New to preamp amp, turning on question

Sounds like a fault in your amp. If you Google Parasound HCA2205A, you'll find a link to the manual. Here's a cut/paste from the power-on section of the manual:

Standby/Normal Indicators

When you first turn the amplifier on, the Standby indicator will light for about five seconds while the internal circuits are stabilizing. After that, the Standby indicator turns off and the Normal indicator lights to signal that the amplifier is operational. -8- The Standby indicator will also light whenever there is a fault that triggers the protection circuitry. This may indicate one of the following conditions: DC present at the amplifier's input, a speaker impedance overload, a short circuited speaker line, or possible internal fault. If this indicator remains lit, remove power to the amplifier and check all connections. During this time, the protection circuits should automatically reset. If the Standby indicator stays lit after you reapply power, contact your Parasound Dealer, Installer or Parasound Technical Service for further advice.


To rule out an external source of the problem, unplug ALL connections from the amp, leave it powered off for overnight and turn it on with nothing connected. If it acts the same (long turn-on time), the fault is in the amp.

Could be why it was for sale for only $50.

Many preamps have a mute feature when turning on. This is to prevent thumps in the speaker.

The usual procedure for any amp/preamp combo is to turn the preamp on first and let it sit for about 30 seconds prior to turning on the amp. This will insure that there are no dangerous thumps that could damage a speaker.

Many solid state amps have a circuit that detects residual amounts of DC at the input of the amp and will prevent the amp from operating until the DC is gone. This might be what is happening here. But some amps simply take a while to stabilize, and there are protection circuits to prevent DC at the output of the amp from getting to the loudspeaker. Depending on the design of the amplifier its not that odd to me that it might take a minute or two to operate the protection relay and begin playing. That's the click you hear.

If I turn off the amp while it is working and wait few mins and turn it back on, the sound comes instantaneously. It’s only that if the entire system is off (for few hours) and I just turn it on, the sound doesn’t come for 1-3 mins until I hear a click sound from the amp?

The click is a relay. The amp is waiting until the power supply is fully charged and stable. Maybe a few other things too. Different amps have different circuits for this. My Herron phono stage takes a good 1 to 3 minutes same as this. My tube integrated has no relay but when first turned on after a long time takes a good 30 seconds to a minute during which if you're playing music it sounds like someone started with the volume control at zero, waited, and then started turning it up. Takes about a minute getting to full volume. So what you have sounds perfectly normal to me.

Thank you so much guys ( @atmasphere @reubent @millercarbon ) for taking time and writing to me. Now since it’s been 2 days since I have had it and it’s been consistent on turning on after 1-2 mins, so I believe it is normal. Love the audio community, helping each other out, really really appreciate it. May be one day I can help others just like you guys! Stay safe!