Parasound vs Rotel Amps

@caphill thanks for the detailed feedback. I shall keep going with the Halo A51s then. 

Regarding the latest HT codes though, what other brands has the latest codes? I researched Anthem, Marantz and Denon. It’s true they are early adopters, but those aren’t any better than the Rotel. Also I take customer service seriously as well. Rotel’s warranty service has always been the best for me, plus their 5 year warranty. I’ve looked at Krell and Nad and they are even further behind on the latest codes.

Side tracking question, would a tube amp truly beat the Halo A51 for the Electrostats? I’ve heard great stories but am not ready to drop $3000 for minimum improvement. They sound pretty good as is now. 

@angelgz2

Yes you should keep your Parasound Halo A51 amp. The Marantz, Anthem, Arcam, Audio Control, McIntosh, Yamaha, Onkyo / Integra HT processors are early adaptors and especially the Denon Marantz Onkyo/Integra are usually the first that adapt new AV technologies and new formats & codecs.

The new Marantz AV8805 will perform and sound better than your Rotel RSP-1576 processor. Rotel makes great amplifiers but when it comes to HT processors IMO the Marantz is slightly better. Besides, your Rotel RSP-1576 is not a Rotel’s top of the line HT processor. Currently the RSP-1582 is Rotel’s top of line HT processor but the RSP-1582 does not support latest formats and codecs eg Dolby Atmos DTS-X Auro 3-D, 4K HDR Dolby Vision. The RSP-1582 sounds and performs better than your RSP-1576.
I got a feeling that Rotel is probably going to release a new replacement for its flagship RSP-1582 possibly next year.

In regards to a tube power amp vs your Parasound Halo A51 driving your ML electrostats, I don't think you will be able to find a five-channel tube power amp. Or unless you're thinking to use a stereo or monoblock tube amps to drive your front ML electrostats? What kind of ML electrostats do you have? The big ML electrostats would need big high current solid state amp to drive them properly. Their speaker impedances are very low and can drop to around 2 ohms or below. So a low wattage tube amps just won't cut it, unless if you get a hybrid amp (tube input stage & solid state output stage) such as the PS Audio BHK 300 monoblock amps or the BHK 250 stereo amp. 

@caphill, the model amp was the RB1582 and the pre was the RC1580. I know they were the top of the heap at the time. A friend worked at a dealer and I was always fond of Rotel because my brother had some good Rotel gear in the late 70's. I tried hard to like it and spent a lot of time fiddling around with speaker placement, bass traps etc and I just couldn't make it work in my room. I'm sure they've come along way now because I don't think they sold many of them at the time. I was actually shocked because I've always been a fan of Japanese gear and the best system I've ever owned is Japanese and it's my current setup. I'm glad to hear they've ironed things out with the series.

I had an RCD-1072 and RA-1062 paired with Audioquest cables. The result was an excruciatingly forward, thin sound with no soundstage depth at all. It was very fatiguing and tiresome to listen to. I replaced the AQ with Acoustic Zen cables which managed to smooth the system out and inject some richness and warmness into it.

I don’t know how the newer 15 stuff is, but the 10 series components are cold as ice if you’re using Audioquest cables (which, ironically, most dealers and hi-fi shows use to demonstrate Rotel products).