2 ch sound, great imaging and sound stage.

Missing 3 ch Stereo, tuner display on ALL the time, wish that digital inputs would stay assigned so that switching from analog to digital was one step instead of having to move thru all digital inputs. PreAmp is not compatible with wife. Needs a better remote, one thats compatible with wife.

To begin with I love the sound that the AVC-1800 puts out. Soooo clean and dynamic. I was looking to upgrade from my old Denon prologic receiver and first bought a Denon AVR-3300. I loved the sound that my old Denon has so I purchased this one because I didn't need the features that the AVR-3801 had. DD and DTS were fantastic, music was loud and flat and had no life.
After stewing for 4 weeks I decided to use my 60 day upgrade and purchased the AVC-1800 and the Rotel PB-985MKII power amp. My first AVC-1800 was DOA. The dealer only had a floor model to lend me until a new one was sent so I took that one to try. The dealer called the next day and stated that a connector on the main board had come lose. I have not yet been back to exchange the unit and have been enjoying this one until I can do the exchange.
I do have another problem with the unit I'm using now. My satellite receiver is connected using one of the optical inputs. While changing channels the signal either gets lost or confused and produces a very high pitched squell. I have to switch to 2 channel analog and then back to surround. My wife was about to kill me when I came home from work.
I called Parasound and could not believe it when someone answered the phone on the first ring. I was transfered to tech support and again someone answered immediatly. I will be called back tomorrow, the guy who knows more about the AVC-1800 had just left.
In a nut shell, I'm really torn between what I'm going to do. I really like the sound this thing puts out. It's like nite and day compared to the Denon AVR-3300. It seems that I'm not the only one having this problem based on the reviews below.
I'm giving this 4 stars for sound. This problem is almost a deal killer for me and in my mind there's nothing in this price range that come close. I hope this problem has been solved by Parasound. I guess I'll know tomorrow.

Similar Products Used:

AVR2400, AVR3300, Yamaha separates from the early 80's.

Just wanted to undo my last previous post. I should have used the AVC-1800 for several weeks before posting a review. My problem was that I came from using Denon A/V receivers that have great ergonomics but were not that great with music. My last review was brought on by minor inconvience with the remote. To solve that I've purchased the new MX-500 remote which is on the way.
My other complaint was a squeal that randomly appeared when DTS was detected. I don't know what happened but the squeal is gone, I hope for good. I overcame the prologic to 2 channel startup by leaving my TV sound set to analog input instead of turning the unit off while set to optical.

I just want any future readers to note that this preamp is a great value and aside from a few ergonimic querks is about as simple to use as can be. The sound quality is veryyyy goooood. I could not be happier with the sound quality.

My only regret was that I did not wait less than two weeks before buying. I paid $900 when the units MSRP was $1199. Less than two weeks later, Parasound has lowered the MSRP to $899. I paid $1.00 over MSRP. I think they did this to get back at me for my review. Just kidding. I'm still very happy with my purchase.

Just try to find a better sounding A/V preamp for under $1000. Now you can get this great sounding piece for less than $900 NEW.

Similar Products Used:

AVR-2400, AVR-3300

Still loking for discrete IR codes for surround modes.

I purchased this product used (mint condition) several months ago. I have had my issues with the product as others have mentioned. The loss of signal when switching channels on Dish network being the primary problem. The people at Parasound have been terrific. My unit is an older unit (not REALLY sure of the year), however when I called Parasound and talked to one of the techs about my problem, he sent me a new EPROM for the unit. This fixed the issue as well as updated the unit. I also had a problem with noise in my system. I have a 5 year old HCA806 Parasound amp in the system which had been unused for approx 2 years awaiting completion of the basement HT room. I again called Parasound and they helped me solve the sound problem. It was the amp and not the AVC1800. I had the HCA806 relays cleaned at my local dealer and all is well. I REALLY appreciate the help from Parasound. I love the sound of the system for the price. Sure there are better systems for audio and there are better systems for home theater (get out the checkbook!), but for the combo (both good audio 2 channel and surround processing) it is money well spent.

The AVC1800 has all the features I currently need. Good 5.1 and DTS decoding and good 2 channel audio throughput. I didn't spend months doing A/B comparisons to other surround units but it came highly recommended from my dealer. It is probably good that I didn't shop much because I have been known to spend way too much money in the process. Since that time, I have not been able to find many units in this price range to compare. So, if you want the 5.1/DTS surround decoding and good performance for $899 MSRP (price just changed) as well as good customer support (at least from what I experienced) the AVC1800 is a good unit to look at. It also has a tuner which my kids (ages 10 and 12) like.

My system:

Pioneer Elite DV-37 DVD
Pioneer Elite Pro-510HD TV
Dish 6000 Sat Receiver
Parasound AVC1800 Surround Controller
Parasound HCA806 6 channel Amp
Monster Power HTS5000 PowerCenter
Marantz RC5000II remote
NEAR Mast Front Speakers
NEAR Center Channel
NEAR Surrounds
Velodyne Sub
Kimber speaker wire (except for surrounds)
AudioQuest interconnects (mostly)

Similar Products Used:

Denon, Parasound, Hafler, Carver, Luxman

Cost! I can't imagine finding a more affordable DD/DTS pre-pro. (Looks nice too.)

2-channel not what I had quite expected.

