Parasound vs Emotiva


I'm currently running an Emotiva A300 into my near field desktop system consisting of an isolation transformer feeding a Gustard X26 Pro dac into a topping Pre 90 preamplifier into the bas X a300 into a pair of Emotiva T zero. The amp is high passed at 80 hz via my pair of Emotiva S8 subwoofers. The source is Playstation 5.

 

The system sounds incredible. Textured, resolute, musical, clear as a bell, tight as a drum, yet warm, it's very very nice I assure you! Dimensional, Soundstage, often times quite holographic.

 

My only gripe is the a300 doesn't command the low end or provide a lot of bass punch like my NC400 Ncores did. (Those amps were also flat out incredible but I dont have anymorr).

 

I have a Parasound A23+ on the way. It is 4 times the price of the Emotiva. Both class AB, both around the same weight, both around the same power rating.

 

I'm a little nervous because I am listening to my system right now and it just sounds so good. I'm expecting a stronger low end with the Parasound, but not sure what else to expect.

 

Guess we will find out in a few days!

borat-sagdiyev

Let's not bash on Emotiva, they are excellent for the money. And some of these items they have are clearly loss leaders. I would pay a grand for the t zero speakers I have and not even blink. They were 399. I still can't believe I paid 399 for them, the value is off the charts.

 

You get what you pay for in general though and there is better, hence the upgrades, but if I was stuck with an Emo system for life I'd still be miles ahead of the general public. Miles and miles.

Not sure how to reply to individual posts, forum is a bit of a mystery still, but thank you Ja kb z!

 

I think if I like the a23+ in near field then a JC 5 will be in my future for main duties.

 

Sounds like you have a nice system there, wow!

 

Any further anecdotes on the Parasounds?

 

I too was going to get an R2R, the Venus, but I decided what I really wanted was a Terminator+ and that is simply not in the cards, so I instead decided to go with the most advanced "conventional" dac i could afford at the moment.

 

That Dac has a beautiful sound! I think its doing most of the work right now. Can’t wait to hear it in balanced mode with xlrs ;)

 

I just now swapped one of the new pairs of xlrs between the dac and preamp and got rid of the rca. Punchiness has come up some! I think the poor Emo would benefit by being balanced. Can’t wait to go all the way xlr from preamp to Parasound in a few days!

 

Also, the subs are really quite good, as a $400 8 inch should be, but they will eventually transform into REL T7X :)

@borat-sagdiyev  not bashing them at all, you're 100% correct! For the money, absolutely tons of value.

Honestly, I'm still piecing things together and want different speakers and sub's for my main system, but really need to do more research and try to audition the Alta Alecs, but I also want to check out in person the JBL s3900's. Those are my two current speaker front runners with JL audio e112's.

My system is all over the place but I love it, hence why I'm not getting rid of anything.

Current system, Innuos Zenith3+Phoenix USB, Musetec 005, Technics SU-R1000, Parasound JC1+'s (coming), JBL L100 Classic 75's and dual KEF Kube 12b's, Teac TN-5bb TT with MC Ortofon Black.

Last update before I get the amp. I just went XLR between the dac and preamp and Basically uncorked all of the X26 Pro. Holy ****. I could park it here and die happy. Incredible upgrade, just enabling the whole  circuit. I was listening for months single ended.

 

Love this hobby! 

Thanks man!

 

I’m going to reply to you better when I can post on something other than my phone. This forum is wonky on it. No I was replying to another guy. Some people wanna just bash on Emotiva, and its really a disingenuous band wagon thing. Emotiva is fine gear, but they aim at being very reasonably priced for average people and new people to the hobby. Their upper echelon stuff is high performance no doubt. They wouldn’t still be here othewise. The XPR amps are legendary.

Did all of you drive a Rolls Royce as your first car? My first car was a rusted out Chevy S10. It got me around and expanded my world, and I loved that thing.

Stop being snobs, audiophiles! Nobody thinks thats impressive. New audiophiles on a budget should feel welcome here too otherwise watch the hobby die in a sea of bluetooth speakers.