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My Parasound A21 review and VS Emotiva XPA

l bought the Parasound halo a21 and the differences of improvement in the sound quality are just unreal, it's like too good to be true, before the parasound i had an Emotiva XPA and after listened to the differences btw the emo and the parasound i got to the conclusion that emotiva made my speakers sounded so bad, the sound quality is night and day differences, I'm was shocked!! It's just unbelievable, to give you a better hint of what I'm talking about, the emotiva is a Honda and the Parasound is a mercedez Benz s63 AMG, or Toyota vs Ferrari lol. I can't believe the sound just can get that good.

Emotiva is not High End they not even close to what high end sounds like, they are good products but never can consider high end, but they claim to be high end, for the price you can get a good Mid-fi sound, but they are out of the high end league, that's a true statement. it's not an opinion, It's what it's. when i demo the parasound i put it side by side with 10,000$ and 12,000 dollars amplifiers and the parasound just sounded as good as those super expensive amps.

The emotiva was my first amplifier so that's why i wrote a review on amazon saying that Emotiva was a truly High end Amp with a consumer price tag LOL, what the Hell i was thinking OMG i was soooooo wrong.

I was only getting 20% of my sonus faber veneres with the emotiva, now I believe I'm getting their full potential 100%, I believed the hype of the emotiva for a while, I was a believer but now i know emotiva is just a good mid-fi amp, nothing more!! If you looking for the best sound as possible please don't get the emotiva, emotiva is not even close to high end, you will be disappointed!! The parasound is the best AMP you can get for the money, i believe that you can spent the double of the money and won't get this kind of performance, Halo is the best Bang for your Buck and i finally found the product that i want to use forever.

to get a better understanding of what i'm talking about, let's say Parasound vs krell is like mercedez benz S Class AMG vs roll royce!!! all depends your budget and how much money you want to spent, but me personally i'm gonna stick with the parasound halo forever.

i use the Cars Example cuz i don't have no words to describe the sound of my system with the halo LOL.

the part that i was even more impressive is with movies, since the Denon X4000 receiver is running the center and surrounds i didn't expect so much differences in the sound quality in the Movie department, but the movies sound nigh and day differences also, but i still need the halo A51 to finish the full amplification department, i'm gonna save up for the A51 cuz i want the same sound quality in the surrounds and center channel, but for now i'm so happy with the performance and soundstage i got from the A21.

I'm very very happy cuz this past saturday i went to the high end show and they were demo the Devialet amps that sounded so good, but the parasound sounds better to me, i can't believe i can get 20,000 dollars performance for 2,500$, THIS IS TO GOOD TO BE TRUE!!! but it's true.
brownsugar_ny
runnin
397 posts
 
I've had 3 Emotiva products, including an amp that I compared with an A21. Emotiva is certainly not the equal of Halo amps any way you want to slice it. The point is, Emotiva is out there claiming that they are High End and why pay more, and once claimed in an ad that their UMC-200 was the equal of a $4,000 processor. People are going to call them on their wild claims, and don't be surprised if you come across another thread or two like this, Labtec.

I used to consider them good bang for the bucks spent at the 5-999 price points. But after I was able to clearly hear the difference with the A21, and got treated like an idiot at their forum btw, I don't consider them a particularly good buy at all.
labtec
189 posts
 
I don't doubt you might prefer a Parasound product to Emotiva. I mentioned that Parasound was one of the best bang for the buck brands out there.

However, did the products you compared sell for the same price?

What find surprising is how many threads like to call out Emotiva for their claims, yet there are tons of brands making even more outlandish claims and charging 10x more than Emotiva.

I guarantee your Parasound will outperform many amps that cost 2-5x what you paid...Why do people call out the brand that sells for much less instead of the real phonies who charge much more.

If you don't find Emotiva a "particularly good buy at all", I wonder if you've ever looked under the hood of most other amplifier brands that sell products for the same price or much more. Most have nothing better than a fancier machined aluminum casing and worse measurements on a test bench.

In fact, I would take an Emotiva amp over the $100k Siltech amp based on the horrible measurements and defects in the recent Stereophile review.

Not saying this applies to everybody, but I think some Emotiva haters are just people who spent way too much on their mediocre products and would rather speak negatively on the products that cost less, than those that cost more.

Here's my litmus test for a legitimate Emotiva criticism...Do they list better products at the same price or do they only compare them to more expensive?
runnin
397 posts
 
No doubt there are some Emo bashers out there.

You asked if the Emo (XPA-3) amp I had was the same price as the A21? But that's my point, Emotiva claims their products are the equal of much more expensive brands, but they aren't. True, I haven't tested other brands claims, only the components I buy. The XPA's used to be measured by Emotiva at .1% THD to get to rated power. Most other amp companies are at .0-something when reaching rated power. That means they have more useful headroom, because they're not already rising. Emo also has smallish power supplies and caps for rated output. They save a lot by doing this.

I've looked under the hood of many amps. I put Emotiva on par with Adcom build quality, the Halo products are in another class altogether. Mind you, I've never owned any XPR amps from Emotiva, they could be better. But the 5 or 600 watt per channel output is really overkill for me. I've never seen under the hood of anything more expensive than Halo except online.
dayglow
1,876 posts
 
Why can't Emotiva owners(fanboys) accept the limitations of that gear. They will never have the detail/resolution/speed of Spectral or the 3D presentation of VAC/VTL/Lamm regardless of what is spewed in that rat infested lounge! If you want an affordable "mainstream" product, purchase a Marantz PM-11/1/2/3 and start your way into the HEA journey and kick Emotiva to the curb!!!
milpai's avatar
milpai
2,369 posts
 
Everything has it's own place in life. I absolutely love my A21. But is that the best? I am sure it is not. But for me , in my situation right now, it is the best bang for buck and every time I listen to my music I am amazed how my system plays the music. For me the amps in $10-$15k range are a bit too much for their asking price - TODAY. But if my financial situation changes, I will definitely not think twice about spending that much on a pair of amps. So, I believe Emotiva and Parasound have their own place in this audio food chain. Chill out guys!
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