Will there be a dramatic difference?

Yes & no or no & yes but definitely not no & no or yes & yes.

You’re not gonna get any useful recommendations here due to the little info you’ve provided about your specific equipment, room, and sound preferences.  Put a little more effort into providing this critical info and you will get something useful here.

yes a parasound will be an upgrade with improved bass control

we are a parasound dealer theA21 is a good amp you want a jc5 which is a much better amplifier then the 21

Dave and Troy

audio intellect nj

parasound dealers

Long ago I (briefly) had a Carver Sunfire Signature II 600 pushing Legacy Signature III speakers, and hated it. Replaced the Sunfire with a Parasound A21, and it was an absolutely massive improvement. Do it! 

Although I don't post much, I can tell you I am A life long (64 year old)carver user. All upgraded by Nelion Audio., I decided to upgrade a bit Got an ARC ref5se pre to replace the Carver pre. Wow!  Next got an ARC ref75se amp.next  More wow!! Then an Aurender A15 to replace Auralic Altair. Ok  thats it, I love tubes. Klipsch Forte III, GRresearch crossovers.

This upgrade sounds phenomenal. My point is having and listening to my Carver gear, which I had since the eighties which isn't the worst, and moving up the ladder was the best decision in my audio journey I ever made. So yes, do it!

I really appreciate the responses. And I am definitely going to make the jump. I do have one more question as far as difference in quality is concerned. Parasound also makes as. audiotroy posted the halo JC5. Anybody have an opinion on whether or not that would would be worth an extra $2000 on top of an already big improvement? $2000 seems like a lot considering the great reviews the A21+ already has.

"@audiotroy  we are a parasound dealer theA21 is a good amp you want a jc5 which is a much better amplifier then the 21"

I think this is accurate from what I know.

At the moment, I just can’t spend an extra two grand. I went ahead and ordered the A21+. In the future when I have some extra money, I will probably sell that one and upgrade. However, until then I’m sure the improvement from what I am currently running to the A21+ should be amazing and satisfy my listening needs for a little while anyway.

It is a decent step up but to make better there are 1 main fuse and 4 -2 per channel fuses on the power rails  that I would at least replace with Hifi tuning  fuses

Can you tell me what size fuses and where to get these?

How exactly do hi-fi tuning fuses make the sound better

I believe that is the name of the company.  The owners manual will give you the info you need.

I had a couple Carver amps back in the day.  Pretty good for 35 yrs ago and decent prices. The A 21+ is on the warm side sound wise like the Carver.

I have an A21+. What I really like about it is that if you hook up dual subwoofers to it, the gain adjustments allows you to tune it just like you like it. Reason is the lower you set the gain will diminish the mids and trebles much more than the lows. Hence it is an easy way to tune it to your ears. My best average adjustment, so it will sound best with all my different sources, Vinyl, CD, DVD, tuner and streamer is at 2pm, meaning basically two thirds gain. Enjoy, I do.

My A21 arrives today…. Pretty excited. But now all you guys have me thinking about fuses, power conditioners and power plugs… ugggh I’m gonna go bankrupt with this hobby!!!!  I hear the A 21+ takes about 40 hours of play to really break in and start sounding good. I’ll keep everyone posted.

You'll really enjoy the A21, which on its own is great. Of course the JC5 in my experience is a major step up in every way, but comes at a higher price.

I've seen a few JC5s used for sale for really good prices lately so you could keep an eye out for a good deal that way.

If you are considering a used JC5 then you should also consider a used CODA #8. It's just as good or better than the JC5 and has a transferable 5-year warranty. This amp has massive current reserves.

Well, she’s all hooked up and been running music through it for the last couple of hours. Obviously needs to break in. I’m sure it sounds great but I’m starting to think all this audio file stuff as a joke. It’s like saying one kind of marijuana is so much better than the other kind for pain. I don’t smoke anything anymore maybe I should but I could never tell the difference from one strain to the next they both just got me high. this amplifier doesn’t sound noticeably better than my Carber. And I don’t think the JC5 would sound noticeably better than the A21 not enough to justify the price difference. My whole set up has always sounded damn good and it still does. I’m not unhappy with this purchase however, I think all of this technical ultimate sound stuff is a bunch of opinions. That’s all nothing else. It is fun to try to get to that ultimate sound, however, I don’t think it should require the thousands of dollars people try to spend to make stuff so much better and so much better.

@rossgordon ....

Hold that thought.

Stay happy.

Live long, and Happy Listening. ;)

@rossgordon

You’re a few hours into the breakin. Things will sound better. Probably by the end of the day today.

There’s a difference between a pragmatic rationalist who desires to get to the end result with the minimal investment in time (and, money), and a hobbyist. Neither approach is "right" or "wrong." They’re just different.

Hope the A21 lights you up soon. Hopefully, no drugs required.

If going to make a comparison between and exchanged device, I have always found it best to let the New Device have a few weeks of usage, with regular periods of experiencing the device being used. A month is a period I would suggest is enough to allow the impression to be made, that is formed on a reasonable time spent experiencing the device in use.

For myself, it usually works for the best, when the device is not analysed, but let be and able to present music. The way the music holds the attention and the replays are conjured up as after thought, is usually an indicator something is new and forming an attraction.

If noticeable changes are becoming detected from the produced sonic, then the likelihood is that a Run In is occurring and the device is becoming more coherent in how it is presenting.

When returning to the A/B comparisons of old vs new, there will be plenty to suggest one of the devices is worthwhile being maintained in the system in place of the other. 

Being an Audiophile is to be one who has a enthusiasm to enjoy listening to music, achieving this place is easy, and for many has proved to be quite an addiction.

To extend the enthusiasm to attempting to enjoy music replays through the usage of electronically designed equipment, has the potential to leave an individual dis-heartened at times, but there is a place that can be found, that centres around the system created is enough to substitute the desire to experience music being reproduced from other means.  

Pindac 

well said, and I agree 100%. That matter I have a whole Nother issue I’m dealing with mom it’s almost too long to explain, but I’m going to go ahead and do it for those of you who will suffer through reading it.

so I hooked up my Parasound I am running a Audible Illusions modulus M3B phono, preamp, and TLCS7 speakers. After hooking everything up, I was listening to it for three or four hours yesterday and it was sounding very nice. I heard a little rattle in my right speaker so I did a little trick that Rob from the Thiel speakers place up in Lexington Kentucky told me to do it. Which I also did with another speaker months ago and it’s worked like a charm. Gravity works on the subwoofers so I turned the subwoofer around and it fixed the rattle, on the one I heard rattling yesterday I did the same thing. When I turned everything back on, I now have no more base response in either subwoofer and either speaker. This makes no sense as I only turned over the subwoofer on my right channel speaker. I unhooked the new amplifier and re-hooked up my old Carver  with the same problem. There is zero base response from either speaker. I hooked back up the Parasound still the same issue. It doesn’t make sense. I’m wondering if anybody has any idea what’s going on here? 
 

I can add more detail if you guys have any questions for me

How are your subs hooked up

High Level into subs?

RCA out into Subs?

did you check the 180 switches on the subs

Type of subs very cryptic explanation take your time

Best JohnnyR