JC3 also work their magic well with other gear like my Pass Labs X250 amp I recently picked up. So now I have two monstrously good amps to play with and couldn’t be happier. One thing I would mention, when I bought my Parasound gear I got free upgrades in power cables. The one for the amp is like an inch thick. After a year I tried the factory Parasound cable and found that it was a major improvement over the Pangea cable. Bass improved, textures improved etc. so keep that in mind if buying new.
@@Slammintone Absolutely! Part of the magic is the design of the Halo line. It is tried and true old school. I once saw an open JC5 next to an open vintage Pioneer and Sansui and the similarities were surprising, right down to some of the component parts! Only difference is they were recently manufactured and slightly improved in the process. I love how the Parasound gear gets out of its own way. It leans very close to neutral and has a sense of balance. this lends to being revealing. I swapped out a Musical Surroundings Phonomena 2 I was running with my P6 and A23+ with the JC3 Jr and the difference was astonishing! Running a Denon DP-F47 with a Ortofon 2M Bronze, the JC3 Jr draws every single nuance out of the record being played. The detail is stunning and I only have original pressings, not modern day "audiophile" re-issues. (99% of the music I listen to is not available in "audiophile recording re-issues" anyway).
@@ericelliott227 I recently upgraded to an A21+, P6 & JC3 Jr. I’m looking at the Ortofon 2M series Cartridge. I may not be able to afford the Bronze, but am looking at the Blue cartridge. I have approx 18k records and 6k CDs.
Good to know. Wondered if sounded better than the A23. Im looking at getting the A52+ at 180 watts x 5 for HT which I suspect wont be quite as good as the A21+
@James Trower those speakers are on my short list. What pre do you like or use with your a21+? Just picked one up and one album in. Using creek audio evolution 50a as the pre. Probably not the ideal but it's actually quite nice so far. I'm thinking of a minidsp SHD for DSP and to use as pre for it.
Hello. As one of the moderators for this channel, I reached out to our audio experts with your question. Ultimately, the amplifier in the video offers 300 watts per channel at 8 ohms and will drive any of the speakers Audio Advisor offers. For specific speakers, it will come down to what your budget allows. There are many other factors involved in choosing the right speakers, so giving our sales staff a call for further discussion and advice would be the best recommendation. You can reach our sales team at 1-800-942-0220. If you want to browse our speaker selection, visit us at www.audioadvisor.com/
@@AudioAdvisorHi! May I ask what would be the best amp for the Focal Aria 948? 21+ or is 23+ more than enough? Maybe later to add the P6. Low to moderate auditions. Thank you!
Hi Brian, Yes. You always want the gain knobs on the back of the amp all the way up. Then control volume with preamp. Please contact me on my direct line at 866-984-0669 with any questions or if you would like to place an order. If you decide to order directly from our website, please choose my name from the drop down window at checkout where it asks who helped you out. Thanks!
I have given serious consideration to this A21+ Power Amplifier especially in terms of its cost. It is not cheap but it is also not beyond my price range. However, I have decided to take a little longer to save for the Parasound Halo JC 5 Power Amplifier. It is an expensive unit but makes the A21+ sound broken in comparison.
I have the a21+, it cost here 5.000$ and the jc5 cost 9.000$. Listened to them both and honestly could not hear much difference. But u are prob american, so u get the jc5 for the same price as the a21+ here
@@chriss881000 I appreciate your comment, MANoWAR. It is an interesting comment. Like you, I am Canadian; and, yes, the Parasound JC5 is near 10,000$ CAD with HST in mind. A lot of money. I take your comment seriously and will give it careful consideration. Such a huge price difference in the two amplifiers. Audio Excellence in Maple, ON. considers the JC 5 to be the superior amplifier according to their UA-cam channel. They provide a video in which they discuss the wide difference between the A21+ and JC 5. ua-cam.com/video/qtpvEu6O798/v-deo.html
@@Teachering iv watched that video before. I did not mean that the jc5 is not better, I could almost buy 2 of the a21+ for the price of the jc5, so ofc it is better;) but I guess it all comes dowm to what u need. I now hsve the b&w 702 s2, and for them the a21+ is a perfect match and have more than enough power, but if u have lets say some very very expensive speakers who also need some care, the jc5 world sure be the better option. I see the a21+ in the middle class, and the jc5 in the top of the class. It would be a waste having the jc5 with some 5000$ speakers. If u know what i mean, not a waste but alittle "overkill" 😉
i called from over seas for help to purchase the jc5 because there is no agent in my country and i needed 240 volts unit ,sadly they were not interested to help me for a purchase or help .
This amp is A/B which is generally preferred over Class D which though sounds great for low end, they don't generally sound as good with mods and highs.
