Monolith VS Parasound! Which is better?!?

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Listen to the audio-only version of this podcast: anchor.fm/daily... Welcome to the Daily HiFi Podcast where we talk all things A/V!
Is one better than the other in specs? How about audible differences? Or maybe how about the intangibles like longevity or warrantee if you would ever need it? Is one truly better? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
Monolith 5 channel amplifier: www.monoprice....
Parasound 5 channel amplifier: parasound.com/...
This snippet was taken from the October 18, 2021 show.
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[@danieldelgado8153]

I own the Monolith 7x200 and love it. Clean sound. Great price. Happy Holidays

[@38special4ever]

Monolith amps are constructed and made by ATI, they definitely know how to build world class amps. You can't go wrong with any of the two brands. One thing that Monolith is missing is the variable gain. That feature is golden, when matching an external amp with a receiver that does not have a similar internal gain on it's amps.

[@midevil1980]

Wouldn't speaker level adjustments in the AVR/Processor help fix that, or running room correction?

[@38special4ever]

@@midevil1980 Yes, but you loose headroom when the avr has to do it digitally. So it's a nice to have feature!

[@mrpmj00]

Yep, love Parasound's variable gain

[@michaelwyckoff7593]

Great discussion fellas

[@Herofmine]

I picked Monolith 7x! And cant be more happier with quality and sound

[@genkifd]

all depends on your setup. Your room treatment, are your speakers set up correctly? also two channel is much more obvious than HT.

[@healthynutster]

I believe there’s a difference, but it may not be readily apparent in low to medium volume listening when there is little demand on the amp’s current capability. Noise floor’s already been mentioned, and music aficionados can usually identify a good amp by how it handles transients. Also, a noisy receiver or preamp may mask how quiet an amp is and may make 2 amps with vastly different noise floors sound the same. Finally, differences in amps may not be as obvious in a multichannel system, while being readily identifiable in a good two channel system with only 2 speakers.

[@josephfinn6244]

Hey Joe, Channa, Michael - just call me when this question comes up and I will provide the right answer - hah!

[@keepingupwiththejones2933]

😅🤣😭 Parasound for the win

[@darthsimon4393]

I started with a Monolith 11 channel amp. Then switched to Parasound. The Parasound sonically blows away Monolith. If you can’t hear the difference there’s something wrong with your system. Weak link somewhere. I run Paradigm Persona’s and Audio Control X9 with Parasound amps. 2 JC5’s and 2 A52’s for surrounds channels... Full blown Auro3d setup. The 2 JC5’s power my front Persona’s and damn the soundstage is enormous. Maybe you guys haven’t heard the JC1’s or JC5’s?

[@jin5667]

I think the monolith 11 only runs 200w for 3 channel and 100w for the rest of the 8 channels, while the JC5 is at 400w and A52 is also at 180w at 5 channels. So, clearly there should be some difference. May not be a level set comparison though

[@wesg92]

Agree with Jin. This is not a level comparison. Also, if you have sensitive speakers and listen at moderate volumes, I do not believe you're going to hear any difference between the amps. It has nothing at all to do with "something wrong with your system". If you're listening at/near reference level then I'm sure the JCs sounded better since they provide WAY more power than the Monolith 11ch amp.

[@oscillatingdailyaudio]

sure it does

[@kevonmanuel]

Pyle amplifiers are the BEST.

[@fubartotale3389]

Monolith amplifiers are made by ATI in California. Amplifiers are all THEY do.

[@mrpmj00]

Go Parasound. You need better speakers ($1k+ each speaker) to hear a difference.

[@EM-ke8is]

I own a Monolith 7channel ,a Parasound JC5 ,2 A23+ , and a B&K 200.7 reference , I can absolutely hear a difference that’s why my JC 5 is for my main L/R and before that the B&K because it was still better than the Monolith in sound for the mains and the B&K was already in my system for years .

