Parasound Halo P3 opinions ???

[scott fitlin]

If you take price out of the equation, i think the A21 sound just about average. It finishes in the middle of the bunch.

If you take price into consideration, it gives great bang for the bucks. It has huge power reserves, and you need to really push it, to make it sound strained.

In summary I would say that it is a little down on refinement, but makes up for it with huge power reserves. It's all about compromises.

I actually considered buying a set of JC1 monoblocks when the national distributor gave me a good offer on a demo set. After comparing it with a Mcintosh MC-402, i choose the Mc. I found it better in all respects, except controll of large woofers. This was before i caught the JBL bug, so it was no problem. I was still dabbling with tiny 6.5" woofers.

I have never owned an A21 personally, but have had a sample in the shop for extended periods of time. The faulty one got fixed. I don't think the buyer hav had any problem since. Not 100% sure about that since I don't work there anymore.

Thanks, I hear you, and I also agree with the things you say, and have opposite feelings about other things. I like McIntosh to a degree, but for my sonic taste Mc is sometimes a bit too soft for me. I have an MC-2125 that I bought to use on my bullet tweeters, and HEY, wow, what a soft, powdery sounding top end. but after a bit, I went back to Crown, and I just prefer this. Then I put the 2125 on my six 2395 lenses, and this DID sound SWEET. The upper ranges of female vocals were OH SO SWEET, like you had a spotlight on the singer. An illuminated sound sort of. I had a Bryston 3B SST on the horns before that, and got tired of it after a bit, I'm just not a big Bryston fan on my horns and tweeters in my room. The Mc was nice, but there was/is a tradeoff. The Mc gives my horns a VERY smooth, sweet sound, female vocals are so super sexy and seductive sounding, but the instrument presentation was not as dynamic sounding as a Crown DC-300A. When I went back to a Crown DC-300, percussions, drums, strings, everything became VERY dynamic sounding again. With the crown, transients are explosive and very snappy sounding. Vocals are good, not as sweet as the Mc but, I prefer the dynamic liveliness of the Crown. Like anything, no one device is a jack of all trades. Each of us picks what we like best.

Crown, their TOTL offerings, I always like for bass, and big woofers. That probably will never really change. But i Tech or Macro Tech i for highs and mids? I don't think so yet.

Thanks for sharing your experiences and opinions.

[timc]

I actually have Crown DC-300 available. After this praise i will have to connect it to something and try it out

This sweetness you refer to in Mc equipment. I fully agree when it comes to the older models. Before the 252/402. With the updates done in the 402 and the 252 they have more or less eliminated this. It responds dramatically to what you use as frontend.

[SEAWOLF97]

Both Halo and NC series. They fail,,,,fail,,,,and fail some more. Think we reached over 100% failure rate in the shop where i worked. The replacement/repaired units failed both 2nd and 3rd time around.
-Tim

To be clear, I have not had a P3 fail..

Well, on reading tim's post, I kinda deduced that the Halo gear fails often - before the last quoted post, I had the following email exchange with Richard, Parasounds president.

(can't see any problem posting the emails)

me.

Thanks for your quick reply, Richard



I like the features of the P3 , but have read conflicting reports on their failure rate,

so the warranty is important for me.



TOM


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Hi Tom,

We made some changes after the first 100 sets and the P 3 reliability record has been exemplary. But the warranty is important insurance and for your peace of mind.

Bst rgds,
Richard

[Mr. Widget]

No problem at all posting the e-mail... the folks at Parasound are really pretty amazing in this day and age. You can shoot them an e-mail or call them on the phone and get a knowledgeable person and a real honest answer... if you do have a problem, they have actual technicians who will deal with the issue. Obviously being that the company is local to me, it does simplify the situation compared to shipping a defective amp back from say, Norway, but all in all they have been and still are an excellent company.

Sorry I can't comment on the P3, but I will report back on how the A21 works out... I still need to extract it from it's shipping box.


Widget

[SEAWOLF97]

No problem at all posting the e-mail... the folks at Parasound are really pretty amazing in this day and age. You can shoot them an e-mail or call them on the phone and get a knowledgeable person and a real honest answer... if you do have a problem, they have actual technicians who will deal with the issue. Obviously being that the company is local to me, it does simplify the situation compared to shipping a defective amp back from say, Norway, but all in all they have been and still are an excellent company.

Sorry I can't comment on the P3, but I will report back on how the A21 works out... I still need to extract it from it's shipping box.


