Ample, clean power, excellent build quality, price makes it a five star

I can't think of any. In this price/power range this amp does everything one could reasonably expect.

Wonderful quality amp at an unbeatable price...have it paired to my H/K 510 as pre/pro. I have always liked the amps in H/K receivers but this 855 shows the clear difference between receiver compromises and dedicated power. The 510 sound is now fuller, wider, clearer and more dynamic than ever...sound peaks are smooth and coherent with no audible distortion or strain... demanding material is handled with ease while soft and delicate material is delivered with great finesse. For those who might be worried about the ventilation requirements...don't. I currently have this beauty in the bottom of my TV cabinet BEHIND wooden doors but open in the back with 1 1/2" of top clearance and a little more on the sides. Not a great long term storage option, I know, but it never gets past warm. I'm bi-amping the fronts (Wharfedale Emerald 97 towers) with four of the channels and using the fifth for the CC. If your speakers allow for bi-wire/bi-amping I highly recommend it.

Similar Products Used:

Marantz, Adcom

Very good design. Exellent 2 channel. This has alot of power to spare for movies.

I do not like the fact that it is made in china due to Q/C issues.

This is a follow up after a year of use. I am still very happy. The Power cord is by Audio Magic. A/C line conditioner is the HTS-2500. Very dynamic. Very well rounded for movies AND 2 channel music.

Similar Products Used:

numerous

Parasound quality, good build (weighs over 40lbs), LOW price, attractive case, and rack mountable. EXCELLECT sound quality.

Haven''t encountered any yet.

This amp is my latest addition to my HT setup: Receiver - Denon 2801 Mains - JBL S312 Center - JBL S-Center Surrounds - JBL S-36s Subwoofer - Velodyne FSR-15 DVD Player - Pioneer Elite DV-37 Monitor - Toshiba 40H80 16x9 40" HDTV This AMP is mated with my Denon 2801. The Denon is rated at 90x5 and the Parasound AMP at 85x5. But the Parasound is rated at ALL CHANNELS DRIVEN and the Denon doesn''t even compare to the output of this AMP. I was always happy with my Denon - it has a nice warmer sound with great detail and channel separation. However, I always wanted to see what a dedicated AMP could do. This AMP has added great dynamic power for greater impact, much better clear dialog from the center channel, and an overall better clarity for movies and music. I am VERY impressed and have watched many of my DVDs over again! You can find this AMP at places for $400-500 online used or even new. Parasound has dropped the MSRP from $1000 to $699! There is no other AMP out there that can touch this for the money! Receivers are great for small rooms and casual HT fans -- but if you''re as addicted to this hobby as I am, you NEED an AMP to power your channels. The depth, clarity, and reserve power of this AMP is great for high-impact action scenes. I did compare this AMP to some ROTEL models and preferred the Parasound "sound" -- The Rotel was a little to bright for my ears. The Parasound was more dynamic and had a tighter bass control and an overall warmer sound. This is important for my speakers and the JBL''s are a little on the bright side. My next step is a true Processor to replace the Denon 2801 - And then I will be complete in my HT addiction.... yeah right :)

Similar Products Used:

This is my first HT AMP.

NIGUNO

QUE ES DE TAIWAN

ES LA PRIMERA VEZ QUE TENGO UN AMPLIFICADOR DE ESTE TIPO ACA EN MEXICO NO HAY MUCHOS PRODUCTOS DE ESTE TIPO Y SI LOS HAY SON MUY CAROS SON INALCANSABLES LOS PRECIOS ESTE AMPLIFICADOR LO CONSEGUI POR MEDIO DE ESTA MAGNIFICA PAGUINA LA CUAL CONSULTO A DIARIO Y MI COMENTARIO ES EL SIGUIENTE : YA QUE ES LA PRIMERA VEZ QUE TENGO UN SISTEMA DE ESTE TIPO TENGO LAS SIGUIENTE CONCLUSION :EL AMPLIFICADOR ES PESADO ME GUSTA MUCHO EL SILENCIO DE ESTE AMPLIFICADOR PARA MANEJAR 85 WATTS DE POTENCIA ES UN MOUNSTRUO ES FUERTE EL SONIDO ES CLARO Y TIENE UNOS BAJOS NI MUY PESADOS NI MUY LIGEROS DIGAMOS TERMINO MEDIO MI EQUIPO ES EL SIGUIENTE : PROCESADOR : SHERWOOD NEWCASTLE AV 9080 EQUALIZADOR : AUDIO CONTROL C-101 EQUALIZADOR :HARMAN KARDON EQ 8 AMPLIFICADOR : PARASOUND HCA 855 A AMPLIFICADOR :JBL MOD 50 AMPLIFICADOR :SOUND TRACK MOD 2000 DVD JVC :3 CHAROLAS MOD? CD ONKIO INTEGRA :706 CHAROLA DE ALUMINIO DECK DENON :2 CABEZAS BOCINAS: PRINCIPALES :INFINITY KAPPA 6.1 TRASERAS : MIRAGE PEGUEÑAS MOD? Y UNOS CUBOS BOSE SUBWOFER : PIONEER DE ALUMINIO EL CANAL CENTRAL NO TENGO USO LOS BOSE PARA EL CANAL CENTRAL EN CONCLUSION ESTOY MUY CONTENTO CON MI AMPLIFICADOR PARASOUND ES BUENO Y LO TENDRE POR ALGUNOS MESES .