[@junior-OG]

jc5😍

[@EM-ke8is]

👍🏼

[@shaolin95]

No you can't. It's call placebo..get over it.

[@ShaneM007]

A 7000 amplifier vs a 2000. I could help you could tell a difference in that one. Compare the monolith to another 200 watt amp and you won't tell a bit of difference!

[@eddietours3728]

D-Sonic FTW

[@PIPERBOYWILLIAMS]

Paying more just to say you have a parasound that sounds the same ?

[@mrman7453]

I owned an Outlaw Audio 7500 and a Bryston 4bsst2 . The Outlaw Audio was a great amp but wasnt there musically .

[@voiceofreason9238]

Good topic. A lot of people can't tell the difference in sound between amps. In my world everything matters, requiring choice.

[@tonyweimar2390]

xpa2 sounds harsh compared to rotel and parasound . i know this from experience with having owned all three of these amps. i still own the a21 and rmb 1585

[@masterchef6694]

Many people have had a similar experience with xpa2. I am curious to know between rotel (1582 mk2) & parasound (v2250).... which one would you pick?

[@manyakus8919]

Monolith is class D and Parasound is class A and A/B. They totally sound different.

[@wesg92]

Depends on the amp. Lots of Monolith amps are A/B.

[@jefflynch7197]

Yes ,there is a huge difference in sound quality! Maybe update your speakers

[@DailyHiFi]

What's wrong with Arendal 1723 THX Towers?

[@velocci6666]

Where would you slot in Emotiva?

[@mikeortiz2139]

Yeah, I want to know this too.

[@kenmark5676]

The xpa2 first gen is up there with parasound.

[@velocci6666]

@@kenmark5676 I doubt it. why is it less than half the price of the parasound?

[@RoselynNY]

emotiva is low end. really close to budget option. would not recommend it.

[@velocci6666]

@@RoselynNY I would put it on par with monolith

[@scruffy8861]

If i was deciding based on looks, the Parasound has a more elegant design and what i would choose for my rack.

[@bigreg1001]

There is a difference between amplifiers differences are audible and quite clear such as a difference in soundstage depth and clarity that’s brought about by the fact that the higher end amplifier will have a lower noise floor so quieter parts of the signal will be more audible you must listen closely to hear this effect but it is there that’s only one aspect There are many more I don’t have time to go into them right now. Quite often when you hear people talk about audio they always focus in on frequency response that’s not the whole story distortion has much more of a fact on the recording in frequency response such things as harmonic distortion can affect Instrumental timbre in the words if you distort the signal violins won’t sound like violins trumpets won’t sound like trumpets and drums one sound like drums etc. etc. the less distortion the better Tamberal fidelity the more realistic the sound of the music is. Also the lower the noise floor the more dynamic range or headroom you will have so you just can’t focus on frequency range that’s not the whole story….

[@shaolin95]

Lol that is what snake oil sellers count...people with strong placebo issues

[@davidstein9129]

That's a really important point. Thanks for bringing it to the light. What are your thoughts about the ParaSound Halo A52 distortion measurements? This appears to be a quiet unit. Thanks

[@synth505]

Biggest difference between the two is that Parasound uses higher quality components and the build quality is better. Try picking up an A51 and you tell me. The nuances in sound amplification can only be appreciated if the other components in your system are also of higher quality. Will you hear the difference on a set of box store bought Klipsch? Yeah, not likely.

[@jarrod2750]

I’ve had many Parasound amps over the years and very happy with them. I also own a jc jr+ phon stage which I am overall content with. I had a P6 and I was definitely underwhelmed with it and especially the DAC so I ending up selling it, I’ll buy Parasound amps all day long but it will be a pass on any preamps!

[@mrpmj00]

So don't use the builtin dac. My Parasound 2100 preamp (no built in dac) features are outstanding: Home Theater bypass, L/R balance, tone controls (treble/bass), gain knob, loop outpouts to subwoofers.

