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Two Really Can Be Better Than One
By Mike McGann
We live in wonderful times. Everywhere you turn, there are wonderful high-end audio/video receivers, boasting serious amounts of power, wonderful sound and cool features like Surround EX, all at very reasonable prices between $3,000 and $4,000.
Like a swarm of ants shaking things up at an idyllic picnic, Parasound decided to disrupt your simple choice of which big-buck receiver to buy with a pair of separate components priced at just less than $2,200, designed to blow you into the potato salad. Don’t get me wrong, the new breed of killer receivers from the likes of Yamaha, Denon and others are genuinely wonderful. But, at least for me, a small voice always seems to whisper in the back of my mind, “Separates usually sound better.”
First off, if you’re craving Surround EX or Surround ES Discrete or any of the other new formats with more than the garden variety 5.1 channels of audio or if you crave tons of DPS modes, you can happily return to your dreams of a big-buck receiver. The AVC-1800, of course, decodes DTS and Dolby Digital, but it pretty much goes about its business, when matched to the HCA-855 amp, in a pretty straightforward, no-frills manner.
Parasound AVC-1800 Audio/Video Controller
Price: $1,195
+ Simple setup and operation; excellent, no frills sound reproduction; no gimmicks.
– No DSP modes, no 6.1 or 7.1 decoding.
Target user: For those thinking about buying an A/V receiver in the $2,000 to $3,000 range but want simple operation and wonderful sound, this is the ticket when matched to the HCA-855A.
Parasound, now best known for its flagship A/V controller, the AVC-2500U, has always made sturdy-looking audiophile-grade products. Despite its low cost, the AVC-1800 continues that tradition. Using 24-bit Burr-Brown digital-to-analog converters, high-quality glass-epoxy circuit boards and a heavy-duty power supply, it’s pretty much all you would expect in a Parasound product.
The AVC-1800 decodes Dolby Digital, DTS and Pro-Logic processing and includes full audio/video switching (four S-Video and composite inputs). It also includes Lucasfilm THX’s Cinema Re-EQ circuit to tone down chirpy movie soundtracks. The internal AM/FM has 29 presets, and it offers multiroom outputs, allowing you to send sound to another amp elsewhere in the house.
On the back, there are four audio/video inputs, three analog audio inputs and four digital audio inputs (two coaxial, two optical), none of which are labeled beyond Audio 1, Audio 2, etc., avoiding the device labels used almost everywhere else. A six-channel audio input allows the use of future multi-channel devices, like DVD-Audio. Separate 12-volt trigger circuits for each zone can be used to turn amplifiers on and off automatically.
The front of the unit has direct access buttons for each of the inputs, simple buttons for digital and analog inputs, as well as the Re-EQ and surround modes. Operation is very straightforward, and I’d never have needed the owner’s manual in normal operation. Cosmetically, the front of the unit is the usual black burnished steel with gold accents—a classy look, normal for Parasound.
The supplied remote is back lit and will operate seven devices, plus a second room for multiroom operation. The simple operation of the unit is reflected in the remote, which can manage virtually all of the operations of the front panel.
The company matches the AVC-1800 to its HCA-855A amp, which it matches aesthetically and, thankfully, sonically. The HCA-885A, at $995 list, finds itself in a sudden cauldron of excellent five-channel amps costing just about $1,000, including the Rotel RB-895 MKII (reviewed elsewhere in this issue).
The amp delivers 85 watts per channel, measured with all channels driven. As with all wattage ratings, your mileage may vary, so listen before you buy. The HCA-855A has the suddenly de riguer color-coded inputs and outputs, chassis-mounted RCA jacks and a 12-volt DC trigger for instant power-up when used with preamp/processors and multiroom systems offering 12-volt trigger output. Unlike the Rotel, Parasound offers channel level controls for each of the five channels, which, while not life and death, make it a bit easier to balance the system for odd room acoustics and speaker variations.
