Smooth Detailed Soundstage

I have recently stepped up to the AVC-2500 in my bedroom system.

The unit offers a remarkable smooth detailed soundstage for a piece at this price point.

I am not a big fan of cinema DSP modes that manipulate the soundfield. I applaud Parasound for not including them in this processor and concentrating on build and sound quality.

I have the unit coupled to 8 channels of Parasound amplification. 3 - HCA1000A stereo amplifiers and 1 - HCA1500A stereo amplifier.

I am very pleased with the overall performance of this piece.

My associated equipment is located at the below link: http://community.webtv.net/BP2000/HOMETHEATER

Ease of Use

Ability to handle progressive dvd component input smoothly

The unit is awesome outside of a nit pick detail. With the Toshiba SD-9100 connected via progressive component output and the avc-2500, everytime you use the remote - annoying scan lines would appear on the bottom of the screen of the TV. If Parasound can fix this problem, this would truly be a great unit.

Everything said thus far

No adjustable cross-over for Sub-woofer

An amazing piece for the money. A pleasure
to listen to (or not listen to since its so transparent)
and it's an ergonomic triumph, however....

The only way for including your sub-woofer in non-
surround sound situations is to choose the small
setting for (any) speakers. This pipes anything under
80Hz to the sub. It so happens my B&W CDM 7SEs are
tight as a drum down to about 40Hz or so. That's where
the sub becomes useful. Bringing it in at 80 robs way too
much from the imaging and coherencey of the mains.

I could run the mains through the sub's x-over, but
that precludes the LFE feature and adds a few hundered
$'s in speaker cable. If it wasn't for this very real problem I'd give five stars as it is four for this flawed gem.

Clarity, ease of use, great build quality, all of the important connections, 10 year warranty

none so far

I have combined this with the Parasound HCA-2205a, and the match is unbelievable. Both movies and music could not sound better. The best way to state it: if you own this, you will be satisfied for many years. Easy, accurate set-up with automatic speaker level & timing adjustments. Parasound put all the right features in this model, and left out some of the more useless things, like many DSP modes. Good remote, able to dim display, easy to assign all combinations, plenty of component, S-video, and digital ins & outs. This could support almost any combination of components. Hands down Parasound has built a stellar product. Do yourself a favor, and listen to this Preamp/Processore before buying another.

EQUIPMENT:
Parasound AVC-2500
Parasound HCA-2205A
Nordost Super Flatline speaker cable (bi-wired)
Nordost Blue Heaven interconects
PSB Stratus Gold i front speakers
Pinnacle Classic Gold Center
Mission 775s as rears
PSB Subsonic 3i subwoofer

More Design Flaws

When using the Music or Party modes the bass management does not function in the conventional manner.

The Center and Rear channels speaker size selection does not operate in the Music and Party modes. It is the Main channels speaker size settings that "dictates" the speaker size settings of the Center and Rear channels.

Also the Video 6 audio analog preouts are not isolated from the Video 6 audio analog inputs. When utilizing these connections for VCR hookup as Parasound suggests... when you record material from another input source you are "forced" to deactivate the AUX inputs on your VCR prior to switching back to Video 6 for playback or you will create a audible feedback loop unless your VCR is already in the Play mode.

Sound quality, number of inputs, zone outputs, styling

There is a bug! See below

After significant research and laboring over cost (I got mine for $2,900) I decided the 2500 was for me. I also bought the Parasound 2205A amp (which is a beast) and 750A amp to power the kitchen speakers. I also needed the phone preamp. So I've spent just over $6,000 on this set up, about triple what I would have spent for a traditional high quality receiver. Immediately two things are obvious: 1) I've never had better sounding audio in my home, it just plain sounds great, and 2) I need new speakers, my Polk Audio RT1000's sound good at low volumes but when turned up they sound terrible, very very harsh. I have some minor overall complaints: no headpnone jack, no tone controls (some of my old recordings need it), styling is different between all the components, only one main out (not counting the zone out), the 750a amp can be daisy chained to other amps, but the 2205a amp cannot. You can hook up 14 DVD/VCR devices counting all the S, composite and component inputs, but only one main out?! Who the hell has that many devices for TV anyway? I also have two major complaints: 1) the digital audio outs do not work. I have a Minidisk and can't record. Parasound admits they turned off the digital outs because they where have problems with the Tuner and Zone and this was the only way to fix it (huh?!) They say the fix will be ready by the end of January, but currently they have no idea how to fix it! 2) The FM tuner doesn't work. Parasound indicates the muting is set too sensitive and needs adjustment. I was told how to do this myself, but haven't done it yet, I figure I'll have Parasound do it when they fix the digital out problem. Shouldn't have been set correctly in the first place?

In conclusion, I feel somewhat screwed. I realy sweated this purchase because of the price and it took me about 5-6 hours to set this thing up properly, now I have to unhook the whole thing and take it in for repair. For 3,000 bucks, the thing sould work perfectly.

