Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems Meridian G55 vs Parasound A52

Hello Chaps,
I have had a Parasound A52 well let me just say that 1st one was not working at all and now the 2nd unit my dealer brought round only works when it wants too "not too pleased!", any way they are now going to bring me a G55 and my question is has anyone listened to these 2 amps and if so how far ahead is the Meridian to the Parasound? also the G55 is rated at 100watts and the A52 is rated at 125watts will i notice less power or is the Meridian more powerfull ref to Current?

Any advice appreciated

Cheers
John

Well I had a three channel Parasound amp once. 200watt x 3! It was powerful but sounded way to bright for me. I've heard Meridian amplifiers and I think you will be very pleased with the sound quality.

Ron

Thanks Ronomy i am certainly going to have a good listen i'm sure it will be good.

Any more opinions welcome

Cheers
John

What about trying to track down a 558.2 John?

I tried one of these before I got the cinepro, very nice amp and with some of the deals that have been about worth looking out for one.
I have heard the G55 and didn't think it was too hot, just not enough power, and really didnt rate the a52 either, the A51 is so, so, so much better, alot nicer to listen to and doesn't sound bright like the A51.

What is your budget?

John,

Just remember amps will sound different with every speaker...always listen first and decide. The Parasound may have been bright on my system but I heard a 5 channel version on another guys system that sounded very good. So my observations are with my speakers...Aerial Acoustics 10t's!

Ron

Thanks Chaps

Giz - The trouble is trying to find a 558.2 my budget is around the 2k mark i will give the G55 a go and see how it sounds and if not happy i will consider something else.
Giz would you say the G55 is better than the A52 though?

Cheers
John

[This message has been edited by Recruit (edited 02-24-2005).]

In all honesty I wouldn't have either the G55 or the A52, when you consider that you could get 3x557 amps for the same money.

Other option for �2k is a Parasound 2205 which is better than the A52 by a long margain and they seem to be about fairly often.

Giz - I have had a G55 on all day and IMHO i think it is fantastic there is so much more drive than in the Parasound and even though it is rated at 100watts it sounds like alot more i have to say i really like it.
And if i was to get another one later on i can bridge them and have 300watts on the front 3 channels and still feed 4 more speakers for the rears.

Cheers
John

Actually you can have 2x300 for the L/R and 1x100 for the center ;-)

Kacos - I think my plan now will be to run 1 G55 with 2 channels Bridged at 300watts for L/R with 1 x 100w left and another G55 with 1 channel bridged at 300 watts for Centre Duties and another 3 left at 100watts + the other 100watts for the 4 rears could be a good combination...

Cheers
John

Oh I would definitely take the G55 over an A52, but then I would take the 2205 over both of them.
I sold my 2205 for �900.

Now for that money you could use a 2205 for centre, sides and reas and get something a bit special (second hand) for the mains?

gIzzE,

It really can depend on the speakers and what the final sound is like. I had the three channel version of the 2205 and it was to foward and bright for me. Harsh with some music! I'm not sure what the Meridian amps sound like on my speakers either but I have heard some of there amps and they are nothing like Parasound amplifiers. That doesn't mean bad or good. The one setup I did like with a parasound 2205 was at a friends house. The amp/speaker combo in that setup did sound quite nice so it goes to show you how the speaker and amp must be matched for the best sound.

I wouldn't mix amplifiers in the front three channels. The soundstage will be difficult to get right. I tried this with the Parasound three channel and a Counterpoint two channel amp all rated at 200 watts a channel. The counterpoint dual channel was used for the left and right. One of the parasound channels was for center. I could never get it to sound right and my front three speakers are perfectly matched. My counterpoint amp sounded better for stereo back then so I just lived with it till I upgraded to large monoblock amplifiers...one for each front channel. Even changing my rears to the same amplifier design from Bryston the soundstage including the rears just all came into a much better focus. I guess it could work but much harder to get right. It depends on how transparent you want your soundstage to be.

Ron

[This message has been edited by Ronomy (edited 02-25-2005).]