The HCA-855A features a toroidal transformer with separate windings for each channel, and 68,000 microfarads of total power supply capacitance, which the company said guarantees sufficient supply voltage to achieve maximum rated output, even with all channels driven at 0.05 percent total harmonic distortion.
Parasound HCA-855A Five-Channel Amplifier
Price: $995
+ The best five-channel amp for less than $1,000; heaps of power, good detail.
- Minuses? We don’t need no stinkin’ minuses!
Target user: Anyone who wants what may be the best bargain in home theater audio today.
Setup was simple, almost minimalist. Flip switches on the back of the AVC-1800, set large/small speakers for the mains, center and surrounds, as well as using or bypassing the LFE circuit for the subwoofer. Usually such bass management controls are set within an on-screen menu, but the switches worked fine and were easier to find than some menu systems. The on-screen setup basically gives you the audio input and the video input. Another screen allows you to calibrate the system, via pink noise in each channel.
That’s about it. No fuss, no muss, no gadgets. In terms of controls, you can adjust the treble and bass, engage the Re-EQ and flip between surround and non-surround modes (including mono). Every-thing you’ll ever need to know about operating the AVC-1800 requires a five-minute read of the owner’s manual.
A friend of mine suggested to me that the problem he has with Parasound is that it just sounds good, that there’s nothing about the gear that makes you feel blown away. He is, of course, a bit younger. Age and experience have taught me to appreciate the simple and pure. Hours and hours of listening to this pair of components left me very appreciative, indeed.
I started out with two-channel audio, playing the system with both RBH Signature Series speakers, as well as Monitor Audio 703s. Generally speaking, the Parasound gear sounded better with the RBHs, although it seemed like a bit of the fine detail was missing, compared to listening to it through the Monitors. The Monitors struggled mightily with the sheer monster power that the HCA-855A amp was pumping out in the midrange, so I found myself seduced by the slightly less detailed but immensely powerful sound of the Parasound duo playing through the RBHs.
Joe Jackson’s Summer In The City sounded wonderfully intimate, all the nuances of this new live album reproduced faithfully. Jackson’s piano, as well as how it played with the small club where the album was recorded, could be heard in good detail, especially with the Monitors. Paired with the RBHs, the Parasound combo loves rock and roll, spooning out heaps of power for guitars and male vocals.
Queen’s A Day At The Races, a standard test disc for me, totally shook me, and I could literally feel Brian May’s guitar in the pit of my stomach on a number of tracks. The soundstage had wonderful depth, with the stereo reproduction allowing me to almost be able to pick out exactly where every instrument was. Even better, Dire Straits’ Love Over Gold had a wonderful dynamic range, especially on “Telegraph Road.”
As enjoyable as stereo recordings were, I had even more fun when I switched to 5.1. I started out with Peter Frampton’s Live In Detroit (appropriate because Frampton is a Parasound fan), which just totally rocked. The HCA-855A amp caused the drums to just kick butt, without drowning out vocals or guitar.
After switching to movie content, I saw why Parasound ought to win a gold medal for dynamic range on a sub-$1,000 amp. Explosions and gunshots ripped through the room, while dialogue could be kept at reasonable levels, vastly increasing the realism. On Terminator 2, the amp had no trouble keeping up with everything the movie could throw at it. Even Star Trek: First Contact’s poorly designed dialogue track sounded better and less tinny than usual, while the excellent sound effect tracks were enveloping.
Put simply, this pair just cooks. Unless you’re committed to hanging six or seven speakers in your room, or in love with DSP effects, there’s no better pure sonic performance I’ve heard in this price range, and well above. I’ve yet to hear a receiver, even with claims of 170 watts per channel, pump out this kind of unstrained power at twice the price of this pair.
Parasound has created the audio equivalent of a race car. No power locks. No air conditioning. No power seats. Nothing here is designed to do anything but reproduce sound, purely and powerfully. Granted, there are a lot of people who want all the toys (and an owner’s manual that take weeks to understand), and they are probably best served with big-buck receivers.
But if, in your mind, it just comes down to sound, if you listen to this Parasound duo, you’ll want them. I know I do.
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