The new Zphono XRM phono preamp is a co-design that involved Parasound’s owner and founder, Richard Schram, and two other engineers he’s worked with for some years. Parasound’s tradition of offering good quality and high value audio components continues in the A23+ amplifier. Natural, effortless, quick, accurate, honest sound. The A23+ delivers neutral-character vivid sounds with excellent dynamics. The HALO A23+ stereo power amplifier that is reviewed here is the updated version of the HALO A23 amplifier. 240 watts x 2, 4 Ω both channels driven, 210 watts x 2, 8 Ω both channels driven During the review, I got the sense that the Parasound A23+ was always in control of the music played through it. (It’s a mystery.). The actual gains through the Parasound Zphono XRM didn’t quite match up with the values stated on the switch settings, but were close enough as makes zero practical difference in operation, and the minuscule differences could be due to slight differences in loading during the measurements, or to production variances. Given that famous amplifier designer John Curl does so much work for Parasound, we mistakenly assumed he must have been responsible for the company’s latest phono preamplifier, the Zphono XRM. The A23+ also sports the left-right loop output connectors that pass through the input audio signals for daisy-chaining additional external amplifier(s) or for connecting subwoofer(s). The A 21 amplifier is loaded with usable features above and beyond most other amplifiers. When set to the Manual position, the amplifier can only be turned on or off using the on-off button on the front panel. Thank you for signing up to What Hi-Fi?. This is only a fairly recent set-up which came about when we discovered the huge number of great LPs that is available for sale at garage sales. The Parasound 2125 is a nice clean and powerfull amplifier that I use to push my Center Channel (Klipsch RC-62II). Possibly the weirdest track on this album – and maybe the weirdest song we’ve ever heard – is their cover of Little Black Buzzer (Ivor Cutler), but it’s a smorgasbord of sound, helped out by Lisa O’Neill and by what I can only imagine is Khan scatting in Indian. You’d think that setting the load impedance for the Ortofon would have been easy, because all we’d have to do would be to dial in the load recommended by Ortofon. With all due respect to Schram, we can’t quite see what’s so hard about extracting four screws, removing a lid, setting a DIP switch (or two) and then replacing both lid and screws, because for most audiophiles, this would be a one-time only process, so once it was done, it would stay done and never need to be done again. The Parasound Zphono XRM provides ample gain for both moving-magnet and moving-coil cartridges, as you can see for yourself from the tabulated results. Hunting these down has now become a major Saturday pastime. The amplifier seemed to present music in high definition with no blurred boundaries among its musical elements. The A23+ is definitely a very capable amplifier … Effectively, this means that it will effectively cut out rumble and other low frequency noises without having any significant effect on the music being played. At CES, Sound Lab mates its M-1s with Parasound’s top-rank $7000 JC 1 monoblocks. There was a problem. The ‘best’ turntable is fitted with an Ortofon Cadenza Blue moving-coil cartridge (which does not have a removable stylus) while the ‘second-best’ is fitted with a middling-quality Audio-Technica moving-magnet cartridge (which does). Life is already hard enough, so why make it harder with inconvenient switches, right?’. 160 watts x 2, 8 Ω both channels driven DIP switches aren’t always desirable for passing audio signals and these locations make it a real nuisance for users. Then there’s the fact that many LPs contain sub-audible – or in the case of many London Decca LPs, audible! Review By Clarke Robinson Click here to e-mail reviewer S an Francisco-based Parasound was founded in 1981 by Richard Schram, with the mission of creating high-quality, audiophile-approved audio components without the stratospheric price tags typically found in the high-end, which is a raison d'être that I have a big soft spot for in my heart. A good result. We ended up mostly using the 50dB setting because we thought the Zphono XRM was slightly quieter using this one, rather than the 60dB setting. This may be due to the amplifier’s ability to nimbly navigate to the