Similar Products Used:

UN YAMAHA A1092 UN NAKAMICHI TA 4 A

Beautiful, Neutral sound. No coloration. Unbelievable power and dynamic range.

None

Like the previous reviewer, I was a little concerned about the 85 x 5 power rating. I have NHT 2.9's as my main speakers which are very power thirsty. My Yamaha RX-V 995 really did not have the power to adequately push them. Naturally, I was a little concerned about going from a 100 X 5 receiver to an 85 x 5 amp. Trust me, those concerns were quickly abolished. The Parasound has more dynamic range, more volume and more accuracy than any receiver I've tested. I am finding myself enjoying all kinds of music. Including, Alternative rock (i.e. Pearl Jam, Pumpkins) bands that I had abandoned because my Yamaha -- NHT combination couldn't handle it. On DD it is just amazing. The Parasound also comes with a 10 year warranty. In this price range, the Parasound HCA-855 is hard to beat!

Smooth.

I decided to get the AVC-1800 and the HCA-855A due to the incredible price I paid for them. I'm currently running a wonderful old Nakamichi PA-5II Stasis amp to my B&W Matrix 3 Series 2 speakers and didn't want to lose it. I also didn't have a bunch of money (wife-set-budget!) to spend. I, like the others, was REALLY concerned about the 85w power rating as my Nak is 150w per. I was shocked, however, how well it matched it when running movies. So much better than any receiver I have used. I don't run real high volumes so maybe at a higher decible level I might encounter problems but that would be very rare. (Just turn up the Velodyne anyway!) I now even have an extra 2 channels to use for another zone.

I think Parasound has offered a great bargain and an amp that is perfect for those on a tight budget and who don't want a receiver.

price

I agree with the above review in terms of power and quality of the amp, but after reading that that reviewer only paid $775.00 I am feeling a bit cheated.

clean sound that is natural and smooth and not strained

12 volt trigger will not fit many triggers in power conditioners, it is a wierd size.

I got this unit at good guys on sale in july in la mesa in san diego. I am pretty sure it was 399. It was not a demo. This amp although dose not have the john curl sig and THX logo are definately from the same leage. This amp will exeplify all that there is in beauty in a realativly low power amp. Also 85 WPC is a very conservative rating. The power supply (terioadal transformer) may not be 5 mono blocks (ala Cary) but will get the job done in any room 18x20, and will produce spla's that are very respectable. I personaly find this amp fast and on your face. The imaging and crispness of the mids to highs is sound. The bass management is tight and this amps "headroom" will hold high levels of base before it starts to ponder the notion of clipping. Amps posses a quality I refer to as beauty and the beast. Bigger amps will typicly hold the beast and smaller musical beauty. This particular amp in 2 channel mode is extreamly well rounded and the only other amp I personaly liked as much is the rotel THX certified modle that is 120 WPC. I saw it this sping when I was in Glasgo. This amp is being fed by aa a/c line conditioner and uses high end powercords and ref quality interconnects and speaker wires. I have heard other people complain about some sonic problems that may lead me to believe that there is a QA issue in production wich appears to be overseas. I am very satisfied w/this purchase and would purchase parasound products again. Parasound products will typicly offer audiophile design and features at high end prices.

For movies, this may not be THX but it will pack a mean punch in DD/DTS 5 channel. I do not have a spla meter so I have not clocked it yet. I will say that it sounds about 108-110 db @ the 0 ref level w/the pots on the rear all @ full. The knob will go to 10 or 20. At 0 to me it is still crystal clear but boarders on obsceen spla in my 16x26 listening room.

Similar Products Used:

old school rotel

The parasound HCA 855 certainly produces good power and excellent resolution.