[@tz7813]

I can get a new old stock 2250 v1 very cheap. Is it very different to the v2?

[@mrpmj00]

@@tz7813 They're both benched at 150wpc. The V2 has a standard sized 3.5mm trigger port. The V1 has an input volume trigger sensitivity knob whereas the V2 has a quiet/loud input volume trigger sensitivity

[@CanadaSocial]

Respectfully, I don't think we consumers can ever get your true honest opinion if more and more creators are sponsored by manufactures... I recognize that no one would want to burn the bridges with the sponsors especially during these tough times were we all have to pay our mortgages and keep the house running; but what that means is that we the consumer will never get to hear the truth from you lovely people on some of these electronics and speakers. I have noticed over the years as you all have got more and more of those connections you start to walk the tight rope. I do love Joe though because he does bring up the background on the sponsorship and you can see him itching to tell the truth or pushing to get the truth out... and his facial expressions in both this video and the JTR vs Perlisten video say it all about creators walking the tight rope. He even tried to put Michael on the spot (all in good spirit) in the JTR vs Perlisten video but then Michael has now over the years mastered the art of walking the tight rope with his responses.. I love you guys but I had to mention what I have noticed over the last few months/years... All the best :-)

[@shaolin95]

If someone buys a parasound or similar to show as it was a Rolex..I got no issue with that as they understand they are buying luxury not performance.

[@chebrubin]

So not true. Parasound is value. Then all the other audiophile gear goes up from there like Pass Labs.

[@chriss881000]

U have no idea what u are talking about my man. And u clearly dont know anything about parasound. Parasound is one of few most value for the coin u can get out there. Parasound crushes many many other brands that cost tripple the price. And about the Rolex, nope, parasound is a mid tier brand, not mid tier performance, but parasound is not expensive at all compared to other hifi brands out there. And also as he says, a parasound will live longer than you. Their customer service is 200% one of top on this planet. U get much more for u money with parasound compared to other expensive brands, and another big thing a about parasound is that they can power almost every speaker out there, bec parasound is very serious about current delivery. Current is much more important than having plenty of watts. And almost all parasound amps are 100% stabile at 1.5 ohm's. Find a brand that can do all these things at those "low" prices. Top tier lines of parasound is designes by John curl, one of the most respectes enginers in the industry. A John curl design is like buying a gun from John wick.

[@darthsimon4393]

@@chriss881000 Great reply! My JC5's and A52's sound magnificent. Specs are just that specs. Numbers... Watts are watts? I don't think so. Signal to noise ratio. Isolation of the analog path, cross talk.... Hello?

[@chriss881000]

@@darthsimon4393 how much did u pay for ur jc5?

[@darthsimon4393]

I have 2 JC5’s. 5 Each…

[@mrman7453]

Guaranteed you can tell the difference on music .Trust me musically its just not there .

[@darthsimon4393]

Parasound unequivocally blows the doors off of MONOLITH ALL DAY...Come on.....

[@turnne]

@DarthSimon "Blows the doors off".....in what regard?..Certainly not on specs

[@darthsimon4393]

Specs? You mean components...... specs can match specs... it’s the components and what you hear.

[@turnne]

@@darthsimon4393 That doesnt make sense When comparing any manufactured product you compare specs Otherwise how do you speak to a preference with no comparisons of what it has or what it can do from a performance standpoint..unless its just in your head?

[@darthsimon4393]

@@turnne lol certainly not in my head. I used a Monolith 11 channel amp on my systems. When I upgraded to all Parasound for my 13 of speakers the world opened up for me. I let my ears judge my preference, not specs….

[@turnne]

@@darthsimon4393 We are going to have to agree to disagree then " Your ears".." your head".." your opinion" They are really all the same...and nothing says there has to be any facts associated with any of them

[@tablameister]

What a waste of time.

[@letsgobrandon6545]

I'd say Schiit. Just because they are not outsourcing to China.