various transients and textures in the music. To re-state the obvious, both these are outstanding results for a phono preamplifier. It is interesting that the Parasound Zphono XRM does not have a standby power feature, but on this device it would have added quite a bit of cost and increased circuit noise, plus made it difficult to meet the regulatory requirements of the different countries in which it would be sold, so I can understand why Parasound chose not to include one. Although Parasound makes various audio components, the anchor products have always been its amplifiers. But the glory of the track was the insane clarity the Zphono XRM afforded this sonic smorgasbord. To improve signal path and consistency over time, the A23+ also utilizes updated heavy-duty speaker terminals and internal gold-on-gold audio connections. And because the Zphono XRM draws only 7.2-watts during operation, it’s not going to impact on your utility bill if you leave it on all the time, though we would still recommend you switch if off when you’re not using it. The JC 1 was powerful, at 400 watts RMS into 8 Ohms. The front appearance of the A23+ amplifier has some familiarity with the A23, albeit with some minor differences. Overall, the Parasound NewClassic 200 integrated amplifier is a good looking product. You can see a big indent of the company name on the top cover of the unit. The built-in power supply is pretty good, too, with a shielded power transformer, a high-quality bridge diode and filter capacitors. A 10mV input at the MM input will result in a healthy 1-volt output using the 50dB gain setting and 3-volts using the 60dB setting. Graph 2 shows the same response as Graph 1, but with a magnified vertical graph scale, so you can see the frequency response of the Zphono XRM in more detail (though we lose the response of the filter because of the scale magnification). No shortage of machismo – it has to be an American power amp, right? You will receive a verification email shortly. There is also a small high-temperature red indicator light near the right side of the front panel, which illuminates if either of the channels overheats. But, at … Empire Brass Quintet’s Passage “138 B.C. These results make the Parasound Zphono XRM completely compatible with any MM or MC cartridge we’ve ever heard of. This turn-on option switch can be set to Manual, Audio, or 12V Trigger. In the hi-fi world, Parasound needs no introduction. Going around to that busy back panel, we find completely separate moving-coil (MC) and moving-magnet inputs, both with gold-plated RCA input sockets. But one problem with this setting is that it assumes there is zero radio-frequency interference, which is rarely the case if you live in a city. Halo is our premier line with a reputation for going head-to-head with the most expensive equipment on the market, while costing a fraction of the price. It showed no signs of losing composure even when pushed to relatively high-volume levels. I have owned Parasound products myself in the past and I can attest for the two attributes mentioned above. What Hi-Fi? Parasound also redesigned the input board layout of the A23+ to improve the cross-channel crosstalk (70 dB vs 63 dB at 20 kHz). They celebrate their 40 th year, next year, in 2021. But we’ll get to that in a moment. It is reasonably priced too at $1595. As you can see from the photograph of it, the Zphono XRM has a push-button power switch with a green LED alongside it at the left of the front panel. The RIAA-corrected frequency response of the Parasound Zphono XRM, as measured by Newport Test Labs, is shown in Graph 1 below. Parasound states that it is not advised to use both the balanced and unbalanced inputs at the same time, which is cumbersome in my system. The A23+ no longer has the red LED with ‘P’ logo on the front plate like the A23. Click here for more information about Australian Hi-Fi, including links to buy individual digital editions and details on how to subscribe. These voltages (which we’ve rounded for use here in the text) were measured at the unbalanced outputs – the voltages at the balanced outputs were 2-volts and 6-volts respectively (again rounded). He wanted the XRM to offer versatility and convenience and thought that the design should be informed by viewing it through the eyes of a vinyl enthusiast rather than an engineer. Even in the softer passages, the A23+ did not lose its grip in presenting the details in the music. The