B&W 803D and Parasound

Done with cheep speakers,etc..I had a pair of Infinity SM150's which were good rock & roll speakers and took a serious pounding from the Parasound equipment over the years. I decided to upgrade being that I listen to jass and auditioned several speakers...The 803's are well worth the money if you have the right equipment driving them. I just have a hard time believing that Parasound is solely the sorce of my problem.

when i first got my 804S they were connected to a pioneer elite receiver and the sound was very harsh... i did a separate amp with the pre outs from my receiver and the harness went away...

i do not know about the parasound first hand, but i do believe there is a point to an amp making the difference..... but not to the extreme of crazy amounts of money for an amp.

Bill

Not sure if your 803s are new or relatively new. I've read a number of comments from those who claimed these speakers sounded harsh/bright when new or relatively new, but once burned in this impression went away, and the sound became very listenable and satisfying. Otherwise, I did have the opportunity to audition several of my classical "test" lps on the current 803 Diamonds in an audio salon and found the entire experience extremely enjoyable. I heard absolutely no stridency or brightness whatsoever. I would be somewhat surprised if the tweeter in your 803 model(preceding the Diamond tweeter) sounded harsh after being broken in. Incidentally, the electronics used in my audition were by Ayre.

The Parasound 2250's are good at there price but no where near what the 803D's need. The Halo line from Parasound is a much better match specifically the JC1's. Of course you will probably need to update the rest of your system as well. The 801D's are a very revealing speaker, which means they will let you hear a lot more of what is going on in your system either good or bad.

It's best to remember your system is a chain and you will o be only as good as your weekest link!

Also it may not be all of the 2250's problem. What is the rest of your system? I have installed lots of Parsounds and most of there sin's are of ommision.

So if you are going to upgrade one piece at a time IMO it is best to track down the weekest link and change it first.