eric,
you may be confused as to which Parasound is the worst. My first was the P 3: the P5 was clearly way above it, but nothing like the Hattor. From there, the only 2 channel upgrade would be the JC 2 @ $4K well out of my budget, even used
We tend to expect one thnew thing to make our systems sing, when seldom will it work that way
As to dryness, etc I find the opposite of bpoletti's comments. at least with the Hattor, which puts everything into fine focus with great speed, and timing. What IT is doing is ruthlessly exposing everything else, including the recordings. On many CDs, some songs are well recorded while others are downright awful.
Jadedavid: The lack of soul was likely elsewhere (see my opening comment)
When I initially connected the H, I used a $100 Cullen PC, and PS Audio XLRs. The next afternoon, I replaced the Cullen with a $300 WireWorld PC and Surf Cables XLRs (absolute bargain) , the sound immediately warmed up (instruments and voices much fuller bodied, and the music now has 'more' texture.
I believe my lowest common denominators now are
1. My Emerald Physics 100.2 SEs (probably 2-3 generations old class D)
2. My Oppo 105
The amps will be the first to be replaced with a Nord stereo amp
I considered the $2K++ W4S STP SE, but IMO it's butt ugly, with a tiny view screen. Very poor design, especially for the money
you may be confused as to which Parasound is the worst. My first was the P 3: the P5 was clearly way above it, but nothing like the Hattor. From there, the only 2 channel upgrade would be the JC 2 @ $4K well out of my budget, even used
We tend to expect one thnew thing to make our systems sing, when seldom will it work that way
As to dryness, etc I find the opposite of bpoletti's comments. at least with the Hattor, which puts everything into fine focus with great speed, and timing. What IT is doing is ruthlessly exposing everything else, including the recordings. On many CDs, some songs are well recorded while others are downright awful.
Jadedavid: The lack of soul was likely elsewhere (see my opening comment)
When I initially connected the H, I used a $100 Cullen PC, and PS Audio XLRs. The next afternoon, I replaced the Cullen with a $300 WireWorld PC and Surf Cables XLRs (absolute bargain) , the sound immediately warmed up (instruments and voices much fuller bodied, and the music now has 'more' texture.
I believe my lowest common denominators now are
1. My Emerald Physics 100.2 SEs (probably 2-3 generations old class D)
2. My Oppo 105
The amps will be the first to be replaced with a Nord stereo amp
I considered the $2K++ W4S STP SE, but IMO it's butt ugly, with a tiny view screen. Very poor design, especially for the money