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Amp Preamp Advice

I am fairly new to the forum and perhaps someone has already had this discussion. If so, please forgive me.

I currently have a Parasound Halo A23 amp, Parasound New Classic 2100 preamp, Marantz 8006 CD player which can also be used for streaming, and Focal Aria 926 speakers. Overall, the system sounds pretty good. But are we ever really completely satisfied with the sound? I have been considering various options to improve the sound quality-more depth and clarity, bigger soundstage, etc. and wanted to see if I could get some advice before I make another purchase. Here are some of the options that I have considered:

1) Upgrade to a Parasound A21 amp which will increase the watts from 125 to 250 and the amperage from 45 to 60. If I go with this option, I will eventually upgrade the preamp, probably to a Parasound P6.
2) Upgrade the preamp to either a Parasound P6 when some are back in stock or to a Musical Fidelity or NAD C165BEE now. I would keep my current amp at least for now.
3) Gift my current amp and preamp to my son to start his first "real" stereo system and purchase an integrated amp which would replace both my amp and preamp at the same time. I know that there is a whole conversation to be had about which are better separates or integrated. But the integrated amps that I am considering are the Parasound Hint 6, the Musical Fidelity M5si and the Musical Fidelity M6si. In a way, I feel that the first two might be lateral moves from where I currently am although they would increase my wattage slightly and probably give me a better DAC than I currently have. The last one is probably more than I wanted to pay for an integrated at the moment, but I might could swing down the road.

What do the people say who probably know infinitely more about building a good sound system than I do? Or should I go with my last option and just be content with what I have? Thank you for your responses.
bcool57
yyzsantabarbara
4,941 posts
 
It can be seductive to go for components like Benchmark that are very detailed, but can rob you of the emotional connection.
I am not so sure the super silent Benchmark robs you of emotional connection. I my view it allows the other components, source and amp, to dictate the sound. 

I was just listening to Pearl Jam 'Black' on the Topping pre90 (just like the Benchmark preamps) and the Parasound A21+ and I was moved by the music. 

I have 3 peamps that I have mixed and matched and they are all good with the right pairing.

CODA 07x, Topping pre90, Benchmark LA4


boomerbillone
360 posts
 
Hello bcool57.  For the money, and if you are handy, the Akitika Preamp is very good. (it is abitious for beginners.) Find an outfit that will let you try out cables: Used Cables.com is one. You can make excellent cables if you can build that kit. It's easy and inexpensive. It might not have an attractive woven nylon cover, but who knows whats under those covers? Your homemade cables might not have gold plated, highly polished connectors (unless you ant to pay for them), but if they sound great, who cares? Try using that leftover TV cable the installer left behind. /think about what kind of frequency response that cable has to have! Contact me for cable making ideas, speaker and interconnects. If the music isn't making it thru your present cables, you won't know how good your components are. The gear you have is good stuff, be sure you can hear it sing. A $50 Chinese 10 gauge, five foot, sheilded power cable from Amazom is worth a try. If that improves things, enjoy it and upgrade later, perhaps. And think just how proud you will be when your efforts give you big rewards! Enjoy!
hshifi
572 posts
 
Hello,
MC is right. The raven is nice but it sounds like you want solid state not tubes. If you are ok with tubes I would say replace your preamp. The preamp is the signature sound, bar none. I like Rogue and PS Audio, but unless you buy used it’s out of your budget for the bigger models like the PS Audio BHK or the Rogue RP5. You have a strong amp you just need to get the finesse back which will NOT happen with the Hint6. Your whole budget should go to a preamp. You need to demo this in your home. I chased the watt dragon for years until I tried a new stereo preamp. It made all the difference in the world. You can run those speakers with a 2.5 watt Decware and it will sound amazing. A Rogue Sphinx v3 for $1599 would also sound amazing. Plus it has a nice phono stage. It’s about the preamp not the watts. If you are in the Chicagoland area this store lets you try stuff out in your home before you buy. https://holmaudio.com/
Add a couple of subs and you are done. 
tomic601's avatar
tomic601
13,022 posts
 
what exactly is the budget ? You have many choices of excellent gear. As Eric wisely said, optimize current setup as your Curl designed components are capable of much. Consider the Jim Smith book - Get Better Sound - to assist you.

Ignore the singular product recommendation, typical regurgitation of only what they own, often without any or much depth of experience… 

Finally, enjoy the journey and congrats on the notion to gift components to son to kindle interest :-) how wonderful!
bcool57 OP
24 posts
 
I have spent a good deal of time the last couple of days listening to various artists in different genres and have come away convinced that my system is pretty good overall. I think it does need tweaking but one piece of equipment at a time, probably starting with the preamp or adding a sub. I have looked at various used preamps online including Bryston, Bel Canto, Hegel, Copland, and Rogue. Some of them are solid state and some tube.

As for budget, I don’t have much of one as I have children either in college or about to head to college. My wife and I have always allowed a little “play money” each month that we can use however we want which is what I will save to buy.
Thank you all for your input!
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