I love PS Audio and run several of their products, but I don't think the 700's are a very good deal. A pair of mono-block class D amps (with very little circuitry in them) or a class A, A/B amp (loaded with circuitry and a big toroidal transformer), both about the same cost...no contest.
Why don't you use silver connectors on the terminals and all through the wiring and the transformer. silver doesn't tarnish if it's mixed with another metal of about 5%. So you could mix it with the copper say 20% copper the rest silver I've only know of one Japanese company using silver in the whole construction in the wiring. Looks like a nice amp how much some ridiculous price probably
Does the parasound 2250 v2 "share" the total amplifier power when using A and B channels, or does it have the SAME amount of (i.e. 275 watts one channel only, or 275 watts BOTH channels ? Or will the 275 watts be cut in half per channel A and B ) ?
Hi Kirk, Thank you for your inquiry. I reached out to one of our audio experts regarding your question and here is his response. "The a and b connections are paralleled internally, so the amount of power available will change depending on the impedance of the two speaker sets. An example of this is if you had two pair of 8 ohm speakers, the resulting power will be higher because the amp “sees” 4 ohms. In the case of this amp, it is 250 into 8 ohms, 400 into 4 ohms and 400 into 2 ohms. No free lunch though as what is happening is higher amount of current is needed which is the harder thing for amps to do. Lesser amps will often shut off to protect themselves if that impedance drops too low. The speakers 'share' that power. " If you have any other questions, please reach out to us at (800) 942-0220 or sales@audioadvisor.com. Thank you and have a great day!
Hi 👋 Sir good morning, I am from Bahrain my name Sathish, I am having 3 products in my hand, Parasound A 21+ Hint 6 , P 6 with me. All purchased 2021. After buying Parasound the company was sold to some persons. I had a mail , Very sorry to tell after the new management taken over, there is no responses in mail, I asked them is any new products launched in 2022 & 23 they haven’t replied. They are very silent 🤫 now. My Hint 6 had a power failure, it won’t get power on mode?? I contacted the dealer where I purchased they closed?? now In Saudi Arabia 🇸🇦for good. It shocking. Then I got repaired with a local guy. I was completely upset 😢. Can you please tell me know what is the Status of Parasound now ??Please reply waiting for response thanks 🙏. Parasound is a fantastic product in my budget. Value for money. I saved my money and bought it. Any new products this year 2024.
In my opinion, this is the best bang for the buck amp on the market at its price point. Playing class A at moderate levels really sets this apart.
Yeah, that pure class A operation is the deal sealer for me.
This amp is impressive. Just had a few hours with it after bringing home so decided to look up some info on it. I try not to do that beforehand so I don't set expectations.
I'm somewhat inexperienced but I am not sure I'd call this completely neutral. It's a bit warm, but in the best sense possible.
Smooth. I'll say that's the biggest takeaway so far. It's smooth and you can sense its massive power without it being obnoxious and brash about it. It also handles complex passages with ease. Something my less expensive amps get shown up with regularly.
This amp sings in all the right ways. Looking forward to more pre amp combos and speaker matchings to come.
Great work on this piece! I can't wait to go listen more
Great Amplifier! It also has good looks. And the loop in /Loop out advantage it has is amazing too!
By the way, I successfully feed my 4Way JBL Monitors (Refrigerator-sized clones of the 4341s )
with vertical Bi-Amping for more than 4 years now, and it works great! OK, I am a DIY Audiophile with a small pension for income, but even my cheaper A/B Poweramps that are fed by an affordable Tube Preamp can let one hear the advantages of vertical bi-amping for sure.
So, the fact that the company that built up their amps for vertical bi-amping, truly is amazing and IMHO shows a lot of thoughtful research for what audio equipment can be used for in a sophisticated way! In my eyes, it´s a great thing Parasound gives to the customers! Your technicians are truly blessed by the God of Sound!
Hey Bernhard. Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts and opinions with us. Parasound makes great equipment and we are glad your are enjoying it.
Well, Joe is about the only person I have not spoken with at Parasound, funny that. Anyway, I have the A23+ only because I could not afford the A21+, but other than the power, those two are the same in sound. I run a pair of Paradigm Studio 100 v5 towers and love their no nonsense detail and revealing nature. The Parasound Halo line from John Curl (master designer) are a perfect match for such speakers. I love the natural balance and cleanliness these amps bring. Seeing the builds it reminded me of such things as the Sansui 8080db and other vintage amps and I love that sound for the same reasons. The A23+ and 21+ deliver that great sound.
I don't understand the dismissal or blow off I hear from audiophiles and others directed at Parasound gear and they can never explain why it is that the dealers who carry the Parasound gear can't keep them on the shelves very long.