company has been known for its no-nonsense audio products with prices that do not go into stratospheric levels. But its small size means there’s not a lot of real-estate available to fit connectors, so the rear panel is pretty busy. You can see that if there is any second harmonic distortion, it’s buried down in the noise floor at -100dB (0.001% THD), and the same goes for any third harmonic component (-110dB/0.0003%) or fourth (-115dB/0.0001%). If Ortofon had specified  a value of 63Ω, this would not have been a problem if you owned a Zphono XRM, because you could have dialled in this exact value using the rear panel load impedance selector! Parasound really hit a home run with the 275.v2 stereo amplifier! Heartbeat-like bass lines mean you’re on edge for most of the album, with your senses primed to stun. HALO is Parasound’s premier line that is intended to represent the company’s highest standard for sound and style. John Curl did have some involvement however, because Schram told us during our fact-checking process that “While John Curl didn’t design the XRM, he did offer me some useful suggestions that take it up a notch from ordinary phono stages.’”. the deSIgn As one would hope with high quality electronics, a cursing UPS driver delivered the Parasound pair. Interchannel phase errors, as you can see from the tabulated results, were also low across the audio band. It can also be bridged to generate a mono amplifier rated at 500 W into an 8-ohm load. Sonos Amp review Sonos returns to its roots with a just-add-speakers music system Tested at £599 / $599. The A23+ might look lean and rather petite in the power-amplifier world, but it showed no sign of struggle at all in navigating the Ultima Studio through the soft and loud musical passages in a dynamic track such as Hopper Dance by Empire Brass Quintet from their Passage: 138 B.C. to them first. Next, with thoughtful flexibility and using trickle-down technology from their flagship HALO line of products, Parasound designed a fully-featured integrated amplifier around this unit. Starke Sound A8.350 Multichannel Power Amplifier Review, THE HIGH END 2021 MOVES FROM MAY TO SEPTEMBER, What We Are Watching Vol. Both channels are driven, with 150 watts-per-channel into 8 ohms. But will this load result in the best sound quality? Overall, the Parasound Zphono XRM performed outstandingly well on the test bench, returning a flat, extended frequency response, excellent channel separation, ultra-low distortion and vanishingly low noise. – A.D. 1611”. The Auralic Aries G1 streamer (streaming Qobuz and Tidal) and PS Audio PerfectWave Transport were the primary signal sources during the review with the digital-to-analog signal conversion performed by the PS Audio PerfectWave DAC II. It’s likely that another reason for the introduction of the Zphono XRM was to plug the yawning gap in the Parasound’s product line-up between its entry-level Zphono phono preamplifier and its award-winning Halo JC 3 Jr phono preamp. The A23+ is definitely a very capable amplifier that seems to do everything well. Parasound’s Halo A 31 might get overlooked because it’s a three-channel amplifier designed primarily for use in multichannel home-theater systems -- or because, at $3295, it costs more than a budget multichannel amplifier, if less than what many audiophiles would pay for a two-channel amp. The gain of the moving-coil input can be switched between 50 and 60dB, and that of the moving-magnet input between 40 and 50dB, both via miniature toggle switches. The Parasound 2100 preamplifier and 2250 power amplifier offer sound quality across the board so good I would have thought you'd have to pay at least $3,000 to get them. “This exercise led to the design heading off in some directions I hadn’t considered,” he said. Simple works. Soundstage is great, my Magico S3's disappear. Unlike what it’s relatively low height profile might suggest, the A23+ amplifier feels heavier than it looks. England and Wales company registration number 2008885. The musical portrayal through the A23+ had a sense of vividness that defined the edges of the musical elements in space with such clarity and without being analytical. The success that Parasound has achieved since it was founded in 1981 is driven by the customers’ appreciation of the value of its products. Dandy Hydraulic LP Cleaning Apparatus MKII, PreSonus Eris E3.5 Powered Speakers Review, Still Blown Away After All These Years: JBL Launches 75^th