Rives PARC parametric equalizer

I have heard the PARC--obviously, in very high end systems. There are a few things that you might do to see what it could possibly do to the signal--we engineered these things in for just this purpose.

First, the bypass is a true bypass. It goes off the audio boards. Second, if you power down then all the circuitry is removed from the PARC and all you are left with is the connections. You might set up a memory that has no attenuation for any band and then go to bypass and then turn the unit off. In theory--if the PARC is totally transparent and has no effect what so ever you would hear no difference in these 3 settings. Let's face it, you are going through a more complex signal path with each of these. In the world of mega buck cables, speakers, and room acoustics you can hear the difference in almost anything--but here is a way to hear exactly what that difference is. Give it a try--you be the judge.

Tks Rives and sorry for late reply...been travelling.. I have obviously tried the bypass mode vs taking the PARC entirely out of the chain. in my system and to my ears, the PARC does something to the sound besides attenuating bass booms. E.g.,the usual slight hiss from my tube pre-amp is greatly surppresed with the PARC in the chain, whether bypass mode is on or off. I don't know if the extra ic causes that.
I prefer PARC out of the chain. However, it would make the bass boom unbearing to listening. So it is a compromise.

I have been using a PARC for well over a year now. Certainly the PARC improves the bass and I prefer less bass bass attenuation then the Bare software recommends. In my system the midrange and treble sounded slightly flattened (2D) and less lucid when processed by the PARC. But I like what it does for the bass.

My speakers support passive biamping and the bass section crosses at over around 300 Hz. So, I ended up biamping with the PARC between the preamp and the bass amp. The preamp signal sent for the midrange and treble amp does not pass through the PARC. I find the midrange and treble sound better this way versus biwiring or using jumpers on the speakers.

Certainly there may be some advantage to biamping and also avoiding processing the midrange and treble through a second set of cables and additional connectors.

Bob

Bob,

Biamping should certainly give you huge improvment in clarity in the mid range, as you will reduce interaction from the crossovers and drivers being in one shared complex hard to drive circuit (read much easier load for each amp and way lower IMD, which is very audible)

=> I am not sure this improvement has necessarily a lot to do with the PARC however...surely it should be transparent in the mid and treble range...whereever it is placed?

Shadorne, in my system and to my ears, the PARC is not transparent in the mid and treble as some reputable magazines have claimed. In addition, in my system, it takes some life out of the sound. However, I must hasten to add that using good quality power cord and i.c. to feed the PARC will reduce the gaps to a subtle level. The PC i use on the PARC costs the same as the PARC (isn't it ridiculous?) but it does help to put most of the life back into the sound again. Before that i used a much humbler PC, and the sound was dissaponting.