amp comparison

Brian71 · « **on:** 8 Mar 2005, 03:33 pm »

I wanted to see if anyone wanted to come out and try and pick between 2 amps in an informal blind test. I won't post which 2 amps they are at this point, in order to keep it interesting. But there is a significant price difference between the 2. This is in a home theater set-up but the test would be done in 2 channel only. Speakers are Von Schweikert VR4-jr's.
I'm thinking maybe Sunday afternoon from 2-4.
Anyone want to participate? I live in McKinney.

brj · « **Reply #1 on:** 8 Mar 2005, 07:03 pm »

Hi Brian!

That sounds great to me, and I think I can make that time (although it will be an hour+ drive.) I'm not sure how much use I'll be in the comparison, but if nothing else, I'd love to hear the VR4-Jrs! Does this mean they are finally broken in?

Brian71 · « **Reply #2 on:** 8 Mar 2005, 07:44 pm »

I thought you might like to come just to hear the speakers.
They have somewhere between 150 and 200 hours on them. They may continue to improve but I think they have improved significantly from when I unboxed them.

BTW, we're waiting on a pair of the VR4 sr's for the store.

Alex_G · « **Reply #3 on:** 9 Mar 2005, 07:51 am »

Brian,

I own VR-4JR's and love them.

I'm looking for the best matching multi-channel amp and would like to hear your opinon. What amps are you planning to use for shoot-out?

Best regards,
Alex

Brian71 · « **Reply #4 on:** 11 Mar 2005, 02:36 pm »

I have a Halo A51 and will be comparing it to a Crown XLS402 pro amp. Should be interesting.

brj, if you're still in, shoot me a pm or email and I'll send you my address. Should be 2-4 other people as well.
I'm also finishing up my infinite baffle sub install and should have it playing by Sunday.

Alex_G · « **Reply #5 on:** 17 Mar 2005, 06:53 pm »

What amp was the clear winner? Can you please describe what you liked and didn’t like about each amp?

brj · « **Reply #6 on:** 18 Mar 2005, 08:21 am »

First off, a sincere thank you to Brian for hosting the 5 of us that made it. I finally got to hear both an infinite baffle subwoofer and the very impressive VR4jrs. It was a fun afternoon!

Quote from: Alex_G

What amp was the clear winner? Can you please describe what you liked and didn’t like about each amp?

Ok, here come the qualifiers... that was the first time I heard Brian's setup, and the first time I heard any of the components making up his system. There were several of us rotating through different audition tunes, but I was only familiar with the one I provided (Track 5 of "Heart: The Road Home," which is an all acoustic track recorded live that keeps adding layers as it progresses).

That said... the amps were surprisingly similar in sound despite a huge difference in cost. (The 260w/8 Ohm x 2 channel Crown XLS 402 is in the $300 range and the 250w/8 Ohms x 5 channel Parasound Halo A51 is in the $4000 ballpark.) I picked the Parasound as the "clearer" amp, but with that came a slightly hotter top end. It was a small difference, but I could identify that characteristic consistently. That said, when we dropped a BPT 3.5 Signature power conditioner in the mix, it seemed to tame the Halo's hotter highs a bit while giving both amps a slightly blacker background. (Brian does have a dedicated set of 20 amp and 15 amp lines feeding the system.)

In short, I liked the slight added clarity of the Halo, but if I was faced with buying one or the other, I'd have to save my money for something else and go with the Crown.

(Brian, can you list the details of your system? Thanks!)