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RE: Got the A21 home. Also Drove a new 2011 Cadillac CTS coupe...what a blast!

I went to pick up my friend's Parasound A21. However, he's been dying to show me his new 2011 Cadillac CTS coupe. The first one sold in Florida, according to the dealer. In fact, he bought it right off the trailer the day they arrived.

Different strokes for different folks as the saying goes. I personally would no more use an A21 with a $9k speaker than I would purchase a CTS compared to its competition. Its a really a very nice car, but at that price point there are other options. Obviously buying American is not an unimportant selling point these days, but there are better road cars out there, better choices which will retain their value longer, and better choices which will be more reliable down the road (pun intended).

This is not to say your friend made a mistake. The CTS is really a very nice car, the best Cadillac in many years. Car's after all are, to a great degree, a matter of taste...just like amplifiers. But the CTS, as good as it is, is not a world beater.

I have a 2009 Infiniti g37 coupe which is a precise road car with 330 hp and every feature available for the 2011 CTS plus a few more...for a bit less money and with superior reliability. Some will prefer BMWs or some Caddies. There is no right or wrong.


The A 21's are not world beaters either. Although at their price point they are quite a bargain. I had A21's in the house for a short while. Used with my Parasound Halo P3 preamp, Halo tuner and EC EMC 1UP cd player. Speakers were 1.6 maggies and a pair of Paradigm Studio 60s I no longer have.

The A21s sounded very nice if a bit too analytical for my tastes on both the maggies and the Paradigms. I inserted a borrowed Electrocompaniet 4.7 preamp from my dealer in the system and immediately realized two things. The A21 was definitely much more analytical and hard sounding than I wished, and with the EC preamp volume all the way up I heard a lot of low level hash coming through the speakers. When I switched to EC amps with the EC preamp, there was dead silence at full volume, the sound was much less hard and the soundstage width and depth expanded so much it was a revelation.

Part of it, I'm sure was amp/pre matching. But a great part of it was simply the $6K worth of EC amps and the $3K preamp was just better on an absolute level for me. There was also a better synergy between the EC amps, preamp, and cd player which should not be downplayed. I got a chance to audition the gear at home for well over a week with no obligation. (I have a great dealer). I ABed various combinations of amps and preamps at home in my own listening room. Money was very much an object right then but it was clear that as good as the A21 was, it was still an inexpensive amp. They are not just smaller verions of JC-1s. I find it hard to believe your friend is really getting the best out of his B&Ws using it.


Maggies, because you can never be too thin!

Mark


Edits: 07/28/10
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