Anniversary Edition of L100 Loudspeaker, Solidly constructed and good-looking amplifier, Balanced sonic characteristics with good presentation of musical details, Composed sounding amplifier that does everything well, Stylish appearance and very good build quality, Sufficiently powerful amplifier to drive most speakers, Gain control and signal pass-through features. is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. You get a switchable phono stage, a headphone output and even tone controls. In the case of the Ortofon Cadenza, its internal d.c. resistance is 5Ω. At first look the Parasound Halo A 21 is an appealing and robust amplifier accented by brushed metal finish. Obviously, this approach also meant we could accommodate two turntables or a turntable with two tonearms.”. ), As luck would have it, we also had problems choosing which gain setting we should use – 50dB or 60dB – because the Ortofon Cadenza Blue’s output (which the specifications say is 0.5mV at 1kHz at a recorded velocity of 5 cm/sec) is right on the cusp of choices… at least it is according to Parasound, which recommends that you use the 60dB setting ‘for low output moving coil cartridges whose output is less than 0.5mV’ and the 50dB setting ‘for high output moving coil cartridges.’. The A23+ is the recent iteration of the highly popular A23 amplifier, which had been a continuous presence in the company’s line for about 17 years. Listen to Knochentanz and you’ll hear first the sangari, but after some time (OK, after long time… it’s a long track) Khan himself starts singing and the effect, which is totally eerie, was delivered astoundingly well by the Parasound. The extra detail allows us to hang some dB variation figures on the response, and you can see that the Parasound Zphono XRM is 0.25dB down at 20Hz, 0.5dB down at 10Hz and 1.3Hz down at 5Hz. At high frequencies, you can see the response of the Zphono XRM rises to be +0.5dB at 13kHz, then +0.65dB at 20kHz and +0.75dB at 30kHz. Then there’s the way it handled the driving bass on Girls Go Wild, once again compartmentalising the various instruments while at the same time not separating them out from the mix, but integrating them into the whole. If the audio signal ceases, the amplifier will remain on for 10 minutes before turning itself off automatically. Best Wishes for a Peaceful and Safe Holiday, JBL Synthesis SDP-55 & SDR-35 Q&A Nick Clarke – Senior Director of Global Engineering, Thank You To All of Our SECRETS Fans and Supporters, RIAA Vinyl Sales Q&A with McIntosh Group CEO Jeff Poggi. I guarantee I will not be on the UPS Christmas list with all the incredibly heavy boxes delivered to my house. Newport Test Labs measured the signal-to-noise ratios of the Zphono XRM using that input voltage which resulted in a 2V output on the highest gain settings for both MM and MC inputs and, as you can see, the Zphono delivered outstanding S/N results of 95dB A-weighted for its MM input and 81dB A-weighted for its MC input. If Ortofon had been specific and recommended a load impedance of, say, 63Ω, anyone whose phono pre-amp did not offer this exact value might seriously consider not buying the cartridge. You can see that the filter’s response starts deviating from that of the main response at around 400Hz, but there’s no disparity until 200Hz, after which it’s 5dB down at 38Hz, 10dB down at 28Hz and 20dB down at 18Hz. Parasound's Halo JC5 conforms to some of these stereotypes, but there's more to it than just slam There's nothing terribly unusual about a big, hefty US-made power amp: after all, it's almost an archetype of what we think the US high-end is all about. This review will look at the more conventional, yet equally impressive, design from Parasound. It also revealed the delicate sound of the ukulele on the intro to One Night in the Sun. The result for the MM input bested Parasound’s own specification of 94dB, while Newport Test Labs’ measurement for the MC input was only a single dB below Parasound’s specification of 82dB. 20 Hz – 20 kHz, +0/-0.25 dB, < 0.06 % at full power In that time, Parasound has established itself as a quality manufacturer. Simple is good. Cons: No volume knob. If you want the very best, go with the Parasound Integrated, the HINT. During the review, I inserted the A23+ amplifier into the audio chain in my main system in between the Classe CP-500 preamplifier and the Revel Ultima Studio speakers. The front panel of the A23+ sports an on-off button