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Newer is not always Better - Acoustat TNT-120 vs. Parasound A23

Had a fun and enlightening listening session with my brother yesterday.

For the last few months I've been listening less and less to my downstairs music system. It's a Mac Mini running Pure Music (iTunes for control only) through the DAC of a Parasound P-5 into a Parasound A-23 amp powering some recently refurbished Alon Model IV speakers.

I took the time this weekend to really clean up the listening area, also moving some of my wife's fabric off shelves that sit next to my listening area. I still have a hard time getting a mono image stabilized dead center, so I do use balance. Having said that, removing some of the fabric did seem to open up the soundstage a good bit. I also spent a lot of time optimizing speaker placement.

The speakers used to belong to my brother, so he was excited to come have a listen. He liked the way they sounded, but felt they didn't have the heft in the bass he was expecting. He asked me if I still had the old Acoustat TNT-120. We hooked that up, and I must say, it was a significantly better sounding amp, in this system.

More bass heft, more musical, more ability to separate dynamic elements of the music, just more!

This is a 30 plus year old amp. I am looking for an appointment with Roy Esposito, former Acoustat tech. Although the amp sounds great as is, he provides a refurbishment/update service that I think will add greatly to my enjoyment of the system.

After I get it back I believe the Parasound will be going on the market.


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Topic - Newer is not always Better - Acoustat TNT-120 vs. Parasound A23 - davidbeinct 06:38:13 03/30/15 (7)

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