By the by, I also run the P6 preamp and the JC3 Jr phono preamp (which I would put up against any $5k or more phono amp on the market now) and while I am not an absolute adherent to "must run same brand of everything" it just so happens I ended up doing so and the sound is stunning to me every time. I think even if one where to pair up any piece of Parasound kit in this line to whatever they have one hand, they would notice the same.
I'm thinking of getting the A23+ for my system----I may be getting the new Klipsch Heresy IVs. I'm glad you're enjoying the A23. Does it get very warm?
@@Drackleyrva No, it doesn't get very warm, even after 2 hours, but I still would not set anything on top of it as you want ventilation with any amp. I had a class A AVR that got rocket hot without a cooling system, the A23+ doesn't come anywhere near that. If you are paranoid like me, you might want to pick up a cooler like an AC Infinity unit, but unless you are putting it in a closed space (which I do not recommend for any amp), you probably won't need a cooling rig at all.
Among the things I like about the Parasound JC stuff is that it tends to be more towards the neutral side, kind of gets out of it's own way.
This audiophile would never dis’ Parasound!! The A21, P5 and JC3+ in my system aren’t going anywhere. The Parasound sound is extremely good and revealing. It is vanishingly quiet and details abound. It’s priced ridiculously, insanely affordable considering the quality you get. The P5 and JC3 also work their magic well with other gear like my Pass Labs X250 amp I recently picked up. So now I have two monstrously good amps to play with and couldn’t be happier. One thing I would mention, when I bought my Parasound gear I got free upgrades in power cables. The one for the amp is like an inch thick. After a year I tried the factory Parasound cable and found that it was a major improvement over the Pangea cable. Bass improved, textures improved etc. so keep that in mind if buying new.
@@Slammintone Absolutely! Part of the magic is the design of the Halo line. It is tried and true old school. I once saw an open JC5 next to an open vintage Pioneer and Sansui and the similarities were surprising, right down to some of the component parts! Only difference is they were recently manufactured and slightly improved in the process.
I love how the Parasound gear gets out of its own way. It leans very close to neutral and has a sense of balance. this lends to being revealing. I swapped out a Musical Surroundings Phonomena 2 I was running with my P6 and A23+ with the JC3 Jr and the difference was astonishing! Running a Denon DP-F47 with a Ortofon 2M Bronze, the JC3 Jr draws every single nuance out of the record being played. The detail is stunning and I only have original pressings, not modern day "audiophile" re-issues. (99% of the music I listen to is not available in "audiophile recording re-issues" anyway).
@@ericelliott227 I recently upgraded to an A21+, P6 & JC3 Jr. I’m looking at the Ortofon 2M series Cartridge. I may not be able to afford the Bronze, but am looking at the Blue cartridge. I have approx 18k records and 6k CDs.
Love mine. Month 5. It sounds warmer in mid-bass upon directly replacing two vertically bi-amped A-23 units. Overall more satisfying than A23.
Good to know. Wondered if sounded better than the A23. Im looking at getting the A52+ at 180 watts x 5 for HT which I suspect wont be quite as good as the A21+
Thanks for the comments- I’m thinking of getting the A 21+
Looking for the a23+ for some Klipsch 8000fs
@James Trower those speakers are on my short list. What pre do you like or use with your a21+? Just picked one up and one album in. Using creek audio evolution 50a as the pre. Probably not the ideal but it's actually quite nice so far. I'm thinking of a minidsp SHD for DSP and to use as pre for it.
And Kudo's to the always-helpful AA team!
Is this the same Eric Murray that went to granite high?
Which speakers do you suggest at least for thia amp?
Hello. As one of the moderators for this channel, I reached out to our audio experts with your question. Ultimately, the amplifier in the video offers 300 watts per channel at 8 ohms and will drive any of the speakers Audio Advisor offers. For specific speakers, it will come down to what your budget allows. There are many other factors involved in choosing the right speakers, so giving our sales staff a call for further discussion and advice would be the best recommendation. You can reach our sales team at 1-800-942-0220. If you want to browse our speaker selection, visit us at www.audioadvisor.com/
@@AudioAdvisorHi! May I ask what would be the best amp for the Focal Aria 948? 21+ or is 23+ more than enough? Maybe later to add the P6. Low to moderate auditions. Thank you!
Would you set the gain on the back to max, and use your preamp to control the volume?
Hi Brian,
Yes. You always want the gain knobs on the back of the amp all the way up. Then control volume with preamp.
Please contact me on my direct line at 866-984-0669 with any questions or if you would like to place an order. If you decide to order directly from our website, please choose my name from
the drop down window at checkout where it asks who helped you out.
Thanks!