Having grown accustomed to the "big" amplifier power,my music/home theater reference amplifier is a Rotel RB 1090, and "big" speaker sound the HCA 855 could certainly use another five hundred watts of power.

While searching for a new amplifier(I am presently using a QSC RMX 1450) to power my home theater surrounds ,12 tweeters four 5-1/4" midranges each, I stumbled upon the parasound HCA 855 at the Good Guys. The HCA 855 was a demo unit priced at $375, at that price it certainly looked interesting but not interesting enough so I passed on the unit. After reading through a number of reviews on the HCA 855 here I felt foolhardy for passing up the deal so I again returned to the Good Guys. As I was walking through the door a pretty salesgirl gave me a leaflet outlining their "Thanksgiving Weekend Special". Since it was a pretty girl who gave me the leaflet I felt more compelled than usual to look at it,the information proved to be pivotal to my decision making process, 25 dollars off the parasound which had already been substancially discounted!
At $375 the parasound was almost too much of a good deal and I was almost certain that someone else had already picked it up. But to my surprise and dismay the parasound amplifier was still their in the used equipment section. At this point I was in a state of near indecision, I certainly didn't want to leave and have someone else pick it up, yet I was reluctant to give up my money, after I had been saving it for a high power/high resolution stereo amplifier to complement the Rotel RB 1090 that I was using for my main speakers and the Halfer 9500 I was using for my center channel. As I was gawking about the amplifier in my state of indecision a salesman approached me at one of those decisive moments and I asked him if it was true that that this amplifier had a list price of $799, and he replied that yes. The salesman then went on to mention how the HCA-1205, a very similar amplifier was listed for $999. I then proceeded to ask me if the 25 dollar turkey day discount applied to the amplifier, he said yes it was did apply to the amplifier. That information proved to be decisive and I told him that I would buy it right then and there. Five minutes later I was walking out the door with the HCA 855 for the less than princely sum of 374 dollars.
When I took it home I realized that it would be the perfect amplifier for my computer which had been attached to the "main system". Deciding that fidelity and power should give way to practically convinience, I moved my computer and attached the parasound HCA 855 to my Rane MX-22 active crossover and the rane into my Adcom GDA 600 DAC which in turn was plugged into the computer. Grabbing my cheap yamaha hybrids,which had their tweeters replaced with more expensive 1 inch soft dome units, I plugged everything in. At first the expectations were low because the main unit had the big towers and the big rotel rmb 1090(380 wpc) amplifier plus the 18 inch subwoofer and the Nakamichi digital preamp. I thought it would be a miracle if this little parasound could produce even 70% resolution and 50% of the dynamic that the "main system" could produce. While listening to some CD's on my computer I was indeed far from impressed, but after some aggressive adjustments to the "volume controls" I was rewarded with high fidelity music. After feeling reasonably satisfied that I had done everything possible I then proceeded to A/B CD's on the computer system to CD's on the "main system" I was surprised to discover that aside from having less dynamic power and bass the "computer system" wasn't too far off in terms of pure resolution from the big system. In fact most of the instrumental and vocal presentation on CD's that could be heard with the "main system" could also be heard with the "computer system",save for the low end bass. Although the CD's weren't too bad the HCA 855 began to show it's true colors with computer games,especially with Diablo II Expansion and Max Payne. I thought that not having use of my 18" subwoofer would really detract from Max Payne, a gritty and bloody first person shooting game. To my surprise gunshots were still as dynamic as ever ,yet to my surprise was the ambient noises were rendered with startling clarity. The HCA 855 also earned high marks on the Diablo II expansion pack where music,ambient noise and most importantly the sounds of the enemy in combat where also reproduced with astounshing clarity and realism. In conclusion although I will always dream of having bigger and better equipment,i.e. the parasound HCA 2205, when the parasound HCA 855 is paired with an active crossover( to seperately amplify the mids and highs) and a good DAC it can produce astounshing music and sound affects.

Similar Products Used:

Rotel RB1090 (380 wpc amplifier, Hafler 9500 (950 wpc amplifier), Rotel RMB 1095 (200 wpc x5 amplifier)

Sound Quality, Outstanding Dynamic Range, Nice build

None for this price(or alot more)

This amp is a steal at this price. It's performance is on par with some of the best flagship receivers i have heard. It can be bought on UBID for around $400. The clarity is amazing and it keeps up w/the most demanding movie scenes(pod race in Phantom Menace was awesome). If you are looking for an excellent HT amp for a good price you won't find anything that matches this Parasound.

Similar Products Used:

Rotel, Adcom