I purchased the avc 2500 on the 24th of sept. I bought this model over the sunfire, accurus, B&K, sony. To me there was two big selling points, 1 a 10 year warentee which is awesome, and 2 upgradability. Throw in the THX ultra cert all the ins and outs the really cool auto cal microphone, the nifty remote-that does controll all of my system and best yet I got it for $2500!!! It truley was a no-brainer. Now I'm here to tell you who are out there pondering the same purchase as I just did DO IT. This pre-amp is un-believable on room set-up. When you use the auto cal mike, sit in your listening position, let the 2500 go through its measurments, what you get is all 6 speakers' distance and attenuations, and delays done for you!! Then you pop in a DVD sit back and enjoy. Guys the sound that the 2500 put out I did not think my system could sound sooooooooooo good. It was VERY well defined GREAT seperation and quite frankly it blew my doors off. any one out there interested in the best buy the Parasound-weigh all the facts on the other pre-amps at this price range and I'm sure you will come to this conclusion as I did. My system: avc2500 sony 7700 dvd
carver 806 THX amp
Klipsch KG5.5 fronts
Klipsch KV4 center
Klipsch .5 surrounds
Velodyne F-1500

Sound Quality, ease of operation

remote could be better

I have had the AVC 2500 for two weeks now. Everytime I turn on the unit I get blown away. I am using the Pioneer DV525 DVD player with 3 Bryston 3b's for the required six channels into a matched set of 6 series B&w's. Music has never sounded better, and watching movies has been elevated to a new level. The AVC 2500 is easy and simple to use yet is very sophisticated in it design and features. My hat is off to Parasound. This unit, with it's two 24/96 DAC's sounds wonderfully clear and concise with depth that I have not heard before in high end equipment. The build quality of this unit appears not to take a back seat to anyone in the business. Parasound has a winner hear boys/girls, I would highly recommend this unit to anyone looking for a pre/processor that will stand the test of time with its upgradability features and who has a no compromise stance on the quality of music/soundtrack they listen to.

Inputs, Sound Quality, Ease of set-up and operation

Poor quality control

Overall, the performance of the unit is tremendous, as has been identified in many of these reviews. I am giving the AVC-2500 4 stars because it sounds great, but I am taking this opportunity to identify some serious problems I had with the unit upon bringing it home.
1) The tuner did not work. Parasound knows about a standard problem with the tuner, but has not recalled or fixed all of their units. Do they think people will not want them fixed.
2) Upon trying to insert the FM antenna, the connection was pushed out in the inside of the cabinet, so I thought the antenna was connected, but it wasn't (I did not know about this until I tool in the unit to fix problem #1)
3) The 12 volt trigger does not work
4) One of the video connections is loose and displays a black and white signal when it should be color.

Lucky for them, movies and CDs sound great, but for $3000, these problems should not exist. This seems like poor quality control in trying to get product out of the door.

Unbelievable Flexibility w/90+ connectors!
Idiot proof auto cal. setup w/included mic.
Component Video Switching.
Upgradeability.
Fantastic Tech support.
TEN year warranty!

So flexible, can seem daunting at first glance, but it's not!

Let me start off by stating I was in no way compensated by Parasound for this review, I promise!

I actually took a quantum leap forward in becoming more of an "audiophile" kinda guy than I anticipated when purchasing this product. You see, for the first twenty years of my life, I stuck with the easy to use all-in-one- box receiver, and I was happy...

Ignorant, but happy.

I spent the next 10 years discovering the pros and cons of Home Theater one small piece of equipment at a time, making mistake after purchasing mistake as I went along. I somehow managed to learn from those mistakes, which at the time really couldn't be counted as such, considering my budget back then!

Finally, I actually went out and found an Audio/Video installer-sales guy to guide me through the proverbial ropes with regard to finer HT equipment acquisition and installation.

Then someone told me about this website, and I hooked up with an awesome fellow who is a super nice guy, makes a living at being an audiophile, and has probably forgotten more about high end audio than I will ever know (name upon request)!

Enough of my very exciting life story (rimshot), let's get to the nitty gritty.

"Absolutely Incredible" is the only phrase I can use to describe this pre-pro from the very, VERY nice folks at Parasound.

I don't know much, so I can't say much, except to say as a newbie to "audiophileness", I know flat out that I could not have done better for the money on any other unit out there for anywhere near what I paid, (which was less than retail, of course)!

How do I know this? This thing outclassed by a country mile the every prior piece of equipment I ever owned, to say nothing of the unit it replaced, and yet, when accompanied by it's made to fit-like-a-glove amplifier, see below), it made even my remaining budget front speakers shine like I never thought possible.

Once you're up and running, which is 10x easier than you could imagine, given its automatic delay/distance calibration using the included mic, this thing is smooth as silk to operate. Take it from me, I have trouble screwing in a lightbulb without directions, and I've not only practically mastered the enormous capacity and potential of this baby, but I even figured out how to use the multi-function remote AND how to program it (both to control my other non-Parasound equipment, and even to perform macro sequences) on my very first try!

OSD is a big plus here, clear and easy to understand. What's on the screen itself is mirrored very cleanly on the unit's adjustable display, and made for an easy, user friendly programming experience.

This beast even includes an RS232 port in back, as well as an additional set of 5.1 analog inputs, just in case SACD or DVD-audio actually catches on. Plus it has an internal RF demodulator, for all you dinosaurs and purists sticking with your Laser-Disc libraries!

Needless to say, the AVC-2500 is THX certified, and processes DTS as well as Dolby Digital 3/2.1 smooth as silk.

So, if you didn't get the gist of my review by now, I like this unit very much.

For a novice like me to make the jump into true high fidelity (this is my first experience with separates) took a lot of guts, and some dumb luck.

I can honestly say I don't think I could have done better than the Parasound AVC-2500, even at twice the price!

My current setup (just in case you care):

Pre/Pro: Parasound AVC-2500
Amplifier: Parasound HCA-2205A, Another astounding Parasound piece!
Speakers: Atlantic Tech 370 THX system
DVD: Sony's 200 Disc DVP-CX850D
DBS: Dish Network
Big Screen: Proscan 52" 5 year old set (Looking into widescreen 16:9, narrowed down to either Zenith, Sony or Panasonic, any advice would be appreciated!)

Similar Products Used:

None.
Considered Proceed, Marantz, Carver's Sunfire, a few others.