Brian Orcutt
I have given serious consideration to this A21+ Power Amplifier especially in terms of its cost. It is not cheap but it is also not beyond my price range. However, I have decided to take a little longer to save for the Parasound Halo JC 5 Power Amplifier. It is an expensive unit but makes the A21+ sound broken in comparison.
I have the a21+, it cost here 5.000$ and the jc5 cost 9.000$. Listened to them both and honestly could not hear much difference. But u are prob american, so u get the jc5 for the same price as the a21+ here
@@chriss881000 I appreciate your comment, MANoWAR. It is an interesting comment. Like you, I am Canadian; and, yes, the Parasound JC5 is near 10,000$ CAD with HST in mind. A lot of money. I take your comment seriously and will give it careful consideration. Such a huge price difference in the two amplifiers. Audio Excellence in Maple, ON. considers the JC 5 to be the superior amplifier according to their UA-cam channel. They provide a video in which they discuss the wide difference between the A21+ and JC 5. ua-cam.com/video/qtpvEu6O798/v-deo.html
@@Teachering iv watched that video before. I did not mean that the jc5 is not better, I could almost buy 2 of the a21+ for the price of the jc5, so ofc it is better;) but I guess it all comes dowm to what u need. I now hsve the b&w 702 s2, and for them the a21+ is a perfect match and have more than enough power, but if u have lets say some very very expensive speakers who also need some care, the jc5 world sure be the better option. I see the a21+ in the middle class, and the jc5 in the top of the class. It would be a waste having the jc5 with some 5000$ speakers. If u know what i mean, not a waste but alittle "overkill" 😉
@@chriss881000 Thank you for your reply, MANoWAR. You make a good argument. You have provided me with very good insight.
@@Teachering happy to be of some kind of help:)
i called from over seas for help to purchase the jc5 because there is no agent in my country and i needed 240 volts unit ,sadly they were not interested to help me for a purchase or help .
how would the 21 compare to ps audio m 700 mono amps?
This amp is A/B which is generally preferred over Class D which though sounds great for low end, they don't generally sound as good with mods and highs.
I love PS Audio and run several of their products, but I don't think the 700's are a very good deal. A pair of mono-block class D amps (with very little circuitry in them) or a class A, A/B amp (loaded with circuitry and a big toroidal transformer), both about the same cost...no contest.
Wonder how it’d do pushing Magnepan 1.6QR?
Why don't you use silver connectors on the terminals and all through the wiring and the transformer. silver doesn't tarnish if it's mixed with another metal of about 5%.
So you could mix it with the copper say 20% copper the rest silver I've only know of one Japanese company using silver in the whole construction in the wiring.
Looks like a nice amp how much some ridiculous price probably
About 3 grand
@@jkherberger what the power amplifier I'll stick with benchmark
Does the parasound 2250 v2 "share" the total amplifier power when using A and B channels, or does it have the SAME amount of (i.e. 275 watts one channel only, or 275 watts BOTH channels ? Or will the 275 watts be cut in half per channel A and B ) ?
Hi Kirk,
Thank you for your inquiry. I reached out to one of our audio experts regarding your question and here is his response.
"The a and b connections are paralleled internally, so the amount of power available will change depending on the impedance of the two speaker sets. An example of this is if you had two pair of 8 ohm speakers, the resulting power will be higher because the amp “sees” 4 ohms. In the case of this amp, it is 250 into 8 ohms, 400 into 4 ohms and 400 into 2 ohms. No free lunch though as what is happening is higher amount of current is needed which is the harder thing for amps to do. Lesser amps will often shut off to protect themselves if that impedance drops too low. The speakers 'share' that power. "
If you have any other questions, please reach out to us at (800) 942-0220 or sales@audioadvisor.com.
Thank you and have a great day!
He did not say how many watts is class A before it switches to Class AB. And class I was lead to believe are usually very quick amps .
"medium volume" lol
Hi 👋 Sir good morning, I am from Bahrain my name Sathish, I am having 3 products in my hand, Parasound A 21+ Hint 6 , P 6 with me. All purchased 2021. After buying Parasound the company was sold to some persons. I had a mail , Very sorry to tell after the new management taken over, there is no responses in mail, I asked them is any new products launched in 2022 & 23 they haven’t replied. They are very silent 🤫 now. My Hint 6 had a power failure, it won’t get power on mode?? I contacted the dealer where I purchased they closed?? now In Saudi Arabia 🇸🇦for good. It shocking. Then I got repaired with a local guy. I was completely upset 😢. Can you please tell me know what is the Status of Parasound now ??Please reply waiting for response thanks 🙏. Parasound is a fantastic product in my budget. Value for money. I saved my money and bought it. Any new products this year 2024.
Очень давно заглядываюсь на этот усилитель, но цена 370,000 р. это, сука, дорого! =(