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Is Parasound on to something? Or, How important is crossover management in preamps?

How important is crossover management in mid-fi receiver?

I auditioned Parasound separates yesterday — P6 and A23+ and the dealer emphasized how useful it would be to be able to control the crossover *both* for the subwoofer (I have a Rel 328) and the bookshelves (TBD, but I'm looking at Dynaudios and Salk WOW1's). Not many preamps have this, and I'm wondering how important it is. I'm also quite interested in PS Audio's separates (Stellar Gaincell + S300) but they do not have these, nor do they have tone controls.

So how valuable is Parasound's controls? What is the significance (positive or negative) control over the crossover — especially of the *main* speakers themselves? The positive, I read, is that it (a) allows mains to do a more precise job by relieving them of the burden of the bottom end, and (b) it increase the efficacy of the power amp in driving the mains. Is there a negative? Is there something "improper" about limiting the demands on mains, especially given their designed frequency range?

As you can see, the answer to this question helps determine whether Parasound has a major value-adding feature in these crossover controls.

Obviously, at the end of the day, auditioning pre's and poweramps (or integrateds) is crucial, as is match to speakers, etc. But if this feature is very important for fitting sub and mains together — and fitting speakers to room environments — then it will help me weigh the Parasound or any other preamp with this feature.

P.S. To those who keep seeing my newbie questions, I hope they're not irksome. I'm posting so often because I'm researching purchases for a whole system, of some cost, and so I'm really digging into these questions about all aspects. And I'm having a blast.
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hilde45's avatar
hilde45 OP
4,974 posts
 
@djones I connect the Rel in the way indicated — Speakon to speaker terminals. It works well.
I have small bookshelves that only go down to 45hz. This is why I'm interested in this question.
And I believe I told PS Audio I had a sub and small bookshelves. That's why I'm confused about the validity of their answer.
Thanks for trying to think this through with me. The purchase of my amplification may hang on this question, other things being more or less equal.
djones51
4,947 posts
 
Telling them you are using a sub and bookshelf speakers their answer makes sense they know the sub probably has a crossover, most all do so you don't really need it in the preamp. Manufacturers have different ways of looking at things PS Audio isn't  wrong and neither is Parasound it just depends on what your objective is one advantage of using the Parasound built in crossover is you can adjust it without having to get behind the subwoofer if you like to change it depending on the type of music or if you're watching a movie using it as a 2.1 system for HT. 
almarg's avatar
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almarg
9,670 posts
 
... I'm looking at Dynaudios and Salk WOW1's

Considering the diminutive size of the WOW1 (7 x 9 x 10.75 inches, including a 4.5 inch woofer) my guess is that **in this specific case** the sonic benefits of keeping the deep bass out of the speaker are likely to outweigh whatever sonic downsides may result from introduction of the P6's crossover circuitry into the signal path. And if that proves not to be the case the P6's crossover circuitry can of course be switched out of the signal path.

Without knowing the specific Dynaudio model(s) you may be considering I wouldn't want to speculate on the net result of that tradeoff .

Regarding the dilemma cited in one of your recent posts, every design approach has tradeoffs associated with it. And the net result of those tradeoffs usually depends on how well the specific design is implemented, and on how it synergizes with the rest of the system. So I would not consider the rationale of either company (PS Audio or Parasound) to be specious. And in choosing between the two products I would take into account the specifics of the application as much as possible.

Good luck. Regards,
-- Al
 
lukaszwk
56 posts
 
I love how some people here will answer questions by COMPLETELY disregarding the question and offer their own completely unrelated set of rules that pertain exactly ZERO to alleviate the op’s confusion. Funny thing is their advice is shockingly unhelpful and wrong. Really getting tired of these self proclaimed "experts" and unfortunately they seem to be the most active members on this forum. Their goal being not to help but to confuse and muddle. My only advice, is that you really have to do your own research outside of the realms of this forum because the people that answer first, are usually the ones that i have just mentioned and as I have said, they are not helpful for the most part and until they choose to go away this site is almost useless.
hilde45's avatar
hilde45 OP
4,974 posts
 
Thanks Doug for weighing in. I may write to Salk. I appreciate the various views, and may just have to remain agnostic because I cannot sort out what's best. I'll go listen and consider my day to day needs. 
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