with illumination surrounding it. Increasing load impedance tends to decrease the level of r.f. We guess Schram’s approach has merit if you’re one of those audiophiles who constantly swaps phono cartridges in and out, but even if you are, it’s still only around 5 minutes out of your life each time you swap, which is hardly the end of the world. Just in case you own an Ortofon Cadenza Blue and you’re looking for a load recommendation, we thought ours sounded best with the Zphono XRM’s input impedance knob set to just a tad over 150Ω. > 107 dB, input shorted, unweighted, 17-1/4″ (437 mm) W x 15″-1/4″ (388 mm) D x 4-1/8″ (105 mm) H (with feet), 800 Watts Parasound Zphono XRM review A compact phono preamp with powerful performance Tested at £699 / $599 / AU$1249. On this graph, the black trace is the response without the infrasonic filter and the red trace is the response with the infrasonic filter deployed. As for that rumble filter, it’s probably mis-named, because in 2020, We’d sincerely hope that no self-respecting audiophile would be using a turntable that produced any audible ‘rumble’. At the right are three miniature toggle switches which are for (from left to right) mono/stereo switching, rumble filter switching, and input selection (MM or MC). With these upgrades, the A23+ is listed at $600 higher MSRP than the A23. We assume it’s at the rear to keep signal paths as short as possible, so it’s hard to be critical about something that’s giving you better sound at the expense of a modicum of inconvenience. Side note - while there's no problem finding reviews on Parasound amps, I looked long and hard and couldn't find even a hint of a real review on one of the Emotiva DR models - and they've been out for a while now. Parasound’s Zphono XRM is physically quite small, at 260mm deep, 218mm wide and 50mm high, yet it has a power supply built in, rather than being powered externally. They also sell thru Amazon. For the black finish, like what I have for the review, the feet are also golden, which gives a more striking two-tone appearance than the silver finish that comes with silver-colored feet. Which would you choose and why? Parasound maintains the overall style of the previous HALO products in the current product line. Company Product Page: http://www.parasound.com/zamp-v3.php Also, the A23+ presented the music with a sense of tightness, with quick transients and nimble attacks. Bridged 4 Ω operation is not recommended, *All Power measurement are at 120 VAC, RMS continuous power, full audio band (20 Hz – 20 kHz), 5 Hz – 100 kHz, +0/-3 dB This is a review and detailed measurements of Parasound Zdac v.2 DAC and headphone amplifier. And if MA is a bit too house for you, play what I followed up with… anything by Coldplay… or, preferably, everything by Coldplay. At the same time, channel balance was an equally outstanding 0.013dB at this same frequency. And despite what the purists say, on occasion, for example when playing a poorly engineered recording, they can be useful. But could the Parasound Zphono XRM handle total sonic mayhem? This means that the minimum load impedance for the Cadenza has to be 50Ω. Parasound’s amplifiers are well known and established products, which is of no surprise considering the legendary amplifier designer, John Curl, has been involved in the company’s amplifier product development since its early years. Our magazine, which began with the publication of the SECRETS Primer, is available exclusively on-line and offers to our readers an extensive information resource about home theater and high-end audio. A 2mV input at the MC input, using the 60dB gain setting, results in 1.5V at the unbalanced output (3V at the balanced output). Amazing performances by all concerned. They are both available in black and silver finishes, but the A23+ has gold-liner on the faceplate, which in my opinion, adds to the elegant look of the product. Rather frustratingly, Ortofon’s load impedance recommendation is disappointingly wide, at ‘50-200Ω’. Parasound may have been thinking along these lines when they engaged the well-known amplifier designer John Curl to create their new five-channel amp, the Halo A 52+ ($2,995). The rhythm and pace as well as the relaxed atmosphere of the song were conveyed nicely, which made me feel like swaying with the music. Parasound calls the Halo Integrated … The problem with garage-sale LP ‘bargains’ is that they aren’t always bargains because we don’t get to hear