I purchased this to replace my old Nakamichi AV-1 receiver which I had been running with a Vantas for DD. I went with this unit because:
1. Price was too good to pass up.
2. I had hear some Parasound before and they've had good reviews.
3. 2-channel was supposed to be great... see reviews below.
Well, I'm not bummed at all over the price and the HCA-855A - which I'm using to run the center and surrounds - is very nice. However - and this is a big however - I'm not so enthused about the 2 channel which is what I run 90% of the time. It's not bad, mind you, but I have to be honest and say that my AV-1 (used as a pre-amp) running my old Nakamichi PA-5II Stasis sounded a bit better. I'm sure the more I listen the more I'll grow into it but still a bit of a let down.
Movies sound good enough for me however and again, for the price, it'll be hard to beat. (Especially when the wife gives you a solid-set budget.)
As you can see below I've got a lot of older equipment... maybe I'm just a dinosaur

AVC-1800
HCA-855A
Nakamichi PA-5II
Nakamichi OMS-5 CD player
RCA DVD player
Monster HTS2500
B&W Matrix 3 Series 2 (Front)
B&W 805 (center/rear)

I found the remote tobe excellent once learned. It was tricky to program as each function has to be entered twice.

I just bought an RCA 4280 satellite receiver and have conntected it the 1800 using the optical line in for the first time. Suddenly I am experiencing problems. When changing channels on the dish the sound signal gets lost resulting in loud static. This can only be corrected by switching the surround mode on the preamp to 2 channel and then back to surround. This makes channel surfing a chore.

Also,in prologic, while watching movies I now get a low frequency hum or buzz from my speakers. I think it must have something to do with the optical input as these problems started only after I hooked up the receiver.

Has anyone heard of these issues and know of any possible solutions.

Sound! (also ease of use)

All corrected (or explained)

This is an update to my earlier post.

I had three concerns about the unit; two were corrected and the last was explained by as Dave Barry calls them, "alert readers". Thanks to you all for your responses! The story:

When manually operating the volume control, the volume and it's readout didn't track. Often the volume would decrease as I was trying to turn it up. Apparently there was a bad batch of volume attenuators. I dropped the unit off at Parasound in the morning and it was repaired by that afternoon. They also adjusted a setting on the tuner, and it works now. (It used to shut off after about 45 minutes of operation, showing no signal reception at all.) All this was done under warranty.

The last issue is the sound start delay when playing cd's. This is addressed by other posts in this forum.

I love the thing, and their service is superior.

Sound

Quality Control Issues

AWSOME SOUND

Similar Products Used:

Sony 9000es

Clarity. Awesome sound stage. Clean 2 channel sound. Precise imagery. Cheap way of upgrading to 6.1.

Volume Control.

Sold my older Adcom GTP-600 on Ebay and purchased the last AVC-1800 @ Good Guys for an extra $200. Also bought the Parasound CSE-6.1 for $100. Upgraded to 6.1 for Approx. $300. Didn't have to shell out too much and have a great system that puts out phenomenal sound in 2 channel and 6.1 modes. Never cared about DSP modes either. Happy as heck!

Equipment:
Parasound AVC-1800
Parasound CSE 6.1
Adcom GCD-700
Adcom GDA-700
Adcom GFA-2535
Adcom GFA-5500
Mission 782 Speakers (Main)
Still deciding on surrounds and center. Just got rid of NHT Super Zeros, NHT VC-1 & NHT SW10 w/MA-1 Ext. Amp.

Similar Products Used:

Adcom GTP-600, Denon AVR-2700 & AVR 3200.

Price, the quick precise smoothness of the digital processor

Clicking and poping as the audio and digital signal comes and goes, the buzzing through the speakers when a digital source is played(not a ground loop hum, a buzzing)
The display...always shows radio station and can't see off had if it's in Pro-logic or Dolby Digital because of the little, tiny red dots.

This may be nit-picking but I can't stand the pops and clicks this pre-amp made when starting/pausing a signal. My cheaper Yamaha doesn't do that.

I also got some 60-64db buzzing on only the digital signal when it was played through a DVD player. (my CAL CD player has digital out and didn't seem to have the buzzing) Swaped DVD players, tried 3 prong to 2 prong plug adapters, tried with a line conditioner, tried cables, tried RFGL isolator, etc, etc. Nothing worked until I took my Yamaha RX-V793(which has pre-outs so I could make sure it wasn't the amps) and the buzzing went away and so did the poping and clicking (Parasound techs said the poping and clicking is normal...what!!!). Took it back to Good guys and tried it on there system to make sure it wasn't maybe my house or something else(believe me I tried everything in the known universe) and it did it in their systems. They tried their demo model and it did it too. Parasound is supposed to send Good Guys a brand new one and we'll see if it does it too.

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha RX-V793, Parasound HCA-1000, Parasound HCA-855a

High quality to price ratio stereo sound very well rounded

people who like analog may not like it, also cd input issues, see below

I purchased this unit largely because it had been miss marked. The store in la masa realy didn't want to sell it to me. I took it home and set it up for break-in and a test run. The first thing that got me was that the unit itself would generate alot of rf noise to the system. The cable picture would realy show it. The sound though is very clear. This unit is alot like a dac, what happens is that it takes input and does all it's processing in the digital domain. For those of you who like analog warmth you will mostlikely not like this unit. I did not have any pops crackels or hiss in any form. This unit is fed w/ac line conditioner. Now, about the rf problem, I went to used cables.com and got a audio magic a/c plug for the pre amp and an audio quest power cord for the amp. problem fixed. This set up (the 1800 pre/ 855 amp) is very sonicly sound and has an incredible black background for this price range (basicly 1000 for both. The mids and highs are very distinct and seperate.The bass management is very good. The amount of jitter experienced is extreamly low, I often forget that all sound is digitized. My only real complaint is that it shows the fm station at all times and that the bur-brown dac's are easily overloaded by my cd player's s-n-r (over 116db)so if your cd player does not have any variable out you are s.o.l. It is my opinion that if you use this unit get good cables and a clean power supply to eliviate sonic problems. Over all I am very happy and would purchase Parasound products again.

Similar Products Used:

many