device switching, A/V

Subwoofer controls, music

Wow! This thing retails for $3,600. It wasn't worth $1,900 I paid. I also bought Parasound's hca 2205 5ch amplifier.
Ok, now that I got your attention, let me explain. It's great for movies. It's a movie machine, but if you want it for music, you're going to be disappointed. Gosh, most of the mid-fi receivers I've heard sound better than this. There is very little audio control. No tone controls. It won't let you select subwoofer in stereo with large speakers, contrary to what the manual says. Even audiophiles, who eskew the hated tone controls and such, would probably not like this that much. The highs are shrill and metallic. Lows are very good, though.
As far as an A/V processor, it's pretty darn good. There were a couple of problems, though. Setup attenuated the subwoofer level to be almost inaudible. Video could not handle the output of my fading VCR. My receiver displayed some color, but the AVC2500 displayed black and white. I just wonder if the problems are specific to this unit.
If you're building a zoot home theater for movies only, this will likely work well. For us blue collar types who want to be near the high end, get the Denon, Integra, Marantz or B&K receiver. As for this unit, it's back on Good Guys clearance rack, along with the amp.

Similar Products Used:

hca 2205

Sound quality, 10-year warranty, price relative to other higher end units; lots of inputs

Lack of headphone jack and phono input. Runs slightly warm, but that is mostly due to insufficient ventilation in my cabinet.

Purchased the 2500AVCu - the u stands for upgrade, w/bass management capabilities,etc. - most of the things that earlier reviewers had cited as a negative. Just got finished hooking it up to the new 2205AT Parasound amp and new Paradigm Reference Studio speakers. Sound quality and imaging is excellent with the 2205AT and Paradigm set-up. I listen to a full range of music - pop, rock, merengue, etc. and all sound excellent. You can pre-set standard settings (surround type, speaker dB levels, etc.) for each of the inputs, which is a nice convenience - no manual adjustments everytime you turn on the system. The universal remote is easy to use and set-up. The surround packages are decent - the 5 channel stereo with the "Music surround" sounds really nice.

I will be adding the Parasound phono pre-amp for $125 since I have a huge library of vinyl.

A minor point - when listening to CDs, the overload light sometimes comes on for 2-3 seconds when you first hit play. I was told by Parasound tech support that if I change my connection to digital from analog, this will alleviate the problem and not to worry. With the 10-year warranty, I won't worry.

All in all, excellent sound and flexibility at a very reasonable price. Probably would give it a 4.75 overall rating due to lack of phono and headphone jack, but that rounds up to 5 anyway.

My set-up is as follows:

Parasound 2205AT 5-channel amp
Parasound 2500AVCu
Paradigm Reference Studio 40s - Main
Paradigm Reference Studio Center Channel
Paradigm Reference ADP Surrounds
Paradigm Reference Servo 15
Technics 5-disc CD player (will be upgrading to a Sony DVD)
Onkyo Integra Cassette

Similar Products Used:

None purchased - was evaluating the new B&K 30 and Parasound unit.

Lot's of inputs. Won't use them all, but it's got lots.

No UPGRADABILITY. No Analog pass-through. Terrible remote. No balanced outputs. No adjustable crossover.

I have returned this product, and replaced it in my system with the Aragon Soundstage. For a bit more money, the Soundstage offered everything the Parasound had, as well as everything I felt the Parasound was missing. I am dissapointed that the 6 channel analog input on the Parasound has NO VOLUME CONTROL capability. That doesn't make it very useful. I was also dissapointed with the fact that at over $3000 (I think it's $3500 now) it doesn't have an adjustable crossover. Fix 80 Hz crossover point is unnacceptable. The sound was OK for both music, and movies, but I found that my analog sources sounded constrained, and muddy. I couldn't replace my 2 channel analog preamp with the Parasound. I replaced it with the Soundstage. For the overall rating I will give it an OK rating. For value, it just doesn't cut it at that price.

Similar Products Used:

Aragon Soundstage
Krell Audio Video Standard
Theta Casablanca

Excellent sound
Affordable price
10 Year Warranty
Self-Calibrating
High quality integrated Tuner

No plans by Parasound to provide hardware upgrades to DD EX/DTS ES or MLP/SACD decoding.

Excellent sound quality, excellent product overall. I mainly wrote this review to address "Bill's" weaknesses of the Parasound. Parasound has now made available an AVC-2500 upgrade for a small fee that offers the following:

*6-channel Analog input upgraded to 6ch true analog passthrough w/ volume control
*80hz fixed crossover upgraded to 40hz/80hz/120hz variable crossover

Not sure which of the units out there have this upgrade implemented (if any), but you can certainly get your unit upgraded by Parasound.

Similar Products Used:

Lexicon DC-1/MC-1, Sunfire, Rotel RSP-985

See my previous review

IMO, None.

Just a footnote to my previous review, I too was complaining (mostly to myself) about the lack of flexibility in Bass management and the lack of master volume control when utilizing the 5.1 audio outs, not to mention THX-EX AND DTS-ES.

Guess what? Just like the guy below me noted, not only does Parasound now offer an upgrade for the Bass Management and 5.1 volume control, but I sent my unit into them from NY to CA on Thursday, and I got it back in less than 72 hours!! Now THAT'S customer service!

As for EX/ES rear center surround, forget about it. I bought myself a SMART surround CS-3x Jr. for under $300, and it sounds as good, if not better, than any EX "7.1" receiver or processor I have ever heard. Besides, the extracted channel is in the analog domain anyway, so why mess with the 5 discrete digital channels from the parasound pieces in the same chasis?

I'm glad Parasound has no plans to jump on this bandwagon, but if you want to jump into 7.1, as I did, do yourself a favor and try out this neat little "circle surround" processor. It's a cool little gadget, and it does add ambience and a greater sense of spaciousness and depth to your DVD viewing, especially on the 8-12 discs available that are actually encoded for the extra channel! (Just a touch of sarcasm there, but what the heck).

Once again, kudos to Parasound for making a terrific, consumer friendly processor that much better.

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha DSP A1 (receiver)