them before buying them, and many are damaged. Yongki earned his Sc.D in aerospace engineering from MIT in 1999 and pursued a career as a professor in Singapore and later on in the US before deciding to change path to join the aerospace defense industry. And of course if your cartridge falls firmly into one or the other of the ‘high output’ or ‘low output’ camps, you won’t need to give this issue a second thought. This may be due to the amplifier’s ability to nimbly navigate to the various transients and textures in the music. “One such being the inclusion of completely independent preamps for MM and MC cartridges… an approach that enabled us to optimise sound quality specifically for each input individually, rather than having to make a compromise to satisfy to competing requirements within a single preamp. Greater overall capacity with the monos, obviously. The portrayal of the instruments in the track as to their own locations in the musical stage were clear and unambiguous. Two sets of five-way speaker binding posts are available for speaker connection. The amp's overall sound quality is excellent, with … “I was thinking what would a vinyl lover without a large budget appreciate and perhaps salivate over?” he said. Instead of silk-screened lettering, the ‘Parasound’ brand on the new faceplate has a 3D texture with gold lettering. The image presentation of the singer was neutral portraying an intimate overall soundstage. While the basic circuit design and topology stays the same, the A23+ has a beefier transformer than its predecessor (1.1 kVA vs 1.0 kVA), which translates into more powerful amplification (160 Watts vs 125 Watts into 8Ω loads, or 240 Watts vs 225 Watts into 4Ω loads). The product in this review, the A23+ stereo power amplifier, is the smallest (both in size and Watts) amplifier from the current Parasound HALO line of products. 28 April 2020. The A23+ has improved components and can deliver 28% more power than its predecessor. interference, which means that depending on your physical location, increasing the impedance even further may result in an improvement in sound quality. While their focus was clearly on sound and build quality rather than a long list of features, they’ve nonetheless provided enough flexibility to satisfy a variety of users. It runs quite warm when it is running, so it will come up to a stable operating temperature almost immediately after you switch it on. 4 Distinct Product Lines. It was like looking at a picture with clear lines around the borders of the objects in the picture. Best sound quality is usually achieved with twice the minimum load impedance, which in this case would be 100Ω. The Parasound Zamp V3 is not the kind of product you might expect to see on a Head-Fi review. It was of no surprise that the A23+ amplifier could drive the Revel Ultima Studio speakers with ease. The Halo HINT 6, retailing for $2,995, is Parasound’s flagship integrated amplifier. It is this continued passion for audio that has brought him once again to the SECRETS team. By honest, I mean, the A23+ would not add lushness to the vocals or smoothness to the midrange like how some other amplifiers would. Offering products in the sweet spot of quality-to-cost ratio is always the company’s mission. The Zphono XRM provides both unbalanced (via gold-plated RCA sockets) and balanced (via gold-plated XLRs) outputs. Overall, the A23+ was no slouch in conveying the sense of space, imaging, and soundstage. Midrange presentation sounded natural and honest as exemplified by Melissa Manchester’s vocal in the track Claudia from her album You Gotta Love the Life (2015). Please deactivate your ad blocker in order to see our subscription offer, We check over 130 million products every day for the best prices, (Image credit: Australian Hi-Fi magazine), The best phono preamps available: budget to high-end, We've compared the best record players on offer, Harman Kardon brings 3D spatial audio and live music concerts to your car, Sony launches new 360 Reality Audio wireless speakers and video streaming service, Mercedes MBUX Hyperscreen is a giant 56-inch OLED 'in-car cinema'.
Uma Login Online Campus *, Disposal Wholesale Market In Delhi, Washington University In St Louis Duolingo, How To Remove Adhesive From Drywall, Agam Puram Trailer, Physical Space In Architecture, Command Outdoor Light Clips Australia, Echo Generator Matlab, Taxi Fare From Sharjah To Global Village, Across The Street Sentence,