Parasound A21+ vs MF M8 500S vs Cary 200.2 ES vs Hegel H20


Whilst in COVID lockdown I've been considering the next step for my system. 

I've been running a Herron VTSP-3 tube pre-amp into a Rogue ST100 tube amp for a while and whilst it has beautiful tone, timbre, density and the performers appear in front of me, I feel like it is a little smoothed over and lacking in excitement and dynamics. It needs a touch more air, liveliness and punch.

I tried a CJ CA200 (185wpc) integrated and a Kinki EX-M1 (215wpc) integrated and they both brought excitement and dynamics to the presentation but the CJ was faulty and was returned to the seller and the Kinki sounded just a touch dry to me (I upgraded the opamps which helped but it somehow sounded harmonically incomplete or overdamped and I couldn't ignore this when listening). Surprisingly, I didn't miss the tubes although both my pre-amp and amp sound pretty neutral and not typically tubey.

Although my speakers, Silverline Sonata III's, are rated an easy 93db sensitivity and 8ohm (+/- 10%) impedance, the extra power of the two integrated amps I tried really seemed to bring them to life. So, I'm thinking that if I keep the tube pre-amp but replace the Rogue ST100 (60wpc in Triode mode and 100wpc in Ultralinear mode) with a solid state power amp that's around 200wpc+ into 8 ohms, it might get me to where I want to be.

Obviously taking the candidate power amps home for trial would be ideal but this would be very difficult logistically, plus I will probably want to buy used in order to be able to afford the quality I'm after. Buying, trying and selling a number of amps is not something that would be readily tolerated by my wife who, although tolerant of my audio obsession has her limits.

So, if anyone has compared these amps, especially directly against each other, I would really appreciate hearing your thoughts as to their relative strengths and weaknesses. 

dkerr

Showing 4 responses by avanti1960

oh boy, where to begin...
first off i have had the stereo 100, the cary 200.2 and now have the parasound a21+.  
the stereo 100 was an awesome performer and very dynamic, the a21+ sounds hesitant by comparison - but - you have to use the balanced connections on the stereo 100, ultralinear mode and 8 ohm tap.  anthying different will shoot dynamics in the foot.  
i used the rogue audio RH 5 tube headphone amp linestage (stereophile class A, 2500 retail) which is a balanced design.  what a driving dynamic sound, the most powerful 100 watt amp i have ever heard, tube or solid state, used with connections and settings as mentioned.  sounds just popped and i wish i did not sell it.  
try the high gain on your herron if you havent, maybe that will help.  
the cary 200.2 sounded more dynamic, actually too dynamic whether balanced or slightly tamed down using rca connections.  it was super midrange forward though, almost shouty.  i had to part with it.  
the a21+ has excellent tone and transparency but not the best dynamics. 
to get satisfactory dynamics i bought the cary slp 05 preamp and that did the trick.  the cary is an amazing sounding preamp, also balanced connections.  
try bumping the herron to high gain, possibly more dynamic tubes?
run the st100 ultralinear, 8 ohm taps.  report back.  
based on my experience a different preamp will definitely do the job with the st100
good luck.  

@dkerr 
the RH 5 sounded more neutral and transparent than the RP 7.  The RP 7 sounded soft and overly polidhed, rounded off on top despite trying the best tubes to fix it.  
i could easily have lived with the RH 5, I traded the RP 7.  
The Cary SLP 98 has extreme drive and dynamics despite the RCA connections.  
My preference would still be the RH 5 though.  
@dkerr
same speakers used for both amps, st 100 and a21+ , 86db harbeth shl5+.  
overall i liked the sound of the stereo100 better, more dynamic, more organic, ability to tube swap, i used amperex 12ax7 and rca 12au7.  
i bought the a21+ thinking it would improve bass response.  wrong.  
i never replace a new component with one i sold off, throwing good money after bad.  
the a21+ is an excellent solid state amp and it does sound very good and can play quite loud without fuss.  
ps i also demoed the hegel h20 and did not care for the sound of the system, thin, overly transparent amost surgical with ker r11 towers. 
the right preamp will meet your goals.  important to note is that the rogue RH 5 sounds much more dynamic than the RP 5 (no balanced connections either).  it even sounds better than the twice as expensinve RP 7 which i owned.  I was very disappointed in the lack of dynamics in the RP 7.  
another one to try is the Cary SLP 98.  even with rca connections it is very dynamic.  check cary direct for good prices.  
my thoughts on the RP 7 became less favorable after the honeymoon phase, possibly additional burn in.  guilty as charged.  I should have kept the RH 5, I only traded it because I had the opportunity.  
the RH 5 is a smaller modest unit with incredible sound.