interference, which means that depending on your physical location, increasing the impedance even further may result in an improvement in sound quality. For the black finish, like what I have for the review, the feet are also golden, which gives a more striking two-tone appearance than the silver finish that comes with silver-colored feet. to them first. Instead of silk-screened lettering, the ‘Parasound’ brand on the new faceplate has a 3D texture with gold lettering. But its small size means there’s not a lot of real-estate available to fit connectors, so the rear panel is pretty busy. He wanted the XRM to offer versatility and convenience and thought that the design should be informed by viewing it through the eyes of a vinyl enthusiast rather than an engineer. But one problem with this setting is that it assumes there is zero radio-frequency interference, which is rarely the case if you live in a city. Midrange presentation sounded natural and honest as exemplified by Melissa Manchester’s vocal in the track Claudia from her album You Gotta Love the Life (2015). In the hi-fi world, Parasound needs no introduction. Yongki earned his Sc.D in aerospace engineering from MIT in 1999 and pursued a career as a professor in Singapore and later on in the US before deciding to change path to join the aerospace defense industry. I like simple. When set to the Manual position, the amplifier can only be turned on or off using the on-off button on the front panel. When turned on, it will glow red for a few seconds before turning blue in steady operation. Although Parasound makes various audio components, the anchor products have always been its amplifiers. I like the features. They also sell thru Amazon. Parasound products are known to be well built and bring a lot of bang for the buck. It was of no surprise that the A23+ amplifier could drive the Revel Ultima Studio speakers with ease. The amplifier seemed to present music in high definition with no blurred boundaries among its musical elements. Company Product Page: http://www.parasound.com/zamp-v3.php 6: November 2020, Starke Sound AD4.320 Power Amplifier Review, Parasound JC 1+ Monoblock Power Amplifier Product Review, Legacy Powerbloc2 Stereo Amplifier Review, Audio Research VT80SE Tube Power Amplifier Review, Anthem STR Preamplifier and Power Amplifier Review, Emotiva PA-1 Balanced Class-D Power Amplifier Review, Black Ice Fusion F11 Vacuum Tube Integrated Amplifier PREVIEW, JBL Synthesis Expands Award-winning SCL Loudspeaker Range With Four New Advanced Architectural Models, JBL Synthesis Caps Major Product Expansion by Introducing Flagship SCL-1 Loudspeaker and SSW-1 Subwoofer, Still Blown Away After All These Years: JBL Launches 75, The MediaLight Flex Mk2 6500K LED Bias Lighting System, G.E.M. We suspect that Ortofon is being deliberately vague so that audiophiles whose phono preamps have either a fixed load impedance – or only a limited range of load impedances to apply – will have at least one setting that falls within this range. Besides those and the main power switch near the power connector, the turn-on option switch as well as DC trigger input and output can be found on the left side of the back panel. Next, with thoughtful flexibility and using trickle-down technology from their flagship HALO line of products, Parasound designed a fully-featured integrated amplifier around this unit. We guess Schram’s approach has merit if you’re one of those audiophiles who constantly swaps phono cartridges in and out, but even if you are, it’s still only around 5 minutes out of your life each time you swap, which is hardly the end of the world. Though I had inquired of Parasound's Director of Sales, Phil Jackson, back in late 2018 as to my doing a review whenever the reimagined JC 1 might make its way back into the Parasound roster, when the January 16, 2020 Press Release landed in my inbox, I immediately requested a listen! Empire Brass Quintet’s Passage “138 B.C. The arrival of the Parasound Zphono XRM allows me to write that we have been using it to listen to Heart To Mouth by LP on LP for the first time. The A23+ also sports the left-right loop output connectors that pass through the input audio signals for daisy-chaining additional external amplifier(s) or for connecting subwoofer(s). These results make the Parasound Zphono XRM completely compatible with any MM or MC cartridge we’ve ever heard of. The AD4.320 amplifier is also unique, in my experience, in using a conventional, but very heavy-duty analog power supply with dual 30-amp transformers to power the output modules. The A23+ is definitely a very capable amplifier … Hunting these down has now become a major Saturday pastime. Given that famous amplifier designer John Curl does so much work for Parasound, we mistakenly assumed he must have been responsible for the company’s latest phono preamplifier, the Zphono XRM. Parasound maintains the overall style of the previous HALO products in the current product line. Newport Test Labs measured the signal-to-noise ratios of the Zphono XRM using that input voltage which resulted in a 2V output on the highest gain settings for both MM and MC inputs and, as you can see, the Zphono delivered outstanding S/N results of 95dB A-weighted for its MM input and 81dB A-weighted for its MC input. The amp is very solid, hefty 27 pounds and is built like a tank. Our magazine, which began with the publication of the SECRETS Primer, is available exclusively on-line and offers to our readers an extensive information resource about home theater and high-end audio. The front panel of the A23+ sports an on-off button with illumination surrounding it. They are both available in black and silver finishes, but the A23+ has gold-liner on the faceplate, which in my opinion, adds to the elegant look of the product. Rather frustratingly, Ortofon’s load impedance recommendation is disappointingly wide, at ‘50-200Ω’. 160 watts x 2, 8 Ω both channels driven As for that rumble filter, it’s probably mis-named, because in 2020, We’d sincerely hope that no self-respecting audiophile would be using a turntable that produced any audible ‘rumble’. Parasound does not seek THX certification for the A23+, which is not a big deal and not something that I would care about when shopping for an audio amplifier. At first look the Parasound Halo A 21 is an appealing and robust amplifier accented by brushed metal finish. Life is already hard enough, so why make it harder with inconvenient switches, right?’. Nice. 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