Widget

OKAY....I have NOT demoed it yet...mebbe its junk, will find out, BUT one thing that attracted me is that its NOT "made in China" (MIC)....yes , Taiwan is only 20 miles away, but they've been chucking out good quality gear for a long time and IMHO are past the "teething problems" that are sometimes experienced in MIC products.

I'd be thrilled to buy "Made in USA" if it were available at competitive price.

And Scotty referred to "cold solder joints" ...they are part of what I'd consider teething problems .....I got a beautifully finished Denon AVR (MIC) that suffers from that very problem....

JUST HAD ONE FINAL EMAIL EXCHANGE WITH RICHARD

the P3 has both rca outs and XLR outs and both can be used at the same time, so using a second amp to power the subs will be possible.

[scott fitlin]

OKAY....I have NOT demoed it yet...mebbe its junk, will find out, BUT one thing that attracted me is that its NOT "made in China" (MIC)....yes , Taiwan is only 20 miles away, but they've been chucking out good quality gear for a long time and IMHO are past the "teething problems" that are sometimes experienced in MIC products.

I'd be thrilled to buy "Made in USA" if it were available at competitive price.

And Scotty referred to "cold solder joints" ...they are part of what I'd consider teething problems .....I got a beautifully finished Denon AVR (MIC) that suffers from that very problem....

JUST HAD ONE FINAL EMAIL EXCHANGE WITH RICHARD

the P3 has both rca outs and XLR outs and both can be used at the same time, so using a second amp to power the subs will be possible.

Hey Tom, you know what? You really have to stop and RE-READ the reply that Richard sent you! He said they had a problem with the first 100 units and made changes in the following production run. HOW HONEST IS THIS?

And while I would like to see "MADE IN THE U.S.A." too, you know how much more their gear would cost? But, OTOH, MADE IN THE USA doesn't guarantee that anything is failure, glitch or bug free, either! When Crown first introduced the I Techs, they had problems! And they were MADE IN THE USA! Crown took care of the problems, but, still, they did have problems. Oh yeah, here is a tidbit from the past, we got out first Crown SA-2 with the ladder display back in 1978, and this amp has serial number 0001, and had to go in for a complete change of the output devices. They originally had two different output transistors, the PSA-2 had the heavier duty devices, and the devices used in the SA-2 just were NOT holding up. Crown changed them, and subsequently began using the same output device in bioth the SA-2 and PSA-2, but the year was 1978, and hey, sometimes we had problems then too!

I can only speak about the HALO amps, as that is what I am getting, BUT I say that when I read the specs and circuit theories and descriptions the HALO amps have some really pedigree design under their hoods! Does it work as well as they imply? Time will tell. OTOH, besides what I personally think makes for a good sounding amp, they have pedigree designer credentials too. John Curl is considered to be that good. And for what the amps I purchased cost, I do not see comparable type circuits and huge power supplies, with the type of parts in use, at these price points.

Next week, when my 3 amplifiers arrive, I will set em up, install them, warm them up and begin listening! At the end of a solid 3 to 5 day run, I will post my listening evaluation. As well as my 1st initial out of the box impressions, too!

I, personally am impressed with Parasounds complete honesty.

[4313B]

And while I would like to see "MADE IN THE U.S.A." too, you know how much more their gear would cost?.

I think alot of people miss the whole point about "Made in the U.S.A."

[SEAWOLF97]

I think alot of people miss the whole point about "Made in the U.S.A."

not quite sure how to interpret that, BUT

my "made in USA" Ford truck has an engine from Germany , transmission from France, misc parts from Canada and assembled in New Jersey....I think it only has to be 51% made here to be labeled USA.

[Charlie4350]

i think alot of people miss the whole point about "made in the u.s.a."

like, maybe because of the effing pigs at the top - pigs, stockholders, f em all, nothing left for product and employees (the ones that really make shit, not steal)

[jblsound]

I've not heard the P3, but I bought the P7 earlier this year. I think its a very good unit. I run everything thru it, TT, DVD-A/SACD, CD.

[SEAWOLF97]

yesterday I bough an Adcom GTP-500II in pristine condition with remote ...havnt wired it in yet as today looks like decent bike riding weather.

The Adcom had all the features that I need and I bought at a good enuff price that should it not measure up, I can get out at least even.

The Parasound will still be there (at 4x what I paid for the Adcom) if I decide to go that way ..(dealer is out in the boonies operating from a large outbuilding behind the home, but is an authorized dealer) .the Adcom has FM tuner which the Halo didnt....Had called the store owner and left a message that I would return Saturday and check it out...he wasn't ready for me and it meant returning another week later for him to make it "demoable"

the Adcom + Adcom DAC